Chapter 8

1 pint of mashed potato, 1 large English onion, 1 oz. of butter, pepper and salt. Mince the onion very fine and fry it a golden brown in the butter, mix it well with the mashed potato, and add seasoning to taste; form the mixture into cakes, flour them well, place them in a greased baking tin, with little bits of butter on the top of the cakes, and bake them a nice brown.

POTATOES AND CARROTS.

1-1/2 lbs. of boiled potatoes, 3/4 lb. of boiled carrots, 2 eggs, 1 oz. of butter pepper and salt to taste, some Parsley. Mash the potatoes and carrots together, beat the eggs well and mix them with the vegetables, add seasoning; butter a mould, fill it with the mixture, spread the butter on the top, bake the whole for 1/2 hour, turn out, and garnish with parsley.

POTATOES (CURRIED).

6 good-sized potatoes parboiled, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of curry powder, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 dessertspoonful of fine wheatmeal, salt and lemon juice to taste. Slice the potatoes into a saucepan and pour the milk over them; smooth the curry powder with a little water, pour this over the potatoes, and add the butter and seasoning. Let the potatoes cook gently until soft; then thicken with the meal, which should be previously smoothed with a little milk or water. Let all simmer for 2 or 3 minutes; add lemon juice, and serve.

POTATOES (MASHED).

To mash potatoes well they should be drained when soft and steamed dry over the fire; then turn them into a basin and pass them through a potato masher back into the saucepan; add a piece of butter the size of a walnut (or more according to quantity of potatoes), and a little hot milk, and mash all well through over the fire with a wooden spoon, adding hot milk as required until it is a thick, creamy mass.

POTATOES (MASHED) (another way).

1 finely chopped English onion to 1 pound of potatoes, piece of butter the size of a walnut, pepper and salt to taste. Fry the onion a nice brown in the butter, taking care not to burn it. When the potatoes have been passed through the masher back into the saucepan, add the fried onion and seasoning and a little hot milk. Mash all well through, and serve very hot.

POTATOES (MILK).

Boil or steam potatoes in their skins; when soft, peel and slice them. Make a sauce of milk, thickened with Allinson fine wheatmeal, and season with pepper and salt. Let the potatoes simmer in the sauce for 10 minutes. Before serving mix into the sauce a spoonful of finely chopped parsley.

POTATOES (MILK) WITH CAPERS.

1 lb. of potatoes, 3/4 pint of milk, 1 tablespoonful of finely chopped capers, 1 teaspoonful of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of Allinson wholemeal, boil the potatoes till nearly tender; drain them and cut them in slices. Return them to the saucepan, add the milk and seasoning, and when the milk boils add the wheatmeal. Let all simmer until the potatoes are tender, add the capers and vinegar. Then simmer a few minutes with the capers, and serve.

POTATOES (SAVOURY).

1-1/2 lbs. of small boiled potatoes, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of finely chopped onion, 3 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste, 1 clove of garlic. Slice the potatoes into the saucepan and let them stew gently for 15 minutes with the butter, onion, and seasoning, shaking them occasionally to prevent burning. Rub the inside of a basin with the garlic, break the eggs into it, beat them well with the vinegar, and pour them over the potatoes, shake the whole well over the fire until thoroughly mixed, and serve.

POTATOES (SCALLOPED).

6 medium-sized boiled potatoes, 2 onions chopped fine, and fried brown, 1 breakfastcupful of milk, 1 oz. of butter, pepper and salt, a little Allinson wholemeal. Slice the potatoes; butter a pie-dish, put into it a layer of potatoes, over this sprinkle pepper and salt, some of the onion, part of the butter, and a little meal. Repeat this until the dish is full, pour the milk over the whole, and bake for 1 hour.

POTATOES (STUFFED) (1).

6 large potatoes, 1-1/2 breakfastcupfuls of breadcrumbs, 1/2 lb. of grated English onions, 1 teaspoonful of powdered sage, 1 ditto of finely chopped parsley, 1 egg well beaten, piece of butter the size of a walnut, pepper and salt to taste. Halve the potatoes, scoop them out, leaving nearly 1 inch of the inside all round. Make a stuffing of the other ingredients, adding a very little milk it the stuffing should be too dry; fill the potatoes with it, tie the halves together, and bake them until done. Serve with brown sauce.

POTATOES (STUFFED) (2).

