Chapter 2

24. PREPARING FRUITS FOR SALADS.--After fruits have been carefully cleaned, they are ready to be peeled and cut into pieces of the size desired for the salad. An effort should always be made to have the pieces equal in size, similar in shape, and not too small. They should be peeled in an economical way, but at the same time should be prepared as attractively as possible.

25. In the preparation of oranges for a salad, the fruit is peeled as if it were an apple, the peeling being cut deeply enough to remove the skin that covers the sections. After the entire orange is peeled, the contents of each section should be removed by passing a sharp knife as closely as possible to the skin between the sections and then taking out the pulp without any of this skin. The sections may then be used whole or cut into pieces.

Grapefruit may be prepared in the same way as oranges. Upon the removal of the whole sections, they may be left whole or they may be cut once or twice, depending on the kind of salad and the appearance desired. When grapefruit or oranges are prepared in this manner, they make a much more agreeable ingredient for fruit salad than when they are simply cut into chunks and the tough skin is allowed to remain on the pieces. No waste need be permitted in this process, for the juice may be extracted from what remains after the sections have been removed by pressing it in a fruit press or by any other means and then utilized in the making of the salad dressing or kept for some other purpose.

Bananas, which are often used in salads, should be peeled, any bruised or decayed portions should be removed, and the surface should then be scraped slightly with a paring knife in order to remove the pithy surface, which, when eaten, has a puckery, disagreeable effect.

26. When fruits of any kind have been prepared for salad and cannot be used at once, they may be kept from wilting and discoloring if they are put where they will keep cool and are sprinkled with a little lemon juice that is slightly diluted with water. Before the salad materials are mixed with the salad dressing, however, all juices or liquid of any kind should be carefully drained from them, for these will dilute the dressing and produce a salad that is less appetizing in both appearance and flavor.

27. PREPARING NUTS FOR SALADS.--When nuts are to be used in a salad, they should never be ground in a grinder; rather, they should be chopped or cut into small pieces with a knife. After being so prepared, they should be added to the salad just before it is put on the table. This is a matter that should not be overlooked, for if the salad is allowed to stand very long after the nuts are added they will discolor the dressing and cause the salad to become dark and gray looking.

28. MARINATING SALAD INGREDIENTS.--To improve the flavor of such salads as chicken, veal, lobster, or crab, the ingredients are usually marinated with a sour dressing of some description before the salad dressing is added. As is explained in Essentials of Cookery, Part 2, marinating involves the seasoning of meat or fish by means of vinegar or French dressing. The preparation used to marinate salad ingredients may be plain vinegar to which salt and pepper are added, or it may be a French dressing, which is prepared by mixing vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in the proper proportions. Whichever preparation is used should be poured over the materials after they are cut or prepared for the salad, and only enough to moisten each piece slightly should be used. The ingredients should then be carefully mixed with the dressing to avoid breaking or crushing them and should be allowed to stand in a cold place for a few minutes. Then they should be drained so that none of the material used to marinate them remains on the salad when the other dressing is added. With this done, the salad is ready for whatever salad dressing is to be used.

29. Potato salad and salads containing such vegetables as carrots, peas, string beans, etc. are also improved by being marinated in the same way as salads made of meat, fowl, and fish. This sort of preparation involves a little more work, it is true, but it usually produces such gratifying results that it justifies the expenditure of the extra effort. In the first place, a slightly smaller amount of salad dressing will be required when the ingredients are marinated and, in addition, a better looking dish can be made, for the dressing need not be mixed with the salad but merely placed on top.

30. In case the housewife prefers not to take the time nor the trouble to marinate a salad, she should at least mix thoroughly with salt and pepper the ingredients that require seasoning. The fact that a salad should be a well and highly seasoned dish must never be overlooked. As can be readily understood, a bland salad without character is never so appetizing as one that is crisp, fresh, well made, and properly seasoned.

