Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 51

Some persons like a thick sauce with salad; it is made thus: Put a hard-boiled yolk of egg in a bowl, mash it, and then mix with it salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar; when these three are thoroughly mixed, add pepper and oil (about two tablespoonfuls of oil), little by little, stirring and mixing well the while; turn the mixture over the salad, and move as directed above. The mixture may be prepared in the salad-dish, and the salad put in afterward.

Mustard should never be used with lettuce; it is too strong to be eaten with such tender vegetables.

_Of Salsify._--In the spring, when the top of the salsify has grown for one or two weeks only, and immediately after the frost is out of the ground, cut it off, split it in four, wash it well, drain it dry, and prepare as a salad of lettuce. The root is prepared as described for salsify, and is never made in salad.

_Of Cuc.u.mbers._--Peel and slice them, then put them in a vessel, salt every layer, and leave thus in a cool place about one hour, drain them dry and then dress them with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper; slices of onion may be added, if liked.

_Of Beans._--Boil the beans in water with a little salt, drain them dry, and then dress them with parsley chopped fine, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

_Of Beets._--Boil the beets in water only till done, and when cool, peel and slice them, and prepare them with pepper, salt, vinegar, and oil.

The beets may be baked.

_Of Eggs._--Slice hard-boiled eggs, and dress them with chopped parsley, salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil.

_Of Lentils._--Proceed as for beans in every particular.

_Of Onions._--Bake the onions, then peel and slice them, and dress them with mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil.

_Of Tomatoes._--Wash, wipe dry, and slice the tomatoes; slice also onions and mix with them, the quant.i.ty to be according to taste; then season with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

_Of Walnuts._--The European walnut only can be used, and as soon as good to eat; that is, before the outer sh.e.l.l dries and opens. Break the nuts in two, take out the kernels with a pointed knife, and place them in a salad-dish, with some juice of grapes not yet ripe; add salt and pepper, leave thus two or three hours, moving now and then, and serve. The edible part will be found very good eaten that way. To persons who have never eaten any, it may appear a strange dish, but let them try it.

_Of Potatoes._--A potato-salad is the one that requires the most seasonings, especially oil and vinegar. They are better served warm than cold, although many prefer them in the latter state. When steamed, peeled, and sliced, put them in the salad-dish, with salt, pepper, vinegar, oil, and parsley, to taste. Mix the whole gently and well, and serve. If served very warm, b.u.t.ter may be used instead of oil.

_Another._--Add to the above a few anchovies, or slices of pickled cuc.u.mbers, or capers, or pickled beets.

_Another._--Add to the first some slices of truffles, previously soaked in Madeira wine for ten hours, and also a little of the wine.

_Another._--Put a hard-boiled yolk of egg in the salad-dish, with two tablespoonfuls of oil, and mix well so as to make a paste of them; then add two anchovies, a piece of tunny the size of a nutmeg, and half a dozen sprigs of chervil, the whole chopped fine; mix again with the rest; add also a chopped pickled cuc.u.mber, mustard to taste, vinegar, and then the slices of potatoes (warm or cold), slices of truffles previously soaked in Madeira wine, a little of the wine also, salt, and pepper; stir and mix again well, and serve.

_Apricots, Oranges, Peaches, Pears, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Currants, and like Berries, in Salad._--Dust the bottom of a dish with white sugar, put a layer of slices of apricots, oranges, peaches, or pears, or a layer of the others entire, and dust again; repeat the same till the whole is in, then add over the whole a pinch of grated nutmeg, with French brandy or rum to suit your taste, and serve as a dessert.

_Cocoa-nut._--Peel it carefully and soak it in brandy for twenty-four hours. A little sugar may be added; serve as a dessert.

_Salad Macedoine._--This salad ought to be called "compound salad," as it is made of a little of every thing that can be served in salad, i. e., fish, meat, green and dry vegetables, &c. When the whole is mixed, you add chopped parsley, sweet-oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper; you shake it till your arms are sore, and you have a salad _Macedoine_. Every one should try it; serve as an _entremets_.

_Salmon and Turbot._--Cut in slices, place them in a salad-dish, with hard-boiled eggs cut in two, or with some lettuce, and serve as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

_Of Pineapple._--Proceed as for that of apricots, etc., in every particular.

_Of Anchovy._--Clean and bone the anchovies, and then place them in the middle of a dish; chop fine some hard-boiled yolks of eggs and put a string of it around the anchovies; do the same with the whites, and then put a string of chopped parsley around the whites; season with oil and very little vinegar. Serve as a _hors-d'oeuvre_.

