Chapter 14

Three eggs, one table-spoonful each of sugar, oil and salt a scant table-spoonful of mustard, a cupful of milk and one of vinegar. Stir oil, salt, mustard and sugar in a bowl until perfectly smooth. Add the eggs, and beat well; then add the vinegar, and finally the milk. Place the bowl in a basin of boiling water, and stir the dressing until it thickens like soft custard. The time of cooking depends upon the thickness of the bowl. If a common white bowl is used, and it is placed in water that is boiling at the time and is kept constantly boiling, from eight to ten minutes will suffice; but if the bowl is very thick, from twelve to fifteen minutes will be needed. The dressing will keep two weeks if bottled tightly and put in a cool place.

Sour Cream Salad Dressing.

One cupful of sour cream, one teaspoonful of salt, a speck of cayenne, one table-spoonful of lemon juice, three of vinegar, one teaspoonful of sugar. Mix all together thoroughly. This is best for vegetables.

Sardine Dressing.

Pound in a mortar, until perfectly smooth, the yolks of four hard- boiled eggs and three sardines, which have been freed of bones, if there were any. Add the mixture to any of the thick dressings, like the mayonnaise or the boiled. This dressing is for fish.

Salad Dressing Without Oil.

The yolks of four uncooked eggs, one table-spoonful of salt, one heaping teaspoonful of sugar, one heaping teaspoonful of mustard, half a cupful of clarified chicken fat, a quarter of a cupful of vinegar, the juice of half a lemon, a speck of cayenne. Make as directed for mayonnaise dressing.

Salad Dressing made with Butter.

Four table-spoonfuls of butter, one of flour, one table-spoonful of salt, one of sugar, one heaping teaspoonful of mustard, a speck of cayenne, one cupful of milk, half a cupful of vinegar, three eggs. Let the butter get hot in a sauce-pan. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, being careful not to brown. Add the milk, and boil up. Place the sauce-pan in another of hot water. Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, sugar and mustard together, and add the vinegar. Stir this into the boiling mixture, and stir until it thickens like soft custard, which will be in about fire minutes. Set away to cool; and when cold, bottle, and place in the ice-chest. This will keep two weeks.

Bacon Salad Dressing.

Two table-spoonfuls of bacon or pork fat, one of flour, one of lemon juice, half a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of sugar, one of mustard, two eggs, half a cupful of water, half a cupful of vinegar. Have the fat hot. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, but not brown. Add the water, and boil up once. Place the sauce-pan in another of boiling water. Have the eggs and seasoning beaten together. Add the vinegar to the boiling mixture, and stir in the beaten egg. Cook four minutes, stirring all the while. Cool and use. If corked tightly, this will keep two weeks in a cold place.

French Salad Dressing.

Three table-spoonfuls of oil, one of vinegar, one salt-spoonful of salt, one-half a salt-spoonful of pepper. Put the salt and pepper in a cup, and add one table-spoonful of the oil. When thoroughly mixed, add the remainder of the oil and the vinegar. This is dressing enough for a salad for six persons. If you like the flavor of onion, grate a little juice into the dressing. The juice is obtained by first peeling the onion, and then grating with a coarse grater, using a good deal of pressure. Two strokes will give about two drops of juice--enough for this rule.

Chicken Salad.

Have cold roasted or boiled chicken free of skin, fat and bones. Place on a board, and cut in long, thin strips, and cut these into dice. Place in an earthen bowl (there should be two quarts), and season with four table-spoonfuls of vinegar, two of oil, one teaspoonful of salt and one-half of a teaspoonful of pepper. Set away in a cold place for two or three hours. Scrape and wash enough of the tender white celery to make one quart. Cut this, with a sharp knife, in pieces about half an inch thick. Put these in the ice chest until serving time. Make the mayonnaise dressing. Mix the chicken and celery together, and add half of the dressing. Arrange in a salad bowl or on a flat dish, and pour the remainder of the dressing over it. Garnish with white celery leaves. Or, have a jelly border, and arrange the salad in this. Half celery and half lettuce is often used for chicken salad. Many people, when preparing for a large company, use turkey instead of chicken, there being so much more meat in the same number of pounds of the raw material; but the salad is not nearly so nice as with chicken. If, when the chicken or fowl is cooked, it is allowed to cool in the water in which it is boiled, it will be juicier and tenderer than if taken from the water as soon as done.

