Chapter 2

LOBSTER SALAD.--Take two live hen or female lobsters; boil them thirty minutes; drain. When cold, break them apart; crack the claws, and if the tail fins are covered with eggs remove them carefully. Take out the sand pouch found near the head, split the fleshy part of the tail in two lengthwise, remove the small long entrail found therein. Adhering to the body-shell may be found a layer of creamy fat, save this, and also the green fat in the body of the lobster (called Tom Alley by New Englanders) and the coral. If celery is used, tear the lobster into shreds with forks; if lettuce, cut the lobster into half inch pieces; place the salad herb in a bowl, add the lobster and the fat; and pour over it a rich mayonnaise; garnish with the claws and heads, tufts of green, hard-boiled eggs, etc. The lobster eggs may be separated and sprinkled over the mayonnaise. The coral is used for coloring mayonnaise, and also butter, which is then used in decorating salmon and other dark fish, used in salads.

MELON SALAD.--The best way to eat a melon is unquestionably with a little salt, but melons are very deceptive, they may look delicious, but from growing in the same field with squashes and other vegetables they often taste insipid. Such may be made quite palatable in salads. Cut the melon into strips; then remove the skin; cut the eatable part into pieces, and send to table with a plain dressing.

MINT SALAD.--This is an egg salad with the addition of six leaves of mint chopped fine, serve with a plain dressing, and with or after cold roast lamb.

ORANGE SALADS.--Peel and slice three oranges that have been on ice. Remove the seeds, arrange the slices in a compote, cover with powdered sugar, and add two tablespoonfuls each of maraschino, curaçoa, and brandy. Let it stand an hour in the ice-box before serving. Or, arrange in a dish a neat border of cold boiled rice. Peel and divide into sections three Florida oranges; put the oranges in the centre; dust powdered sugar over all, and set the dish in the ice-box. Just before serving pour over the salad two wineglassfuls of arrack. A plain salad dressing is served with orange salad in some places in the East, but would not suit the American palate.

OYSTER SALAD.--Boil two dozen small oysters for five minutes in water enough to cover them; add a little salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar; drain and cool. Put into a salad-bowl the centre leaves of two heads of cabbage lettuce, add the oysters whole, pour over them a mayonnaise; garnish with oyster-crabs, hard-boiled eggs, and, if liked, a few anchovies cut into fillets.

PIGEON SALAD.--Wild pigeons are at times so plentiful that they can be purchased for 75 cents per dozen. They are usually served broiled, roasted, or in pies; but pigeon salad is a very dainty dish. Take equal parts of celery and roasted pigeon; arrange neatly, with mayonnaise; garnish and serve.

PINEAPPLE SALAD.--Peel and dig out the eyes of two very ripe pineapples. Take hold of the crown of the pine with the left hand; take a fork in the right hand and with it tear the pine into shreds until there is nothing left but the core, which throw away. Place the shredded fruit lightly in a compote. Take half a pint of white sugar syrup; add to it a wineglassful of arrack, a tablespoonful of brandy, and one of curaçoa. Mix and pour over the pines. Set in ice-box. When cold, serve.

POTATO SALAD.--Cut up into slices two quarts of boiled potatoes _while hot_; add to them a teaspoonful each of chopped onion and parsley; pour over them a liberal quantity of plain salad dressing. If the potatoes should then appear too dry, add a little hot water, or better still, soup stock; toss lightly so as not to break the slices; then place the salad on ice to become cold. Serve by placing a leaf of lettuce on each small plate, and add two tablespoonfuls of the potato to the lettuce, for each person. Cold boiled potatoes do not make a good potato salad.

PRAWN SALAD.--These dainties can always be obtained in Fulton Market, cooked and shelled. Take one quart of prawns and one quart and a pint of cut celery; put the celery in a bowl; add the prawns; garnish neatly and serve with a mayonnaise.

RABBIT SALAD.--Rabbits are always cheap and good, from November to January, and should be enjoyed by the poor as well as the rich. Cut up the flesh of two roasted rabbits into neat pieces; place them in a bowl and cover with a plain dressing; add a teaspoonful of minced salad herbs; let stand for four hours. Put into a salad-bowl the leaves of three hearts of cabbage lettuce; drain the meat, and add to the lettuce. Put into a soup plate a teaspoonful of French mustard; thin it with a tablespoonful of the dressing drained from the meat, and gradually add to this a pint of mayonnaise, then pour it over the salad.

SALMON SALADS.--Broil two salmon steaks; when done break the fish into flakes and add to it a little salt, pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Let stand for an hour. Half fill a salad-bowl with lettuce; add the fish, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs, stoned olives, and a few spiced oysters.

No. 2.--Put into a salad-bowl three stalks of celery, sliced; add half a pound of canned salmon; arrange neatly; add mayonnaise; garnish and serve.

No. 3.--Boil a six-pound salmon, whole; when done and cold place it on a long fish-platter; prepare a red mayonnaise (see Lobster Salad); fill a paper cornucopia with the sauce and squeeze it through the small end over the fish in waves, to represent scales. Garnish with the small centre hearts of lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, cray-fish, and little mounds of shrimps or oyster crabs.

SARDINE SALAD.--Wash the oil from six sardines, remove skin and bone and pour a little lemon juice over them. Put into a salad-bowl the leaves of a head of crisp lettuce; add the fish. Chop up two hard-boiled eggs, add to the fish, and serve with a plain dressing. Some do not approve of the washing process, but one of the principal reasons why Americans dislike oil is the fact that they first tasted it on sardines with which a poor fish-oil is generally used, and the reason that the trade in sardines has fallen off, is owing to the poor oil used in the canning of these otherwise dainty fish.

SCOLLOP SALAD.--Soak twenty-five scollops in salt water for half an hour; rinse them in cold water and boil twenty minutes; drain. Cut them into thin slices; mix with an equal quantity of sliced celery; cover with mayonnaise, garnish, and serve.

TOMATO SALAD.--A perfect tomato salad is prepared as follows: Take three fine ripe August tomatoes and scald them a moment; skin, and set on ice to cool; slice; put them into a salad-bowl; add a teaspoonful of chopped tarragon and a plain salad dressing. Sliced tomatoes with mayonnaise are not to be despised.

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E. C.'s Salad Dressing.

Pour one pint of boiling water into a farina boiler; add six tablespoonfuls of vinegar; place on the stove. Beat six eggs lightly. Mix, with a little cold water, two tablespoonfuls of mustard, two teaspoonfuls of salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and one heaping tablespoonful of corn-starch.

Beat this mixture up with the eggs, and stir it very slowly into the boiling water and vinegar, after having removed the latter from the stove--in order to prevent possibility of curdling. Return to the stove; stir constantly until quite thick. Remove from the stove, and add immediately half a pound of butter; stir until the butter is thoroughly melted. Now put the yolks of two eggs on a plate, and, using a fork, mix gradually with them half a pint of olive-oil, stirring it in vigorously. When the first mixture is cold, beat the second into it. If more oil is desired, the yolk of another egg must be mixed with it.

This recipe will make about one quart of dressing. If less is wished, part of the first mixture can be saved in a cool place, and can be used later by making a fresh supply of the olive-oil mixed with yolk of egg.

S. F.'S SHRIMP SALAD.--Boil a quart of fresh shrimps for twenty minutes. Open and throw away the shells. Take the crisp leaves of a head of lettuce, and place in a salad-bowl with two fresh tomatoes peeled and sliced. Add the shrimps and pour over all a mayonnaise--red, if convenient--and serve.

_BLANK PAGES_ FOR ADDITIONAL RECIPES.

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Transcriber's Note:

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Variant spellings have been retained.