Part 15

Many who believe that they cultivate the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the willing, receptive mind, live and die without learning the great truth that the mighty thing we call Life is made up of minute matters. They see and admire the coral reef that heaves a back a mile long out of the surf, and give never a thought to the coral builders.

A man who thinks much and observes much, once told me that one essential difference between a man’s work and a woman’s is that he grasps general principles while she gives her attention to details.

A man, according to this authority, is an impressionist painter, handling his brush boldly, dashing in broad effects of light and shadow, while a woman finishes each object carefully, sometimes, after the manner of the Dutch school of painting, showing the very hairs upon the brawny peasant’s arm.

(I may be excused for saying, in passing, that, being a woman, I founded upon his general principle the particular moral that one sex supplements the other, and that the Creator meant the work of the world to be done by them in concert.)

He had turned from his desk to talk with me and, while talking, looked ruefully at an inky forefinger.

“I should keep some pumice stone, or acetic acid, or acetate of soda, or ammonia, here to remove ink-stains,” he said. “I always spill ink in filling my fountain pen.”

A box of matches was in a pigeonhole; a wet sponge, used for stamping and sealing letters, was close to the disfigured hand. I bade him wet the match and rub it upon the stain until it disappeared—the work of a minute. The sulphur in the ever-convenient match acted upon the black spots without blackening the skin, whereas any one of the four detersives he had mentioned would have left a hard, disagreeable sensation upon the cuticle. He was all right as to the principles. The one driblet of practical wisdom was for the moment worth them all.

A bright young woman whom I am glad to know, has written a little book entitled, “FIRST AID TO THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.” It includes scores of things which everybody ought to know, and which everybody else, especially the writer of household manuals, takes it for granted that the housewife _does_ know. It is intelligent attention to this very matter of detail that constitutes the “finish” of work of whatever kind. One of the “Sunday books” of my childhood was a series called “THE WEEK,” a story of English cottage life. I can recall many sentences and the whole story in substance. One remark was to this effect: “Mary was a good housekeeper; Nanny an indifferent. Nanny’s hearth was free of ashes and cinders, but dusty in the corners. Mary’s was not only swept, but pipe-clayed. Mary’s kettle was bright and black; Nanny’s clean, but brown and dull.”

That is, Nanny had mastered general principles; Mary looked to details.

I read last week in a woman’s corner of a daily paper a letter from a grateful housewife whose hall carpet had been deluged by the kerosene from a broken lamp. By the advice of a visitor she promptly covered the great spot with dry oatmeal. When this was swept off in the morning not a trace of the oil remained.

“My husband explains this by saying that the oatmeal is at once an alkali and an absorbent,” she writes. “I pass the useful knowledge on.”

A careless servant knocked a lamp from the table in the bedroom of my summer cottage and the matting got a full quart of the best kerosene. I had the floating oil wiped up with a clean, soft cloth, opened the windows, shut the door, and let no one enter the room for twelve hours. Not a trace of grease remained at the end of that time. The volatile oil had effaced itself. The alkaline absorbent was not needed.

“We are all fond of cauliflower; my husband and sons like young onions in the season,” said the mistress of a big house. “We can not have either of these vegetables cooked on account of the odor. It fills the house from cellar to attic.”

A housewife who lives in a tiny city flat has both of these dishes whenever she likes. The vegetables are put over the fire in cold water; a little salt is thrown in, and the pot is left uncovered. If these rules be strictly obeyed, the rising odor during cooking will be scarcely perceptible.

A physician, driving with his wife through a lonely country neighborhood, heard screams issuing from the open door of a cottage and went in to see if he could be of use. A child had upset a kettle of boiling water upon its legs and feet and was in agony from the scald.

“Have you linseed oil and lime water in the house?” asked the doctor.

Before the distracted mother could say that there was neither, the doctor’s wife said, “Do you burn wood in any room?”

There was a wood-stove in the parlor. There is always lard in the country pantry. In three minutes an ointment of lard and soot from the stovepipe was beaten up and spread upon old linen; in five minutes the scalds were covered with it. The relief was speedy; the cure complete in a day or two.

