Chapter 8

Put corn into bowl, add Crisco, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder, and milk. Mix well and drop in spoonfuls on a Criscoed griddle. Fire brown on both sides. These fritters are a palatable accompaniment to roast chicken.

Sufficient for twelve fritters.

Corn, Okra and Tomatoes

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 tablespoonfuls sugar Salt and pepper to taste 6 ears corn 6 okra pods 6 tomatoes 2 cupfuls water

Cut corn from cob, put into saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Scald and skin tomatoes and cut okra into cross sections half inch long. Add both to corn with Crisco and seasonings. Stir and cook until tender. Serve hot.

Curried Cauliflower

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 cauliflower 1 sliced onion 1 dessertspoonful curry powder 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 cupful stock or water

Boil cauliflower in boiling salted water till tender, drain, then divide into small flowerets. Fry onion in Crisco a few minutes, then add curry powder, lemon juice and stock or water. Simmer fifteen minutes, then strain into clean saucepan. Add cauliflower and salt and simmer fifteen minutes. Serve hot.

Creamed Potatoes au Gratin

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 quart peeled and diced potatoes 2 cupfuls milk 1 tablespoonful flour 1 cupful grated cheese 1 teaspoonful salt 1/4 teaspoonful white pepper Few breadcrumbs

Cut potatoes in about 11/2-inch pieces, then boil carefully in boiling salted water. When done, drain, and pour into Criscoed fireproof dish. Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan over fire, add milk, stir till boiling, then add cheese and seasonings. Pour over potatoes; grate a little cheese over top, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake five minutes in hot oven.

Eggplant en Casserole

4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 1 large eggplant 3 small onions 2 garlic cloves 3 tomatoes 1 green pepper Salt and pepper to taste

Slice eggplant into thin slices, then slice onions, garlic, tomatoes and pepper quite thin. Arrange them, alternately, in a Criscoed casserole, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour in melted Crisco and cover. Cook over slow fire or in moderate oven till the eggplant is tender. Serve hot or cold.

Fried Parsley

Crisco 1 bunch parsley Salt and pepper to taste

Wash, pick and dry the parsley; put into frying basket and immerse in hot Crisco fifteen seconds or until crisp. Drain and sprinkle with salt and pepper. It should be a nice green color. If it turns black it has been too long in the fat.

Green Peas a la Maitre d'Hotel

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 quart shelled peas Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 2 sprigs mint 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 1 teaspoonful sugar

Shell peas and throw into plenty boiling water containing a teaspoonful of salt, sugar, and mint; boil fast until tender, then drain. Mix lemon juice with Crisco and parsley; stir this among peas, reheat them, and serve at once.

Jerusalem Artichokes

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 lb. artichokes 2 tablespoonfuls flour 1 yolk of egg 2 teaspoonfuls lemon juice 1 1/2 cupfuls milk 2 tablespoonfuls cream Salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley 1/4 cupful vinegar 1 pint boiling milk

Wash and scrape artichokes, and throw each one in cold water containing vinegar, when all are done, rinse in water and put into boiling milk, add cupful of boiling water and teaspoonful of salt. Boil quickly with lid off, pierce with fork to know if done. Lift into hot dish and cover with sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan, over fire, add milk, salt and pepper, and cook five minutes. Remove from fire, add egg beaten with cream and lemon juice, pour over artichokes and sprinkle parsley over top.

Mushrooms au Gratin

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco 14 large mushrooms 1 egg Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 2 tablespoonfuls chopped cooked meat 2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs 1/2 cupful stock 1 tablespoonful chopped suet

Beat up egg, add suet, breadcrumbs, meat, parsley, and seasonings. Wash and remove centers from mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, and red pepper, also place tiny piece of Crisco in each. Then put heaping teaspoonful of forcemeat in each one, and cover with crumbs. Lay on Criscoed tin, add stock, and bake fifteen minutes. Serve on hot dish with gravy poured round.

Sufficient for fourteen mushrooms.

New Potatoes a la France

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 lbs. new potatoes 2 sprigs mint 1 teaspoonful salt 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 1 tablespoonful lemon juice

Wash and scrape potatoes. With round vegetable cutter scoop out from potatoes a number of little balls like marbles; boil these till tender in water, to which have been added salt and mint. Drain, add Crisco, parsley, and lemon juice. Toss them about gently in pan a few minutes, and serve on hot dish.