6 large potatoes, 1 Spanish onion, 1 large apple, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 teaspoonful of allspice, 1 dessertspoonful of sugar, pepper and salt to taste, a cupful of breadcrumbs. Chop the onion and apple fine and stew them (without water) with the butter, allspice, sugar, and seasoning. When quite tender sift in enough breadcrumbs to make a fairly stiff paste. Scoop the potatoes out as in previous recipe, fill them with the mixture, tie, bake the potatoes till tender, and serve them with brown sauce and vegetables.

POTATOES (STUFFED) (3).

6 large boiled potatoes, 1-1/2 ozs. of grated Gruyère or Canadian cheese, 1 egg well beaten, pepper and salt to taste, a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Halve the potatoes as before, scoop them out, leaving 1/2 inch of potato wall all round. Mash the scooped out potato well up with the cheese, add the egg, butter, and seasoning, also a little milk if necessary; fill the potatoes, tie them together, brush over with a little oiled butter, and bake them 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with vegetables and white sauce.

POTATOES (STUFFED) (4).

6 large boiled potatoes, 1 large English onion, 1/2 oz. of butter, 1 egg well beaten, pepper and salt to taste. Halve the potatoes as before, scoop out most of the soft part and mash it up. Mince the onion very finely and fry it a nice brown with the best part of the butter, mix all up together, adding the egg and seasoning, fill the potato skins, tie the halves together, brush them over with the rest of the butter (oiled), and put them in the oven until well heated through. Serve with vegetables and brown sauce.

POTATOES (TOASTED).

Cut cold boiled potatoes into slices, brush them over with oiled butter, place them on a gridiron (if not handy, in a wire salad basket), and put it over a clear fire. Brown the slices on both sides.

SAUCES

Flesh-eaters have the gravy of meat to eat with their vegetables, and when they give up the use of flesh they are often at a loss for a good substitute. Sauces may be useful in more ways than one. When not too highly spiced or seasoned they help to prevent thirst, as they supply the system with fluid, and when made with the liquor in which vegetables have been boiled they retain many valuable salts which would otherwise have been lost. When foods are eaten in a natural condition no sauces are required, but when food is changed by cooking many persons require it to be made more appetising, as it is called. The use of sauces is thus seen to be an aid to help down plain and wholesome food, and being fluid they cause the food to be more thoroughly broken up and made into a porridgy mass before it is swallowed. From a health point of view artificial sauces are not good, but if made as I direct very little harm will result.

Brown Gravy, Fried Onion Sauce, or Herb Gravy must be used with great caution, or not at all by those who are troubled with heartburn, acidity, biliousness, or skin eruptions of any kind.

The water in which vegetables (except cabbage or potatoes) have been boiled is better for making sauces than ordinary water.

APPLE SAUCE.

1 lb. of apples, 1 gill of water, 1-1/2 oz. of sugar (or more, according to taste), 1/2 a teaspoonful of mixed spice. Pare and core the apples, cut them up, and cook them with the water until quite mashed up, add sugar and spice. Rub the apples through a sieve, re-heat, and serve. Can also be served cold.

APRICOT SAUCE.

1/2 lb. of apricot jam, 1/2 a teaspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Dilute the jam with 1/2 pint of water, boil it up and pass it through a sieve; boil the sauce up, and thicken it with the cornflour. Serve hot or cold.

BOILED ONION SAUCE.

This is made as "Wheatmeal Sauce," but plenty of boiled and chopped onions are mixed in it. This goes well with any plain vegetables.

BROWN GRAVY.

Put a tablespoonful of butter or olive oil into a frying-pan or saucepan, make it hot, dredge in a tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, brown this, then add boiling water, with pepper and salt to taste. A little mushroom or walnut ketchup may be added it desired. Eat with vegetables or savouries.

BROWN SAUCE (1).

1 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of butter, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, a blade of mace, pepper and salt to taste. Melt the butter in a frying-pan over the fire, stir into it the meal, and keep on stirring until it is a brown colour. Stir in gradually enough boiling water to make the sauce of the thickness of cream. Add the lemon juice, the mace, and seasoning, and let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the mace, and pour the sauce over the onions. If the sauce should be lumpy, strain it through a gravy-strainer.

BROWN SAUCE (2).

2 tablespoonfuls of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of butter, 6 eschalots chopped fine, 3 bay leaves, 1/2 a lemon (peeled) cut in slices, pepper and salt to taste. Brown the meal with the butter; add water enough to make the sauce the thickness of cream; add the eschalots, lemon, bay leaves, and seasoning. Let all simmer 15 to 20 minutes; strain, return the sauce to the saucepan, and boil it up before serving.

CAPER SAUCE.

