Chapter 14

Pick or grind one thick slice of cold, cooked salmon. Make a dressing of mayonnaise, to which add one tablespoon of French mustard, one green onion chopped fine, one tablespoon of small Mexican peppers, one tablespoon of pimentos. Mix this dressing into the picked salmon.

CHICKEN SALAD

Place the chicken in boiling water, add one onion, a bay leaf and six cloves. Bring to a boil and let it boil rapidly for five minutes. Reduce the heat to below the boiling point, and let it cook until tender. Let chicken cool in the broth.

By cooking it in this manner the dark meat will be almost as white as the meat of the breast. When the chicken is cold, cut into half inch cubes, removing all the fat and skin. To each pint allow one tablespoon of lemon juice, sprinkle the latter over the prepared chicken and place on ice. When ready to serve, mix the chicken with two-thirds as much white celery, cut into corresponding pieces: meanwhile prepare the following mayonnaise: Rub the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs as fine as possible, add one teaspoon of salt, then add, a drop at a time, one teaspoon of the finest olive oil. Stir constantly, add one teaspoon of prepared mustard and while pepper, and two teaspoons of white sugar; whip the white of one egg to a froth and add to the dressing; add about one-half cup of vinegar last, a spoonful at a time. Put the salad into the dressing carefully, using two silver forks; line the salad bowl with lettuce leaves, and garnish the top with the whites of hard-boiled eggs chopped up, or cut into half-moons. Garnish this salad with the chopped yolks and whites of hard-boiled eggs, being careful to have the whites and yolks separate. A few olives and capers will add to the decoration.

CHICKEN SALAD FOR TWENTY PEOPLE

Boil two large chickens in enough water to cover them, add salt while boiling; when very tender remove from the fire and allow the chickens to cool in the liquor in which they were boiled, when cold skim off every particle of fat, and reserve it to use instead of oil. If possible boil the chickens the day previous to using. Now cut the chickens up into small bits (do not chop), cut white, crisp celery in half inch pieces, and sprinkle with fine salt, allowing half as much celery as you have chicken, mixing the chicken and celery, using two silver forks to do this. Rub the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs as fine as possible, add one-half teaspoon of salt, white pepper, four tablespoons of chicken-fat that has been skimmed off the broth, adding one at a time, stirring constantly, one tablespoon of best prepared mustard, two teaspoons each mustard seed and celery seed, and two tablespoons of white sugar; add gradually, stirring constantly, one cup of white wine vinegar. Pour this dressing over the chicken and celery and toss lightly with the silver forks. Line a large salad bowl with lettuce leaves, pour in the salad and garnish the top with the chopped whites of six hard-boiled eggs; pour a pint of mayonnaise over the salad just before serving. A neat way is to serve the salad in individual salad dishes, lining each dish with a lettuce leaf, garnish the salad with an olive stuck up in the center of each portion.

The bones of the chicken may be used for soup, letting them simmer in water to cover for three hours.

BRAIN SALAD

Scald brains with boiling hot water to cleanse thoroughly. Boil until tender, in fresh cold salt water, being careful to remove from water while it is yet firm. Slice lengthwise and lay in dish. Pour over one-half cup of vinegar, which has been sweetened with a pinch of sugar to remove sharp taste, pinch of salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley and serve cold. Can also be served with mayonnaise.

SWEETBREAD SALAD

Take cucumbers and cut lengthwise to serve the salad in; scrape out the inside and salt well, then squeeze and use this to mix with the filling. Take a pair of sweetbreads, or calf's brains, wash well, and boil; when done, throw in cold water at once and skim them; chop fine, add bunch of celery (if you can get it), one can of French peas, scraped part of cucumber; mix all together and season. Make a mayonnaise, mix with it, and fill the cucumber shells; keep all cold, and serve on lettuce leaf.

VEAL SALAD

Cut cold veal in half-inch slices, season with two tablespoons of vinegar, pinch of salt and pepper. Make a dressing using the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, mashed smooth, add gradually two tablespoons of melted cold chicken or turkey grease, stir until smooth and thick, then add one teaspoon of prepared mustard, large pinch of salt and pepper, one teaspoon of sugar, one teaspoon each of mustard and celery seed, and five tablespoons of white vinegar. Mix the dressing well with the veal, and serve with or without lettuce leaves.