Potato Pone

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 generous cupful grated raw sweet potatoes 1 cupful molasses 1 cupful milk 1 teaspoonful powdered ginger 1/2 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 tablespoonful chopped candied orange peel 1/2 cupful sugar

Grate potatoes or put them through meat chopper, add molasses, sugar, milk, Crisco, salt, spices, and orange peel. Mix well, turn into Criscoed fireproof dish and bake in moderate oven till firm.

Sufficient for one small pone.

Savory Lentil Dish

4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 1 cupful lentils 1 bay leaf 3 springs parsley 1 chopped onion Salt, pepper, and powdered mace to taste 1 cupful boiled rice 1-1/2 cupfuls highly seasoned tomato sauce

Wash lentils and soak in plenty of cold water four hours. Put into boiling salt water, add bay leaf, parsley, seasonings and cook till tender. Chop and fry onion in 3 tablespoonfuls of Crisco, add lentils, rice and remainder of Crisco, stir and allow to get hot. Turn into hot dish and pour over tomato sauce.

Stuffed Beets

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 6 beets 2 green peppers 2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs 1/2 teaspoonful onion juice Salt and pepper to taste Watercress

Select 6 smooth even-sized beets and boil in boiling salted water until tender. Peel, remove root end and remove center, leaving shell about half inch thick. Remove stems and seeds from peppers; cover peppers with boiling water ten minutes. Dice them with scooped out beet, add Crisco, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Mix and divide into beet shells, dot with Crisco and bake in moderate oven twenty minutes. Serve garnished with watercress.

Sufficient for six beets.

Stuffed Eggplant

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco 3 small eggplants 1/2 cupful breadcrumbs 1-1/2 cupfuls stock 1/2 cupful chopped cooked chicken or veal 1 egg Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste 1/2 cupful white wine Criscoed crumbs 1 tablespoonful flour 1 tablespoonful sherry

Cut eggplants in halves and scoop out inside, leaving shell half inch thick. Soak 1/2 cupful breadcrumbs in 1/2 cupful stock ten minutes, then add cooked chicken, 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco, egg, well beaten, and seasoning of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide this forcemeat into eggplants, sprinkle Criscoed crumbs on top, set them in greased pan, pour in rest of stock and white wine and bake half hour in moderate oven. Serve on hot dish with following sauce.

Put 1 tablespoonful Crisco and 1 tablespoonful flour into saucepan and blend over fire, add sherry and 1 cupful liquor from pan in which they were baked, and cook five minutes.

Sufficient for three eggplants.

Stuffed Potatoes

(_Kate B. Vaughan_)

2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 6 large potatoes 2 tablespoonfuls grated cheese 1 yolk of egg Salt and pepper to taste

Wash six well shaped white potatoes and rub skin with Crisco. Bake until tender, cut slice off one end, and with a teaspoon remove all potato from shells. Mash the potato, adding Crisco, cheese, seasonings, and egg yolk. Refill shells and bake fifteen minutes. Serve hot on napkin.

Sufficient for six potatoes.

Viennese Carrots

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 bunch carrots 1 tablespoonful flour 1/2 teaspoonful sugar 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 1 cupful cooked peas

Scrape carrots, cut in small pieces, and boil till tender in boiling salted water. Blend Crisco and flour together in saucepan over fire, stir in 1 cupful water in which carrots were cooked, boil five minutes, then add sugar, seasonings, vinegar, parsley, peas, and carrots; simmer ten minutes and serve hot in vegetable dish.

SALADS

Salads are classified into two groups--i.e., the raw, such as lettuce, endive, radishes, cucumber, celery, etc., and the cooked, such as those made from cooked vegetables, eggs, cooked cold fish, poultry, and meat. The raw materials should be washed most carefully and well cleaned before mixing, and the utensils for cutting and mixing, as well as the basins or bowls used, should be clean and dry. Every salad, no matter how plain and simple it may be, should be made to look inviting and tempting. The method of draining or drying is a very easy performance so long as the salad leaves, whatever they may be, are almost free from moisture. This is effected best by putting the leaves, which should be broken, not cut with a knife, into a wire basket and drying them well, or else putting them into a cloth lightly folded and shaking well until the outer moisture of the leaves is well absorbed. The salad then is ready for mixing.

