Part 12

Hard boil the number of eggs required, and, after halving them, remove the yolks, and mix them with a little butter (using 1 tablespoon to 6 eggs), pepper, salt, and a little tomato chutney or Harvey sauce. Refill the halved whites with this, and use the eggs to garnish 2 cups of boiled rice. Pour over all 1 cup of white sauce or parsley sauce to serve.

GOLDEN ROD EGGS

Hard boil 5 eggs, take off the shell, and separate the yolks from the whites, chopping the whites fine and pressing the yolks through a sieve, keeping whites and yolks separate. Put 1 cup of milk in a double boiler, and when it boils add to it 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch which have been rubbed together, and when the sauce has thickened season it generously with pepper and salt, and stir into it the chopped whites of the eggs. While the sauce is cooking prepare 5 rounds of toast, and place them on a hot dish. Cover each piece of toast with a layer of white sauce, sprinkle this with a layer of the yolks, then more of the white sauce, and the remainder of the yolks, season with salt and pepper, and stand in the oven a moment or two before serving.

FROTHED EGGS

Separate the yolks and whites of as many eggs as are required, putting each yolk in its shell or in a separate dish. Beat the whites until very stiff, and fill a well-buttered custard cup half full of the white of egg; make a hole in the centre, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and drop a yolk in each cup. Put in a shallow pan of boiling water with a cover on it, and when the eggs are set turn out onto buttered toast. Garnish with parsley butter.

FRIED STUFFED EGGS

Hard boil 6 eggs and halve them carefully, removing the yolks. Put the yolks through a sieve, and rub to a paste with 1 tablespoon of melted butter, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup of cream or milk, using a little at a time, so as not to use it all unless needed to make the mixture of the right consistency for refilling the halved whites. Carefully fill the places made vacant by the removed yolks, roll the half-egg in beaten egg and crumbs, and fry in deep, hot fat. Serve with 2 cups of white sauce, and add to it 2 tablespoons of diced pickled beets, which makes the sauce pink.

This same effect may be had to some extent by simply using hard-boiled eggs, frying them, and serving with same sauce or white sauce, to which 1 tablespoon of capers has been added.

SWISS EGG TOAST

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on a shallow or flat dish, and sprinkle over it 1 1/2 tablespoons of grated cheese; then break into the butter 3 eggs, taking care not to break the yolks. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper and 1 1/2 tablespoons of grated cheese mixed with 2 teaspoons of finely chopped parsley. Bake in the oven until the eggs are set, then cut each egg out round with a cutter, and serve on rounds of toast.

EGGS CAROLINA

To serve four persons hard boil 6 eggs, then put them in cold water for one minute, peel 2 of them, chop the whites, and mix with melted butter and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and form into nests on 4 pieces of hot "corn bread." Then peel the other 4 eggs, and arrange one on end in each nest. Pour a little parsley butter on each, and season with salt and pepper.

MÜNCHNER EGGS

Hard boil 6 eggs, then peel them, and put each on a leaf of lettuce or cabbage, encircling it with grated horse-radish, and serve with a sauce made of vinegar to which is added salt and dry mustard.

EGGS IN MARINADE

Hard boil the eggs required, then remove the shells, and stick 4 cloves in each egg. Put 2 cups of vinegar on to boil, and rub together a little vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and stir into the boiling vinegar. Place the eggs in a glass jar, and pour the boiled vinegar over them. They can be used in a fortnight, halved or sliced as a garnish or in salads.

EGGS PARISIENNE

Butter as many timbale moulds as are required, and dust the inside with chopped parsley; then break into each an egg, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the moulds in water in a shallow pan, and place in the oven until well set or hard. Turn out onto a flat dish, or on individual dishes, and with them serve bread sauce, or any sauce desired.

EGGS PERIGORD

Butter small moulds or cups, then sprinkle them with chopped parsley, and on the bottom (which will be the top when they are turned out) place a symmetrical pattern made of cut beets and truffles or pickled walnuts. Drop one egg into each mould, dredge with salt and pepper, and set the moulds in a pan of boiling water; cover, and let cook until firm. Turn out onto rounds of toast, and serve with a hot tomato sauce, or any savoury sauce.

