Part 1

Copyright 1914

FLORIDA SALADS

“Nothing lovelier can be found in woman, than to study household good.” --Milton.

FRANCES BARBER HARRIS 1914 JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

Preface.

If the writer can impress upon the readers of this little salad book the importance of eating salads, the writing of it will not be in vain.

The addition of a pretty salad to a menu not only gives a refined, attractive appearance to the table, but is appetizing, and, I might say, almost a necessity in this climate, speaking from a health standpoint. Fruits and vegetables contain a large amount of the necessary salts required by the system, and as for olive oil, the many benefits derived from the use of pure olive oil are so great that it is considered by good authority a positive beautifier. We all know that celery and onions are soothing to the nerves.

This is not a very comprehensive work, but a collection of a few practical, palatable recipes, combined, proportioned and tested by the author. It is especially written with the hope that it will be of some assistance to young housekeepers in making their meals attractive and dainty. With a few exceptions, the materials used in these salads are produced in Florida.

In making salads there is a field for a great deal of originality. With a little taste and painstaking care, most attractive, and at the same time wholesome dishes may be originated.

Important Pointers.

Of course only the freshest and best materials are reckoned in these recipes. It is a mistake to think the mixing will hide the quality.

Lettuce, endive, celery, and all salad greens should be most carefully washed, crisped one hour in ice water, put into a cheese cloth bag and kept near the ice until needed; or, shake gently, put into a covered stone jar and set in cool place. Cover jar with cloth before putting on the top. All salad materials should be thoroughly cold and salads kept cold until served.

Pecans can be cracked easily and meats gotten out whole if they are scalded and left in the hot water a few moments; crack lengthwise. Scald nut meats to blanch.

Do not be afraid to use red pepper in salads. It is wholesome and often prevents them from being indigestible.

Salads should not be mixed any longer before serving than absolutely necessary.

Onions should be sliced and soaked at least one hour in ice water before using for salads. They are milder and not so apt to disagree with one. Cucumbers should be sliced thinly and crisped in ice water one hour before eating. It makes them more wholesome.

Let the hands come in contact with salads as little as possible. Use fork and spoon for mixing dressings and tossing salads together. When convenient make French dressing and mix salad at the table.

A small lump of ice put into French dressing while being made keeps it cool and makes it milder.

A tiny pinch of sugar improves most salads.

The secret of making mayonnaise that will not curdle is in using perfectly fresh eggs and cold, pure olive oil. Care and judgment is also needed; materials differ and have to be used accordingly. Stir in one direction.

It is best not to use silver or metal utensil in making dressing or in mixing salads. The writer uses an orange wood fork and spoon. The wood is hard and does not discolor.

A heavy white porcelain bowl holding about one quart is a convenient size in which to mix mayonnaise.

Squeeze lemon and strain juice before beginning mayonnaise.

When mayonnaise loosens or begins to curdle, put in a pinch of corn starch, or if it separates after making, put an egg yolk into a fresh bowl and gradually stir mayonnaise into it.

The writer never uses cream in combination with salad dressings, from the fact that lemon juice and vinegar curdle cream. The desired quantity of the following is a good substitute: one teacupful of fresh, rich, sweet milk thickened with one teaspoonful of corn starch cooked in a double boiler; when it begins to thicken add one teaspoonful of butter. When it is the consistency of thick cream, remove from fire, beat well and put near ice until needed. It will be referred to in these recipes as Cream Substitute.

When canned meats are used for salads, the can should be opened at least half hour before using, meat placed in a porcelain, glass or china bowl and thoroughly aerated.

Lettuce is so succulent and easy to bruise that breaking or pulling it to pieces with the fingers is a more delicate way than cutting with a knife.

Salads should never be sour but so delicately blended that no seasoning predominates.

“Distrust the condiment that bites too soon.”

A little claret added to Plain Mayonnaise is very nice for fruit salads.

Before making sandwiches, bread may be peeled, or all crust taken off with a very sharp knife.

Slightly melt butter before spreading on bread for sandwiches.

It is best to spread butter on end of loaf before slicing for sandwiches. Use very sharp knife for cutting bread.

An ordinary tea cup, level full, rounded table spoon and tea spoon are used for measuring these recipes.

Salad Dressings.

COOKED YELLOW SALAD DRESSING.