Leave out the onions, otherwise make as "Wheatmeal Sauce." Add capers, and cook 10 minutes after adding them. This goes very well with plain boiled macaroni, or macaroni batter, or macaroni with turnips, &c.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE.

1 bar of Allinson chocolate, 1/2 pint of milk, 1/2 teaspoonful of cornflour, 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla essence. Melt the chocolate over the fire with 1 tablespoonful of water, add the milk, and stir well; when it boils add the cornflour and vanilla. Boil the sauce up, and serve.

CURRANT SAUCE (RED & WHITE).

1/2 pint of both white and red currants, 2 ozs. of sugar, 1 gill of water, 1/2 a teaspoonful of cornflour. Cook the ingredients for 10 minutes, rub the fruit through a sieve, re-heat it, and thicken the sauce with the cornflour. Serve hot or cold.

CURRY SAUCE (1).

3 English onions, 1 carrot, 1 good cooking apple, 1 teaspoonful of curry powder, 1/2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, salt to taste. Chop up the onions, carrot, and apple, and stew them in 3/4 pint of water until quite tender, adding the curry and salt. When quite soft rub the vegetables well through a sieve; brown the meal in the saucepan in the butter, add the sauce to this, and let it simmer for a few minutes; add a little more water if necessary.

CURRY SAUCE (2).

1 onion, 1 even teaspoonful of curry, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, a little burnt sugar. Grate the onion into the water, add curry, butter, and salt, and let these ingredients cook a few minutes. Thicken the sauce with the meal, and colour with burnt sugar.

CURRY SAUCE (BROWN).

2 tablespoonfuls of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of butter (or oil), 1 teaspoonful of curry powder, 1 English onion chopped fine, 1 good tablespoonful of vinegar, a pinch of mint and sage, and salt to taste. Fry the onions in the butter until nearly brown, add the meal, and brown; add as much water as required to make the sauce the consistency of cream; add the curry, vinegar, and seasoning. Let the whole simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, strain the sauce, return to the saucepan, beat it up, and serve.

EGG CAPER SAUCE.

The same as "Egg Sauce," adding 1 tablespoonful of finely chopped capers before the egg is stirred in, and which should simmer a few minutes.

EGG SAUCE.

3/4 pint of half milk and water, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful of Allinson cornflour, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt. Boil the milk and water, add the butter and seasoning. Thicken the sauce with the cornflour; beat the egg up with the lemon juice. Let the sauce go off the boil; add gradually and gently the egg, taking care not to curdle it. Warm up the sauce again, but do not allow it to boil.

EGG SAUCE WITH SAFFRON.

1/2 pint of milk and water, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful of cornflour, a pinch of saffron, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the milk and water with the saffron, and see that the latter dissolves thoroughly. Add seasoning, and thicken with the cornflour; beat up the egg, and after having allowed the sauce to cool a little, add it gradually, taking care not to curdle the sauce. Heat it up, but do not let it boil. To easily dissolve the saffron, it should be dried in the oven and then powdered.

FRENCH SAUCE.

1 oz. of butter, 2 oz. each of carrot, turnip, onion, or eschalots, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, pepper and salt to taste, a little thyme. Chop the vegetables up fine, and fry them in the butter, adding the thyme. When slightly browned add 3/4 pint of water, into which the meal has been rubbed smooth. Stir the sauce until it boils, then add the vinegar and seasoning. Let all simmer for 1/2 an hour, rub the sauce through a sieve, return it to the saucepan, boil up, and serve.

FRIED ONION SAUCE.

Chop fine an onion, fry, add Allinson fine wheatmeal, and make into a sauce like brown gravy.

HERB SAUCE.

Make like "Brown Gravy," and add mixed herbs a little before serving.

HORSERADISH SAUCE.

1/2 pint of water, 2 tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1/2 oz. butter, salt to taste. Boil the water, butter, and horseradish for a few minutes, add salt, and thicken the sauce with the meal rubbed smooth in a little cold water; cook for two minutes, and serve.

MAYONNAISE SAUCE.

1/2 pint of oil, the yolk of 1 egg, the juice of a lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful each of mustard, pepper, and salt. Place the yolks in a basin, which should be quite cold; work them smooth with a wooden spoon, add the salt, pepper, and mustard, and mix all well. Stir in the oil very gradually, drop by drop; when the sauce begins to thicken stir in a little of the lemon juice, continue with the oil, and so on alternately until the sauce is finished. Be sure to make it in a cool place, also to stir one way only. It you follow directions the sauce may curdle; should this ever happen, do not waste the curdled sauce, but start afresh with a fresh yolk of egg, stirring in a little fresh oil first, and then adding the curdled mixture.