EGGS WITH CHEESE

Into a shallow round or oval gratin dish, or small individual dishes, put melted butter to cover the bottom, and encircle the outer edge with thinly sliced, rather dry, cheese; inside this break enough eggs to cover the bottom of the dish, taking care not to break the yolks. Season with salt and pepper, and put into the oven until the whites of the eggs are thoroughly set.

EGGS MORNAY

Drop eggs into a buttered baking dish, and then cover them with a highly seasoned white sauce to which some egg-yolks have been added (using 1 yolk to each 1/2 cup of sauce), also salt and paprika. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese, and put in the oven to bake until the egg is firmly set.

CREAMED EGGS

Butter a shallow dish, pour into it 1 scant cup of milk, and let heat. When hot cover the surface with eggs, cover, and let poach on top of stove until set; sprinkle with celery salt, and then cover with cream, and set in the oven for five minutes. Sprinkle the top with finely chopped celery tops to serve. This may be cooked in one large dish or in individual gratin dishes.

EGGS OMAR PASHA

Butter individual gratin dishes, and break 2 eggs into each, taking care not to break the yolks. Slice small onions so the separate rings are unbroken, and place a circle of these rings on the eggs around the edge of the dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then with grated cheese, and bake in a slow oven until the eggs are thoroughly set.

TURKISH EGGS

Butter one large gratin dish or several small ones, break into them enough eggs to cover the bottom, taking care not to break the yolks; put them in a moderate oven until the whites are quite set, and then garnish by putting a few tablespoons of boiled rice on the eggs around the edge of the dish, alternating with button mushrooms, which have been cut in thin slices and mixed with brown sauce. Season with salt and pepper just before serving.

EGGS BEURRE-NOIR

These are best served in individual gratin dishes measuring about four inches across. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and let it cook over a slow fire until a rich brown, but not burnt. Add to it 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and cover the bottom of each gratin dish with the (black) butter; then break into each dish 1 egg, or 2 if required, taking care not to break the yolk. Season with salt and pepper and arrange 8 or 10 capers on each; put in the oven eight or ten minutes, or until the eggs are well set. Set each dish on a doily on a small plate before serving, with a sprig of parsley on the side.

EGGS CREOLE

Take a shallow gratin dish large enough to contain the eggs required, allowing 2 eggs to each person, butter the gratin dish, and break the eggs carefully into it, taking care not to break the yolks; season with pepper and salt, and set in a moderate oven until the whites are stiff; while they are cooking prepare the following garnish which will be sufficient for 6 or 8 eggs. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan; when melted add 1 onion cut into thin slices, and stir it about three or four minutes. Then add to it 1 tomato which has been peeled and chopped, 1 sweet green pepper cut in very thin slices, each broken in several pieces, and 1/2 can of button mushrooms, which are prepared by draining and washing and cutting lengthwise in 3 or 4 pieces. Let all cook slowly together for eight or ten minutes, stirring carefully and adding more butter if necessary. When nearly cooked season generously with pepper and salt, add 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce, and when the eggs are removed from the oven place this garnish on the eggs, encircling the outer edge. This garnish can be varied as to quantities to suit taste, using more or less tomatoes or onions. This is very nice done in individual gratin dishes, 2 eggs being used in each dish.

EGGS IN SAVOURY BUTTER

Savoury butter is made by melting good butter, and adding to it any chopped herb,--chives, parsley, etc. Put a little of this in individual gratin dishes, and break into them 1 or 2 eggs as desired. Pour a little of the savoury butter over the top of each egg, season with salt and pepper, and put in the oven until the eggs are thoroughly set. If fresh tarragon is available, two nicely shaped leaves crossed on the yolk of the egg make a pretty garnish, or two leaves of lemon verbena may be used instead.

EGG MOULD FOR VEGETABLES

Make egg mixture as for egg timbales, and pour into a buttered ring mould. Cook in pan of water in the oven twenty minutes or until set, and then turn out onto a hot, round, flat dish, and fill the centre with hot button mushrooms which are mixed with tomato sauce, or with peas, either with or without the sauce.

CANUCK EGG TOAST

Sprinkle fresh toast with walnut, mushroom, or any savoury catsup, then heap on it nicely scrambled eggs in which milk has been used, and on top put a generous layer of grated cheese; season with pepper and salt, and put under the oven flame of a gas stove. Let the cheese brown, then remove and garnish the top with slices cut from black pickled walnuts, or a few capers, or with thin strips of pimentos, or chopped chives.

