Reform Cookery Book Part 3

SAVOURIES.

"We live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest."

We come now to consider the middle courses of dinner in which lies the crux of the difficulty to the aspirant who wishes to contrive such without recourse to the flesh-pots. This is where, too, we must find the answer to those half-curious wholly sceptical folks who ask us, "Whatever _do_ you have for dinner?" Most of them will grant that we _may_ get a few decent soups, though no doubt they retain a sneaking conviction that at best these are "unco wersh," and puddings or sweets are almost exclusively vegetarian. But how to compensate for that little bit of chicken, ox, or pig--no one now-a-days owns to taking much meat!--is beyond the utmost efforts of their imagination. Of course we can't have everything. When a "reformed" friend of mine was a.s.serting that we could have no end of delicacies, one lady triumphantly remarked "Anyhow, you can't have a leg of mutton." That is true, but then we must remember that it's not polite to speak of "legs," especially with young ladies learning cooking. Liver or kidneys are not particularly nice things to speak about either, and I am sure if we reflected on what their place is in the economy of the body, we should think them still less nice to eat.

But joking apart, there is a growing tendency to get as far away as we can from their origin in the serving of meat dishes. The old-time huge joints, trussed hares, whole sucking pigs, &c., are fast vanis.h.i.+ng from our tables, and the smart _chef_ exerts himself to produce as many recherche and mysterious little made dishes as possible. Not a few of these are quite innocent of meat, indeed, that is the complaint urged against them by those who believe that in flesh only can we have proper sustenance. But little research is needed, however, to show that apart from flesh foods there are immense and only partially developed resources in the shape of cereals, pulses, nuts, &c., and, it is to these that we must look for our staple solid foods. In a small work like this it is impossible to do much more than indicate the lines upon which to go, but I shall try to give as many typical dishes as I can, and to suggest, rather than detail, variations and adaptations.

We must first study very briefly the various food elements, and learn the most wholesome and suitable combination of these. In an ordinary three-course dinner we must arrange to have a savoury that will fitly follow the soup and precede the sweets. Thus, if we have a light, clear, or white soup, we shall want a fairly substantial savoury, and if the soup has been rather satisfying it must be followed by a lighter course.

The lightest savouries are prepared mostly from starch foods, as rice, macaroni, &c., while for the richer and more substantial we have recourse to peas, beans, lentils, and nuts.

The first set of savouries given are of the lighter description, and are well suited to take the place of the fish course at dinner.

LIGHT SAVOURIES.

Fillets of Mock Sole.

Bring to boil 1/2 pint milk and stir in 2 ozs. ground rice or 3 ozs.

flaked rice. Add 1 oz. b.u.t.ter, teaspoonful grated onion, and a pinch of mace. Add also three large tablespoonfuls of potato which has been put through a masher or sieve, mix, and let all cook for 10 to 20 minutes. As the mixture should be fairly stiff this can best be done in a steamer or double boiler. When removed from the fire add 1 egg and 1 yolk well beaten.

Mix thoroughly and turn out on flat dish not quite 1/2 inch thick, and allow to get quite cold. Divide into fillet-shaped pieces, brush over with white of egg beaten up, toss in fine bread crumbs and fry in deep smoking-hot fat.

Drain, and serve very hot, garnished with thin half or quarter slices of lemon, and hand round Dutch sauce in tureen.

Fillets of Artichoke.

Boil some Jerusalem Artichokes till tender, but not too soft, cut in neat slices, and egg, crumb, and fry as above.

Chinese Artichokes.

Salsify, Scorzonera, &c., may be done in same way. Serve with Dutch or tomato sauce. A variety is made by simply boiling or steaming in milk and water. Drain, and serve with parsley or other sauce poured over.

Celery Fritters.

Get a good-sized head of well-blanched celery, trim and cut in small pieces, put in salted boiling water for a few minutes, then drain. Into a stewpan, or much better a steamer or double boiler, put 1/2 oz. b.u.t.ter, and into that shred a very small Spanish onion or a few heads of spring onion or shallots. Add the drained celery, one or two spoonfuls milk, salt, white pepper, and pinch mace. Allow to cook till quite tender then pour over a slice of bread free from crust and crumbled down. If the bread is not moist enough add a little hot milk. Allow to stand for a time, then drain away any superfluous moisture. The difficulty is to get this dry enough, and that is why a double saucepan is much better than an open pan, in which it is scarcely possible to cook dry enough without burning. Make a sauce with 1/2 oz. b.u.t.ter, 1/2 oz. flour, and 1/2 gill milk, and when it thickens add the panada, celery, &c. Stir over gentle heat till the mixture is quite smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the fire and mix in one or two beaten eggs. Turn out to cool, shape into fritters, and fry as mock sole.