Lobster Salad.

Cut up and season the lobster the same as chicken. Break the leaves from a head of lettuce, one by one, and wash them singly in a large pan of cold water. Put them in a pan of ice water for about ten minutes, and then shake in a wire basket, to free them of water. Place in the ice chest until serving time. When ready to serve, put two or three leaves together in the form of a shell, and arrange these shells on a flat dish. Mix one-half of the mayonnaise dressing with the lobster. Put a table-spoonful of this in each cluster of leaves. Finish with a teaspoonful of the dressing on each spoonful of lobster. This is an exceedingly inviting dish. Another method is to cut or tear the leaves rather coarse, and mix with the lobster. Garnish the border of the dish with whole leaves. There should be two-thirds lobster to one-third lettuce.

Salmon Salad.

One quart of cooked salmon, two heads of lettuce, two table-spoonfuls of lemon juice, one of vinegar, two of capers, one teaspoonful of salt, one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper, one cupful of mayonnaise dressing, or the French dressing. Break up the salmon with two silver forks. Add to it the salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. Put in the ice chest or some other cold place, for two or three hours. Prepare the lettuce as directed for lobster salad. At serving time, pick out leaves enough to border the dish. Cut or tear the remainder in pieces, and arrange these in the centre of a flat dish. On them heap the salmon lightly, and cover with the dressing. Now sprinkle on the capers. Arrange the whole leaves at the base, and, if you choose, lay one-fourth of a thin slice of lemon on each leaf.

Oyster Salad.

One pint of celery, one quart of oysters, one-third of a cupful of mayonnaise dressing, three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of lemon juice. Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor. Skim well and drain. Season them with the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. When cold, put in the ice chest for at least two hours. Scrape and wash the whitest and tenderest part of the celery, and, with a sharp knife, cut in _very_ thin slices. Put in a bowl with a large lump of ice, and set in the ice chest until serving time. When ready to serve, drain the celery, and mix with the oysters and half of the dressing. Arrange in the dish, pour the remainder of the dressing over, and garnish with white celery leaves.

Sardine Salad.

Arrange one quart of any kind of cooked fish on a bed of crisp lettuce. Split six sardines, and if there are any bones, remove them. Cover the fish with the sardine dressing. Over this put the sardines, having the ends meet in the centre of the dish. At the base, of the dish mate a wreath of thin slices of lemon. Garnish with parsley or lettuce, and serve immediately.

Shad Roe Salad.

Three shad roe, boiled in salted water twenty minutes. When cold, cut in _thin_ slices. Season and set away, the same as salmon. Serve the same as salmon, except omit the capers, and use chopped pickled beet.

Salads of Fish.

All kinds of cooked fish can be served in salads. Lettuce is the best green salad to use with them, but all green vegetables, when cooked and cold, can be added to the fish and dressing. The sardine and French dressings are the best to use with fish.

Polish Salad.

One quart of cold game or poultry, cut very fine; the French dressing, four hard-boiled eggs, one large, or two small heads of lettuce. Moisten the meat with the dressing, and let it stand in the ice chest two or three hours. Rub the yolks of the eggs to a powder, and chop the whites very fine. Wash the lettuce and put in the ice chest until serving time. When ready to serve, put the lettuce leaves together and cut in long, narrow strips with a _sharp_ knife, or tear it with a fork. Arrange on a dish, heap the meat in the centre, and sprinkle the egg over all.

Beef Salad.

One quart of cold roasted or stewed beef--it must be very tender, double the rule for French dressing, one table-spoonful of chopped parsley, and one of onion juice, to be mixed with the dressing. Cut the meat in _thin_ slices, and then into little squares. Place a layer in the salad bowl, sprinkle with parsley and dressing, and continue this until all the meat is used. Garnish with parsley, and keep in a cold place for one of two hours. Any kind of meat can be used instead of beef.

Meat and Potato Salad.

Prepare the meat as directed for beef salad, using, however, one-half the quantity. Add one pint of cold boiled potatoes, cut in thin slices, and dressing. Garnish, and set away as before. These salads can be used as soon as made, but the flavor is improved by their standing an hour or more.

Bouquet Salad.