ESCALLOPED EGGS

Hard boil 8 eggs, cut the whites into medium-sized pieces, and press the yolks through a sieve or ricer. Put 1 cup of milk in a double boiler, and with it 1 tablespoon of finely minced onion, shallot, or chives. When the milk boils add to it 1 tablespoon of thickening flour dissolved in a little milk and stir until thickened. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, a dash of paprika, and stir in the riced egg-yolks and the diced whites. Serve in small dishes, or covered with crumbs and browned in the oven, or on rounds of toast. One or 2 sweet green peppers finely chopped vary this dish.

I would not enter on my list of friends, though graced with polished manners and fine sense, yet wanting sensibility, the man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

Cowper.

CHEESE

CHEESE RAMEKINS

Take 1 cup of bread crumbs and 1 cup of milk, and cook together until smooth; then add 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 scant teaspoon of mustard, and 6 tablespoons of grated cheese. Stir over the fire for one minute, then remove, and add salt and cayenne pepper, and the lightly beaten yolks of 2 eggs; afterwards stir in with a fork the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Pour into ramekin dishes, and bake for fifteen minutes in a moderate oven, or cook and serve in a baking dish.

BAKED CHEESE AND BREAD

Soak 1 cup of bread crumbs for two or three minutes in 2 cups of milk, then beat in the yolks of 2 eggs thoroughly beaten, and 1 cup of grated cheese, and lastly the whites of the 2 eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Put into a buttered baking dish, dot the top with butter, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake until a light brown, which will be in from twenty minutes to half an hour.

CHEESE FONDU

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 cup of milk, or cream if desired, 1 cup of fine bread crumbs, 2 cups of grated cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard, and some cayenne pepper. Stir constantly until well heated through, and then add 2 lightly beaten eggs, and serve on rounds of toast.

CHEESE RELISH

Put 1 cup of milk into a double boiler, season with pepper and salt, and when hot stir in 1 cup of grated cheese, and let cook for five minutes; then add 3 crumbed soda crackers and serve on toast, with a sprinkling of paprika.

CHEESE MÉRINGUES

Beat the whites of 2 eggs to a stiff froth, and stir into them with a fork 2 tablespoons of Parmesan or grated cheese, 2 drops of tabasco, a little salt and paprika; drop 1 tablespoon at a time into hot fat, and fry until brown; then drain and sprinkle with fresh salt and paprika before serving.

CREAMED CHEESE

Make 2 cups of well-seasoned white sauce, add a few drops of golden yellow colouring, stir into it 1/2 cup of cheese cut into dice (or grated if preferred), and when the cheese is softened and hot serve on rounds of toast and sprinkle with paprika.

CHEESE PANCAKES

Make small pancakes of 1 cup of milk, 1 egg, and enough flour to thicken, and spread them with grated cheese moistened with a little melted butter; sprinkle chopped chives mixed with parsley over the cheese, and a dash of any savoury catsup (if liked), season with salt and pepper, roll the pancakes after cooking, and serve as a savoury or luncheon dish.

COTTAGE CHEESE

Take 2 quarts or more of sour milk or cream, and add to it the same quantity of rapidly boiling water, turn into a straining-bag, and hang up until dry. When ready to use, turn out of the bag and rub until smooth; add a seasoning of salt and pepper and a little sweet cream. Beat until light and serve ice-cold. A little cream can be served to eat upon it, if liked.

This can also be made by heating the sour milk or cream and using no water, but the milk must only be heated enough to separate and not enough to boil.

WELSH RAREBIT

Cut in very small thin pieces 1 pound of American cheese; put it in a chafing-dish and stir until melted, then add 1 teaspoon of mustard, some salt, and slowly stir in 1/2 a glass of beer or ale, and season with cayenne or paprika just before serving on toast.

BACHELOR'S RAREBIT

Make Welsh rarebit, and five minutes before serving stir into it 1 tablespoon of chopped green peppers and 1 tablespoon of chopped Spanish pimentos.

DELMONICO RAREBIT

Cut in small pieces 1 pound of American cheese, put it in a chafing-dish and stir until melted; then add 1/2 a glass of beer or ale, some salt and cayenne or paprika, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, the yolk of 1 egg, then the whipped white of the egg, and serve at once on toast. The white of the egg militates against any "stringiness" which is apt to come from cooking certain sorts of cheese. A little milk can be used, if desired, instead of beer.