SERVING SALADS

31. Several different ways of serving salads are in practice. Perhaps the most convenient method of serving this dish is to prepare individual portions of it on salad plates in the kitchen and then set these on the table at each person's place. If a simple table service is followed, the salad may be put on the table at the same time as the rest of the meal. The correct position for the salad plate is at the left-hand side of the dinner plate and just a little nearer to the edge of the table than the bread-and-butter plate. The plates on which salad is served should be large enough to prevent the difficulty in eating that would be experienced if the plate were a trifle small. It should therefore be remembered that the salad plate is the next larger in size to the bread-and-butter plate.

32. In case individual salads are to be prepared, the plate should first be garnished with whatever vegetable green is selected for this purpose. If lettuce is to be used, a single leaf, several very small center leaves, or a small quantity of shredded lettuce will be sufficient, for a great deal of garnish is never desirable. In case the leaves are very large, one may be divided in half and each part utilized. Then the salad ingredients, which have already been combined, should be piled in a neat heap on top of the garnish either with or without the salad dressing. If the salad dressing is not mixed with the materials, a spoonful or two of it should be placed on top of them. Sometimes, for the effect of color, additional garnish of some kind is used. For a vegetable or a meat salad, this may be egg yolk put through a sieve, slices of hard-cooked eggs, olives or radishes cut in fancy shapes, or strips of pimiento; and for fruit salad, it may be cherries or colored fruits cut into various fancy shapes.

33. Another method of serving this dish is to place the entire salad on a rather large, deep plate, such as a chop plate or a regular salad dish, and then serve it at the table whenever it is desired. When this is done, the dish that is used should be well garnished with a bed of vegetable green in the same way that a small individual plate is garnished. Then the salad ingredients should be nicely arranged on this bed, and the dressing, if it has not already been mixed with them, should be poured over the whole. In serving salad in this way, there is much more chance of arranging the ingredients symmetrically and garnishing the salad attractively than when it is served on small plates. The large plate containing the salad, together with the small salad plates, should be placed before the hostess or whoever is to serve the salad. When it is served, a leaf of the lettuce or other green used for garnishing should first be put on each salad plate and the salad should be served on this. A large fork and a large spoon are needed when salad is served in this manner.

34. Still another, way of serving salad, and perhaps a more attractive one than either of those already described, consists in arranging the ingredients in a salad bowl, placing this on the table, and serving from the bowl to the salad plates. In this method, a French dressing is generally used, and this is often mixed at the table and added to the salad just before it is put on the small plates. Such a salad can be made very attractive, and it should be remembered above all things that the appearance of a salad is its great asset until it is eaten and that an artistically made salad always helps to make the meal more satisfactory.

35. In a dinner, the salad is generally served as a separate course, but in such a meal as luncheon it may be used as the main dish. If it is used as a separate course, it should be served immediately after the dinner course has been removed from the table. The salad plate should be placed directly before the person served. Forks especially designed with a wide prong on one side and known as _salad forks_ are the right type of fork to serve with this dish, but if none are available ordinary table forks of a small size may be used. It should be remembered that the salad should not be cut with the knife at the table, but should be eaten entirely with the fork.

SALAD DRESSINGS AND THEIR PREPARATION

36. As has been implied, various salad dressings may be made to serve with salads. The kind of dressing to select depends both on the variety of salad served and on the personal preference of those to whom it is served. Some of these contain only a few ingredients and are comparatively simple to make, while others are complex and involve considerable work in their making. Whether simple or elaborate, however, the salad dressing should be carefully chosen, so that it will blend well with the ingredients of the salad with which it is used.

A number of recipes for salad dressings are here given. They are taken up before the recipes for salads so that the beginner will be familiar with the different varieties when they are mentioned in connection with the salads. As many of the recipes as possible should be tried, not only for the knowledge that will be gained, but also for the practical experience.

