Part 6

Put 1 can of corn into a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of chopped green peppers and 1/2 cup of milk, and cook slowly for ten minutes; then season with salt and pepper and add 1 tablespoon of butter and serve. This may be put in a baking dish, covered with crumbs, and baked for fifteen minutes.

CORN AND TOMATO PIE

Butter a pudding dish and fill it with alternate layers of boiled or canned corn and tomatoes, and season with salt, pepper, and butter; cover the top with pie-crust and bake in a moderately hot oven for fifteen minutes. If a crust is not desired the dish can be covered with bread crumbs and browned. If fresh tomatoes and corn are used the pie will require twice the time to cook, the first half of the time covered with a plate, and the last half uncovered.

CORN CHOWDER

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 sliced onion, and let cook slowly for five minutes; then add to it 4 cups of potatoes which have been parboiled for five minutes, and then cut in small squares, and 2 cups of boiling water. Let cook for twenty minutes or until the potatoes are tender, then add 1 can of sweet corn, 4 cups of hot milk, 1 tablespoon of butter, and plenty of salt and pepper, and let heat through. Break 8 soda crackers into a deep dish, and pour the chowder over them to serve.

RHODE ISLAND ESCALLOP

Bake 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes for half an hour, then scrape out the potato and chop it into small bits. Boil 2 ears of green corn for ten minutes, run a sharp knife down each row of grains, cutting them in two, and then cut the corn from the cob and mix it with the chopped sweet potato. Butter six individual gratin dishes and fill them with the mixed corn and potato, sprinkle them with salt, pour 1 tablespoon of melted butter over each, cover with bread crumbs, and let cook for eight or ten minutes in the oven. The same mixture can be used to fill a baking dish, and enough melted butter used to moisten the potato thoroughly.

STEWED CUCUMBERS

Peel 4 or 5 cucumbers, quarter them, and cover them with boiling salted water, and let them cook from twenty to thirty minutes; then drain, saving the water in which they were cooked. Make a sauce of 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour rubbed together, and 2 cups of the water in which the cucumbers were boiled, stir until smooth, and when it boils add the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of salt, and some paprika; arrange the cucumbers on slices of toast and serve with the sauce poured over them.

STUFFED CUCUMBERS

Peel the cucumbers and cut into pieces about two inches long, scoop out the centre of each piece about half-way down to form a cup, fill this with chopped onions and chopped mushrooms that have been fried together in butter, cover the tops with crumbs, and let brown in the oven.

FRIED EGG-PLANT WITH SAUCE TARTARE

Peel and cut an egg-plant into half-inch slices, dust quickly with salt and pepper, roll in beaten egg-yolk, then in fine bread crumbs, and fry in hot vegetable fat; drain on brown paper and serve very hot. Either serve sauce Tartare with this, or arrange a spoonful on each round of egg-plant. Garnish with sprigs of watercress, celery tops, or parsley.

FRIED EGG-PLANT WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Fry as in foregoing recipe and serve a savoury tomato sauce with the egg-plant. Never soak egg-plant in salt and water, as it takes away its crispness.

CREAMED ENDIVE

Cut the outside leaves from heads of endive, and wash the endive thoroughly; then drain and put in boiling salted water for fifteen minutes. Drain again and cover with cold water for a few minutes, then chop and put in a saucepan with some butter, allowing 1 tablespoon for each head of endive, cover and let cook slowly for ten minutes, salt well, moisten with cream and sprinkle with paprika, and serve on toast or garnished with triangular pieces of toast.

KOHLRABI

These are very nice if used young, when not much larger than an egg. Parboil them for half an hour, cut them in half, and put them in a frying pan containing melted butter, and fry for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve over them the butter in which they were cooked, and dredge with salt and pepper. The time required to cook kohlrabi depends largely of course upon the age at which it is picked.

KOHLRABI AU GRATIN

Slice kohlrabi, boil twenty minutes or until nearly tender, and arrange in a baking dish in layers with cream sauce. Season each layer with pepper and salt, sprinkle the top with crumbs and grated cheese, and bake twenty minutes.

LENTIL PIE

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add to it 1 finely chopped onion and let this fry slowly for ten minutes; then add 2 cups of boiled German or Egyptian lentils and 1/2 cup of brown or German sauce, and when heated through pile into a deep dish; dredge with pepper and salt, cover with pie-crust, and bake in the oven until brown.

