Chapter 5

2 lbs. of spinach, 3 eggs, 1 oz. of butter, 2 finely chopped onions, juice of 1/2 a lemon, pepper and salt, and some Allinson fine wheatmeal. Pick and wash the spinach, boil it with the onions without water until quite tender; drain it dry, chop the spinach fine, and mix it with the eggs well beaten, the lemon juice, butter, and seasoning. Add as much of the meal as necessary to make the mixture into a soft paste. Form into balls, flour them, drop them into boiling water, and boil them 5 to 10 minutes; serve with potatoes and gravy.

STEWED MUSHROOMS.

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 small English onion, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1/2 pint of milk, 1/2 pint of water, pepper and salt to taste. Peel, wash, and dry the mushrooms--if big, quarter them--chop fine the onion, and fry both in the butter for 10 minutes. Add the water, milk, and seasoning, and let it all simmer for 20 minutes; thicken with the cornflour, boil up and serve with curried or plain boiled rice.

STUFFED SPANISH ONIONS WITH BROWN SAUCE.

4 good-sized Spanish onions, 1 breakfastcupful of Allinson breadcrumbs, an egg, 1 teaspoonful of powdered dry sage, or a dessertspoonful of minced fresh sage, pepper and salt to taste, and 2 oz. of butter. Boil the onions for 20 minutes and drain them. Cut a piece off the top of each onion and scoop out enough inside to leave at least 1 inch thick of the outer part. Chop up finely the part removed, mix it with the breadcrumbs, the sage, pepper, and salt. Beat up the egg, melt 1 oz. of the butter, and mix with the breadcrumbs, and stuff the onions with the mixture. Replace the slices cut off the tops of the onions, and tie them on with white cotton. Place the onions in a pie-dish or deep tin, put the rest of the butter on the top of the onions, cover them up, and bake them until quite tender. Have ready the brown sauce, remove the threads of cotton, and pour the sauce over the cooked onions.

SWEET CORN FRITTERS.

1/2 tin of sweet corn, 2 eggs, 1/2 pint of milk, 1/2 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, pepper, and salt, 1/2 saltspoonful of nutmeg, and some oil or butter. Make a batter of the meal, milk, and the eggs well beaten, adding the seasoning and the sweet corn. Have some oil (vege-butter) boiling in the frying-pan, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the boiling fat, and fry the fritters a golden brown. Serve with slices of lemon or tomato sauce.

TOMATO PIE.

1-1/2 lbs. of tomatoes, 1/2 lb. of onions, 1 oz. of butter, 2 oz. of vermicelli, 2 hard-boiled eggs. For the crust, 8 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 3 oz. of butter. Cut up the potatoes and onions into dice, and parboil them in 1 pint of water, adding the butter and seasoning. Turn them into a pie-dish, add the tomatoes and eggs cut in slices, mix all the ingredients, and add the vermicelli broken up small. Make a paste with the meal, butter, and a little cold water, cover the pie with the crust, and bake for 1 hour.

TOMATO TORTILLA.

1 lb. of tomatoes, 1 oz. of butter, 4 eggs, pepper and salt to taste. Scald, skin, and slice the tomatoes. Melt the butter in a frying-pan. Add it to the tomatoes with seasoning, and stew in the butter until quite tender and until a good deal of the liquid has steamed away. Whip the eggs and stir them into the cooked tomatoes; keep stirring until the mixture has thickened. Serve on hot buttered toast. This mixture can also be used cold for sandwiches.

TOMATOES À LA PARMESAN.

4 large tomatoes, 1 oz. of butter, 3 oz. of Parmesan cheese, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, pepper and salt to taste. Bake the tomatoes in a tin with the butter and a dredging of pepper and salt. Make a sauce with the milk, meal, and cheese, seasoning it with a little cayenne pepper if handy. When the tomatoes are baked, place them on hot buttered toast, pour the sauce over, and serve hot.

TOMATOES AND ONION PIE.

Cut tomatoes and Spanish onions in slices, put into a pie-dish in alternate layers, add a little soaked tapioca, pepper and salt, and a little butter to taste. Put in sufficient water to make gravy, cover with wholemeal crust, bake 1-1/2 hours; eat with baked potatoes and bread.

TOMATOES AU GRATIN.

8 medium-sized tomatoes, 1 breakfastcupful of breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoonful each of finely chopped parsley, mint, and eschalot, 1 egg, pepper and salt, 1 oz. of butter. Make a stuffing of the breadcrumbs, parsley, mint, and eschalots, adding the egg well beaten, and seasoning. Make a small opening in the tomato and take out the seeds with a teaspoon; fill the tomatoes with the stuffing, put them into a tin, place a bit of butter on each, pour 1/2 a teacupful of water in the tin, and bake the tomatoes 15 minutes.