The wise housewife gleans a great store of precious driblets against the hour and minute of need. Such study of details is like sweeping up gold filings. The separate particles are nominally valueless, compared with the mastery of great principles. When massed and assorted, they go far toward making life easy.

A suggestive German fable is of a trooper who saw a loose horseshoe on the ground as he was going into battle, got down, picked it up and hung it about his neck by a string. In the first charge a bullet struck the horseshoe and glanced aside harmlessly.

“Ha!” said the trooper. “Even a little armor is a good thing, if rightly placed.”

The horseshoe was “a detail.”

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

(_Which the housewife is particularly requested to read_)

Two things are essential to the excellence of croquettes. The mixture composing them must not be too stiff. The fat in which they are cooked must be boiling when they go in, and deep enough to float them. If these conditions are neglected, you will have a pasty, sticky compound, soaked with grease and misshapen, perhaps scorched on the under side. The hot fat should form a crust instantly which prevents the fat from touching the interior of the croquette.

_Always_ make out croquettes at least a couple of hours before they are to be cooked; roll in egg, then in fine crumbs, or in cracker-dust; arrange upon a floured dish, not touching one another, and leave upon ice, or in a very cold place to stiffen.

Oyster croquettes

Cook twenty-five oysters in their liquor until they just begin to ruffle, remove from the fire, drain (reserving half a cupful of the liquor), and chop fine. Stir together over the fire two tablespoonfuls of flour and two of butter and pour on them a half-cupful of cream with a pinch of soda in it, and the half-cupful of oyster liquor. When beaten to a smooth sauce add slowly the beaten yolk of two eggs, then the chopped oysters, salt and pepper and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Remove at once from the fire and set aside to cool. When very cold form into croquettes.

Lobster croquettes

(Contributed)

Two cupfuls of minced lobster seasoned well with paprika, salt and a little mace. One-fourth the quantity of bread-crumbs, i. e. about half a cupful. Four tablespoonfuls of cream, heated (with a pinch of soda), and thickened with a teaspoonful of butter rolled in flour. Make a thick paste of the mixture; let it get stiff and cold; make into croquettes, roll in egg and cracker-crumbs; set on the ice for an hour; roll again in cracker-dust and fry in deep, hot cottolene or other fat, which has been heated slowly. Drain, garnish with lemon and parsley and serve.

Chicken croquettes

Cook together in a saucepan a tablespoonful of flour and one of butter until they are blended. Pour upon this white roux a cupful of rich milk, and when you have a smooth white sauce stir in a cupful and a half of minced boiled or roast chicken. Season to taste with celery salt, white pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Cook until well heated, then add the yolks of two eggs and cook for just two minutes before removing from the fire. Set aside until cold and stiff; mold into croquettes, roll in cracker-dust, in beaten egg and yet again in cracker-dust, and set on the ice for two hours before frying.

Turkey croquettes

Make in the same way, but mince more finely, as the meat is firmer and harder.

Veal croquettes

Make a forcemeat of two cupfuls of minced veal, two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs, one scant teaspoonful of salt, one-quarter teaspoonful of paprika, one-eighth teaspoonful of mace, one teaspoonful of onion juice, a tablespoonful of butter and the yolks of two raw eggs. Stir in a saucepan over the fire until the mixture is heated through, and set aside to cool. When cool, make up into croquettes, dip in beaten egg, roll in egg and fine crumbs and fry. Serve with tomato sauce.

Veal and spaghetti croquettes

Mix together a cupful, each, of cold cooked veal and of cold boiled spaghetti, both minced fine. Season with salt, paprika and onion juice. Stir into a cupful of drawn butter, well thickened; cook together in a saucepan until smoking hot, when add the yolk of a raw egg and a tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese (powdered). Form into croquettes, dip into beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in smoking hot cottolene or other fat, or dripping until brown. Serve with tomato sauce.

Chicken and macaroni croquettes

Make as directed in the foregoing recipe, omitting the cheese. A nice sauce for either of these dishes is stewed and strained tomatoes, thickened with a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour and cooked one minute before a large tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese is stirred in.