Four hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped; one head of lettuce, or one pint of water cresses; a large bunch of nasturtium blossoms or buttercups, the French dressing, with the addition of one teaspoonful of sugar. Wash the lettuce or cresses, and throw into ice water. When crisp, take out, and shake out all the water. Cut or tear in pieces. Put a layer in the bowl, with here and there a flower, and sprinkle in half of the egg and half the dressing. Repeat this. Arrange the flowers in a wreath, and put a few in the centre. Serve immediately.

Cauliflower Salad.

Boil one large cauliflower with two quarts of water and one table- spoonful of salt, for half an hour. Take up and drain. When cold, divide into small tufts. Arrange on the centre of a dish and garnish with a border of strips of pickled beet. Pour cream dressing, or a cupful of mayonnaise dressing, over the cauliflower. Arrange a star of the pickled beet in the centre. Serve immediately.

Asparagus Salad.

Boil two bunches of asparagus with one quart of water and one table- spoonful of salt, for twenty minutes. Take up and drain on a sieve. When cold, cut off the tender points, and arrange diem on the dish. Pour on cream salad dressing.

Asparagus and Salmon Salad.

Prepare the asparagus as before directed. Season a quart of cooked salmon with one teaspoonful of salt, one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper, three table-spoonfuls of oil, one of vinegar and two of lemon juice. Let this stand in the ice chest at least two hours. Arrange the salmon in the centre of the dish and the asparagus points around it. Cover the fish with one cupful of mayonnaise dressing. Garnish the dish with points of lemon. Green peas can be used instead of asparagus.

Cucumber Salad.

Cut about one inch off of the point of the cucumber, and pare. (The bitter juice is in the point, and if this is not cut off before paring, the knife carries the flavor all through the cucumber.) Cut in thin slices, cover with cold water, and let stand half an hour. Drain, and season with French dressing. If oil is not liked it can be omitted.

Tomato Salad.

Pare ripe tomatoes (which should be very cold), and cut in thin slices. Arrange on a flat dish. Put one teaspoonful of mayonnaise dressing in the centre of each slice. Place a delicate border of parsley around the dish, and a sprig here and there between the slices of tomato.

Cabbage Salad.

One large head of cabbage, twelve eggs, two small cupfuls of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one table-spoonful of melted butter, two teaspoonfuls of mustard, one cupful of vinegar, or more, if you like. Divide the cabbage into four pieces, and wash well in cold water. Take off all the wilted leaves and cut out the tough, hard parts. Cut the cabbage very fine with a _sharp_ knife. Have the eggs boiled hard, and ten of them chopped fine. Add these and the other ingredients to the cabbage. Arrange on a dish and garnish with the two remaining eggs and pickled beets.

Hot Cabbage Salad.

One quart of finely-shaved cabbage, two table-spoonfuls of bacon or pork fat, two large slices of onion, minced _very fine_; one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, half a cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of sugar. Pry the onion in the fat until it becomes yellow; then add the other ingredients. Pour the hot mixture on the cabbage. Stir well, and serve at once. Lettuce can be served in the same manner.

Vegetable Salad.

A spoonful of green parsley, chopped fine with a knife; six potatoes, half of a small turnip, half of a carrot, one small beet. Cut the potatoes in small slices, the beet a little finer, and the turnip and carrot very fine. Mix all thoroughly. Sprinkle with a scant teaspoonful of salt--unless the vegetables were salted in cooking, and add the whole French dressing, or half a cupful of the boiled dressing. Keep very cool until served.

Red Vegetable Salad.

One pint of cold boiled potatoes, one pint of cold boiled beets, one pint of uncooked red cabbage, six table-spoonfuls of oil, eight of red vinegar (that in which beets have been pickled), two teaspoonfuls of salt (unless the vegetables have been cooked in salted water), half a teaspoonful of pepper. Cut the potatoes in _thin_ slices and the beets fine, and slice the cabbage as thin as possible. Mix all the ingredients. Let stand in a cold place one hour; then serve. Red cabbage and celery may be used together. Use the French dressing.

Potato Salad.

Ten potatoes, cut fine; the French dressing, with four or five drops of onion juice in it, and one table-spoonful of chopped parsley.

Potato Salad, No. 2.