NEAPOLITAN SALAD

Take some white meat of a turkey, cut up fine, cut up a few pickles the same way, a few beets, one or two carrots, a few potatoes (the carrots and potatoes must be parboiled), also a few stalks of asparagus; chop up a bunch of crisp, white celery; a whole celery root (parboiled), sprinkle all with fine salt and pour a mayonnaise dressing over it. Line the salad bowl with lettuce leaves or white cabbage leaves. Add a few hard-boiled eggs and capers; garnish with sprigs of fresh parsley.

POLISH SALAD, OR SALAD PIQUANT

Lay half a dozen or more large salt pickles in water for about six hours, then drain off all the water. Chop up two sour apples, one large onion or two small ones, chop the pickles and mix all thoroughly in a bowl and sprinkle over them a scant half teaspoon of pepper (white) and a tablespoon of sugar (either white or brown), adding a pinch of salt if necessary. Pour enough white wine vinegar over all to just cover. Do not make more at a time than you can use up in a week, as it will not keep longer.

*FRESH FRUITS AND COMPOTE*

Always select the best fruit, as it is the cheapest, and requires less sugar; and where every piece of fruit or every berry is perfect, there is no waste. Raspberries are apt to harbor worms and therefore the freshly picked berries are safest.

BLUEBERRIES

Wash and pick over carefully, drain off all the water, sprinkle powdered sugar over them and serve with cream or milk.

RASPBERRIES

Pick over carefully, set on ice, and serve in a dish unsugared. Strawberries may be served as above.

RASPBERRIES AND CURRANTS

These berries, mixed, make a very palatable dish. Set on ice until ready to serve. Then pile in a mound, strewing plenty of pulverized sugar among them. As you do this, garnish the base with white or black currants (blackberries look pretty also) in bunches. Eat with cream or wine.

STRAWBERRIES

Pick nice ripe berries, pile them in a fruit dish. Strew plenty of pulverized sugar over them and garnish with round slices or quarters of oranges, also well sugared.

BANANAS

May be sliced according to fancy, either round or lengthwise. Set on ice until required. Then add sugar, wine or orange juice. In serving, dish out with a tablespoon of whipped cream.

CHILLED BANANAS

Cut ice-cold bananas down lengthwise, and lay these halves on a plate with a quarter of a lemon and a generous teaspoon of powdered sugar. Eat with a fork or spoon after sprinkling with lemon juice and dipping in sugar.

GRAPE FRUIT

Cut in half, with a sharp knife, remove seeds, and sprinkle with sugar, or loosen pulp; cut out pithy white centre; wipe knife after each cutting, so that the bitter taste may be avoided. Pour in white wine or sherry and sprinkle with powdered sugar, and let stand several hours in ice-chest to ripen. Serve cold in the shell. Decorate with maraschino cherry.

ORANGES

Cut an orange in half crosswise. Place on an attractive dish, scoop out the juice and pulp with a spoon and sweeten if necessary.

PINEAPPLE

Peel the pineapple, dig out all the eyes, then cut from the core downward, or chop in a chopping-bowl, and set on ice until ready to serve. Then sugar the fruit well, and form into a mound in a dish. Garnish the base well with leaves or small fruit of any kind. You may squeeze the juice of one orange over all.

PEACHES

Peel fine, ripe freestone peaches. Cover plentifully with pulverized sugar, and serve with whipped cream. The cream should be ice cold. Peaches should not be sliced until just before dining, or they will be very apt to change color.

WATERMELONS

Use only those melons that are perfectly ripe. Do not select those that are very large in circumference; a rough melon with a bumpy surface is the best. Either cut in half or plug and fill with the following: Put on to boil some pale sherry or claret and boil down to quite a thick syrup with sugar. Pour this into either a plugged melon or over the half-cut melon, and lay on ice for a couple of hours before serving. If you use claret you may spice it while boiling with whole spices.

SNOWFLAKES

Grate a large cocoanut into a fruit dish, and mix it thoroughly and lightly with pulverised sugar. Serve with whipped or plain sweet cream.

TUTTI-FRUTTI

Slice oranges, bananas, pineapples and arrange in a glass-bowl; sprinkle with pulverized sugar, and serve either with wine or cream. You may use both.