37. FRENCH DRESSING.--A dressing that is very simply made and that can probably be used with a greater variety of salads than any other is French dressing. For instance, it may be used with any vegetable salad, with salads containing almost any combination of fruit, and with meat, fish, and egg salads. It is true, of course, that fruit-salad dressing blends very well with fruit salad and is considered by most persons to be more delicious than French dressing, but if one is pressed for time and does not have the necessary ingredients for making any other kind, this one may nearly always be utilized. In addition to these uses, French dressing, as has been previously explained, may also be used to marinate salads before mayonnaise or other dressing is mixed with them. A point that should always be remembered in the making of this dressing or any other dressing containing oil is that the flavor of the oil has much to do with the desirability of the finished dressing.

FRENCH DRESSING

3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. mustard 1/4 tsp. pepper 3 Tb. vinegar 1/4 tsp. paprika 1/2 c. oil

Measure the dry ingredients and place them in a bowl. Measure the vinegar and oil and add them to the dry ingredients. If possible, place a piece of ice the size of a walnut in the bowl. Beat with a fork until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the oil and vinegar form an emulsion that will remain for a short time. The ingredients will separate if the dressing is allowed to stand, but the colder they are, the more easily will the emulsion form and the longer will it remain. If ice cannot be used, have the ingredients as cold as possible before mixing them.

38. Sometimes a more highly seasoned French dressing is desired. In such an event, there should be beaten into the dressing just described the following ingredients:

2 Tb. finely chopped onion or 1 Tb. onion juice 2 Tb. chopped pimiento 1 large green pepper, chopped 2 Tb. chopped parsley

39. MAYONNAISE DRESSING.--Although mayonnaise dressing is prepared without the application of heat, it is not one of the simplest dressings to prepare. It meets with much favor, being used almost as extensively as French dressing, but it is perhaps less desirable with fruit salads than with others. It is also much used as a basis for numerous other dressings. Since it requires considerable time for its preparation, a wise plan is to make more than enough for one meal. However, it should not be made in large quantities, for the oil separates from the remainder of the ingredients if it is allowed to stand too long. If it is thoroughly beaten and kept extremely cold, it may perhaps keep for a week, but keeping it longer than that is not advisable. Before serving, it may be thinned by beating either sweet or sour cream into it. It may be made fluffy and light and its quantity may be increased by beating whipped cream into it.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING

1/2 tsp. salt 2 egg yolks 1/4 tsp. pepper 1-1/2 c. oil 1/4 tsp. mustard 4 Tb. vinegar or lemon juice

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the dry ingredients. Beat these with a rotary egg beater until they are well mixed. To this mixture, add a few drops of oil and continue to beat. Add a drop of the vinegar or lemon juice, a few more drops of oil, and beat constantly. Gradually increase the quantity of oil added each time, but do not do this rapidly. As the oil is added and the beating is continued, it will be noted that the mixture grows thicker, but when vinegar is added the mixture is thinned. The quantity of vinegar is so much less than that of oil that the oil may be added in small amounts two or three times in succession before vinegar is added.

This process is rather long and slow, but if the mixing is done correctly, the result will be a thick, smooth mixture that will not separate for possibly 6 or 7 days. Mayonnaise mixers, which may be procured for making this dressing, make the work easier, but they are not at all necessary. Mayonnaise may be made as successfully with a bowl and a rotary beater, if it will just be remembered that the liquid ingredients must be added slowly and that they must be as cold as possible.

40. COOKED MAYONNAISE.--A dressing that is very similar both in texture and taste to the mayonnaise just explained and perhaps a little easier to make is known as cooked mayonnaise. This dressing, as will be noted from the accompanying recipe, may be made in larger quantities than the uncooked mayonnaise.