LENTILS EGYPTIAN STYLE

Wash 2 cups of lentils, soak them two or three hours, and drain them before using. Put them into boiling water well salted, cook until tender, about forty minutes, then drain again. Put 2 tablespoons of butter into a saucepan, and when melted add 1 large onion finely chopped; cook over a very slow fire for ten minutes, then add the lentils and 2 scant cups of boiled rice, and stir all together with a large fork until very hot; dredge well with salt and pepper before serving.

GERMAN LENTILS

Cover 2 cups of lentils with cold water and let them soak two or three hours; drain them and put them in boiling salted water with 1 leek (or 1 onion) and let them cook half an hour, or until tender but not broken. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, and when melted stir into it 2 tablespoons of flour, and let brown; then add 2 finely chopped onions and 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the water in which the lentils cooked. Mix this sauce with the drained lentils, put them in a double boiler with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg, and serve after they have steamed slowly for fifteen minutes.

LEEKS

Cut leeks into three-inch lengths, using the tender green part as well as the white; wash the pieces thoroughly in cold running water, then put them in a small saucepan and cover them with boiling salted water, and let them boil for twenty minutes.

Make a sauce by melting 1 tablespoon of butter and thickening it with 1 tablespoon of flour, and then adding, 1 tablespoon at a time, enough of the water the leeks were cooked in (about 1 cup) to make the sauce of the right consistency; season with pepper and salt, drain the leeks, and serve the sauce over them.

MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms should only be used when perfectly fresh and firm; in peeling them take a small knife, and, holding the delicate fringe at the edge of the mushroom between the edge of the knife and the thumb, peel the paper-like skin off, pulling it toward the centre of the mushroom. The stems should be cut or broken off without breaking the cup, and if sound should be scraped and used. When the mushrooms are white and small and freshly picked they can be quickly washed and used without peeling.

STEWED MUSHROOMS

Peel about 1 pound of mushrooms, put them in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 cup of milk, into which 1 tablespoon of flour has been mixed; cover and let cook for five or six minutes, then add 1 cup of cream, stir all well together, replace the cover, and let cook gently for ten minutes. These mushrooms can also be cooked and served in an Italian casserole.

GERMAN STEWED MUSHROOMS

Peel 1 pound of mushrooms and put them in a saucepan, sprinkle with the juice of 1 lemon, add 1 cup of milk, cover, and let simmer gently for ten minutes. Thicken with 1 heaping teaspoon of flour dissolved in a little milk, and add 1 tablespoon of butter and a grating of nutmeg, and let simmer gently for ten minutes more before serving. Instead of lemon juice and milk a cup of sour cream is often used in Germany, and is an acceptable substitute.

MUSHROOM AND CHESTNUT RAGOUT

Use an equal quantity of peeled mushrooms and boiled Italian chestnuts, and heat in a rich brown sauce. Serve, garnished with toast, or in cases, or use in a deep pie with a top crust of biscuit dough.

MUSHROOMS NEWBURG

Peel 1 pound of mushrooms, cover them with 2 cups of milk, and let them simmer gently for ten minutes. Lift the mushrooms out with a strainer, and make a sauce of the milk by adding 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 tablespoon of butter, the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, 1 wineglass of sherry, and some salt and paprika. When the sauce thickens replace the mushrooms in it, let them heat for two minutes, and serve on toast or in patty cases.

BAKED MUSHROOMS ON TOAST

Select as many large mushrooms as are required, and, after peeling them, lay each one, cup upward, on rounds of toast which, after toasting, have been dampened by being plunged quickly into hot water; place the toast with the mushrooms upon it into a shallow buttered pan, put a little bit of butter in the cup of each mushroom, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with another pan the same size, and let cook eight or ten minutes. Serve at once, with a garnish of parsley or watercress.

GRILLED MUSHROOMS

Peel or wash the mushrooms, and put them, cup upward, on a fine wire broiler and let them broil over a hot fire for five or six minutes, putting a pinch of salt in each cup. As soon as hot, remove them from the broiler and serve on hot plates, taking care not to spill the juice which has formed in the cups. Garnish with watercress or parsley.