RIPE TOMATOES

Select nice, large, well-shaped tomatoes, pare, slice and put on ice. When ready to serve sprinkle each layer thickly with pulverized sugar.

PINEAPPLE SOUFFLÉ

Take a nice ripe pineapple, grate it and sweeten to taste. Beat the whites of two eggs stiff and mix with the pineapple. Before serving, whip half a pint of cream and put on the pineapple.

FROSTED APPLES

Pare and core six large apples. Cover with one pint of water and three tablespoons of sugar; simmer until tender. Remove from the syrup and drain. Wash the parings and let simmer with a little water for one-half hour. Beat the white of one egg to a stiff froth and add one tablespoon of sugar. Coat the top of the apples lightly with the meringue and place in a cool oven to dry. Strain the juice from the parings, add two tablespoons of sugar, return to the fire and let boil for five minutes; add a few drops of lemon juice and a little nutmeg, cool and pour around the apples.

APPLE FLOAT

Peel six big apples and slice them. Put them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them and cook until tender. Then put them through a colander and add the grated rind and juice of half a lemon, sweeten to taste and stir in a trace of nutmeg. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites of four eggs and put the dish on ice. Serve with whipped or plain cream.

APPLE DELIGHT

Put a layer of apple sauce in a buttered pudding dish, dot with butter, add a layer of chopped peaches and apricots, sprinkle with blanched almonds ground rather coarsely, repeat until the pan is full; pour the peach juice over the mixture and bake for one hour.

APPLE COMPOTE

Take six apples ("Greenings," "Baldwins" or "Bellflowers"), pare, quarter, core and lay them in cold water as soon as pared. Then take the parings and seeds, put in a dish with a cup of water and a cup of white wine, and boil for about fifteen minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, then put on to boil again, and add half a cup of white sugar and the peel of half a lemon. Put in the apples and let them stew for fifteen minutes longer. When the apples are tender, take up each piece carefully with a silver spoon and lay on a platter to cool. Let the syrup boil down to about half the quantity you had after removing the apples, and add to it the juice of half a lemon. Lay your apples in a fruit dish, pyramid shape, pour the syrup over them, serve.

BAKED APPLES

Take large, juicy apples, wash and core them well, fill each place that you have cored with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins, and put a clove in each apple. Lay them in a deep dish, pour a teacup of water in the dish, and put a little sugar on top of each apple. When well done the apples will be broken. Then remove them carefully to the dish they are to be served in and pour the syrup over them. To be eaten cold. If you wish them extra nice, glaze them with the beaten white of an egg, half a cup of pulverized sugar and serve with whipped cream.

STEAMED SWEET APPLES

For this dish use sweet apples, and steam in a closely covered iron pot for three-quarters of an hour.

Quarter and core five apples without paring. Put into the pot and melt beef drippings; when hot, lay a layer of apples in, skin down, sprinkle with brown sugar, and when nearly done, turn and brown; place on a platter and sprinkle with sugar.

FRIED APPLES

Quarter and core five apples without paring. Put into a frying-pan one cup of sugar, one tablespoon of butter and three tablespoons of water. Let this melt and lay in the apples with the skin up. Cover and fry slowly until brown.

APPLE SAUCE VICTORIA

Pare, quarter and core the apples. Set on to boil in cold water, and boil them over a very brisk fire; when they are soft mash with a potato masher and pass the mashed apples through a sieve. Sweeten to taste and flavor with a teaspoon of vanilla. This way of seasoning apples is highly recommended, especially if they are tasteless.

PEACH COMPOTE

Pare the fruit, leave it whole and put on to boil with sweetened water. Add a few cloves (remove the heads), also a stick of cinnamon bark. Boil the peaches until tender, then take up with a perforated skimmer and lay them in your fruit dish. Boil the syrup until thick, then pour over the peaches. Eat cold with sweet cream. Common cheap peaches make a very nice dessert, cooked in the above manner, clings especially, which cannot be used to cut up.

COMPOTE OF RASPBERRIES

Make a syrup of half a pound of sugar and half a cup of water, put into it one quart of berries which have been carefully picked and washed. Boil up once. Serve cold.