Rice croquettes

Beat an egg light and stir it into a cupful of boiled rice; add a teaspoonful, each, of sugar and melted butter, salt to taste, add enough cream to form the mixture into croquettes of the right consistency. Dip each croquette into beaten egg, then in cracker-dust and set all for two hours in a cold place before frying in boiling cottolene, or other fat, to a golden brown.

Croquettes of brains

Calf’s, or lamb’s or pig’s brains may be used for this dish.

Wash the brains in cold water, put them over the fire in boiling water, cook for two minutes, drain and lay in ice-cold water until cold and stiff.

Beat them into a paste. Have ready some thick drawn butter and beat into the brains until the paste is smooth and stiff enough to handle; add, then, flour to stiffen it yet more; season with pepper, salt and a little very finely minced parsley; flour your hands, make the paste into croquettes; roll in egg and cracker-crumbs; set on the ice for two hours—or more—and fry in deep boiling cottolene or other fat. Drain and serve.

Veal and ham croquettes

Mince enough cold veal to make a cupful when chopped; mix with it half as much cold boiled ham and one-fourth as much fine crumbs. Rub the yolk of a hard-boiled egg through a colander or vegetable press, and add to the mixture. Season with pepper and onion juice and moisten with thickened gravy or with drawn butter. Lastly, whip in a raw egg to bind the mixture and make into croquettes. Roll in egg and in crumbs, set aside to form and stiffen, and fry.

Potato croquettes

Work to a paste two cupfuls of mashed potatoes and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Season with salt and pepper and beat light with a raw egg. Form into balls or croquettes; roll in egg and then in cracker-dust; let them stand on ice until stiff and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat. Drain off every drop of fat and serve hot.

Hominy croquettes

Make precisely as you would potato croquettes, beating hard until the mixture is entirely free from lumps, hominy being more adhesive and _co_hesive than potato.

Fish and potato croquettes

One cupful of cold cooked fish picked to pieces with a fork, and one-third the quantity of mashed potato worked to a stiff cream with a little drawn butter and seasoned with pepper, salt and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Make into croquettes; roll in egg, then in cracker-crumbs; let them get cold and firm and fry in deep, hot cottolene or other fat.

Beef croquettes

Two cups of minced cold roast beef or steak—(never corned beef). One-quarter as much mashed potato. Season well with pepper, salt and onion juice, with a little very finely minced parsley. Enough gravy to moisten the mixture and a raw egg to bind it.

Work together well, mold into cones, cover with egg and cracker-dust; let them get chilled for two hours and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, or dripping.

Potato and nut croquettes

Blanch the kernels of two dozen English walnuts, or twice that number of pecans, by pouring scalding water over them and leaving them in it until the skins crack and curl. Strip them bare, spread on a dish, sprinkle lightly with celery salt and paprika, and let them get perfectly cold. When crisp, pound in a mortar, or chop and crush fine. Mix with them two cupfuls of mashed potatoes, into which you have worked a little cream, butter and salt while hot. Beat into the mixture the raw yolk of an egg. Mold into croquettes; set aside until stiff; roll in egg and then in cracker-crumbs, and fry. Dry in a hot colander and serve at once.

Celery croquettes

Cook together a tablespoonful of flour and one of butter, and when they bubble pour upon them a cupful of milk. When this is thick and free from lumps pour it gradually upon the beaten yolks of two eggs. Now add a cupful of celery cut (not chopped) into tiny bits, season with celery salt and white pepper and turn out to cool. When cold form with floured hands into small croquettes, roll these in cracker-dust, then in beaten egg, again in cracker-dust and set aside for an hour before frying in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, always brought gradually to the boil.

Oyster-plant croquettes

(Contributed)

Boil, mash and season the oyster-plant, mold into shapes, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, dip in egg and again in crumbs and fry in hot fat.

Sweetbread croquettes

(Contributed)

Take four sweetbreads, removing pipes and membranes soak for an hour in cold salted water. Plunge into boiling salted water to which has been added a tablespoonful of vinegar; cook twenty minutes. Drop again into cold water to harden. Chop them very fine and season with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of grated onion. Add the beaten yolks of three eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, one-half cupful of cream and enough fine bread-crumbs to make soft enough to roll into balls. Dip in egg and then in bread-crumbs and fry in hot fat to a nice brown. Take up and drain on brown paper. Serve hot with sliced lemon.