One quart of potatoes, two table-spoonfuls of grated onion, two of chopped parsley, four of chopped beet and enough of any of the dressings to make moist. The sardine is the best for this. Pare and cut the potatoes in thin slices, while hot. Mix the other ingredients with them, and put away in a cool place until serving time. This is better for standing two or three hours.

Cooked Vegetables in Salad.

Nearly every kind of cooked vegetables can be served in salads. They can be served separately or mixed. They must be cold and well drained before the dressing is added. Any of the dressings given, except sardine, can be used.

Dressed Celery.

Scrape and wash the celery. Let it stand in ice water twenty minutes, and shake dry. With a sharp knife, cut it in pieces about an inch long. Put in the ice chest until serving time; then moisten well with mayonnaise dressing. Arrange in the salad bowl or on a flat dish. Garnish with a border of white celery leaves or water-cresses. When served on a flat dish, points of pickled beets, arranged around the base, make an agreeable change.

Lettuce Salad.

Two small, or one large head of lettuce. Break off all the leaves carefully, wash each separately, and throw into a pan of ice water, where they should remain an hour. Put them in a wire basket or coarse towel, and _shake_ out all the water. Either cut the leaves with a sharp knife, or tear them in large pieces. Mix the French dressing with them, and serve immediately. Beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, etc., can each be served as a salad, with French or boiled dressing. Cold potatoes, beef, mutton or lamb, cut fine, and finished with either dressing, make a good salad.

MEAT AND FISH SAUCES.

Brown Sauce.

One pound of round beef, one pound of veal cut from the lower part of the leg; eight table-spoonfuls of butter, one onion, one large slice of carrot, four cloves, a small piece of mace, five table-spoonfuls of flour, salt and pepper to taste, four quarts of stock. Cut the meat in small pieces. Rub three spoonfuls of the butter on the bottom of a large stew-pan. Put in the meat, and cook half an hour, stirring frequently. Add the vegetables, spice, a bouquet of sweet herbs and one quart of the stock. Simmer this two hours, and add the remainder of the stock. Half a dozen mushrooms will improve the flavor greatly. Put the remainder of the butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, add the flour. Stir until dark brown, and as soon as it begins to boil, add to the sauce. Simmer one hour longer. Season with salt and pepper, and strain through a fine French sieve or gravy strainer. Skim off the fat, and the sauce is ready to use. This will keep a week in winter. It is the foundation for an fine dark sauces, and will well repay for the trouble and expense of making.

White Sauce.

Make the white sauce the same as the brown, but use all veal and white stock. When the butter and flour are cooked together be careful that they do not get browned.

White Sauce, No. 2.

One quart of milk, four table-spoonfuls of butter, four of flour, a small slice of onion, two sprigs of parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Put the milk, onion and parsley on in the double boiler. Mix the butter and flour together until smooth and light. When the milk boils, stir four table-spoonfuls of it into the butter and flour, and when this is well mixed, stir it into the boiling milk. Cook eight minutes. Strain, and serve. This sauce is best with fish.

White Sauce, No. 3.

One large slice of onion, one small slice of carrot, a clove, a small piece of mace, twelve pepper-corns, two table-spoonfuls of flour, two heaping table-spoonfuls of butter, one quart of cream--not very rich, salt to taste. Cook the spice and vegetables slowly in the butter for twenty minutes. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, being careful not to brown. Add the cream, gradually, stirring all the while. Boil for two minutes. Strain, and serve. This sauce is good for veal and chicken cutlets, _quenelles_, sweetbreads, etc.

White Sauce, No. 4.

One pint of milk, one of cream, four table-spoonfuls of flour, the yolks of two eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Put the milk and cream on in the double boiler, reserving one cupful of the milk. Pour eight table-spoonfuls of the milk on the flour, stir until perfectly smooth, and add the remainder of the milk. Stir this into the other milk when it boils. Stir the sauce for two minutes; then cover, and cook eight minutes longer. Season well with salt and pepper. Beat the yolks of the eggs with four spoonfuls of cream or milk. Stir into the sauce, and remove from the fire immediately. The eggs may be omitted, if you choose. One table-spoonful of chopped parsley stirred into the sauce just before taking from the fire, is an improvement. This sauce is nice for all kinds of boiled fish, but particularly for boiled salt fish.

Bechamel Sauce.

