Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit Part 29

Pastry--Sift into a bowl 2-1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, 1 generous teaspoonful of lard and 1 of b.u.t.ter. Cut through the flour, mix with water into a dough as for pie crust. Roll thin, cut into about ten circles, and spread some of the mixture on each circle of dough. Press two opposite edges together like small, three-cornered turnover pies; drop these on to the hot meat and broth in the cook pot, closely covered. Cook slowly from 20 to 30 minutes. Before serving the "Boova Shenkel" pour over the following:

Cut slices of stale bread into dice and brown in a pan containing 1 large tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a couple tablespoonfuls of fat (which had been skimmed from top of broth before "Boova Shenkel" had been put in cook pot), add about 1/2 cup of milk to diced, browned bread; when hot, pour over the "Boova Shenkel" and serve with the meat on a large platter.

RICE b.a.l.l.s WITH CHEESE

Place 2 cups of cold, boiled rice, well drained, in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of grated cheese, a little salt, 1/4 cup flour and the stiffly-beaten white of one egg. Mix all together and mold into b.a.l.l.s about the size of a small egg, with a little of the flour; then roll them in fine, dried bread crumbs, and stand away until perfectly cold.

When preparing for lunch, beat the yolk of the egg with a little milk, dip the rice b.a.l.l.s into this, then into fine, dried bread crumbs, drop in deep fat and fry a golden brown. Drain on brown paper and serve, garnished with parsley.

"KARTOFFLE KLOSE"

One quart of cold, boiled, skinned potatoes, grated. (Boil without paring the day before they are to be used, if possible.) Put into a frying pan 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, 1 finely-minced onion (small onion), and fry until a light brown. Remove from fire and mix with this: 2 heaped tablespoonfuls flour, 1 tablespoonful of finely-cut parsley, 2 eggs (whites beaten separately), and 2 slices of bread, cut fine. Add grated potatoes and bread crumbs, alternately, mixing together lightly with a fork; add the other ingredients, season well with salt and pepper, form into round b.a.l.l.s the size of a walnut and drop into a stew-pan of boiling, salted water, containing a teaspoon of b.u.t.ter. Do not cover the stew-pan while they are cooking. As soon as the dumplings rise to the top, skim one out and cut in half to see if it is cooked through. They should take from 15 to 20 minutes to cook. Skim out of the boiling water on a platter. Cut each dumpling in half, pour over them bread crumbs browned in a pan containing a little lard and b.u.t.ter, and serve. The onion may be omitted and only finely-chopped parsley used, if desired, or use both. Or place the halved dumplings in pan containing a little lard and b.u.t.ter and chopped onion (if the latter is liked), and brown on each side, then serve.

RICE CROQUETTES (AND LEMON SAUCE)

Boil 1 cup of well-washed rice in 6 or 8 cups of rapidly-boiling water, until tender. The rice, when cooked and drained, should fill 3 cups. Prepare a cream sauce of 1 pint of milk, 3 heaping tablespoonfuls of flour and 2 tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and 2 egg yolks.

Stir in 3 cups of flaky, cooked rice, while rice is still hot. When the mixture has cooled, mold into small cone shapes with the hands, stand aside until perfectly cold. Dip the croquettes into the whites of eggs, then roll them in fine, dried bread crumbs and fry in deep fat. If a cube of bread browns in the fat in a little longer time than a half minute, the fat is the right temperature. Eighteen croquettes were made from this quant.i.ty of rice.

Lemon Sauce--To serve with rice croquettes, cream together 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, 1 egg, 2 cups of boiling water was added and all cooked together until the mixture thickened. When cooled slightly add the juice and grated rind of one lemon. Serve in a separate bowl, and pa.s.s with the croquettes.

CORN OYSTERS

Slice off tips of kernels from cobs of corn and sc.r.a.pe down corn-pulp from cobb with a knife. To 1 pint of pulp add 2 eggs, 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of flour, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper and of black pepper; add the 2 yolks of eggs, then stir in lightly the stiffly-beaten white of eggs and flour. Fry in only enough b.u.t.ter to prevent them sticking to the pan. Drop into pan by spoonfuls size of an ordinary fried oyster, brown on both sides and serve hot.

BANANA FRITTERS

From one banana was made 4 fritters. The banana was halved, cut lengthwise and then cut cross-wise. The batter will do for all fruits, clams, corn or oysters. Make a sauce of the liquor, mixed with same quant.i.ty of milk, with a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter added, chopped parsley and flour to thicken. When making oyster or clam fritters use same rule as for fruit fritters, using clam juice and milk instead of all milk.