PINK RAREBIT

Drain 1 can of tomatoes and put them in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of butter; season them well with pepper and salt, and after they have cooked fifteen or twenty minutes add 1 pound of fresh American cheese cut into thin slices, and stir until melted; season generously with salt and pepper, and serve on rounds of toast.

LIPTAUER CHEESE

Remove the paper from the smallest Neufchâtel cream cheese, which is nearer like real Liptauer than any other that can be had in America, and set it in the centre of a plate; surround it with 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a small mustard spoon of French mustard, a piece of fresh butter half the size of the cheese, 2 teaspoons of minced onion, and 1 teaspoon of capers. The "Liptauer" should be blended at the table with a silver knife. Add first the butter, then the capers, then the onion, then the seasoning, and make into a cream. Serve on brown or white bread, or crackers.

ROQUEFORT CHEESE GOURMET

Cream 1/2 pound of Roquefort cheese with 1 tablespoon of butter and some salt and 1 tablespoon of sherry, and serve on water crackers.

CAMEMBERT CHEESE

A pretty way to serve Camembert cheese is to place the cheese, when removed from its box and paper, on a round paper doily on a large plate, and surround it with a heavy wreath of watercress and radishes cut to look like flowers.

CHEESE "DREAMS"

Cut fresh cheese into thin slices, spread with made mustard, sprinkle with paprika, lay between two trimmed slices of bread, and toast on both sides until nicely browned, using a very slow fire.

GRATED CHEESE

Instead of throwing away bits of dried cheese these should be grated and put in a wide mouthed, covered glass jar.

"If Plutarch's advice, that those who affirm that they were intended by nature for a diet of flesh food, 'should themselves kill what they wish to eat,' were always followed, the question would to most take on a different aspect. Few can endure unmoved the horrible sights of the slaughter-house; far less could they participate in the slaughter."

SALADS

There is no end to the combinations of vegetables for salads; the few here given are the best ones I have tried. The dressing should never be put on a fresh green salad until just as it is to be used; other salads, like potato, beans, etc., are sometimes improved by standing. Lettuce for salads should be carefully looked over; and clean, inner leaves not washed unless they are muddy; but all the leaves used which are washed should be thoroughly dried before adding the dressing. In France the salad basket is one of the most used kitchen utensils, and the salad leaves after washing are shaken in this until absolutely dry. The dressing should be very well mixed with the vegetables, and a little dry salt and pepper added as the salad is served.

FRENCH DRESSING

An absolute rule for making good salad dressing is an almost impossible thing, as this seems to be the one place in cookery where it is not only allowable but commendable to "guess" at proper proportions. The following is as nearly accurate as it seems well to be. Put 1 scant teaspoon of salt and 1 saltspoon of black pepper in a bowl, and stir into them with a wooden fork, very slowly, 3 or 4 tablespoons of fresh oil, and then add half as much or less vinegar, mixing it well with the oil.

TARRAGON VINEGAR

Good tarragon vinegar can be bought in any city, but it is so easily prepared at home that it is worth doing. Put a handful of tarragon in a quart jar, and cover with cold or heated vinegar. Seal the jar and set it in a dark place for a month or so before using.

Make chervil vinegar in the same way.

PLAIN MAYONNAISE DRESSING

Put 2 chilled egg-yolks in a cold soup plate, and stir into them 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, using a silvered spoon, and after these are well mixed in begin to add oil, actually drop by drop, from 1 scant cup of cool olive oil, and do this until the eggs are so thickened that it is not possible to make them more so; then the remaining oil may be added less slowly. If this first process is not properly done, no amount of stirring will ever thicken the sauce. A fork or whisk may be used to finish the stirring. When the oil is added, beat in slowly 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 1 of lemon juice, and 1/2 saltspoon of cayenne pepper. Put on the ice until wanted.

Tarragon mayonnaise is made by substituting tarragon vinegar for plain vinegar.

GREEN COLOURING FOR MAYONNAISE

This may be made of mixed herbs or spinach. If herbs are used take 1 tablespoon of parsley, 1 of watercress, and 1 of chervil, put them into boiling water, let them cook eight minutes, then drain and pound in a mortar, and press the pulp through a fine sieve. Use this with mayonnaise to make a light delicate green colour.