VEGETABLE BALLS.

These are an excellent addition to stews. Boil till soft, and mash up together equal quantities of potatoes, turnips, carrots, lentils, vegetable marrow, and haricot beans, and season nicely with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and mixed herbs. Bind with beaten eggs, dip in frying batter, and fry the balls in vege-butter or oil till golden brown.

VEGETABLE MOULD.

2 breakfastcupfuls of mashed potatoes, 2 ditto of parboiled finely cut turnips, carrots, celery, onion, and green peas all mixed, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful of mixed herbs, pepper and salt to taste. Beat the eggs up and mix all the ingredients well together; butter a mould. Fill in the mixture, cover with the lid or tie a cloth over it, and steam for 2 hours. Turn out, and serve with brown sauce.

VEGETABLE PIE (1).

1/2 lb. each of tomatoes, turnips, carrots, potatoes, 1 tablespoonful of sago, 1 teaspoonful of mixed herbs, 3 hard-boiled eggs, 2 oz. of butter, and pepper and salt to taste. Prepare the vegetables, scald and skin the tomatoes, cut them in pieces not bigger than a walnut, stew them in the butter and 1 pint of water until nearly tender, add the pepper and salt and the mixed herbs. When cooked, pour the vegetables into a pie-dish, sprinkle in the sago, add water to make gravy if necessary. Cut the hard-boiled eggs in quarters and place them on the top of the vegetables, cover with a crust, and bake until it is brown.

VEGETABLE PIE (2).

1/2 lb. each of carrots, turnips, onions, potatoes, 1 small cauliflower, 2 good sized tomatoes or a cupful of tinned ones, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 teaspoonful of mixed herbs, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of sago, pepper and salt to taste. Wash and prepare the vegetables, cut them into pieces the size of nuts; if fresh tomatoes are used, scald and skin them. Let all the vegetables stew gently with the butter and 1 pint of water until they are nearly tender; add the herbs, and seasoning; pour the whole into a pie-dish, sprinkling the sago between the vegetables; add water if more is required for the pie to have sufficient gravy; cut up the eggs in quarters, place the pieces on the top of the vegetables, and cover all with a crust. These vegetable pies can be varied according to the vegetables in season; cooked haricot or kidney beans, lentils, green peas, French beans may be used, and vermicelli or tapioca substituted for the sago.

VEGETABLE STEW.

Fry 2 Spanish onions in 2 oz. of butter, then add 3 turnips, 2 carrots, a little white celery, and 1 pint of water. Allow all to stew for 2 hours, then mix a tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal with 1/2 pint of milk. Add to the stew, and serve.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

4 eggs, 1/2 lb. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste, 1 oz. of butter. Thoroughly beat the eggs, make a batter of them with the flour and milk, and season it. Well butter a shallow tin, pour in the batter, and cut the rest of the butter in bits. Scatter them over the batter, and bake it 3/4 hour. Serve with vegetables, potatoes, and sauce. To use half each of Allinson breakfast oats and wheatmeal will be found very tasty.

NUTROAST.

1 lb. breadcrumbs, 6 oz. ground cob nuts, 2 oz. butter (oiled), 4 eggs; 1 small onion chopped very fine, 1 good pinch of mixed herbs, pepper and salt to taste, and enough milk just to smoothly moisten the mixture. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, turn into a buttered bread tin and steam 2-1/2-3 hours; turn out and serve with brown sauce.

MACARONI

Macaroni is one of the most nutritious farinaceous foods. It is made from Italian wheat, which contains more flesh-forming matter than butcher's meat. In the manufacture of macaroni some of the bran is removed from the flour, but the meal left is still very rich in flesh-forming matter. As the coarser particles of the bran have been taken away, macaroni is slightly constipating, and must therefore always be eaten with green vegetables, onions, or fruit. Macaroni should always be boiled before being made into various dishes. It may be cooked in plain water, or in milk and water; a little salt may be added by those who use it, and care should be taken to use just enough water to cook it in, so that when the macaroni is done, little or no fluid may be left, but if any does remain it should be saved for sauce, stock for soup, &c., as it contains valuable nutritive material. Macaroni takes from 20 minutes to 1 hour to cook, according to the kind used. That which is slightly yellow is to be preferred to the white, as the latter is usually poorer than the former in mineral salts and flesh-forming substances. From 2 to 4 oz. may be regarded as the amount to be allowed at a meal for grown-up persons.

