Part 9

Pare and slice in rather thick slices, enough potatoes to make 4 cups, and prepare the same amount of shredded cabbage, and sliced onions. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add the onions, and cook them for ten minutes. Butter a large casserole, arrange over the bottom a layer of sliced potato, then a layer of cabbage, then one of onions, seasoning each with pepper and salt, and sprinkling with chopped hard-boiled egg, and so fill the dish. Pour 2 cups of milk, into which 1 tablespoon of flour has been made smooth, over the chowder, set the dish in a shallow pan of water, and bake slowly for one hour. If the milk cooks away add a little more during the cooking. The same dish can be made in a kettle, in which case halve the potatoes and cook for three quarters of an hour.

VEGETABLE PIE (ST. GEORGE'S HOUSE)

Boil enough carrots, turnips, and large white haricot beans to make a 1/2 cup of each when chopped or sliced after cooling, and enough potatoes to make a scant cup when sliced. Slice enough Bermuda onions to make 1/2 cup, and fry in butter until golden brown; then mix the onions and prepared vegetables, and add to them 1/4 cup each of canned peas, green beans, and tomatoes. Season well with salt and pepper, stir in 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, dampen with the water in which the haricot beans cooked, heap into a deep baking dish, cover with a good crust, and bake until slightly browned.

VEGETABLE HASH

Chop separately 5 medium-sized potatoes, 2 sweet green peppers (carefully seeded), 5 fresh tomatoes, 1 cup of boiled beets (1/2 a can), and 2 raw onions.

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add the chopped onions, and let simmer slowly for five minutes, then add the tomatoes and let simmer another five minutes, then put in the potatoes, the peppers, and the beets. Dredge well with salt and pepper, and, stirring occasionally, let all cook slowly until the juices are nearly absorbed; then let the hash brown on the bottom, and turn out with the brown on top. Garnish with squares of toast.

VEGETABLE STEW

Put 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan, and when melted add to it 1/2 cup of sliced onions, 1/2 cup of diced carrots, 1 cup of shredded celery, and 1/4 cup of turnips cut in oblong pieces, and toss them in the butter for fifteen minutes; then pour over them 6 cups of cold vegetable broth or water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 bay leaves, 6 small onions halved, 4 carrots cut in quarters, 6 small squares of turnip, and let simmer slowly for half an hour; then add 5 potatoes cut in half, and let cook for half an hour more, and add more vegetable broth to keep the vegetables covered. Make dumplings, and drop into the boiling stew, cover tightly, and cook ten minutes more; season well with salt and pepper, and serve with enough of the stock, thickened with a little flour and butter, to cover.

VEGETABLE CASSEROLE

In order that this dish should taste and appear at its best, it should be cooked and served in an Italian casserole dish from eight to ten inches in diameter. Peel 8 medium-sized onions, and take the layers off until a centre about three quarters of an inch in diameter is left; toss the centres in hot butter until browned, and chop the outside. Cut 3 medium-sized sweet green peppers in half, lengthwise, and fill each half liberally with a mixture of bread crumbs, chopped tomato, chopped onion, and salt and pepper. Stuff 6 solid, medium-sized tomatoes in any of the ways described under stuffed tomatoes. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add to it 2 tablespoons of chopped onions; fry these for ten minutes, then stir in 2 tablespoons of flour, and use vegetable stock or milk, 2 cups of either, to make a sauce; add 1 bay leaf, and enough soup-browning to make a rich colour. Put the stuffed peppers in a casserole dish with the glazed onion hearts and the sauce, cover, and let cook for ten minutes; then arrange the stuffed tomatoes in the casserole, distribute among them 1/2 can of button mushrooms, halved, 1/2 can of flageolets or peas, and leave the cover off the dish, letting it cook for fifteen minutes very slowly. This casserole can be varied in many ways, using different filling for the peppers and tomatoes, and either truffles, string beans, or fresh mushrooms in the sauce, which should not be too thick.

VEGETABLE RAGOUT

Prepare for boiling what will make 3 cups of turnip when cut in inch squares, 1 1/2 cups of potatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of carrots. Put the carrots into slightly salted and sweetened water, let boil for ten minutes, then add the turnips and potato, and cook for ten minutes more. Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 2 tablespoons of chopped onion, and fry until slightly browned; then add 2 tablespoons of flour, stir until smooth, and pour slowly into this 2 cups of the stock in which the vegetables cooked; then add 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; and the diced vegetables; cover, and let simmer slowly for half an hour, then add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and serve.