Three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one scant teaspoonful of salt, one half teaspoonful mustard, one teaspoonful sugar, white and red pepper to make rather hot; cook in double boiler and when hot add one half teacup of butter. When butter is melted stir in yolks of three well beaten eggs and continue to stir until mixture is the consistency of thick cream. Take from fire, beat well and put on ice. When thoroughly chilled, fold in the well beaten white of an egg.

COOKED WHITE SALAD DRESSING.

One cup of fresh, rich, sweet milk. Thicken with one teaspoonful of corn starch and cook in a double boiler. When it begins to thicken add one tablespoonful of butter, stirring until as thick as heavy cream. Remove from fire and add one half teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar, white pepper to taste and beat until smooth. When cold fold in one egg white, well beaten.

LEMON DRESSING.

One-half teaspoonful of salt well sprinkled with white pepper, three tablespoonfuls of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon beaten alternately until thick.

FRENCH DRESSING.

One teaspoonful of salt, tabasco or cayenne and black pepper to taste; one half cup of cold olive oil, one and one-half tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Stir oil and vinegar alternately into salt and pepper with an orange wood fork until thick. Serve at once.

Instead of olive oil, bacon grease is sometimes used. It is then called German dressing instead of French dressing.

NUT DRESSING.

Pound into a smooth paste pecan meats and mix with French dressing, or mix peanut butter with French dressing. Nice to serve over plain lettuce.

MAYONNAISE, PLAIN.

Put yolks of two eggs and one teaspoonful of salt into a cold bowl and stir until smooth with an orange wood fork; gradually add cold olive oil and lemon juice alternately until one and one-half cups of oil and the juice of one small lemon have been used. Season with Tabasco to taste. This makes a stiff mayonnaise. Lightly fold into it one egg white beaten dry. If a milder dressing is preferred, mix the above with equal part of cream substitute. This recipe can be doubled or halved.

MAYONNAISE No. 1.

Two yolks, one-half teaspoonful salt, dash of mustard, sprinkling of white pepper, a pinch of sugar and six drops of Tabasco. Stir smoothly and add, a few drops at a time, cold olive oil until it is thick and cakes on the spoon. Thin with lemon juice and add oil and lemon juice alternately until one and one-half cups of oil and juice of one small lemon have been used. A few drops of vinegar may also be added. Cooking oil is used by some in place of olive oil.

MAYONNAISE No. 2.

Yolks of two hard boiled eggs, one raw yolk, a quarter of a teaspoonful of mustard, one teaspoonful of salt, cayenne to taste, juice of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of vinegar and two cups of olive oil. Work the oil and seasoning gradually into the cold yolks as in plain mayonnaise. This dressing can be increased in quantity by adding cream substitute.

GREEN MAYONNAISE.

Soak strips of sweet, green peppers in slightly salted ice water two hours. Drain, chop finely with a sharp knife and fold into mayonnaise.

RED MAYONNAISE.

Cut pimentoes into fine pieces and fold into mayonnaise.

DEEP YELLOW MAYONNAISE.

Mash one teaspoonful of butter into the yolks of two hard boiled eggs while warm, and when cold stir into the plain mayonnaise.

ROQUEFORT DRESSING.

French dressing with Roquefort cheese mashed smoothly into it.

LEMON JELLY.

One package of gelatine soaked in one cup of cold water; add one-half cup of lemon juice, tablespoonful of sugar and two and half cups of boiling water. Cook a few seconds. Clarify with whites of two eggs.

Dinner Salads.

LETTUCE HEART SALAD No. 1.

Leaves of small lettuce hearts slightly pulled apart, thoroughly washed and soaked in ice water one hour. Drain, dip in French dressing and sprinkle with finely shredded celery mixed with chopped pimentoes. Serve with or without mayonnaise, one to each person.

LETTUCE HEART SALAD No. 2.

Lettuce hearts prepared as above and sprinkled with finely chopped nut meats instead of celery and pimentoes. Serve with mayonnaise.

LETTUCE SALAD.

Select the white inner leaves of a cabbage head lettuce. Serve a few leaves on a plate dressed with Roquefort dressing.

ENDIVE SALAD.

Pick well bleached endive apart, wash well and crisp one-half hour in ice water. Shake and marinate in French dressing.

MALAGA SALAD.

With a sharp knife slit one side of large Malaga grapes, take out the seed and fill with blanched pecan meats. For each plate, put two leaves of romaine side by side pinched together, and a row of grapes in each leaf resembling peas in a pod. Put one-half teaspoonful of Green Mayonnaise on the ends of each leaf.