For the "fritter batter," sift together 1 pint of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder and a pinch of salt. Stir slowly into it a pint of milk, then the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs, and, lastly, the stiffly-beaten whites of eggs. Beat hard for a few minutes and fry at once in smoking hot fat. Orange sections make delicious fritters, or halves of fresh or canned peaches may be used.

Allow the bananas to stand one-quarter hour in a dish containing a small quant.i.ty of lemon juice and sugar before putting them in the batter. Lay the slices of bananas or sections of orange in the batter, then take up a tablespoonful of the batter with one slice of banana for each fritter, drop into hot fat one at a time, and fry a golden brown. Sift pulverized sugar over and serve hot. If a small piece of bread browns in one minute in the fat it is the right temperature to fry any previously uncooked food.

PARSNIP FRITTERS

Sc.r.a.pe and boil 5 or 6 parsnips in salted water until tender and drain. If old parsnips, cut out the centre, as it is tough and woody.

Mash parsnips fine, add 1 egg yolk (white beaten separately), and added last a little salt, 1 large tablespoonful flour, 1/4 teaspoonful baking powder, mold into small cakes, dredge with flour, and fry quickly to a golden brown in a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and one of drippings. Serve at once.

AUNT SARAH'S "SCHNITZ AND KNOPF"

This is an old-fas.h.i.+oned "Pennsylvania German" favorite. The end of a ham bone, containing a very little meat, was placed in a large kettle with a small quant.i.ty of water, with "Schnitz," or sliced, sweet, dried apples, which had been dried without removing the parings. When the apples were cooked tender in the ham broth; dumplings, composed of the following, were lightly dropped on top of the apples and broth and cooked, closely covered, from 15 to 20 minutes. Do not uncover kettle the first ten minutes. When dumplings have cooked place them with the "Schnitz" on a large platter, and serve at once.

A VERY OLD RECIPE FOR DUMPLINGS, OR "KNOPF"

One and one-half quarts of flour was sifted with 2-1/2 tablespoonfuls of Royal baking powder, 1 teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter was cut through the flour in small bits, 1 egg was beaten and enough milk or water added to the egg to mix the flour into quite a soft dough. Sometimes instead of molding the dough into b.a.l.l.s large spoonfuls were placed over the apples. Aunt Sarah had used this recipe for many years. This is a very old recipe, and from it was made a larger quant.i.ty than ordinary housekeepers usually require. Half the quant.i.ty, about 1-1/2 pints of flour to 1-1/4 tablespoonfuls of baking powder, mixed according to the directions given in the first part of recipe, would be about the correct proportions for a family of ordinary size.

Aunt Sarah frequently subst.i.tuted sour cherries and a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter was added instead of ham and "Schnitz." Dumplings prepared from this recipe may be dropped on stewed chicken and broth and cooked or steamed, make an excellent pot-pie. Should there be more dough mixed than required for dumplings, place a panful in the oven and bake as biscuits. More baking powder is required when dough is steamed or boiled than when baked in the oven.

"KARTOFFLE KUKLEIN" (POTATO FRITTERS OR BOOFERS)

Place in a bowl 2 cups grated, pared, _raw_ potatoes; drain off any liquid formed, then add 1 small onion, also grated; large egg or 2 small eggs, salt and pepper, 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley, 1/4 teaspoonful baking powder (good measure), and a couple tablespoonfuls of flour to thicken just enough to make the fritters hold together; then drop by spoonfuls in deep, hot fat, and fry a rich brown. The fritters form into odd shapes a trifle larger than a fried oyster, when dropped in the fat.

Should the fritter batter separate when dropped in the fat, add more flour, but if too much flour is added they are not as good as when a lesser quant.i.ty is used. Drain the fritters on brown paper and garnish the platter upon which they are served with parsley. Mary's Uncle was very fond of these fritters. He preferred them to fried oysters, and always called them "potato boofers." I would not answer for the wholesomeness of these fritters. In fact, I do not think any fried food particularly wholesome.

ROSETTES, WAFERS AND ROSENKUCHEN (AS MADE BY FRAU SCHMIDT)

Prepare a batter from the following:

1 cup of sweet milk.

2 eggs.

Pinch of salt.

1 cup of flour, good measure.

Gradually mix the flour with the milk to form a smooth batter, free from lumps. Add yolks, then the slightly-beaten whites of eggs. Fasten the long handle to a wafer iron, shaped like a cup or saucer, and stand it in hot fat, a mixture of 2/3 lard and 1/3 suet, or oil; when heated, remove at once, and dip quickly into the batter, not allowing the batter to come over top of the wafer iron. Then return it to the hot fat, which should cover the wafer iron, and in about 25 or 30 seconds the wafer should be lightly browned, when the wafer may be easily removed from the iron on to a piece of brown paper to absorb any fat which may remain. This amount of batter should make about forty wafers. On these wafers may be served creamed oysters, vegetables, chicken or fruit. When using the wafers as a foundation on which to serve fruit, whipped cream is a dainty adjunct. One teaspoonful of sugar should then be added to the wafer batter. These wafers may be kept several weeks, when by simply placing them in a hot oven a minute before serving they will be almost as good as when freshly cooked. Or the wafers may be served as a fritter by sifting over them pulverized sugar and cinnamon.