MILK FROTH SAUCE.

1/2 pint of milk, 2 eggs, sugar to taste, some essence of vanilla or any other flavouring, 1 teaspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal. Mix the milk, eggs, flour, and flavouring, and proceed as in "Orange Froth Sauce."

MINT SAUCE.

1 teacupful of vinegar, 1 teacupful of water, 1 tablespoonful of sugar, 1 heaped-up tablespoonful of finely chopped mint. Mix all the ingredients well, and let the sauce soak at least 1 hour before serving.

MUSTARD SAUCE.

1 good teaspoonful of mustard, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of butter, vinegar and salt to taste, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 1/2 pint of water. Brown the wheatmeal with the butter in the saucepan, add the mustard, vinegar, sugar, and salt, let all simmer for a few minutes, and then serve.

OLIVE SAUCE.

Make a white sauce, stone and chop 8 Spanish olives, add them to the sauce, and let it cook a few minutes before serving.

ONION SAUCE.

1 large Spanish onion, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 gill of water, 4 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, pepper and salt to taste. Chop the onions up fine, and cook them in the water until tender, add the milk, butter and seasoning. Smooth the meal with a little water, thicken the sauce, let it simmer for five minutes, and serve.

ORANGE FLOWER SAUCE

Make a sweet white sauce, and flavour it with 2 tablespoonfuls of orangeflower water.

ORANGE FROTH SAUCE.

The juice of 2 oranges, 2 eggs, sugar to taste, 1 teaspoonful of white flour (not cornflour), add to the orange juice enough water to make 1/2 pint of liquid; mix this well with the sugar, the eggs previously beaten, and the flour smoothed with a very little water; put the mixture over the fire in an enamelled saucepan, and whisk it well until quite frothy; do not allow the sauce to boil, as it would then be spoiled. Serve immediately.

ORANGE SAUCE

2 oranges, 4 large lumps of sugar, 1/2 a teaspoonful of cornflour, some water. Rub the sugar on the rind of one of the oranges until all the yellow part is taken off; take the juice of both the oranges and add it to the sugar. Mix smooth the cornflour in 8 tablespoonfuls of water, add this to the juice when hot, and stir the sauce over the fire until thickened; serve at once.

PARSLEY SAUCE.

This is made as "Wheatmeal Sauce," but some finely chopped parsley is added five minutes before serving.

RASPBERRY FROTH SAUCE.

1/2 pint of raspberries, 1 gill of water, 2 eggs, sugar to taste, 1 teaspoonful of white flour. Boil the raspberries in the water for 10 minutes, then strain through a cloth or fine hair sieve; add a little more water if the juice is not 1/2 pint; allow it to get cold, then add the eggs, flour, and sugar, and proceed as for "Orange Froth Sauce." This sauce can be made with any kind of fruit juice.

RATAFIA SAUCE.

3 oz. of ratafias, 1/2 pint of milk; the yolk of 1 egg. Bruise the ratafias and put them in a stewpan with the milk; let it boil, remove from the fire, beat up the yolk of egg, and when the milk has cooled a little stir it in carefully; stir again over the fire until the sauce has thickened a little, but do not let it boil.

ROSE SAUCE.

Make a sweet white sauce, and flavour with 2 tablespoonfuls of rosewater.

SAVOURY SAUCE.

1 onion, 3 carrots, 1 oz. butter, a teaspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, a little nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Chop up the onion and fry it a nice brown; cut up the carrots into small dice, cook them gently in 1 pint of water with the onion and seasoning until quite soft; then rub the sauce through a sieve, return it to the saucepan, heat it up and thicken it with the meal, if necessary.

SORREL SAUCE.

Make a white sauce, and add to it a handful of finely chopped sorrel; let it simmer a few minutes, and serve.

SPICE SAUCE.

Make a sweet white sauce, and add 1/2 teaspoonful of mixed spice before serving.

TARTARE SAUCE.

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 small onion, 1/2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, pepper and salt to taste, juice of 1/2 a lemon. Cook the mushrooms and onion, chopped fine, in 1/2 pint of water for 15 minutes; adding the butter and seasoning. Strain the sauce and return it to the saucepan, thicken it with the meal, add the lemon juice, let it simmer 2 or 3 minutes, and serve.

TOMATO SAUCE (1).