TOMATO CUPS.

Large, firm, cold tomatoes peeled with a thin bladed sharp knife; scoop out the centers and fill with chopped celery and nuts mixed with mayonnaise. Serve on lettuce leaves.

AVOCADO PEAR SALAD.

Cut pears in half lengthwise and remove seed; sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon or lime juice and eat with a spoon. One-half to each person.

ROMAINE SALAD.

Wash romaine lettuce well, crisp in ice water, dress with French dressing mixed with finely chopped pimentoes. Dress at table.

BELL PEPPER SALAD.

Finely shred large, sweet bell peppers and soak one hour in ice water; drain and chop fine. Prepare endive in same manner and mix together with French dressing to which a little Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce have been added. Put a thin slice of a large firm tomato on each place and a tablespoonful of salad on each slice. This is rather a hot salad and a little suffices. It is also good with deviled crabs for a Luncheon or Bridge.

ASPARAGUS SALAD.

Cooked asparagus chilled, a few stalks put on lettuce leaves, sprinkled with chopped nuts and served with mayonnaise.

STRING BEAN SALAD.

Cold string beans which have been cooked in the old fashioned Southern way with bacon, mixed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers and dressed with a French dressing. Add a little Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves or a tablespoonful on salad plate with curled round radish on side. Of course the onions and cucumbers must be soaked in ice water and drained before adding to salad.

GREEN PEA SALAD.

Boil peas in salted water and drain. Boil mushrooms in salted water, chop and drain. Mix peas and mushrooms together with French dressing. Scoop the center out of firm tomatoes, fill with the mixture and put on lettuce leaves. Sprinkle a few peas around the tomatoes and put a spoonful of Red Mayonnaise on top.

CELERY STICK SALAD No. 1.

Wash celery well with a brush, crisp in ice water and dry. Select well grooved stalks, remove strings or threads, cut in uniform lengths and fill grooves with cold tomato jelly, just before it hardens. Serve two stalks on two romaine lettuce leaves with a teaspoonful of mayonnaise on side of plate. Eat with fingers, dipping celery ends in dressing.

CELERY STICK SALAD No. 2.

Prepare celery as in recipe for Celery Stick Salad No. 1. Fill grooves with cream cheese mashed with pimento. Serve in same way.

CELERY SALAD.

Chop crisp celery and mix with blanched, broken pecan meats. Put two romaine lettuce leaves on each plate, and in the middle, along the length of each leaf put a little row of the mixture, with a small stream of mayonnaise on top.

TOMATO JELLY.

Mash fresh tomatoes through a sieve, enough to make pint and half. Dissolve one package of gelatine, add to tomatoes, season with cloves, salt, celery seed and white pepper. Boil a few seconds, remove from fire, strain, and when cold set near ice.

CUCUMBER SALAD.

Two long glass house cucumbers and one medium white onion sliced thinly and soaked in ice water. Drain well and lightly mix with two cold, firm tomatoes cut with a sharp knife into small pieces. Add a little Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of sugar to a plain French dressing and pour over salad and serve on lettuce leaves.

CAULIFLOWER SALAD.

Boil cauliflower in salted water until tender and drain. Put a spray of it on a lettuce leaf with a few blocks of hard boiled egg. Dress with a spoonful of mayonnaise dressing.

SPINACH SALAD.

Boil spinach until tender. Salt and pepper while cooking. When done, mash fine, drain, and season with butter. Mince cucumber pickle, add to spinach and mould in individual moulds. Turn out on a bed of cress, put grated hard boiled eggs around the base and Green Mayonnaise on top.

RADISH SALAD.

Peel firm young radishes, cut in small pieces, and soak in ice water one-half hour. Drain and mix with broken blanched pecan meats. Serve on lettuce with Mayonnaise No. 2. Garnish with round red radishes sliced in the shape of roses.

CABBAGE SALAD.

The half of one small, hard, white cabbage shredded finely, mixed with one small, white onion chopped and all soaked in ice water two hours. Drain well and mix with half the amount of finely shredded celery; dust with cayenne, sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and dress with French dressing containing a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Serve in a nest of endive and put a few small blocks of red beet which have been dressed with vinegar, on top.

STRAWBERRY SALAD.

Slice strawberries. Add half the quantity of thinly sliced kumquats and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Dress with a very little lemon dressing and put in small cup shaped leaves of white lettuce. Garnish with a large strawberry, with cap and stem.