MUSHROOMS SUR CLOCHE

Place carefully cleaned mushrooms, cup upward, on individual gratin dishes, salt each, and place a bit of butter in the cup, and set in a hot oven for ten minutes. To serve, place over each a glass "bell," which can be bought for this purpose. The heat is thus retained in the mushrooms during service.

MUSHROOMS IN CASSEROLE

Put into a French or Italian casserole 1/2 cup of good butter, and when melted stir into it 3/4 of a pound, or a pound, of peeled mushrooms, and dredge well with pepper and salt. Cover the casserole and set it in the oven; after five minutes' cooking stir the mushrooms, mixing them well with the butter, replace the cover, and repeat the process in another five minutes; let cook ten minutes more, and serve from the casserole on rounds of toast.

FILLED MUSHROOMS

Select 10 of the largest, most cup-shaped from 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms. Peel and lay in a shallow pan, cup side up. Take the cleaned stems and the remaining mushrooms and chop fine and put them in the cups; add 1 teaspoon of melted butter, some pepper and salt to each, and let bake ten minutes or until done. Serve on toast garnished with watercress, or under the glass bells already mentioned.

MUSHROOMS WITH TRUFFLES

Toss truffles in butter in a hot frying pan for five minutes, sprinkle the cups of mushrooms with pepper and salt, fill them with the truffles, and cook for ten minutes in a covered pan in a hot oven; serve on crisp lettuce leaves, with parsley butter.

MUSHROOMS WITH PEAS

Fill the cups of large mushrooms with French canned peas, which have been tossed for five minutes in hot butter. Season and set in a covered pan in a hot oven for ten minutes, and serve on toast with white or brown sauce, as preferred.

MUSHROOMS WITH ONIONS

Peel 2 medium-sized onions and chop them fine, and put them in a casserole, or saucepan, with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Let them cook slowly for ten minutes, then add 1 pound of mushrooms, which have been carefully washed or peeled, and another tablespoon of butter, and cover, letting cook for ten minutes. Season well with salt and pepper and serve very hot.

Mushrooms thus prepared may be put in a deep baking dish, covered with crust and baked in a pie.

MUSHROOMS WITH EGG

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a porcelain casserole, or in a saucepan, and when melted put with it 1 pound of peeled or washed mushrooms; let simmer gently for ten minutes, then add to them 2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in slices, and half a cup of cream. This recipe also is available for a deep pie; put in a baking dish, cover with crust, and bake until slightly browned.

CANNED MUSHROOMS

Drain the mushrooms from 1 can, and cut them in half. Use the liquid from the can augmented with water, if necessary, to make brown or German sauce. Put the mushrooms in a saucepan with the sauce, season with pepper and salt, and serve very hot on toast.

Button mushrooms can also be cooked by simply draining and tossing in parsley butter until hot; season with salt and pepper and serve on toast.

Mushrooms cooked in these ways are suitable for filling peppers or tomatoes. Canned mushrooms can be bought which are put up with truffles, and add variety to these different dishes.

CANNED MUSHROOMS CZARINA

Open a can of button mushrooms, drain them, and cut the buttons in half, if very large, and reserve the liquid. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of grated onion, 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves, 2 peppercorns, and 2 allspice. Let all cook together slowly for five minutes, then pour on the liquid from the mushrooms, with enough milk added to make 2 cups, season with salt, and let simmer for ten minutes; then add 1 tablespoon of flour creamed with 1 tablespoon of butter, let boil up once, and strain. Put the sauce and the button mushrooms in an Italian casserole, set this in the oven to heat for five minutes, and serve from the dish on triangles of toast.

MUSHROOM LOAF

Pour good clear, well-strained boiling vegetable stock onto dissolved vegetable gelatine or arrowroot, using about 1 tablespoon to every 2 cups of liquid. Season well with salt and pepper, and add 1 can of button mushrooms, halved, when the jelly is somewhat set so that they will remain in place evenly dispersed. Line a mould with chopped parsley and slices of pickled walnuts, pour the jelly into it, and serve, when set, ice-cold, with any savoury cold sauce or pickles. A few chopped nuts may be added if desired.

STEWED OKRA

Cut the ends off the pods of young okra, boil for one hour in salted water, then drain and reheat in a saucepan with some melted butter.