A very simple nourishing and satisfying meal can be made from macaroni plainly boiled; it may be eaten with any kind of vegetables, or baked potatoes, or fried onions, and if desired, with grated cheese, onion, caper, or parsley sauce.

MACARONI (Italian).

1/2 lb. of spaghetti or vermicelli, 2 oz. of butter, 2 eggs, 3 oz. of grated cheese, 1 tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the macaroni till tender in 2 pints of water, to which the butter has been added. When soft add seasoning, the cheese, and the parsley. Beat the eggs well in the dish in which the macaroni is to be served, pour over the mixture of macaroni and other ingredients, mix all well with the eggs, and serve. If neither spaghetti nor vermicelli are handy, use Naples macaroni.

MACARONI CHEESE.

1/2 lb. of macaroni, 8 oz. of grated cheese, some breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste, and 1 oz. of butter. Boil the macaroni in slightly salted water until soft. Then place a layer of it in a pie-dish, sprinkle some of the grated cheese over it, dust with pepper, and repeat the layers of macaroni and cheese, finishing with a sprinkling of cheese, and the breadcrumbs. Cut the butter in pieces, and place them here and there on the top. Bake it in a moderately hot oven until brown. Eat with vegetables and tomato sauce. For those who have a weak digestion plain boiled macaroni with grated cheese added at table is better and lighter. Macaroni requires from 25 minutes to 1/2 an hour cooking. The Genoa macaroni takes longer, the thin spaghetti kind is done in from 15 to 20 minutes, and vermicelli and Italian paste are done in a few minutes. Macaroni should be thrown into boiling water and be kept boiling, as the pipes or pieces otherwise stick together. The Italian paste is mostly used as an addition in clear soup.

MACARONI CREAM.

6 oz. of macaroni, 3 oz. of cheese, 1/2 oz. of butter, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 teaspoonful of Allinson cornflour, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the macaroni until tender in only as much water as it will absorb. Make a sauce of the milk, cornflour, and cheese (you can use Parmesan, Gruyère, or Canadian cheese). Place the macaroni in a pie-dish, pour the sauce over it, grate some more cheese over the top, and let the macaroni brown in the oven.

MACARONI SAVOURY.

4 oz. of boiled macaroni, 4 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 3 eggs, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 finely chopped onion, the grated rind of 1 lemon, 2 oz. of grated cheese, 1 tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 a saltspoonful of grated nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Cut the macaroni in small pieces. Make a batter of the milk, eggs, and meal, mix into it all the other ingredients, pour it into a buttered pie-dish, cut up the butter in pieces and spread them on the top. Bake the savoury for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

RICE

In many households it seems a difficulty to get rice cooked properly, that is having all the grains separate. Very often it comes to table in a soft, pulpy mass, which is certainly not appetising. To cook it in a large saucepanful of water which is then drained away is very wasteful, for a great deal of the goodness of the rice is thrown away. The following recipe will be found thoroughly reliable and satisfactory.

RICE, HOW TO COOK.

1 lb. of good rice, 1 quart of water, 1 oz. of butter, salt to taste. Wash the rice and set it over the fire with 1 quart of cold water, the butter and salt. Let it come to the boil gently, stirring it a little to prevent the rice from sticking to the saucepan. When the rice boils, set it on the side and let it just simmer. It will be sufficiently cooked in 15 to 20 minutes and each grain will be separate. Rice should not be cooked too soft, only just cooked through.

CURRIED RICE.

1 lb. of Patna rice, 1 quart of cold water, 1 dessertspoonful of curry, 1 oz. of butter, and salt to taste. Wash the rice, mix the curry with the proper quantity of water, and set the rice over the fire with it, adding the butter and seasoning. Let the rice come to the boil slowly, and stir it a few times to prevent it sticking to the saucepan. When the rice boils, cover it with a piece of buttered paper, and let it cook very gently, not stirring it again. When all the water is absorbed, serve the rice. Do not allow it to get very soft; the rice will take from 15 to 20 minutes' cooking only.

CURRIED RICE AND TOMATOES.