Any cold boiled vegetables left over from dinner are useful as giving variety to salads, and help to make a good accompaniment to cold meat served to luncheon. Thinly sliced cold potatoes--new ones for choice, green peas and string beans, are especially good for this purpose, and even Brussels sprouts, carrots, and turnips may be used on occasion in small quantities. More substantial salads, prepared with cold meat or fish, form appetizing luncheon or breakfast dishes. Those made with chicken, lobster and salmon respectively are most widely known, but fillets of flounder, cold ham or beef, or lamb make very good salads, and even the humble herring, and dried and salted fish, may be used with advantage in this way.

The meat or fish should be cut up into cubes or convenient small pieces, and piled up in the center of the dish or salad bowl on a layer of seasoned, shredded lettuce. Over this should be poured half of the dressing. Round this should be arranged the green constituents of the salad, cut up rather small, garnished with slices of tomato or beets, cucumber and hard-cooked egg. The remainder of the dressing should be poured over this, and the top of the meat or fish pyramid may be ornamented with a few sprigs of endive or parsley.

Apple, Celery and Nut Salad

For Dressing

1 tablespoonful Crisco 1 teaspoonful mustard 1 teaspoonful sugar 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1/4 teaspoonful white pepper 2 eggs 4 tablespoonfuls lemon juice 1 cupful whipped cream

For Salad

1 quart chopped apples 1 pint diced celery 1-1/2 cupfuls blanched and shredded almonds 2/3 cupful rolled pecan nut meats

_For salad._ Mix apples, celery and nut meats.

_For dressing._ Melt Crisco, add mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, yolks of eggs well beaten, and lemon juice. Cook in double boiler till it thickens, then add whites of eggs stiffly beaten. Chill and add whipped cream just before serving. Dressing should be mixed with fruit.

Asparagus Salad

For Dressing

6 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 1 teaspoonful salt 1/4 teaspoonful paprika Pinch black pepper 1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar 2 tablespoonfuls cider vinegar 1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickles 1 tablespoonful chopped green peppers 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley 1 teaspoonful chopped chives 1 can asparagus or fresh cooked asparagus

Drain asparagus and chill. Mix salt with paprika, add pepper, tarragon vinegar, cider vinegar, Crisco, pickles, peppers, parsley, and chives, mix well and pour over the asparagus.

Celery and Almond Salad

1 cupful melted Crisco 1 yolk of egg 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 1 tablespoonful vinegar 1 head celery 1/2 cupful blanched almonds 1 crisp lettuce Few drops green color 1/2 teaspoonful sugar 1 teaspoonful salt 1/2 teaspoonful mustard Red pepper to taste

Melt and cool Crisco. Prepare celery and cut into very thin strips and plunge in ice water until wanted. Blanch and shred almonds; wash and dry lettuce leaves. Put yolk of egg into bowl, add mustard, salt, and red pepper and mix well with wooden spoon. Add sugar, teaspoonful lemon juice, teaspoonful vinegar; beat in Crisco gradually. Remove spoon and beat with egg beater five minutes, then beat in rest of lemon juice and vinegar. Add more seasonings if needed and enough green color to make it look pretty. Dry celery and mix with almonds, then toss them into dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.

Fruit Salad

Dressing

1 tablespoonful Crisco Pinch of salt 2 tablespoonfuls sugar 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar 2 eggs 1/2 pint whipped cream

Salad

24 marshmallows 1 can pineapple 2 juicy apples 6 oranges Lettuce leaves

_For salad._ Cut fruit and marshmallows into small pieces, then mix and chill.

_For dressing._ Beat up eggs in double boiler, add vinegar, sugar, salt, Crisco and cook until thick. Cool and add whipped cream. Mix with fruit and serve on crisp lettuce leaves.

Orange and Tomato Salad

3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 4 tomatoes 4 oranges 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley Tarragon vinegar Salt

Peel oranges and tomatoes, and slice and arrange alternately in salad bowl. Mix juice squeezed from "tops and bottoms" of oranges with an equal quantity of tarragon vinegar, add Crisco and salt to taste. Pour over fruit and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Potato and Nut Salad

For Dressing

5 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco 1 teaspoonful mustard 1 teaspoonful salt 2 teaspoonfuls sugar 2 yolks of eggs 3/4 cupful cream or milk 1/4 cupful vinegar

For Salad

3 cupfuls sliced cold potatoes 1 cupful broken hickory nut meats 1 teaspoonful chopped onion Chopped parsley Cold cooked sliced beets Sliced lemon Lettuce leaves

_For dressing._ Mix sugar, salt, and mustard, add Crisco and stir thoroughly; then add yolks of eggs well beaten, cream, and lastly vinegar. Cook in double boiler until consistency of cream. If milk is used instead of cream, add 1 teaspoonful flour to other dry ingredients.