COMPOTE OF PINEAPPLE

Cut off the rind of a pineapple, core and trim out all the eyes. Cut into desired slices. Set on to boil with half a pound of sugar, and the juice of one or two tart oranges. When the pineapple is tender and clear, put into a compote dish and boil the syrup until clear. Pour over all and cool. The addition of a wineglass of brandy improves this compote very much.

COMPOTE OF PEARS

It is not necessary to take a fine quality of pears for this purpose. Pare the fruit, leaving on the stems, and stew in sugar and a very little water. Flavor with stick cinnamon and a few cloves (take out the head of each clove) and when soft place each pear carefully on a platter until cold. Then arrange them nicely in a glass bowl or flat glass dish, the stems all on the outer rim. Pour over them the sauce, which should be boiled thick like syrup. Eat cold.

HUCKLEBERRY COMPOTE

Pick over a quart of huckleberries or blueberries, wash them and set to boil. Do not add any water to them. Sweeten with half a cup of sugar, and spice with half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Just before removing from the fire, add a teaspoon of cornstarch which has been wet with a little cold water. Do this thoroughly in a cup and stir with a teaspoon so as not to have any lumps in it. Pour into a glass bowl. Eat cold.

RHUBARB SAUCE

Strip the skin off the stalks with care, cut them into small pieces, put into a saucepan with very little water, and stew slowly until soft. Sweeten while hot, but do not boil the sugar with the fruit. Eat cold. Very wholesome.

BAKED RHUBARB

Peel and cut into two-inch lengths three bunches of rhubarb. Dredge with flour and put in baking dish with one cup of sugar sprinkled over. Bake in moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Very nice served hot as a vegetable, or cold as a sauce.

FIG SAUCE

Stew figs slowly for two hours, until soft; sweeten with loaf sugar, about two tablespoons to a pound of fruit; add a glass of port or other wine and a little lemon juice. Serve when cold.

DRIED FRUITS

To cook dried fruits thoroughly they should after careful washing be soaked overnight. Next morning put them over the fire in the water in which they have been soaked; bring to a boil; then simmer slowly until the fruit is thoroughly cooked but not broken. Sweeten to taste. Very much less sugar will be needed than for fresh fruit.

STEWED PRUNES

Cleanse thoroughly, soak in water ten or twelve hours, adding a little granulated sugar when putting to soak, for although the fruit is sweet enough, yet experience has shown that the added sugar changes by chemical process into fruit sugar and brings out better the flavor of the fruit. After soaking, the fruit will assume its full size, and is ready to be simmered on the back of the stove. Do not boil prunes, that is what spoils them. Simmer, simmer only. Keep lid on. Shake gently, do not stir, and never let boil. When tender they are ready for table. Serve cold, and a little cream will make them more delicious. A little claret or sauterne poured over the prunes just as cooking is finished adds a flavor relished by many. Added just before simmering, a little sliced lemon or orange gives a rich color and flavor to the syrup.

BAKED PRUNES

Cook prunes in an earthenware bean pot in the oven. Wash and soak the prunes and put them in the pot with a very little water; let them cook slowly for a long time. They will be found delicious, thick and rich, without any of the objectionable sweetness. Lemon, juice and peel, may be added if desired.

PRUNES WITHOUT SUGAR

Wash prunes thoroughly, pour boiling water over same and let them stand for ten minutes. Then drain and pour boiling water over them again; put in sealed jar; see that prunes are all covered with water. Ready for use after forty-eight hours. Will keep for a week at a time and the longer they stand the thicker the syrup gets.

STEAMED PRUNES

Steam until the fruit is swollen to its original size and is tender. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and squeeze lemon juice over them.

PRUNE SOUFFLÉ

Remove the pits from a large cup of stewed prunes and chop fine. Add the whites of three eggs and a half cup of sugar beaten to a stiff froth. Mix well, turn into a buttered dish and bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with whipped cream. If it is desired to cook this in individual cups, butter the cups, fill only two-thirds full, to allow for puffing up of the eggs, and set the cup a in a pan of water to bake. Some like a dash of cinnamon in this.

SWEET ENTRÉE OF RIPE PEACHES

Take large, solid peaches, pour boiling water over them so that the skin may be removed smoothly. Have ready thick syrup made of sugar and water. When boiling hot add peaches and boil about five minutes; remove and place in ice chest. When ready to serve have a sweet cracker on dish, place peach on same and pour over this a raspberry jelly slightly thinned and cover all with salted almonds or walnuts. Other fruits may be treated in like manner.