1/2 lb. of Patna rice, 1 dessertspoonful of curry powder, salt to taste, and 1 oz. of butter. Wash the rice; mix 1 pint of cold water with the curry powder, put this over the fire with the rice, butter, and salt. Cover the rice with a piece of buttered paper and let it simmer gently until the water is absorbed. This will take about 20 minutes. Rice cooked this way will have all the grains separate. For the tomatoes proceed as follows: 1 lb. of tomatoes and a little butter, pepper and salt. Wash the tomatoes and place them in a flat tin with a few spoonfuls of water; dust them with pepper and salt, and place little bits of butter on each tomato. Bake them from 15 to 20 minutes, according to the size of the tomatoes and the heat of the oven. Place the rice in the centre of a hot flat dish, put the tomatoes round it, pour the liquid over the rice, and serve.

PORTUGUESE RICE.

1 teacupful of rice, 3 medium-sized onions, 3 tomatoes, 2 oz. of grated cheese, 1/2 teaspoonful of herbs, 1 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onions and tomatoes and fry them in the butter for 15 minutes; place the rice over the fire with 1 pint of water; add the onions, tomatoes, herbs, and seasoning, and let all cook until the rice is quite soft; serve in a vegetable dish with the grated cheese sprinkled over.

RICE AND LENTILS.

Boil the rice as above; stew Egyptian lentils with chopped onions, pepper, salt, and a little butter, until well done. Put the rice on a dish, pour over the stewed onions and lentils, serve, and eat with green vegetables.

RICE AND ONIONS.

Boil whole onions in water until done quite through, remove them from the water, and put in it washed rice with a little pepper, salt, and butter. When done, serve with the onions and eat with a green vegetable.

SAVOURY RICE (Italian).

1 breakfastcupful of rice, 4 tablespoonfuls of grated cheese (Parmesan or other cheese), 1 oz. of butter, a pinch of saffron, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the rice with water as above, then add the cheese, butter, saffron, and seasoning; mix all well, and serve.

SAVOURY RICE CROQUETTES.

1/2 lb. of Patna rice, 1-1/2 pints of milk, 1 lb. of Spanish onions, 1 oz. of butter, 2 eggs, 1 teacupful of raspings, Allinson's oil for frying. Boil the rice in the milk until soft, and turn it out to get quite cold. Meanwhile chop the onions up fine and fry them brown in the butter. Form the cold rice into balls, and with the thumb of the right hand hollow them sufficiently to admit of their receiving a stuffing of fried onions, close them again carefully, dip them in the eggs beaten up and then in the raspings, and fry them in boiling oil a light brown. Serve with gravy. There are various stuffings which can be used instead of the onions--fried mushrooms chopped up, some olives chopped fine and mixed with hard-boiled yolks of eggs, &c.

SPANISH RICE.

6 onions, 6 tomatoes, 1-1/2 pints of vegetable stock, herbs and seasoning, 1-1/2 cupfuls of rice, butter. Fry the onions and tomatoes in butter until well browned, then place them with the seasoning into the cold stock, and add the rice. When all have boiled slowly for 20 minutes, the rice should have absorbed the stock. Serve with cheese grated over.

OMELETS

CHEESE OMELET.

4 slices of Allinson bread toasted, or Allinson rusks, 3 eggs, 1/4 lb. of grated cheese, 1 saltspoonful of nutmeg, 1 pint of milk, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Beat up the eggs, and mix them with the milk; crush the toast or rusks with your hands, and soak them in the egg and milk. Add the cheese, nutmeg, and seasoning. Dissolve half of the butter and mix it with the other ingredients. Butter a pie-dish, pour in the mixture, cut the rest of the butter in little pieces, and scatter them over the top. Bake the savoury for 1 hour or a little longer until well set. Serve hot or cold.

FRENCH BEAN OMELET.

3 tablespoonfuls of cut boiled French beans, 4 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1/2 a teacupful of milk, 2 tablespoonfuls of grated cheese (Gruyère or Parmesan), pepper and salt to taste, some vege-butter or oil for frying. Smooth the meal with the milk, beat up the eggs and add them, the cheese and seasoning to the meal and milk; mix thoroughly with the beans, and fry the omelet in boiling butter or Allinson frying oil.

FRENCH OMELET WITH CHEESE.

3 eggs, 1 oz. of grated cheese, 3 dessertspoonfuls of water, pepper and salt to taste, and 1 oz. of butter. Beat the yolks of the eggs, add to them the water and seasoning; whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and mix it lightly with the yolks. Meanwhile have the butter boiling hot in an omelet pan, pour the mixture into it, and let it fry over a gentle fire. Pass a heated salamander or coal-shovel over the top of the omelet. When it has risen, scatter the cheese over it; let the omelet cook a little longer, fold over when the top is still creamy, and serve immediately.

GARDENER'S OMELET.