_For salad._ Mix potatoes, nuts, and onion together, and place on crisp lettuce leaves; pour over dressing and garnish to taste with beets, lemon, and parsley.

Potato and Pimiento Salad

1 tablespoonful Crisco 4 potatoes 2 hard-cooked eggs 1/2 can pimientos 1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickle 1 teaspoonful salt

Dressing

1 tablespoonful Crisco 2 teaspoonfuls dry mustard 1 teaspoonful salt 2 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 lemon 1/2 pint vinegar 2 eggs

_For salad._ Boil potatoes and slice them, add Crisco and salt. Now chop pickles, eggs, and pimientoes and add them and set in cool place to chill.

_For dressing._ Put vinegar into double boiler, add strained lemon juice, sugar, salt, mustard, then add Crisco and eggs well beaten. Cook until thick, then cool and use.

Shrimp Salad

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 can shrimps 1 cupful celery cut in cubes 1 cupful tart apples cut in cubes 1 cupful broken Brazil nut meats 1/2 cupful broken English walnut meats Salt and pepper to taste 1 lemon 4 tablespoonfuls vinegar 2 tablespoonfuls water 4 eggs 1 teaspoonful dry mustard 1 teaspoonful salt 1 teaspoonful sugar 1/2 teaspoonful white pepper 1/2 cupful thick cream and 1 cupful whipped cream Crisp lettuce leaves

Break shrimps into pieces, put them into earthenware dish, moisten with a little melted Crisco, season with vinegar, salt and pepper. Put apple cubes into a small dish and sprinkle lightly with lemon juice, then put in celery cubes with a little more lemon juice and toss together. Cover and set aside. Prepare nut meats. Heat vinegar and water in double boiler, beat eggs, then gradually add them to vinegar, stirring all the time. Now add Crisco and cook slowly, stirring constantly. Remove from fire, and beat till cold, then add mustard, salt, sugar, and pepper. Add the thick cream just before serving. When ready to serve toss nuts, celery, apples and shrimps together with a silver fork, and add a little dressing. Heap on crisp lettuce leaves on individual plates, and pour over each salad a heaping spoonful of the dressing; and top with spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream.

PUDDINGS

Puddings as a rule either are boiled, steamed or baked. For boiled puddings, care should be taken that the saucepan be kept boiling or the water will get into the pudding and spoil it. For pudding cloths, use materials such as linen or cheese cloth. After using, the cloth must be thoroughly washed in plenty of water with a little washing soda, but on no account use soap, and see that the cloth is perfectly dry before putting it away. Many puddings are lighter and better steamed, and then instead of the cloth only a piece of Criscoed paper is required, twisted over the top of the basin or mold. Very light puddings, such as custards, should be placed in a steamer. Most of the steamed puddings mixed a little softer, are excellent baked in a pudding dish.

In steaming puddings keep them at a uniform heat all the time, and be careful not to lift the lid off the pan for the first half hour. All farinaceous puddings should be cooked well, as then they are easier to digest. Cornstarch must be well cooked, from eight to ten minutes. Mold for jellies or blanc-manges should be well rinsed with cold water before using. Batters must be well beaten and allowed to stand for thirty minutes or longer before cooking, because the starch in the flour swells, and the batter will therefore be lighter. Batter puddings should be put into a quick oven. Puddings composed principally of milk and eggs should be very gently cooked, as strong heat will cause them to curdle.

In stewing fruit, prepare syrup first. Bring to boil, lay fruit in, and simmer gently. Souffles should be very light and spongy. Eggs form a large part of souffles, more whites than yolks are used and the former are beaten to a stiff froth. All souffles should be served quickly. Omelets are composed mainly of eggs. They can be savory or sweet. If over-cooked an omelet will be tough. To prevent milk running over when it comes to boil, put spoon in saucepan. Never leave spoon in saucepan if you wish the contents to cook quickly, and in any case a metal spoon never should be allowed to stand in a boiling saucepan containing fruit or any acid.