Mushroom croquettes

Mince fresh mushrooms fine with a keen blade; season with pepper and salt; add a tablespoonful of fine crumbs to each cupful of the chopped mushrooms; work in a little melted butter and the beaten yolk of an egg. When the mixture is cold form into croquettes and set on the ice until you are ready to cook them. Roll in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in deep fat.

WITH THE CASSEROLE

The French name “casserole” has a certain amount of terror for the American housewife. The foreign word startles her and awakens visions of cooking as done by a Parisian _chef_, or by one who has made the culinary art his profession. She, a plain, every-day housekeeper, would not dare aspire to the use of a casserole.

And yet the casserole itself is no more appalling than a saucepan. It is simply a covered dish, made of fireproof pottery, which will stand the heat of the oven or the top of the range. And the dainty cooked in this dish is “casserole” of chicken, rice, etc., as the case may be. Like many another object of dread this, when once known, is converted into a friend.

Casserole of chicken

Clean and joint a tender spring chicken. Put into a frying-pan three tablespoonfuls of butter and fry in this a small onion and a carrot, both cut into tiny dice. When these vegetables are lightly browned, turn into the casserole, add to them two cupfuls of clear soup stock, in which three bay leaves and a little thyme have been boiled and then removed. In this consommé lay the jointed chicken, put the closely-fitting cover on the casserole and set it in a steady oven. It should cook for an hour. At the end of this time stir into the chicken a dessertspoonful of tomato catsup. Recover and cook for half an hour longer. Then add two dozen small French mushrooms which have been previously stewed for ten minutes, lastly, a glass of sherry. Season the whole to taste with pepper and salt and leave uncovered in the oven long enough for the chicken to brown. Fresh mushrooms are, of course, better than canned when you can get them.

Casserole of rice and liver

Boil a cupful of rice in a quart of water until reduced to a soft paste. Mash this rice paste smooth with two tablespoonfuls of butter and salt and pepper to taste. Line a well-greased casserole with the mixture, pressing the paste firmly against bottom and sides, and leaving a large hollow in the center. Set in a cold place until stiff and firm. Meanwhile boil a pound of lamb’s liver, drain and chop fine. Heat in a saucepan two cupfuls of soup stock, season with a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet, thicken with browned flour and stir into this sauce the minced liver. Fill the hollow in the center of the rice with the liver mixture, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and set in the oven to brown.

Casserole of potato and cheese

Boil a sufficient number of potatoes to make three cupfuls when mashed. Return the mashed potatoes to a saucepan and stir over the fire, as you add slowly the beaten yolks of three eggs. When the smoking mass is hot and stiff, turn it into a greased casserole and press firmly against the sides, leaving a hollow in the middle about the size of a kitchen teacup. Brush the top and sides of the potato with the white of an egg and set in the oven until glazed and firm. Meanwhile, heat in a frying-pan or chafing-dish six tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese in a gill of milk and when hot add to it the yolk of an egg, a pinch of salt and a dash of paprika. When this cheese-sauce is thick and hot, remove the casserole from the oven, fill the hollow in the middle of the potato with the cheese mixture, sprinkle cracker-crumbs over the top of the potato and cheese and return to the oven to brown. Serve in the casserole and at once.

Casserole of lamb or mutton chops

Trim the chops neatly, removing every bit of fat and skin. In the bottom of the casserole put a layer of pared and shredded tomatoes; sprinkle with salt, pepper, a little sugar and a teaspoonful of onion juice. Lay three or four chops upon the tomatoes; season them with salt and pepper; arrange about them small pellets of parboiled potato, cut with a gouge, after the manner of Parisian potatoes,—also a dozen or so champignons (canned mushrooms). Now, more tomato, seasoned as before, then more chops, potatoes and mushrooms, until all are used up in this order. The upper layer should be tomatoes. Pour in a generous cupful of stock—bouillon, consommé, mutton broth, or whatever you have; cover and cook steadily for two hours if the casserole be large.