MAMMEE-SAPOTA SALAD.

Cut in half, remove seed and dress with lemon dressing, adding a few drops of the juice of sour sops. Serve on lettuce leaf and eat with a spoon. This is a very pretty dish.

FLORIDA SALAD.

Peel grapefruit, oranges, and tangerines; divide into lobes, remove white skin and seed, and put on lettuce leaves. Cut a pineapple into small square blocks and pile a little on top of each plate of salad. Around the salad put slices of banana with a little lemon juice squeezed over. Serve with mayonnaise.

Luncheon Salads.

AVOCADO PEAR SALAD.

Cut the meat of an avocado pear in strips, lengthwise, then cut into square blocks. Mix carefully, without mashing, with cold hard boiled eggs, cut up. If the pears are not too large, fill hulls with the salad and place on lettuce or serve on lettuce without the hulls. Dress with Mayonnaise No. 2.

OYSTER SALAD.

One pint of small, fresh oysters. Strain the liquor and rinse the oysters in ice water; put oysters back in liquor and scald until well curled. Drain and chill. Mix with equal quantity of diced celery, one small cucumber pickle chopped fine, a sprinkling of cayenne, and one cupful of chopped mushrooms. Serve on lettuce with Green Mayonnaise.

TUNA SALAD.

Mix equal quantity of tuna and chopped celery. Slice midget cucumber pickles in lengthwise, small strips, mix with the fish and celery and sprinkle with cayenne. Serve on lettuce leaves and dress with Mayonnaise No. 2. This salad is also nice for bridge parties. The tuna fish is often called the “Chicken of the sea.”

TURKEY SALAD.

Put a thin slice of tender turkey on a lettuce leaf. Mince celery and truffles, mix with mayonnaise and put a little mound of it on each piece of turkey and top with a Salmiring. (Rings cut from seeded olives.)

CHICKEN ASPIC SALAD.

Cover a four pound fat chicken with boiling water, season with salt and black pepper, and simmer until tender. Remove chicken. Season liquor with a finely chopped small onion, a few cloves, a dash of cayenne and boil down to about one pint and a half. Soak one box of gelatine in a cup of cold water with one tablespoonful of lemon juice added. Pour into chicken stock and boil a few seconds. Remove from the fire and strain, then clarify with the whites of two eggs. Dice the cold chicken and add half the quantity of celery cut fine. Just before the gelatine begins to set, put a little in the bottom of individual cups, add chicken and celery and finish the top with more gelatine. Put cups near ice until ready to serve. Turn out of cups--using a thin bladed warm knife--on lettuce leaves, and with a paper tube squeeze a little ring of stiff mayonnaise around the base of salad. Put an olive and two maraschino cherries on top of each.

SARDINE EGGS.

Hard boiled eggs split lengthwise in halves and a teaspoonful of sardine mayonnaise on top, served on lettuce leaves.

Sardine Mayonnaise: plain mayonnaise with boned sardines mashed into it. Make pretty hot with tabasco and add finely chopped cucumber pickles.

EGG LILIES.

Carefully cut the white of hard boiled eggs down lengthwise to form petals. At the base of each petal put a drop of Deep Yellow Mayonnaise and on top of the yolk, in center, make a tiny indentation and fill with Green Mayonnaise.

These are pretty to serve on a helped plate containing cold boiled ham and sandwiches.

Put a few nasturtium leaves around the lilies.

CHICKEN SALAD.

Salt and pepper one four pound fat chicken and simmer in water enough to cover until perfectly tender. When done, remove chicken, and if there is too much liquor boil down until there is just about enough in which to jelly the chicken. With the kitchen scissors, cut the chicken into half inch pieces and leave in liquor over night on ice. Just before serving, mix jellied chicken with equal quantity of diced, crisp celery and two teacupsful of broken pecan meats. Turn all into a large mixing bowl, add one-half teacup of plain French dressing and with salad fork and spoon lightly toss together. Serve with mayonnaise on lettuce leaves and garnish with slices of cold, hard boiled eggs and Salmirings.

Veal is often combined with half the amount of chicken in making this salad. Cover veal with water, season with salt and pepper and simmer until done. Cut in small pieces and mix with chicken, half veal and half chicken.

SALMON SALAD.