1 breakfastcupful of cold boiled vegetables, minced fine (green peas, carrots, turnips, potatoes, &c.), 4 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1/2 a gill of milk, pepper and salt, and a little nutmeg to taste, 1 oz. of butter. Beat the eggs and milk well together, rub the meal smooth with it, add the vegetables and seasoning, and fry as an omelet. Serve with sauce.

OMELET HERB.

4 slices of Allinson bread, 1 pint of milk, 1 finely chopped English onion, 1 good tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley, 1 teaspoonful of dried mixed herbs, 3 eggs, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Soak the bread, fry the onion in 1-1/2 oz. of butter, and mix it with the soaked bread. Add the herbs, parsley, and seasoning, and mix all well. Butter a pie-dish with the rest of the butter, pour the mixture into it, and bake.

OMELET LENTIL.

It you have any cold boiled lentils, for instance, some sandwich mixture you wish to use up, proceed as follows: To 1 teacupful of boiled lentils take 3 well-beaten eggs, and pepper and salt to taste. Add 1 dessertspoonful of water to each egg, and mix the lentils and eggs smooth. Fry the mixture as an omelet in boiling butter.

OMELET MACARONI.

3 oz. of boiled cold macaroni, 3 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of finely chopped parsley, 1-1/2 oz. of grated cheese, 1/2 a saltspoonful of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, 1-1/2 oz. of butter. Cut the macaroni into little pieces; beat the eggs well, and mix them with the macaroni. Add the seasoning, parsley, cheese, and nutmeg; mix all well, and fry the omelet with the butter in a large frying-pan.

OMELET ONION.

4 medium-sized English onions, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, 2 oz. of Allinson breadcrumbs, 4 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of milk, pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onions, bake them in a pie-dish with the butter and seasoning, until quite soft. Whip the eggs up, mix them with the milk, breadcrumbs, and the baked onions. Put the mixture into a greased pie-dish, and bake in a moderately hot oven. Serve with tomato sauce.

OMELET SAVOURY.

Soak Allinson wholemeal bread in cold milk and water until soft, then rub smooth, grate 1 onion, beat up 1 egg, and add a few flavouring herbs, and pepper and salt to taste. Mix the whole together, put in a pie-dish, place a few small pieces of butter on the top, and bake about 1/2 hour, or until done. Eat with vegetables and potatoes.

OMELET SOUFFLÉ.

4 eggs, 3 oz. of sifted castor sugar, the grated rind of 1/2 a lemon, 1 oz. of butter. Beat the yolks of the eggs for 10 minutes with the sugar and lemon rind. Whip the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth, mix it with the other ingredients, pour the mixture into a well-buttered pie-dish or cake tin, and bake the soufflé in a moderately hot oven from 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

OMELET SOUFFLÉ (SWEET).

6 eggs, 3 oz. of powdered sugar, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of potato flour, and 1 dessertspoonful of orangeflower water. Put the yolks of the eggs into a large basin, add the sugar, potato flour, and orange water, and beat all well with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes; beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them lightly with the other ingredients. Meanwhile beat the butter in the omelet pan; when boiling pour the mixture into it, and fry the omelet over a gentle fire. When it begins to set round the sides shake it very gently from side to side, and turn the omelet neatly out on a buttered dish. Set it in the oven for about 10 minutes, and serve immediately with a little castor sugar sifted over it.

OMELET TOMATO (1).

This is made in almost the same way as the savoury omelet, but without the addition of flavouring herbs. 2 average-sized tomatoes are cut up fine, and mixed with the ingredients given above. When tinned tomatoes are used the juice may be made hot and the bread soaked in it instead of in milk and water.

OMELET TOMATO (2).

1 lb. of tomatoes, 1/2 lb. of breadcrumbs, 1 large Spanish onion, 3 eggs, 2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Stew the finely chopped onions in the butter for 20 minutes in a covered-up saucepan, add pepper and salt, cut the tomatoes up, add these to the other ingredients. Let all simmer for 20 minutes; pour the mixture over the breadcrumbs, add the eggs well beaten, mix all up thoroughly, and turn the mixture into one or more well-buttered shallow tins. Bake the omelet in a quick oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

OMELET TRAPPIST.

4 oz. of fine breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered herbs, pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 gill of boiling milk. Moisten the breadcrumbs with the milk, add the eggs well beaten, the herbs and seasoning. Mix all well and smoothly. Melt the butter in the frying-pan, spread the mixture in it, and fry the omelet a golden brown both sides.

SWEET OMELET (1).