When the meat is tender to the trial-fork, pour off the gravy carefully into a saucepan, thicken with browned flour; add the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet and a glass of brown sherry. Pour back over the contents of the casserole, set in the oven for three minutes, covered, and serve in the dish.

An elegant dish can be made of unpromising chops by following these directions.

Mock casseroles of chicken

Select large, smooth, tart apples of good flavor and of uniform size. Remove core with corer. Mince cold chicken fine, season with salt, a dash of cayenne, pinch of powdered thyme, one-half cupful of bread-crumbs, moistened with three or four teaspoonfuls of sweet cream. Fill each apple and bake in oven. Serve hot or cold with mayonnaise as a salad.

Creamed chicken

Carve enough meat from a cold roast chicken to make a pint when cut into small dice. Cook together in a saucepan a tablespoonful, each, of butter and flour; when they are blended pour upon them a cup of white stock, and when this is thick, a cup of milk. Stir to a smooth sauce and add the minced chicken. Season to taste; cook until the meat is very hot and serve.

Creamed chicken and macaroni

Cut cold boiled or roast chicken into small dice of uniform size, and into half-inch lengths half the quantity of cold, cooked macaroni. Make a good white sauce, season highly with paprika, salt and a suspicion of onion juice. Beat two eggs light and stir into them four tablespoonfuls of cream, heated, with a pinch of soda. Mix well with the chicken and spaghetti; put over the fire in a frying-pan, or broad saucepan, and stir and toss until smoking hot. Serve in a deep dish.

Scallops of turkey or chicken

Chop the meat fine and to two cupfuls add a tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs, half a cupful of boiling water, salt and pepper to taste. Put these all into a saucepan and stir while heating. Lastly, put in two raw eggs, beaten light, and take from the fire. Fill baking cups two-thirds full of the mixture, set in a pan of boiling water and bake about twenty-five minutes. Turn out carefully into a heated dish and pour white sauce around them.

Philadelphia scrapple

(Contributed)

Take a cleaned pig’s head and boil until the flesh slips easily from the bones. Remove all the bones and chop fine. Set the liquor in which the meat was boiled aside until cold, take the cake of fat from the surface and return the liquor to the fire. When it boils, put in the chopped meat and season well with pepper and salt. Let it boil again and thicken with corn-meal as you would in making ordinary corn-meal mush, by letting it slip slowly through the fingers to prevent lumps.

Cook an hour, stirring constantly at first, afterward putting back on the range in a position to boil gently. When done, pour into a long, spare pan, not too deep, and mold. In cold weather this can be kept several weeks. Slice and sauté in butter or dripping.

CHEESE DISHES FOR LUNCHEON

A fondu of cheese

Grate cheese and crush broken and dried bread and crusts into fine crumbs. There should be two cupfuls of these to one of cheese. Wet the crumbs with two cupfuls of milk in which has been dissolved a bit of soda no larger than a Lima bean. Beat two eggs light, whites and yolks apart; whip the yolks into the soaked crumbs with a tablespoonful of melted butter. Season with salt and a dust of cayenne, add the frothed whites, deftly and rapidly; bake in a greased pudding dish in a brisk oven, keeping the dish covered until the fondu has puffed high and is crusty on top. Then brown lightly and serve at once, as it soon falls. Pass crackers and pickles with it.

Rice and cheese pudding

Boil a cupful of rice tender; drain dry in a hot colander; set at the side of the range for ten minutes. Mix, then, with two beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Line a well-greased dish with this paste, leaving a hollow in the middle. The walls of rice should be about an inch thick. Set in the hot oven for five minutes. Have ready a cupful of hot milk; stir into it a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, half a cupful of grated cheese, a generous pinch of paprika, with salt to taste, and a pinch of baking-soda. Lastly, and quickly, add a beaten egg. Pour this mixture into the hollowed rice, sift fine crumbs over it, and set covered in the oven. At the end of ten minutes uncover and brown slightly. Serve at once, as it falls into heaviness with standing.

Cheese rice