One pint of white sauce, one pint of rich cream, salt, pepper. Let the sauce and cream come to a boil separately. Mix them together, and boil up once. Strain, and serve.

Cream Bechamel Sauce.

Three table-spoonfuls of butter, three scant ones of flour, ten pepper-corns, a small piece of mace, half an onion, a large slice of carrot, two cupfuls of white stock, one of cream, salt, a little nutmeg, two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme and one bay leaf. Tie the parsley, bay leaf and thyme together. Rub the butter and flour to a smooth paste. Put all the ingredients, except the cream, in a stew- pan, and simmer half an hour, stirring frequently; add the cream, and boil up once. Strain, and serve.

Allemande Sauce.

One pint of white sauce, the yolks of six eggs, the juice of half a lemon, one table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, one table-spoonful of butter, half a cupful of cream, salt, pepper, a grating of nutmeg. Let the sauce come to a boil. Place the sauce-pan in another of boiling water, and add all the seasoning except the lemon. Beat the yolks of eggs and the cream together, and add to the sauce. Stir three minutes. Take off, add the lemon juice, and strain.

Cream Sauce.

One pint of cream, one generous table-spoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the cream come to a boil. Have the flour mixed smooth with half a cupful of cold cream, reserved from the pint, and stir it into the boiling cream. Add seasoning, and boil three minutes. This sauce is good for delicate meats, fish and vegetables, and to pour around croquettes and baked and Quaker omelets.

Cream Sauce, No. 2.

One cupful of milk, a teaspoonful of flour and a table-spoonful of butter, salt and pepper. Put the butter in a small frying-pan, and when hot, _but not brown,_ add the flour. Stir until smooth; then gradually add the milk. Let it boil up once. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve. This is nice to cut cold potatoes into and let them just heat through. They are then creamed potatoes. It also answers as a sauce for other vegetables, omelets, fish and sweetbreads, or, indeed, for anything that requires a white sauce. If you have plenty of cream, use it, and omit the butter.

Polish Sauce.

One pint of stock, two table-spoonfuls of butter, four of grated horseradish, one of flour, one of chopped parsley, the juice of one lemon, one teaspoonful of sugar, salt, pepper. Cook the butter and flour together until smooth, but not brown. Add the stock; and when it boils, add all the other ingredients except the parsley. Boil up once, and add the parsley. This sauce is for roast veal.

Robert Sauce.

Two cupfuls of stock, two small onions, four table-spoonfuls of butter, one heaping table-spoonful of flour, one tea-spoonful of dry mustard, one of sugar, a speck of cayenne, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, salt. Cut the onions into dice, and put on with the butter. Stir until they begin to color; then add the flour, and stir until brown. As soon as it boils, add the stock and other ingredients, and simmer five minutes. Skim, and serve.

Supreme Sauce.

Add to one pint of white sauce three finely-chopped mushrooms, the juice of half a lemon and one table-spoonful of butter. Simmer all together ten minutes. Rub through the strainer and use.

Olive Sauce.

Two dozen queen olives, one pint of rich stock, the juice of one lemon, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, one of flour, salt, pepper, a small slice of onion. Let the olives stand in hot water half an hour, to extract the salt. Put the onion and oil in the stew-pan, and as soon as the onion begins to color, add the flour. Stir until smooth, and add the stock. Set back where it will simmer. Pare the olives, round and round, close to the stones, and have the pulp in a single piece. If this is done carefully with a sharp knife, in somewhat the same way that an apple skin is removed whole, the olives will still have their natural shape after the stones are taken out. Put them in the sauce, add the seasoning, and simmer twenty minutes. Skim carefully, and serve. If the sauce is liked thin, half the amount of flour given can be used. This sauce is for roast ducks and other game.

Flemish Sauce.

Cut a cupful of the red part of a carrot into _very small_ dice. Cover with boiling water, and simmer one hour. Put three table- spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, a slice of carrot, an onion, cut fine; a blade of mace and twenty pepper-corns in a sauce-pan. Stir over the fire one minute, and add two cupfuls of stock. Simmer gently half an hour. Add a cupful of cream, boil up once, and strain. Now add the cooked carrot, one table-spoonful of chopped parsley, two of chopped cucumber pickles and, if you like, one of grated horseradish. Taste to see if salt enough.

Chestnut Sauce.