Apple Dumplings

5 apples 4 tablespoonfuls Crisco 2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 3/4 cupful milk Sugar Cinnamon

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Work in Crisco with finger tips; add gradually milk, mixing with knife to a nice dough. Roll 1/2 inch thick, cut into squares and lay in center of each an apple, pared and cored. Fill up centers with sugar and cinnamon and take corners off the dough and pinch together. Place in Criscoed baking pan, dot over with sugar and Crisco and bake in moderate oven for twenty-five minutes or till nicely browned. Serve hot with milk.

Sufficient for five dumplings.

Apple Fritters

1-1/2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 egg 1 tablespoonful melted Crisco 3/4 cupful milk 3 apples cut in quarter inch slices 3 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 lemon

Peel, core and slice apples, then sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls sugar and strained juice of the lemon over them. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into bowl, add milk to well beaten egg and stir liquid gradually into dry materials, beating thoroughly, then add Crisco. Cover apple slices with batter and drop them into plenty of Crisco heated so that small breadcrumb browns in sixty seconds. Fry for four or five minutes. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Any other fruit may be substituted for apples or a combination of fruits makes a delicious fritter.

Sufficient for twelve fritters.

Baked Rhubarb Pudding

2 cupfuls flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 bundles rhubarb 1/2 cupful Crisco 1 lemon 6 tablespoonfuls brown sugar Water 1/2 cupful granulated sugar

Put granulated sugar into small saucepan over fire, and when brown, coat inside of plain pudding mold with it. Sift, flour, salt, and baking powder together, rub Crisco finely into it, then mix whole to a smooth paste with cold water. Turn out on a floured board, cut off one-third of it, and put one side for the lid. Roll out remainder until twice the circumference of the top of the mold, then drop gently into mold, pressing evenly against sides. Fill center with rhubarb, cut in pieces an inch long. Add grated rind and strained juice of half of the lemon, brown sugar and 3 tablespoonfuls water. Roll out pastry that was put on one side, wet edges of it, lay it on top. Cover with a piece of greased paper, and bake in moderate oven one hour. Turn out and serve with hot milk.

Caramel Bread Pudding

3 cupfuls breadcrumbs 1 quart hot milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoonful lemon extract Grated nutmeg to taste 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 cupful sugar 4 tablespoonfuls Crisco Whipped cream

Put Crisco, crumbs, and salt into a basin, add hot milk and soak ten minutes. Melt sugar and brown it lightly in a small pan over fire, then add it to the bread, with eggs well beaten, and flavorings. Pour into Criscoed pudding dish and bake in moderate oven till firm. Serve with whipped cream.

Caramel Rice Pudding

1/3 cupful rice 1/2 teaspoonful lemon extract 3 eggs 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1/4 teaspoonful salt 2 cupfuls milk 1/4 cupful sultana raisins 2 tablespoonfuls powdered sugar 1/4 cupful granulated sugar

Melt granulated sugar in small saucepan and cook until brown, but do not burn; pour it while hot into pudding mold and spread it all over inside. Wash rice, parboil, drain, and cook slowly in milk thirty minutes; turn into basin, add powdered sugar, Crisco, salt, raisins, extract, and eggs well beaten and pour into prepared mold. Set mold in pan of boiling water and bake in oven till quite set. Turn out and serve hot or cold.

Carrot Pudding

For Pudding

1 cupful brown sugar 1 cupful grated carrots 1 cupful grated raw potatoes 3/4 cupful Crisco 1 cupful seeded raisins 1/2 cupful breadcrumbs 1/2 cupful milk 1-1/2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspoonful salt 1 teaspoonful baking powder 1 teaspoonful mixed spices 1 cupful currants Prune sauce

For Sauce

1/2 lb prunes 1 wineglassful sherry wine 1 lemon 1/2 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon

_For pudding._ Cream Crisco and sugar together, add carrots, potatoes, raisins, currants, crumbs, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. Turn into Criscoed mold, cover, and steam steadily for three hours.

_For sauce._ Soak prunes in water over night, after first washing them. Next day put them in pan with water they were soaked in, just enough to cover them, simmer gently until quite soft. Do not allow to boil, or fruit will be spoiled. Take out stones, crack some, and save kernels. Rub prunes through sieve, add sherry, kernels blanched, grated rind and strained lemon juice, and cinnamon, and then, if thicker than rich cream, add more wine, or water, and use.

Chocolate Jelly

2 squares chocolate 1 tablespoonful Crisco 2 cupfuls boiling water 3/4 cupful sugar 4 tablespoonfuls cornstarch 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/2 cupful chopped walnut meats Whipped cream