BORDEAUX PIE

Slice enough Spanish onions to fill a cup 1/4 full, and fry them in butter until slightly browned. Boil carrots to equal 1/2 cup when diced, potatoes enough to fill a cup 3/4 full, and peel 2 cups of mushrooms, and toss them in a little butter in a frying pan over a moderate fire for ten minutes; hard boil 4 eggs, and make 1 cup of white sauce. Cut the vegetables in small pieces, slice the eggs, add 1/4 cup of canned peas (or fresh boiled ones), 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, salt and pepper well, put in a little grated nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and mix all carefully with the white sauce. Line a large baking dish (or small individual ones) with thin crust, fill with the mixture, cover the top with crust, and bake until slightly browned.

NEW ORLEANS STEW

Slice 3 onions, and fry them in 1 large tablespoon of butter for five minutes; then add to them 3 chopped sweet green peppers, stir well, and let cook together another five minutes; then scrape the contents of the frying pan into a double boiler, add the corn cut from 3 ears of sweet corn (or 1/2 can of corn), and 3 sliced tomatoes, 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and let all cook together for one hour; season afresh before serving.

INDIAN CURRY

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, and add to it when melted 2 onions chopped fine, and let cook very slowly for fifteen minutes. Mix 1 tablespoon of curry powder, 1 tablespoon of sour apple, or tamarind-chutney chopped fine, 1 teaspoon of salt, and enough vegetable stock to make a paste. When the onions are browned add this paste, and after stirring well put in 1 cup of boiled haricot beans, 1 cup of halved boiled chestnuts, and 1 can of halved button mushrooms, and let all simmer together for ten minutes. Have ready some stock made by putting 2 tablespoons of desiccated cocoanut into a bowl and pouring over it 1 cup of boiling water, and use this to dampen the cooking vegetables; then add 1 cup of vegetable broth, and let cook ten minutes more. We westerners are fond of this served in this way with chutney, but in India they press it through a strainer and serve it as a purée, adding to it 2 well-beaten eggs. Encircle with rice in serving.

CURRY OF LENTILS

Soak 2 or 3 cups of German or Egyptian lentils for two or three hours; drain them, and put them in boiling water, and let them cook for three quarters of an hour or until tender but not broken. Salt well when they have been cooking a short time, and when done drain them, sprinkle with salt, and heap in a pyramid on a round flat dish; garnish with 3 hard-boiled eggs cut in half, encircle with boiled rice, and pour curry sauce over the lentils only. Serve extra sauce in a sauce-boat and Indian chutney.

CURRY OF SUCCOTASH

Heat 1 can of Lima beans and 1 can of sweet corn, and when hot drain, and heap on a flat dish; cover with curry sauce, and serve with potato croquettes and Indian chutney.

CREOLE CURRY

Boil 1 cup of rice, and while it is cooking put 2 cups of okra, 2 cups of tomato, and 2 small onions cut in halves, and 1 teaspoon of butter in a double boiler, and when hot add 1 cup of hot water, into which has been dissolved 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder, and let all cook together for half an hour; remove the onions, add the rice, season generously with salt, and serve with Indian chutney.

VARIOUS VEGETABLE CURRIES

Almost any vegetable makes a good curry,--flageolets, carrots and peas, button mushrooms, etc., and either boiled rice or rice croquettes should be served. A garnish of Spanish pimentos looks well, and the curry sauce should be plentiful. Hard-boiled eggs halved are always nice with curry, and Indian chutney should be served with it.

"Speaking of the immortality of animals in 'Our Animal Friends,' Charles Wagner says, 'Can that which comes from Life return to Chaos?--Can a work of God have an end?'"

NUT DISHES

ITALIAN CHESTNUTS

Chestnuts can be cooked either by roasting or by boiling. If roasted, the thin brown that clings to the nut is removed with the outer shell; if boiled, the inner skin often has to be removed with some trouble. Roast chestnuts by putting them in a hot oven for eight or ten minutes, then use a small, sharp knife and peel them from the point down.