*MEHLSPEISE (FLOUR FOODS)*

NOODLES

Beat three whole eggs very light and sift in sufficient flour to make a stiff paste. Work until smooth, break off a piece and roll out on board very thin. Break oft another piece and roll and continue until all is used. Let rolled-out dough dry, then cut all except one piece in long strips one inch wide. Fold the one piece in layers and cut very fine noodles. Boil large noodles in pot of salted boiling water, drain in colander when tender and stir in two tablespoons of butter. Heat a tablespoon of butter in the frying-pan and brown fine noodles in this butter. Sprinkle these over the broad noodles, pour a cup of milk over the whole and brown in stove. Serve in same dish in which it was baked.

BROAD NOODLES

Make noodles as above and when drained sprinkle with fine noodles which have been browned in two tablespoons of sweet dripping; serve as a vegetable. If so desired, a cup of soup stock may be added and noodles browned in stove. Serve hot.

NOODLES WITH BUTTER

Plunge one pound of noodles into two quarts of boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes. Drain well, replace in the same pan, season with one-half teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of white pepper, adding one ounce good butter. Gently mix without breaking the noodles until the butter is thoroughly dissolved, and serve.

NOODLES WITH CHEESE

If you make the noodles at home, use two eggs for the dough; if you buy macaroni use one-quarter of a pound, cut up and boil in salt water; boil about fifteen minutes; drain off the water and let cold water run through them; grate a cup of cheese; melt a piece of fresh butter, about the size of an egg, in a saucepan, stir in a heaping tablespoon of flour, add gradually to this a pint of rich milk, stirring constantly; take from the fire as it thickens. Butter a pudding dish, lay in a layer of noodles, then cheese, then sauce, then begin with noodles again until all is used up. Sprinkle cheese on top, a few cracker crumbs and flakes of butter here and there. Bake until brown.

NOODLES AND APPLES

Peel and cut six apples. Take broad noodles made out of three eggs, boil them fifteen minutes, drain, then mix with two tablespoons of fresh butter. Add some cinnamon and sugar to noodles. Put a layer of noodles, then apples and so on until pan is filled, being careful to have noodles on top. Put bits of fresh butter on top. Bake until apples are tender. If so desired, a milchig pie crust may be made and used as an under crust and when apples are tender and crust done, turn out on a large platter with crust side on top.

SCALLOPED NOODLES AND PRUNES

Make broad noodles with three eggs. Boil until tender, drain, pouring cold water through colander. Stew prunes, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. In a well-greased baking-dish place one-quarter of the noodles, bits of butter or other fat, add one-half of the prunes, then another layer of the noodles, butter or fat, the remaining prunes, the rest of the noodles. Pour over the prune juice and spread crumbs over top and bake in a moderate oven until crumbs are brown.

NOODLES AND MUSHROOMS

Make broad noodles, boil and serve with melted butter spread over the noodles and this sauce:

Brown a tablespoon of butter in the skillet, add one-half tablespoon of flour, then liquor of mushrooms, pinch of salt and pepper. When smooth, add mushrooms. Let boil and serve in a separate dish. When serving, a spoon of mushrooms is to be put over each portion of noodles.

GEROESTETE FERVELCHEN PFÄRVEL (EGG BARLEY)

Make just as you would a noodle dough, only stiffer, by adding and working in as much flour as possible and then grate on a coarse grater. Spread on a large platter to dry; boil one cup of egg barley in salt water or milk, which must boil before you put in the egg barley until thick. Serve with melted butter poured over them. (A simpler and much quicker way is to sift a cup or more of flour on a board; break in two eggs, and work the dough by rubbing it through your hands until it is as fine as barley grains.)

PFÄRVEL--FLEISCHIG

Make as much egg barley as required. Heat two tablespoons of fat, add one-quarter cup of onions, fry until golden brown, add the dried egg barley and brown nicely. Place in a pudding-dish, add three cups of hot soup stock or water to more than cover. Bake in a moderate oven about one hour or until the water has nearly all evaporated and the egg barley stands out like beads and is soft. The onion may be omitted. Serve hot in place of a vegetable.

KAESE KRAEPFLI (CHEESE KREPLICH)