The okra can be used as a garnish to boiled rice. Canned okra needs only to be boiled five minutes, drained, seasoned, and tossed about in hot butter in a frying pan for two or three minutes before serving.

OKRA AND GRILLED TOMATOES

Cut good firm tomatoes in half, season well and broil, then serve with a garnish of stewed okra.

STEWED OKRA WITH TOMATO SAUCE

If fresh okra is used prepare as in stewed okra recipe, and if canned okra is used drain and heat in boiling salted water. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted lift the okra from the boiling water and place it in the frying pan; season well with salt and pepper and then cover with 1 cup of tomato sauce, and, when thoroughly heated through, serve.

OKRA AND TOMATO ESCALLOP

Arrange alternate layers of sliced canned okra and tomato in a well buttered baking dish, separating them with layers of boiled rice well seasoned with salt and pepper and dotted with butter. Cover the top with fine crumbs and cook for fifteen minutes, or until browned, in the oven.

BOILED ONIONS

Peel onions under cold water and they will not bring tears to the eyes. They should then be put in rapidly boiling water, and this changed after the first five minutes of cooking; then put in fresh boiling water, salt added, and cooked for from half an hour to forty minutes. If onions are not covered when boiling the odour will be less noticeable.

Serve boiled onions with parsley butter, or, after draining, cover with milk, add butter, pepper, and salt, and let boil up once before serving.

CREAMED ONIONS

Use onions which have been boiled until tender but not broken, and, after draining, serve with white or parsley sauce, made with equal quantities of milk and the stock in which the onions cooked.

BOILED ONIONS WITH BROWN SAUCE

Serve small boiled onions, which have cooked until tender, but not broken, with any hot sauce,--tomato, brown, mushroom, etc.

ONIONS AU GRATIN

Prepare as for creamed onions, making a white sauce of the milk, or milk and water, in which the onions have been boiled. The onions can be left whole, or somewhat broken up in the sauce. Fill a buttered baking dish with onions and sauce, dust the top with grated cheese, and let heat in the oven five or six minutes. The bottled Parmesan cheese is convenient, but is never as delicate to the taste as fresh cheese grated.

ONIONS WITH CHEESE

Arrange boiled onions, which are not broken at all by boiling, in a buttered baking dish, baste well with melted butter, and dredge with grated cheese, and set in the oven a few moments to brown; serve in the same dish or remove to a small platter and garnish with green, or use as a garnish to a dish of other vegetables. Mashed potatoes piled high (browned on top with salamander or under flame in gas oven) surrounded with these onions makes an attractive dish.

ESCALLOPED ONIONS

Escalloped onions are made like Onions au Gratin, except that the cheese is omitted and replaced by a layer of fine bread crumbs.

BAKED ONIONS WITH CHESTNUTS

Peel as many onions as required and parboil them for ten or fifteen minutes in salted water. Drain and dry, and when cooled somewhat remove the inside and fill with chopped chestnuts which have been tossed in hot butter for fifteen minutes; season well with salt and pepper, and, if liked, a little sage; arrange in a buttered baking dish, and bake for half an hour, covering them for the first fifteen minutes. If they seem too dry, baste with a little cream or onion stock and melted butter.

ONION SOUFFLÉ

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of flour, stir until smooth, and then add gradually 1 cup of milk, and season with paprika and salt. Let boil, then add 1/2 cup of stale bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, 1 1/2 cups of cold boiled onions chopped fine, and the yolks of 2 eggs well beaten. Mix thoroughly, then add the stiffly beaten whites of the 2 eggs, and mix them gently through the onion mixture with a fork. Put in a buttered baking dish, or in individual cases, sprinkle fine crumbs on top, and bake about fifteen minutes to slightly brown before serving.

BORDEAUX ONIONS

Peel 6 or 8 small onions, and parboil them for fifteen minutes in salted water. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan or a baking dish, with 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon of chopped celery, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 of a cup of claret, 1 cup of brown sauce, the juice of 1 lemon, pepper and salt. Set the onions in this, cover, and let cook very gently for half an hour or until tender. Remove the bay leaf and serve with the sauce.

ONION AND TOMATO ESCALLOP

Place alternate layers of fresh onions, sliced, and fresh tomatoes in a buttered baking dish, covering each layer with crumbs, butter, pepper and salt. Put 1 1/2 cups of water over and bake for about an hour in a slow oven. Or use boiled onions and canned tomatoes, dampen with the juice from the tomatoes, and cook twenty minutes.