To boil chestnuts put them, in their shells, in cold water and let them cook for five or six minutes after the water starts boiling, or put them in boiling water for ten or twelve minutes. Peel carefully, and serve after roasting or boiling with brown sauce or mushroom sauce, plain or in cases.

CHESTNUT PURÉE

Roast or boil 6 cups of Italian chestnuts, remove the shell and inner skin and chop them fine or put them through a vegetable mill. Put them in a double boiler with milk enough to cover them and let them cook slowly for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the milk is all absorbed. Stir frequently, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of cream, plenty of salt and a little pepper. The purée should be the consistency of mashed potato.

PEANUT PURÉE

Shell 3 or 4 cups of peanuts, remove the inner skin, and put through a vegetable mill. Put in a double boiler with milk to cover them, season with salt, and let cook gently half an hour, or until tender. Stir frequently, and serve when the milk is absorbed and the peanut purée is the consistency of mashed potato. A tablespoon of whipped cream is an improvement if added during the last moments of cooking.

MICHAELMAS LOAF

Mix 1 cup of finely ground walnuts (or other nuts), 1 cup of finely ground roasted peanuts, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 2 1/2 cups of fine bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon of mixed sweet herbs (thyme, sage, and summer savory), and 1 large onion or 2 small ones chopped fine. When well blended bind together with 2 eggs which have been slightly beaten, mould with the hands into a loaf, place in a well buttered roasting tin, and let it cook for ten minutes in a moderately hot oven; then add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of hot water, and baste frequently during half an hour's cooking. The loaf should be well browned and carefully removed to a hot platter. Make a brown sauce in the pan in which the loaf cooked, and serve with this and cold apple sauce.

CHRISTMAS LOAF

Make as in foregoing recipe, omitting the chopped onion and adding another half tablespoon (or even more) of the sweet herbs. Serve with cranberry sauce.

ROAST NUT AND BARLEY LOAF

Make a brown sauce with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 cup of browned flour, and use water or vegetable stock for thinning; chop 1 large onion fine, and fry it in 1 tablespoon of oil or butter, and mix the onion and the sauce with 2 cups of cold boiled pearl barley, 1 cup of finely ground roasted peanuts, 1 cup of fine bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 saltspoon of pepper. With the hands mould into a loaf, place in a roasting pan which has been well buttered, and let cook in the oven for ten minutes; then add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of hot water, and baste every five minutes for half an hour. Make a brown sauce in the same pan, or serve with Caper sauce. Garnish, if brown sauce is used, with English savoury croquettes.

STEAMED NUT AND BARLEY LOAF

Make as in the foregoing recipe, but pack into a mould, set this in boiling water, and let it steam for an hour and a half or two hours. Let cool in the mould, and turn out to serve cold, or to slice, or to use for nut hash.

A brick-shaped mould will be made by any tinsmith to order, or the large sizes of baking-powder tins can be used to steam loaf.

ROASTED NUT LOAF WITH HOMINY

Grind 2 cups of nuts,--pecans, walnuts, roasted peanuts, etc., or use peanuts only,--and mix with them 2 cups of cold boiled hominy, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, 3 hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of grated onion, and 1 raw egg. Form into 1 large roll, or several smaller ones, put in a buttered tin, and let bake in a quick oven for half an hour; baste with a little butter and water a few times. Garnish with slices of lemon, and serve with brown sauce. This loaf may be steamed as directed for barley loaf and used hot, cold, or in hash.

NUT AND FRUIT LOAF

Chop mixed nuts enough to make 2 cups, and add to them 6 bananas chopped fine and 1/2 teaspoon of salt; mix well together, and press into a plain mould. Stand the mould in a steamer, and let it steam for three hours. Serve ice-cold, sliced, with pickles or catsup.

FOUNDATION LOAF

This loaf can be made and kept in readiness for use, as it will remain fresh for several days if it is left in the covered mould in which it cooked and is kept in a cool place. Put 2 cups of water in a saucepan, and when the water boils stir into it 1 cup of a finely ground cereal, preferably gluten flour or meal, or Scotch oatmeal, and stir until thick; then add 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 cup of shelled peanuts which have been put through a vegetable grinder twice. Pack the mixture into a loaf-shaped mould, or large round tin with a tight-fitting lid, almost immerse it in water, and let it steam for two hours. Use when cold, either for nut hash or croquettes, or with an equal amount of bread crumbs and the seasoning to make Michaelmas or Christmas loaf.