"BAIRISCHE DAMPFNUDELN"

These delicious Bavarian steamed dumplings are made in this manner: 1 cake of Fleischman's compressed yeast was dissolved in a cup of lukewarm milk, sift 1 pint of flour into a bowl, add 1 teaspoonful of sugar and 1 teaspoonful of salt. Mix the flour with another cup of lukewarm milk, 1 egg and the dissolved yeast cake and milk (two cups of milk were used altogether). Work all together thoroughly, adding gradually about 1-1/2 cups of flour to form a soft dough. Do not mix it too stiff. Cover the bowl with a cloth; stand in a warm place until it has doubled the original bulk. Flour the bread board and turn out dough and mold into small biscuits or dumplings. Let these rise for half an hour, b.u.t.ter a pudding pan and place dumplings in it, brus.h.i.+ng tops with melted b.u.t.ter. Pour milk in the pan around the dumplings to about two-thirds the depth of the dumplings; set pan on inverted pie tin in oven and bake a light brown. Serve with any desired sauce or stewed fruit. Or, after the shaped dough has raised, drop it in a large pot of slightly-salted boiling water, allowing plenty of room for them to swell and puff up, and boil continuously, closely covered, for 20 minutes. This quant.i.ty makes about 30 small dumplings. Should you not wish so many, half the quant.i.ty might be molded out, placed in a greased pie tin, and when light, which takes half an hour, bake in a moderately hot oven, and you will have light biscuits for lunch.

The thrifty German Hausfraus make fritters of everything imaginable, and sometimes unimaginable. Mary was told one day by a German neighbor how she prepared a fritter she called:

"h.e.l.lER BLUTHER KUKLEIN"

She gathered elderberry blossoms, rinsed off the dust, and when free from moisture dipped the blossoms into fritter batter, holding the stem ends, then dropped them into hot fat, and when golden brown, drained a minute on coa.r.s.e, brown paper before serving, dusted them with powdered sugar; cinnamon may also be dusted over if liked. Mary p.r.o.nounced them "fine," after tasteing, and said: "They certainly are a novelty." Perhaps something like this suggested the Rosette Iron, as it is somewhat similar.

APYL KUKLEIN (APPLE FRITTERS)

Pare and core 4 large tart apples. Cut each apple into about 4 round slices and allow the sliced apples to lie a couple of hours in a dish containing 2 tablespoonfuls of brandy, mixed with a half teaspoonful of cinnamon and a half teaspoonful of sugar. Drain the sliced apples, then a few at a time should be dropped in the following batter, composed of: 1 cup of flour sifted with 1/2 teaspoonful of Royal baking powder, 1/4 teaspoonful of salt, add the yolks of 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk to form a smooth batter, then add the stiffly-beaten whites of eggs. Fry light brown, in deep, hot fat, and sift over powdered sugar. "Fried Apples" are an appetizing garnish for pork chops; the apples should be cored, _not pared_, but should be sliced, and when cut the slices should resemble round circles, with holes in the centre. Allow the sliced apples to remain a short time in a mixture of cinnamon and brandy, dry on a napkin, and fry in a pan, containing a couple of tablespoonfuls of sweet drippings and b.u.t.ter.

DUMPLINGS MADE FROM "BREAD SPONGE"

Aunt Sarah's raised dumplings from bread sponge were greatly relished at the farm.

When bread sponge, which had been set to rise early in the morning, and all flour necessary for loaves of bread had been added and loaves were being shaped to place in bread tins, Aunt Sarah reserved an amount of sponge sufficient for one loaf of bread, added a little extra salt, shaped them into small b.a.l.l.s, size of a lemon, placed them on a well-floured board some distance apart to raise; when light (at 12 o'clock, if the dinner hour was 12.20), she carefully dropped the light b.a.l.l.s of dough into a large pot of rapidly boiling, slightly salted water, covered closely, and boiled about 20 minutes, (Do not have more than one layer of the dumplings in cook pot, and do not place too close together; allow room for them to expand.)

Test by tearing one apart with a fork. Serve at once, and serve with a roast, to be eaten with gravy, with b.u.t.ter, or they may be eaten as a dessert, with jelly or maple syrup.