ONIONS BEATRICE

Fill a large bean-pot (or a high earthenware covered jar marmite) with small Bermuda onions, two inches in diameter. The onions should be left whole, but a sharp knife can be used to make two cuts in the shape of a cross in the top of each, as this insures the cooking of the centre. While arranging the onions in the jar, sprinkle them well with salt, also with black pepper (or use 1/2 dozen peppercorns instead), put in 3 bay leaves, and distribute 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs. Cover with hot water, put the lid on, and set on the back of the stove or in a slow oven. The onions should not cook to pieces, and with the proper heat will be cooked through in about two hours; this time is named not as a rule but as a guide. Serve in the marmite in which they were cooked.

STUFFED ONIONS

Boil the onions fifteen or twenty minutes and then remove the hearts, leaving the outsides as cases for a filling. Make the stuffing of bread or cracker crumbs mixed with the chopped centres of the onions, plenty of salt and pepper, and a little chopped tomato (or tomato sauce), or some chopped green peppers, or canned pimentos, or use both tomato and peppers. Fill the onion cases, and arrange in a buttered baking dish; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, set the pan in water, and bake half an hour; the baking dish should be covered until the last five minutes, and the onions should not be allowed to go dry; more butter can be added, or a little hot water or vegetable broth, if they cook dry. Serve in the baking dish, or remove to a small platter and garnish with sprigs of parsley.

FRIED ONIONS

Peel the onions and cut into thin slices, and when a generous tablespoon of butter has slowly melted in a frying pan, put the onions in and let them simmer over as low a fire as will keep them cooking; stir them frequently and serve when transparent and turning a golden brown.

Fried onions can be served alone or as a garnish to heaped up mashed potatoes. They are saved from their extreme commonplaceness by being arranged in a gratin dish, not over an inch high, dusted with a sprinkling of crumbs or grated cheese, and given three or four minutes in the oven.

FRENCH FRIED ONIONS

Peel medium-sized onions, and slice crosswise carefully; then separate the slices into rings. Drop these into smoking vegetable fat or oil, and let fry four or five minutes until crisp and a rich brown. Lift with a strainer onto brown paper to drain a moment before serving.

ONIONS IN POTATO CRADLES

Make potato cradles as directed, dredge with salt, and fill with fried or French-fried onions.

SMALL ONIONS

Peel small, round, pickling onions, parboil them ten minutes, drain, roll in flour, and fry in deep fat. Serve as a garnish to other vegetables or in stews.

GLAZED ONIONS

These are nice used either as a garnish to another dish (vegetable croquettes, mashed potatoes, etc.) or alone. Small onions should be used, or onion hearts, and taken from the water before they are quite cooked; then put in an enamelled pan in which is 1 tablespoon of butter which has been slowly melted; toss them about in this, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. When they begin to brown add 1 tablespoon of the water in which they were boiled, and as this is taken up add a little more, and pepper and salt. The onions will be browned and glazed. Serve very hot.

ONIONS AND APPLES

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted put in 3 sliced onions and 3 sliced apples; let fry slowly until browned, and serve on toast.

BOILED PARSNIPS IN SAUCE

Wash and scrape 6 or 7 parsnips, cut them in half, lengthwise, and put them in cold water for half an hour. Drain them, and put them in a saucepan of boiling water containing 1 teaspoon of salt, and let them boil for about three quarters of an hour. While they are finishing cooking, prepare a sauce with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour rubbed together, and put in a saucepan over a slow fire. When melted and smooth add, a spoonful at a time, some of the stock in which the parsnips are cooking, until about 2 cups have been used; stir until well thickened but not paste-like, season with salt and pepper, and pour over the parsnips after draining them.

PARSNIPS IN BUTTER

Scrape and wash the parsnips, and cut them in eighths, lengthwise, and then in half. Put them in boiling water, salt well, and let them cook for about three quarters of an hour. Drain and serve with 1/2 cup melted butter poured over them, which contains 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley.

FRIED PARSNIPS

Slice cold boiled parsnips lengthwise, dredge with salt, and fry in buttered pan or griddle until a golden brown, turning with a pancake turner.

FRENCH FRIED PARSNIPS