NUT HASH

Use cold steamed nut loaf and the same amount of cold boiled potatoes. Chop the potatoes and the loaf separately, and add to them, after mixing, 1/4 as much chopped onion. Turn into a frying pan which contains melted butter well covering the bottom, dredge with salt and pepper, and stir frequently with a knife during the first ten minutes' slow cooking; then let the hash brown on the bottom, shaking the pan vigorously from time to time, season afresh, and turn out with the browned portion on top. One or 2 chopped green peppers can be added to the hash, if the flavour is liked.

I say nothing of taking life--of fattening for that express purpose; diseases of animals; bad blood made; cruelty superinduced;--it will be seen to be, it will be looked back on, as a form of, a second stage of cannibalism.

George Meredith.

RICE, MACARONI, Etc.

BOILED RICE

Wash 1 cup of rice by letting water run through it in a sieve, and put it in a large double boiler, the top of which contains plenty of water at boiling point; add 1 teaspoon of salt, and let it boil, tightly covered, for twenty-five minutes; pour off the water then from the rice, still holding the cover on, and again place it over the boiler, and let the rice steam for another twenty minutes, when it will be found that each grain is separate, as it should be. Use a fork to scrape it lightly into the serving dish.

BAKED RICE

Let 1/2 cup of rice soak for several hours in 2 cups of warm water. Drain and put in a baking dish, and cover with 3 cups of milk containing 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Cover the dish, and let bake slowly for an hour or until the milk is absorbed and the separate grains of rice are soft.

INDIAN RICE

Put 1 tablespoon of butter into a double boiler, and when melted add 1 onion chopped fine, the juice from 1 can of tomatoes, 6 tablespoons of rice, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, some salt and pepper. Cover and let cook together for three quarters of an hour.

SPANISH RICE

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1/2 cup of rice, and stir it for fifteen minutes; then add 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, and 1 clove of garlic, cover with hot water or vegetable stock, and season highly with salt and pepper; stir well, then cover, and let the rice cook slowly for forty minutes.

RICE-TOMATO STEW

Take 1 cup of cold boiled rice, and put with it in a saucepan 1 teaspoon of butter, 3 or 4 sliced tomatoes (or a cup of drained canned ones), 1 bay leaf, some celery salt, pepper and salt, and stir well together; let cook slowly for ten minutes, taking care that it does not burn; remove the bay leaf, and serve on thick slices of toast.

FRIED RICE

Press newly boiled rice into an inch-deep pan, cover with a weight, and let it become cold. Cut into two-inch squares, and fry until brown in hot butter. Serve with tomato or curry sauce.

ESCALLOPED RICE

Butter a baking dish, and sprinkle the bottom with a layer of boiled rice, and cover this with slices of hard-boiled eggs; dot well with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then arrange another layer of rice and egg, etc., alternating thus until the dish is filled. Cover the top with bread crumbs, pour over all 2 tablespoons of melted butter, moisten with 1/2 cup of milk, and bake slowly for twenty minutes.

RICE AND CHEESE

Butter a baking dish well, and sprinkle a half-inch layer of boiled rice on the bottom; season with salt and pepper, and dot well with butter; then arrange a generous layer of grated cheese, and sprinkle this with English mustard mixed with water, then add another layer of rice, and so continue until the dish is well filled, having the rice on top. Pour over all 1/2 cup of milk, or of the water in which the rice boiled, and let cook slowly in the oven for twenty minutes.

BAKED RICE AND TOMATOES

Butter a baking dish well, and put a layer of rice in the bottom of it, and over this arrange slices of tomatoes; dot well with butter, and season plentifully with pepper and salt and celery salt, then place another layer of rice, and so proceed until the dish is well filled. Pour 1/2 cup of canned tomato juice over the rice, sprinkle the top with grated cheese, and bake for twenty minutes.

ITALIAN RICE

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add to it 2 cups of boiled rice and 1 cup of tomato sauce or tomato chutney; season well with salt and pepper, stir until heated through, and serve plentifully sprinkled with grated cheese.