_Pickles and Preserves._--To pickle the fruit, it must be pickled before commencing to ripen, and be sound; the same for vegetables. When the fruit or vegetable is clean, and cut in pieces, if necessary, such as cabbage, have water on the fire, and drop it in at the first boil. If the fruit or vegetable is desired white, add to the water lemon or unripe grape juice. It is necessary to be very careful in blanching, for, if too much blanched or cooked, it will be soft and tasteless; if not enough, it will ferment. As a general rule, it is cooked as soon as it floats, but it can be ascertained by running a skewer or a small knife through it. By putting some fresh spinach-leaves or fresh grape-vine-leaves on the top of the fruit or vegetable, it will keep it more green than without. When blanched, take from the fire and drain.

Drop it immediately in cold water, and drain again. When dry, put the fruit or vegetable in jars, cover it with boiling vinegar; season with peppers, pepper-corns, cloves, and tarragon, also some rock-salt. When perfectly cold, seal the jars air-tight, and keep in a dark, cool, and dry closet. Every kind of fruit or vegetables can be pickled in the same way; the only difference is in the time of blanching or cooking, which is according to the nature of the fruit: _apples_, _string-beans_, _beets_, _cabbages_, _cauliflowers_, _cherries_, _cuc.u.mbers_, _lemons_, _melons_, _mushrooms_, _onions_, _peaches_, _pears_, _plums_, _pumpkins_, _quinces_, _radishes_, _walnuts_, etc., may also be preserved in salt and water, and in the following way: When cooked as above, put them in jars and cover them with very salt water. Seal when cool, and then put the jars in a boiler full of cold water, with straw or rags to prevent breaking them; set on the fire, boil from twenty to thirty minutes, take from the fire, let cool; then take the jars from the water and put away as the above.

_Peas_ and _mushrooms_ are almost always preserved in water and salt.

_Asparagus_ is also preserved, but it is so difficult to succeed, that even manufacturers of preserves have given it up.

_Tomatoes._--Wash them and then bruise them in a boiler; set on the fire, boil half an hour, and strain, to secure all the juice. Put the juice on the fire, boil till reduced about one-half, let cool, put in jars, seal them, put them in a boiler of cold water, with straw or rags to prevent breakage; set the boiler on the fire, boil twenty minutes, take off, let cool. When perfectly cold, take the jars off, place in a cool, dark cellar, and we warrant that they keep for years. No salt or seasonings of any kind are used to preserve them. When you wish to use them, season to taste.

_Tomato Catsup._--To make catsup with the above sauce, you have only to add to it, when in jars, peppers, pimento, cloves, etc.; but it is really not necessary, being too strong for this climate.

_Another way._--Take good and well-ripened tomatoes, clean and wash them well, put them in a stewpan and set it on a moderate fire for a while; take from the fire, throw away the water coming from them, and then strain them into a vessel. Put what there is in the vessel back on the fire, and in the same stewpan, and let it reduce about one-half; take from the fire, pour in a crockery pot, and leave thus twenty-four hours; then put in bottles, cork well, and place them in a cold and dry place.

_Cuc.u.mbers_.--The small green ones are the best. Clean them well in cold water with a brush, removing the p.r.i.c.kles. Put cold water in a vessel with rock-salt in it, and shake it to dissolve the salt; soak the cuc.u.mbers in it for about three days. Take them out and immediately put them in pots or jars with small onions, a few cloves of garlic, pepper-corns, rock-salt, cloves, and a bunch of seasonings composed of bay-leaves, tarragon, and burnet; cover them with boiling vinegar (turn the vinegar on them as soon as it boils), cover the pots or jars air-tight when perfectly cold. Look at the cuc.u.mbers every two or three days for the first three weeks, and after that only once in a while.

According to the quality of the vinegar or of the cuc.u.mber itself, the whole may turn white after a while; in that case throw away vinegar and spices, put new spices in, the same spices as above, except the onions, which you keep with the cuc.u.mbers; cover again with boiling vinegar, and cover when cold as before. If they have not been kept too long in that state before changing the vinegar, they will be just as good as if they had not turned white.

EGGS, MACARONI, AND RICE.

Eggs are fit to eat as soon as laid, and the sooner they are used the better. You ascertain if they are fresh with an oonoscope, or by holding them before a light and looking through. There are several ways to preserve eggs, but to do which they must be fresh; as soon as perfectly cold after being laid, they may be preserved. Dissolve gum in water to the consistency of thin mucilage, and with a brush give a coat of it to the eggs; lay them in a box of charcoal dust and keep them in a dry, dark, and cool place. When wanted, they are soaked in cold water for a few minutes, and washed. They are also preserved in hydrate of lime.

When boiled hard, let them cool and place them in a dry, cool, and dark place; they will keep for weeks. If wanted warm after that, put them in cold water, set on the fire, and take off when the water is warm.

_With Mushrooms._--Cut in strips or fillets four mushrooms, one onion, one clove of garlic, and fry them with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, then add a tablespoonful of flour, stir for about one minute, add also half a pint of broth, same of white wine, boil gently till reduced about one-half, when put in the pan eight or ten hard-boiled eggs cut in dice, or cut the whites only in dice and put in the yolk whole, boil one minute and serve. It makes an excellent dish for breakfast.