COOKED MAYONNAISE

2 Tb. oil 1/4 tsp. mustard 4 Tb. flour 1/4 tsp. paprika 1/2 c. vinegar 2 eggs 1 c. boiling water 2 c. oil 1 Tb. salt

Mix the 2 tablespoonfuls of oil and the flour and pour in the vinegar. Add the boiling water and stir the mixture until it is perfectly smooth and well mixed. Place over the fire and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the fire and cool. When completely cooled, add the salt, mustard, and paprika. Separate the eggs and beat the yolks and whites separately. Add the egg yolks to the mixture. Add the 2 cupfuls of oil a little at a time, beating thoroughly with a rotary beater each time oil is added. When all of this is completely mixed and thoroughly beaten, fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

41. THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING.--By using the cooked or the uncooked mayonnaise dressing as a basis and adding to it the ingredients listed here, a very delightful salad dressing, called Thousand Island dressing, is the result. All the ingredients need not be added if it is inconvenient to do so, still the dressing is better when they are all used. This dressing is particularly good when served with plain lettuce salad, with lettuce and tomatoes, with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, or with any other plain-vegetable salad.

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

1 c. mayonnaise dressing 2 Tb. chopped green pepper 1/4 c. chilli sauce 1 Tb. chopped onion 2 Tb. chopped pimento 1 hard-cooked egg

Into the mayonnaise stir the chilli sauce, pimiento, pepper, and onion, and lastly, add the hard-cooked egg chopped into fine pieces. Chill and serve.

42. BOILED SALAD DRESSING.--Although boiled salad dressing is not so great a favorite as the uncooked mayonnaise dressing, it has the advantage of being less expensive. Then, too, it is one of the dressings that may be made without oil, and so finds favor with those to whom oil is not agreeable. However, oil may be substituted for the butter that is given in the recipe. It will be noted that the preparation of this dressing is similar to that of a custard with the addition of flour. Since the flour requires longer cooking than the eggs, they are added last so that there will be no danger of overcooking them. If the dressing curdles, it may be known that the eggs have cooked too long, but this condition may be remedied by placing the pan containing the dressing in a pan of cold water as soon as the curdling is observed and then beating vigorously with a rotary beater.

BOILED SALAD DRESSING

2 Tb. butter 1 tsp. mustard 2 Tb. flour 1 c. milk 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs 2 tsp. sugar 1/4 c. vinegar

Melt the butter in the inner pan of a double boiler, add the flour, salt, sugar, mustard, and milk. Cook over the flame until the mixture is thickened. Beat the eggs, stir them into the mixture, and add the vinegar, beating rapidly. Place in the large pan of the double boiler and allow this to cook until the eggs have thickened. Cool and serve.

43. SOUR-CREAM DRESSING.--Sour-cream dressing is not a very economical one to make unless there happens to be sour cream on hand. It is, however, a very good dressing for both fruit and vegetable salad.

SOUR-CREAM DRESSING

2 Tb. butter 1/3 c. vinegar 3 Tb. flour 1 c. sour cream 2 Tb. sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. salt 1 c. whipped cream

Melt the butter in the upper part of a double boiler, add the flour, sugar, salt, vinegar, and sour cream. Cook together over the flame until the mixture thickens. Beat the egg yolks and add them to this. Place in the lower part of the double boiler and cook until the egg yolks thicken. Beat the egg whites and fold them with the whipped cream into the salad dressing. Cool and serve.

44. CREAM DRESSING.--A simple dressing that requires very little time or skill in preparation and that affords a means of using up cream that has soured is the one given in the accompanying recipe. Sweet cream may also be used in the same way if desired, and this makes an excellent dressing for cabbage salad, plain cucumber salad with lettuce, or fruit salad. If the dressing is to be used for fruit salad, lemon juice may be used in the place of vinegar.

CREAM DRESSING

1 c. sour cream 1/2 tsp. salt 2 Tb. sugar 1/4 c. vinegar

Whip the cream with a rotary beater until it is stiff. Then add the sugar, salt, and vinegar, and continue beating until the mixture is well blended. Cool and serve.