RICE AU GRATIN

Put 1 cup of milk in a double boiler, when hot add to it 1 tablespoon of flour mixed with 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of grated onion (or a few drops of onion extract), and 1/2 teaspoon of salt; stir into this 2 cups of boiled rice, let cook for five minutes, then put in a buttered baking dish, with 1/2 cup of grated cheese on top, dredge this with paprika, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and let brown in the oven.

RICE OMELET

Beat the yolks and whites of 2 eggs separately, and to the yolks add 1/4 of a cup of milk, 1/3 of a cup of cold boiled rice, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, some salt and pepper, and finally the stiff whites of the eggs. Put in a buttered omelet pan, and proceed as in making the usual omelet, cooking over a slow fire and shaking the pan vigorously. Sprinkle with salt and a little paprika; when set, turn together; serve with a sauce if desired, and garnish with watercress.

RICE CZARINA

Butter a baking dish, and put an inch-deep layer of boiled rice in the bottom. Over this sprinkle finely chopped fresh or canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and dot well with butter; then place another layer of rice somewhat thinner, and over this spread finely chopped green peppers, and so alternate tomatoes, peppers, and rice until the dish is well filled, having a layer of rice on the top. Garnish this with thin slices of tomato in the centre, and encircle the edge with thinly cut rings from the peppers. Pour 2 tablespoons of melted butter over all, cover lightly with a tin cover, and let cook in a slow oven for twenty minutes; just before serving add 2 more tablespoons of melted butter.

SAVOURY RICE

Butter a baking dish, and half fill it with freshly boiled rice, sprinkle this with salt, pepper, celery salt, and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce, then dot with mustard mixed with water, and pour 1/2 cup of tomato sauce over the surface evenly. Fill the dish with the remaining rice, and season again with the same ingredients, adding 1/2 cup of grated cheese (sage cheese preferably); after pouring on the tomato sauce cover with a thin layer of crumbs and bake fifteen minutes in a slow oven.

UNPOLISHED RICE

Unpolished rice is used extensively in rice-growing countries, and has a quite distinct taste. When it can be obtained it makes a pleasant change, and can be served in any of the ways described for rice.

PEARL BARLEY

Pearl barley should be put in plenty of boiling water and cooked for an hour, then drained, and prepared in any of the ways described for the serving of rice.

AMERICAN MACARONI

Break 1/4 of a package of macaroni into two-inch lengths, and drop it into rapidly boiling salted water. Let it boil for twenty-five minutes, then drain, and arrange with alternate layers of grated cheese in a buttered baking dish. Season each layer with pepper and salt, and when the dish is filled pour over all 1 cup of hot milk into which 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 of butter have been made smooth. Cover the top with crumbs and bake twenty minutes or until browned.

Some makers of macaroni recommend putting the macaroni in cold water for fifteen minutes after boiling it, and then reheating it with seasoning, etc.

MACARONI AU GRATIN

Break 1/4 of a package of macaroni into two-inch lengths, and put it into 2 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water; let boil rapidly for twenty-five minutes, then drain. Butter a baking dish, and put in it a half-inch layer of the macaroni, sprinkle generously with grated cheese, and season with salt and pepper; then put another layer of macaroni, and proceed as before until the dish is well filled, having macaroni on the top. Dot evenly with butter, and bake about fifteen minutes or until a golden brown.

MACARONI BIANCA

Break half a package of macaroni into two-inch lengths, and drop it slowly into 2 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water; in fifteen minutes pour off all but 1 cup of the water, and add 1/2 cup of hot milk, stir often with a fork, and let boil until nearly dry or until tender, which will be in ten or fifteen minutes, and lift the macaroni into a strainer the instant it is cooked. Butter a baking dish, and put in it a layer of macaroni, dredge with salt and pepper, then sprinkle lightly with a layer of grated cheese (using 1 cup for the whole dish); dot well with mixed mustard, and sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce. Fill the dish with layers in this way, pour 1/2 cup of milk over all, and bake fifteen or twenty minutes, or until brown, in a quick oven.

ITALIAN MACARONI

Break 1/4 of a pound of macaroni into four-inch lengths, put in boiling salted water, and let it cook for twenty-five minutes. Drain, and put in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce; season well with salt and pepper, and serve on a hot flat dish with grated cheese plentifully sprinkled over it.

MACARONI WITH TOMATO AND ONION SAUCE