_With Cheese and Parsley._--Put about two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted fry in it a tablespoonful of parsley, chopped fine; then add a pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper, about four ounces of pineapple or Gruyere cheese, grated, and a gill of white wine; stir till the cheese is melted, when you add eight or ten eggs, one after another, stirring the whole time and mixing them with the cheese; serve when done. More cheese may be used, according to taste.

_In Frica.s.see._--Put about half a pound of stale bread with one pint of milk in a saucepan on the fire and boil for two or three minutes, then mash well so as to mix the two together, put back on the fire, stir continually till it makes a rather thin paste, then take off, mix with it six or eight eggs, grated cheese to taste, salt and pepper, put back on the fire, stir, and serve when cooked. Lemon-juice may be sprinkled on just before serving.

_A la Lyonnaise._--Chop fine two white onions and fry them with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, then add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, half a pint of broth; boil gently and stir now and then till it turns rather thick, when you add also eight whites of eggs, chopped; give one boil, and serve. Place the eight yolks, whole, all around, and between and alternately a small cake _feuillete_, and serve warm.

_A la Bechamel._--Slice the eggs or cut them in four pieces lengthwise, put them in _Bechamel_ sauce, set on a slow fire for two minutes, and serve warm.

_Fines Herbes._--Mix well together in a saucepan, and cold, two ounces of b.u.t.ter with a tablespoonful of flour; set on the fire, stir, and when melted thoroughly, add a teaspoonful of parsley and one of chives, chopped fine, salt, pepper, and about a gill of white wine; stir, and boil gently for about five minutes, and turn over hard-boiled eggs in a dish; serve warm. The eggs are served whole, sh.e.l.led, but not cut.

_Piquante-Sauce._--Dish hard-boiled eggs as for _fines herbes_, and turn over them a _piquante sauce_; serve warm. They may be served in the same way with any other sauce.

_Stuffed, or a l'Aurore._--Cut six hard-boiled eggs in two lengthwise; take the yolks off the whites; chop them fine with six or eight sprigs of parsley, put both eggs and parsley in a bowl; add salt, pepper, a little nutmeg grated, a piece of the soft part of bread soaked in milk and squeezed, three ounces of b.u.t.ter, mix the whole well. Then with the mixture fill the whites, that is, the place where the yolks were; fill a little more than full, so that all the mixture will go into and upon the twelve halves. Lay in a saucepan a _puree_ of spinach or of sorrel, or of any other vegetable, according to taste; lay the halves of eggs on it, the mixture upward; put for ten minutes in the oven, and serve warm.

_In Boxes._--Fold note-paper so as to make a kind of square box without a cover; put half an ounce of b.u.t.ter in it with a pinch of chopped parsley; lay it on a gridiron and on a slow fire, break an egg in it, and when nearly done add salt and bread-crumbs, to taste; serve warm when done.

_With Cheese._--Prepare as the above; add grated cheese at the same time you add salt and bread-crumbs; finish the cooking, and serve warm.

_Au Gratin._--Chop fine six or eight sprigs of parsley, a shallot if handy, or a small onion, half an ounce of the soft part of bread, an anchovy, and then mix the whole well with two ounces of b.u.t.ter; mix again with two yolks of eggs, place the mixture in a tin dish, place on a slow fire, and when getting rather dry break half a dozen eggs over it, dust with bread-crumbs, season with salt and pepper, and when nearly done spread two yolks of eggs beaten, with a teaspoonful of water over the whole, and serve warm.

_With Ham._--Prepare as scrambled eggs with the exception that you put in the pan, at the same time you put in the eggs, four ounces of boiled ham cut in dice. Serve the same.

_With Milk, Water, or Cream._--These three names are wrongly applied to eggs in many cook-books; they are creams, and not eggs.

_Ham and Eggs._--There are several ways of preparing this good dish; the ham may be raw or boiled; in slices or in dice; mixed with the eggs, or merely served under. Fry the ham slightly, dish it and then turn fried eggs over it; or fry both at the same time, the eggs being whole or scrambled, according to taste.

_With Asparagus._--Cut in pieces, about a quarter of an inch long, a gill of the tender part of asparagus, throw it in boiling water with a little salt; boil as directed, and drain. Beat eight eggs just enough to mix the yolks with the whites; put them in a stewpan, season with a pinch of grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper; add also a tablespoonful of warm water, set on a slow fire, stir till they are becoming thick; then add four ounces of b.u.t.ter, stir five minutes longer; add the gill of asparagus; simmer about five minutes longer, and serve.

_Boiled._--(_See_ Eggs in the Sh.e.l.l.)--Put the eggs in boiling water with a little salt, as near as possible at the first boiling; leave from five to ten minutes; take out and put them immediately in cold water; then sh.e.l.l them without breaking them, and use.