Bone and drain one medium sized can of the best salmon and sprinkle lightly with cayenne. Dice an equal quantity of crisp celery, add a few capers to French dressing and toss all together with fork and spoon. Serve on lettuce leaves. Grate the whites and yolks of hard boiled eggs separately, sprinkle a little grated white on top of each serving and the grated yolks in a ring around the base. Put a teaspoonful of Green Mayonnaise on top.

CRAB SALAD.

Flake freshly boiled crab meat, sprinkle with cayenne and chill. Before putting into refrigerator, cool and put into a closely covered dish, as the odor of fish is disagreeable in a refrigerator. Chop celery, mix with crab meat, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a sprinkling of salt and serve in shells with mayonnaise on top, or serve on lettuce leaves and garnish with thin slices of cucumbers that have been marinated in French dressing.

SHRIMP SALAD.

Boil and peel fresh shrimps and soak in ice water half hour, drain and sprinkle with cayenne. Chill shrimp and mix with equal quantity of crisp celery, a little lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt. Serve in halves of large green, bell peppers, cut lengthwise. Put Green Mayonnaise on top and serve on lettuce leaves.

KIPPERED HERRING SALAD.

Flake kippered herring and take out bones. Boil small new Irish potatoes, in jackets, peel and slice. Slice pickled pearl onions. Gently mix all together. Dress with French dressing and garnish with sliced pimolas.

LOBSTER SALAD.

Flake the meat of freshly boiled lobster and chill; add chopped celery and hard boiled eggs cut into blocks. Season with French dressing to which a few drops of sherry have been added. Serve in a nest of endive with mayonnaise.

ROAST BEEF SALAD.

One cupful of cold, roast beef and one cupful of cold Irish potatoes cut into half inch pieces. Chop one small, white onion and two firm tomatoes, drain and add to beef and potatoes. Season with red pepper, a little horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and French dressing and serve on small white cabbage leaves.

POTATO SALAD.

Boil Irish potatoes in skins, peel and cut in small blocks. Mix with half the amount of chopped celery and one fourth the amount of broken pecans, blanched. Season with Mayonnaise No. 2. Carefully put on lettuce leaves, without mashing the potato, and garnish with slices of hard boiled eggs and a little minced pimento.

POTATO ROSE SALAD.

Two cups of hot Irish potato, yolks of two hard boiled eggs, two tablespoonfuls of butter and a little onion juice mashed through a potato masher. When cold, add one cup of finely minced celery, season with French dressing and shape into roses with a pastry tube or form the petals with a teaspoon on a lettuce leaf. In the center of each rose put a drop of Green Mayonnaise. On the side of the plate put a little ball of cream cheese mixed with pimentoes and mashed between two halves of English walnut meats.

PINEAPPLE SALAD.

Cut the top from a nice, Smooth Cayenne pineapple and scoop out the inside. Cut pineapple and celery into small pieces, mix with nuts and mayonnaise and fill the pineapple case. Chill, and put on a pretty salad dish in a bed of lettuce leaves.

CUCUMBER BOATS.

Cut six, fresh, green cucumbers lengthwise in half, carefully remove inside and put boats--cut side--on ice until ready to serve. Cut the inside into small slices, cut four firm tomatoes into small pieces and one small white onion finely chopped. Drain well and just before serving, toss together with a French dressing. Fill boats and put on romaine leaves. Fine to serve on the same plate with deviled crab at a morning bridge party.

CHEESE AND NUT SALAD.

Mash American cream cheese with pimentoes and peanut butter. Form into balls and press between halves of blanched English walnut meats. Serve on lettuce leaf with mayonnaise.

GRAPEFRUIT SALAD.

Cut fruit in half, remove inside carefully, and take white skin from sections. Lightly mix with Malaga grapes stuffed with nuts; squeeze a little orange juice over salad; refill hulls and serve on lettuce with mayonnaise.

SALAD IN GRAPEFRUIT HULLS.

Halve grapefruit crossways, scoop out contents and notch edges of hulls. Line the hulls with lettuce and fill with chicken salad; garnish with maraschino cherries and Salmirings. Serve in a bed of endive with mayonnaise. Put meat of grapefruit in refrigerator and serve next morning for breakfast in glasses.

ORANGE SALAD.

Orange and grapefruit lobes, mixed with blanched English walnut meats on lettuce with mayonnaise.

TANGERINE SALAD.

Peel tangerines, divide the lobes and carefully remove seed. Sprinkle with ground pecans and serve on lettuce with mayonnaise.

BANANA SALAD.