Cauliflower Fritters

are made same as above, with cauliflower in place of celery.

_Note._--The eggs in this and mock sole may be left out, though they are an improvement and help to bind the mixture together. Variety can be obtained by varying the seasonings, adding a little lemon juice or Tarragon vinegar, &c., either to the mixture or to the sauce.

Macaroni Omelet.

Boil 2 ozs. short cut macaroni in salted boiling water, and drain. Put 3 dessertspoonfuls flour in a basin, smooth with a little cold milk, and pour a breakfast-cupful boiling milk over it, stirring vigorously all the time.

Add one or two spoonfuls of cream--or a little fresh dairy b.u.t.ter or nut b.u.t.ter beat to a cream--2 beaten eggs, teaspoonful minced parsley, same of grated onion, the macaroni, a large cup bread crumbs, seasoning of pepper, salt, &c. Mix very well. Put in b.u.t.tered pie-dish and bake 30 to 40 minutes in brisk oven. Turn out and serve with brown or tomato sauce. Some grated cheese may be added if liked.

Macaroni Cutlets.

Boil 3 or 4 ozs. macaroni in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain, and stew or steam till very tender along with some shred onion and tomatoes previously fried together, without browning, in 1 oz. b.u.t.ter. If too dry add a very little milk. When quite tender mix in enough bread crumbs to make a rather stiff consistency, also 1 or 2 ozs. grated cheese. Mix well over the fire. Add a beaten egg, pinch mace, and any other seasoning. Mix well again, turn out to cool, form into pear-shaped cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry in usual way.

Macaroni Egg Cutlets

are made by adding 2 finely chopped hard boiled eggs to the above mixture.

Add when macaroni is cooked, along with crumbs, raw egg, seasoning, &c.

Celery Egg Cutlets

are made by adding the hard-boiled eggs to the mixture for celery fritters.

Both of these are specially delicious, and this forms an excellent way of using up cold cooked stuff--savoury rice, vermicelli, &c.--so that one can have a dainty savoury with very little trouble. This is of no little importance in an age when so many demands are made upon the time and energy of the average housewife, and one would do well to study while preparing any dish requiring a good deal of care and labour, to have sufficient over to make a frica.s.see of some sort for another time.

Rice and Lentil Mould

comes in very handy in this way. Put 1 oz. b.u.t.ter in saucepan and shred into it very finely a large Spanish onion or an equal quant.i.ty white of small onions or leeks. Cover, and allow to sweat over gentle heat for 10 minutes. Some finely shred white celery along with the onions is a welcome addition, but is not indispensable. Pick and wash well 1/4 lb. yellow lentils and bring to boil in water to cover. Do the same with 3 ozs. rice.

The lentils and rice may be boiled together, but are nicer done separately.

Add to onion, &c., in saucepan, along with seasoning to taste of curry powder, &c. Some tomato pulp or chutney is very good. Mix lightly so as not to make it pasty. Remove from fire, add a beaten egg, and press into a plain b.u.t.tered mould. Tie down with b.u.t.tered paper and steam for one hour.

Turn out and serve with tomato sauce. It may also be garnished with slices of hard-boiled egg, beetroot, fried tomatoes, &c.

Kedgeree.

A very good kedgeree is made with much the same ingredients as above. The lentils may be left out, and chopped tomato or carrot flaked (on one of those threesome graters is best) and fried along with the onion, may be used instead. The rice must be boiled as for curry and made very dry. Boil 2 or 3 eggs hard, chop finely, and mix with the other ingredients in saucepan.

Make all very hot, and serve piled up on hot dish with any suitable garnish and curry or tomato sauce. A spoonful finely chopped parsley would be an improvement to both this and rice mould. Fried parley and thin slices of lemon make a suitable garnish for this and similar dishes, while parsley fried in fat at a low temperature, 200 degrees, crushed and sprinkled over a mould, cutlets, &c., both looks and tastes good. Any kedgeree that is left over will make excellent cutlets for breakfast, &c.

Macaroni Mould

is made by using cooked macaroni instead of rice in recipe for rice mould.

Macaroni Timbale.

Boil 6 ozs. long pipe macaroni--in as long pieces as convenient--in salted boiling water 20 to 25 minutes, and drain. Have a plain mould--a small enamel pudding basin is best--b.u.t.ter it well, and line closely round it with the macaroni. Fill in with any savoury mixture, such as lentils, tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, carrots, &c. Put more strips of macaroni or a slice of b.u.t.tered bread on the top. Cover with b.u.t.tered paper and steam 1-1/2 hours.

Turn out and serve with sauce. Garnish suitably, cooked tomatoes, &c.