If spinach is used press 1 tablespoon of chopped spinach through a sieve, and use it to colour the sauce.

SALAD CHEESE BALLS

Use equal quantities of Neufchâtel cheese and grated American (or Parmesan) cheese, sprinkle with cayenne, and dampen with a little melted butter. Shape into tiny balls and use very cold as a salad garnish.

AMERICAN SALAD

Use 1 cup of scraped thinly sliced celery, 1 cup of diced apples, 1/2 cup of chopped English walnuts, and 1/2 cup of seeded white grapes. Mix well with mayonnaise, and serve on large curled lettuce leaves.

ARTICHOKE SALAD

Use cold boiled fresh artichokes, remove the thistles, and fill the artichokes with finely minced chopped onion, apple, and beet, blended with green mayonnaise; serve extra mayonnaise in which to dip the artichoke leaves.

GREEN BEAN SALAD

Put a can of good "stringless" beans on the ice an hour before wanted, open, drain, and arrange in a salad bowl with 2 teaspoons of grated or finely chopped onion and 1 cup of French dressing. Serve ice-cold.

WAX BEAN SALAD

Make like the preceding, using 1 tablespoon of chopped chives or shallots, or green onion tops instead of chopped onion.

BEET SALAD WITH CELERY

Cut boiled beets in thin slices and use a vegetable cutter to cut them into fancy shapes. Mix 1 cup of beets with 1 cup of thinly sliced celery, cover well with mayonnaise, serve on lettuce leaves.

CABBAGE SALAD

Slice firm white cabbage as thin as possible, then cut it across, mix it with mayonnaise dressing, and serve on small white cabbage leaves.

CELERY AND PINEAPPLE SALAD

Use equal parts of thin strips of celery and shredded pineapple. Select a perfectly ripe pineapple. Put the celery and pineapple each by itself, and place on the ice. When time to serve mix them together with mayonnaise, garnish with celery leaves, and serve at once.

CHERRY SALAD

When fresh cherries are available they are best, but the large cherries in glass bottles are also suitable. Remove the stones from fresh cherries, and in their places put blanched filberts or hazelnuts. Put on curled lettuce leaves with a tablespoon of green mayonnaise on each.

CUCUMBER SALAD

Soak 2 unpeeled cucumbers in ice-cold water for twenty minutes or more, then peel and use a patent scraper on the sides to serrate the edges, or do this by drawing a silver fork firmly down the length of the cucumber; this will make the slices have fancy edges. Slice, and arrange with small white lettuce leaves in a salad bowl. Cover with French dressing and add a sprinkling of paprika to the salad itself before serving. Some sliced radishes may be added if liked.

COUNTRY SALAD

Use 1 cup each of finely sliced firm white cabbage, diced celery, and chopped apple; mix them well with mayonnaise dressing, and serve in the inner leaves from the cabbage.

RUSSIAN CUCUMBER SALAD

Prepare like plain cucumber salad, but put with the sliced cucumbers 1 small onion sliced thin, with the slices separated into rings. One tablespoon of chives may be added, or more chives used and the onion slices omitted.

DENT DE LION SALAD

Take young dandelion leaves, trim off all the stem below the leaf, and mix with a French dressing to which has been added onion juice or chopped chives; use 1 tablespoon of either to each cup of dressing. Hard-boiled eggs, sliced or chopped, are sometimes used to garnish this salad.

PINK EGG SALAD

Boil 6 or 8 eggs for ten minutes, put in cold water for two or three minutes, then peel and put in a jar of pickled beets, well covered with vinegar. Let them stand a few hours and serve with the beets.

ENDIVE SALAD

Wash heads of endive and use the crisp, white, light leaves. Shake dry and cover with French dressing. Add 1 teaspoon of minced onion before dressing.

FETTICUS OR CORN SALAD

Wash 2 cups of fetticus and dry the leaves well, then cover with French dressing, and add 1 teaspoon of grated onion.

GARDEN SALAD

Take a handful of sorrel, 2 sprigs of chervil, 4 leaves of tarragon (or use tarragon vinegar), 1 teaspoon of chopped chives, and the small leaves from the heart of a head lettuce. Blend all well with French dressing.

GRAPE-FRUIT SALAD

Wash and shake dry the fine leaves from a head lettuce, and arrange with them in layers very thin slices of grape-fruit; mix well with French dressing before serving.

ITALIAN SALAD