1/2 a canful of tinned tomatoes or 1 lb. of fresh ones, a tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1/2 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. If fresh tomatoes are used, slice them and set them to cook with a breakfastcupful of water. For tinned tomatoes a teacupful of water is sufficient. Let the tomatoes cook gently for 10 minutes, then rub them well through a strainer. Return the liquid to the saucepan, add the butter, pepper, and salt, and when it boils thicken the sauce with the meal, which should he smoothed well with a little cold water. Let the sauce simmer for a minute, and pour it into a warm sauce-boat.

TOMATO SAUCE (2).

Cut up fresh or tinned tomatoes, cook with water and finely chopped onions; when done rub through a sieve, boil up again, thicken with Allinson fine wheatmeal made into a paste with water. Add a little butter, pepper, and salt. Eat with vegetables or savoury dishes.

WHEATMEAL SAUCE.

Mix milk and water together in equal proportions, add a grated onion, and boil; rub a little Allinson fine wheatmeal into a paste with cold water. Mix this with the boiling milk and water, and let it thicken; add a little pepper and salt to taste. Eat this with vegetables.

WHITE SAUCE (1).

3/4 pint of milk, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, sugar to taste. Boil 1/2 pint of the milk with sugar, mix the meal smooth in the rest of the milk, add this to the boiling milk and keep stirring until the sauce has thickened, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, strain it through a gravy strainer, re-heat, and flavour with vanilla or almond essence.

WHITE SAUCE (2).

1/2 pint of milk, a dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour or potato flour, a little vanilla essence, 1 teaspoonful of sugar. Boil the milk, thicken it with the cornflour previously smoothed with a little water, add sugar and vanilla, boil up, and serve with the pudding.

WHITE SAUCE (SAVOURY).

3/4 pint of milk, 1 good dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, a small piece of butter, size of a nut, pepper and salt to taste. Bring part of the milk to the boil, mix the meal smooth with the rest, add the butter and seasoning, and thicken the sauce. Let it cook gently a few minutes after adding the meal, and serve.

PUDDINGS

ALMOND PUDDING (1).

4 eggs, 3 oz. of castor sugar, 4 oz. of ground sweet almonds, 1/2 oz. of ground bitter almonds. Whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, mix them lightly with the well-beaten yolks, add the other ingredients gradually. Have ready a well-buttered pie-dish, pour the mixture in (not filling the dish more than three-quarters full), and bake in a moderately hot oven until a knitting needle pushed through comes out clean. Turn the pudding out and serve cold.

ALMOND PUDDING (2).

1/2 lb. of almond paste, 1/4 lb. of butter, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of sifted sugar, cream, and ratafia flavouring. With a spoonful of water make the ground almonds into a paste, warm the butter, mix the almonds with this, and add the sugar and 2 tablespoonfuls of cream or milk, and the eggs well beaten. Mix well, and butter some cups, half fill them, and bake the puddings for about 20 minutes. Turn them out on a dish, and serve with sweet sauce.

ALMOND RICE.

1/2 lb. of rice, 2-1/2 pints of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 3 oz. of ground sweet almonds and a dozen bitter ground almonds, sugar to taste, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon, some raspberry jam. Cook the rice, butter, milk, sugar, and almonds until the rice is quite tender, which will take from 40 to 50 minutes; butter a mould, sift the cinnamon over it evenly, pour in the rice, let it get cold, turn out and serve with sauce made of raspberry jam and water. Dip the mould into hot water for 1/2 a minute, if the rice will not turn out easily.

APPLE CHARLOTTE.

2 lbs. of cooking apples, 1 teacupful of mixed currants and sultanas, 1 heaped up teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, 2 oz. of blanched and chopped almonds, sugar to taste, Allinson wholemeal bread, and butter. Pare, core, and cut up the apples and set them to cook with 1 teacupful of water. Some apples require much more water than others. When they are soft, add the fruit picked and washed, the cinnamon, and the almonds and sugar. Cut very thin slices of bread and butter, line a buttered pie-dish with them. Place a layer of apples over the buttered bread, and repeat the layers of bread and apples until the dish is full, finishing with a layer of bread and butter. Bake from 3/4 hour to 1 hour.

APRICOT PUDDING.

1 tin of apricots, 6 sponge cakes, 1/2 pint of milk, 2 eggs. Put the apricots into a saucepan, and let them simmer with a little sugar for 1/2 an hour; take them off the fire and beat them with a fork. Mix with them the sponge cakes crumbled. Beat the eggs up with milk and pour it on the apricots. Pour the mixture into a wetted mould and bake in a hot oven with a cover over the mould for 1/2 an hour. Turn out; serve either hot or cold.

BAKED CUSTARD PUDDING.