VARIETIES OF SALADS AND THEIR PREPARATION

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VEGETABLE SALADS

45. With the knowledge already obtained of the food value of the vegetables that are generally used as ingredients in vegetable salads, the housewife ought to have no difficulty in determining whether she is giving her family a salad that is high or low in food value. For instance, she should know that the food value of a plain lettuce or cucumber salad is lower than that of one made from potatoes because of the different values in the vegetables used.. In addition, she ought to be familiar with the fact that the dressing added to salads has, in most cases, greater food value than the other ingredients of the salad. Equipped with such knowledge, she will observe that the vegetable salads here given are comparatively low in food value. Consequently, nearly every one of them will lend itself nicely for use with a dinner or a comparatively heavy meal.

46. In these recipes, as well as in those for the other kinds of salad, the proportion of ingredients may be varied according to the quantity of the particular food in supply. For instance, if a recipe for a salad of peas and celery calls for 1 cupful of each of these vegetables and only 3/4 cupful of celery can be obtained, there is no reason why the difference cannot be made up by using 1 1/4 cupfuls of peas. But if such a change is to be made, the ingredients should be increased or decreased in the correct proportion. Then the quantity of salad that the recipe is intended to produce will not be altered and the housewife will know just how many the salad will serve. In the various recipes, about 1/2 cupful of salad is the quantity allowed for each person. This may be enlarged or made smaller in order to suit the quantity of other foods served at the same meal.

47. ASPARAGUS SALAD--Salad in which asparagus is the chief ingredient is one that may be served during the entire year, for either freshly cooked or canned asparagus may be used; in fact, the canned asparagus is considered by many persons to be better than that which is freshly cooked. It may be cut into inch lengths or the tips may be cut down about 4 inches from the top or even farther.

ASPARAGUS SALAD (Sufficient to Serve Five)

Lettuce 1 pimiento 1 can asparagus Salad dressing

Garnish salad plates with the lettuce. Place the asparagus tips in an orderly pile on the lettuce leaf. Cut a thin strip of the pimiento, and place this across the tips in the center. Just before serving, pour a spoonful or two of any desired salad dressing over this or place the salad on the table and serve the dressing, allowing each person to take what is desired.

48. BEET-AND-BEAN SALAD.--An excellent winter salad and one that may be made from canned or left-over vegetables is beet-and-bean salad. If string beans happen to be left over or only part of a can remains, they may be combined with beets that are canned or freshly cooked for the purpose. This salad should be carefully combined just before serving, since the beets will discolor the rest of the ingredients if it is allowed to stand any length of time.

BEET-AND-BEAN SALAD (Sufficient to Serve Four)

1 c. string beans Lettuce 1 c. beets Salad dressing

Cut the string beans into half-inch lengths and cut the beets into half-inch dice. Season each well with salt and pepper. Just before serving, garnish salad plates with lettuce, combine the two vegetables, and place in a heap on a lettuce leaf. Pour French dressing or any other salad dressing desired over them, but do not mix the salad dressing with the vegetables.

49. CABBAGE SALAD.--A salad that always finds favor is made by combining cabbage with a boiled salad dressing or with an uncooked sour-cream dressing. Salad of this kind may be served in any desired way, but a rather novel way to serve it is illustrated in Fig. 2. The contents of a head of cabbage is removed, leaving four or five of the outside leaves intact. The shell thus formed is cut into points around the top and then filled with shredded cabbage and the dressing that is to be used. When this is placed on a bed of lettuce, an attractive dish is the result.

To make cabbage salad, select a firm head of cabbage, pull off the outside leaves, and wash. Cut the head in half down through the heart and root and cut each half into quarters. Then, as shown in Fig. 3, place each quarter on a cutting board and with a sharp knife shave off the cabbage. If desired, however, the cabbage may be shredded with a cabbage cutter. If the cabbage, upon being cut, is found to be wilted, place it in cold water and let it stand until it becomes crisp. Drain off the water carefully and allow the cabbage to drip in a colander or dry it between pieces of old linen. With the cabbage thus prepared, season it with salt and mix it with the desired dressing. Serve on lettuce in a salad dish, on individual salad plates, or in the manner shown in Fig. 2.