Miss Parloa's New Cook Book Part 26

Rissoles.

Roll the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs from pie crust into a sheet about a sixth of an inch thick. Cut this in cakes with the largest patty cutter. Have any kind of meat or fish prepared as for croquettes. Put a heaping teaspoonful on each cake. Brush the edges of the paste with beaten egg, and then fold and press together. When all are done, dip in beaten egg and fry brown in boiling fat. They should cook about eight minutes. Serve hot.

Fritter Batter.

One pint of flour, half a pint of milk, one table-spoonful of salad oil or b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of salt, two eggs. Beat the eggs light.

Add the milk and salt to them. Pour half of this mixture on the flour, and when beaten light and smooth, add the remainder and the oil. Fry in boiling fat. Sprinkle with sugar, and serve on a hot dish. This batter is nice for all kinds of fritters.

Fritter Batter, No. 2.

One pint of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, one of sugar, one of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one tablespoonful of oil, one egg, half a pint of milk. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, cream of tartar and soda together, and rub through a sieve. Beat the egg very light, and add the milk. Stir half of this on the flour, and when the batter is light and smooth, add the remainder, and finally the oil.

Chicken Fritters.

Cut cold roasted or boiled chicken or fowl in small pieces, and place in an earthen dish. Season well with salt, pepper and the juice of a fresh lemon. Let the meat stand one hour; then make a fritter batter, and stir the pieces into it. Drop, by the spoonful, into boiling fat, and fry till a light brown. Drain, and serve immediately. Any kind of cold meat, if tender, can be used in this way.

Apple Fritters.

Pare and core the apples, and cut in slices about one-third of an inch thick. Dip in the batter, and fry six minutes in boiling fat. Serve on a hot dish. The apples may be sprinkled with sugar and a little nutmeg, and let stand an hour before being fried. In that case, sprinkle them with sugar when you serve them.

Fruit Fritters.

Peaches, pears, pineapples, bananas, etc., either fresh or canned, are used for fritters. If you choose, when making fruit fritters, you can add two table-spoonfuls of sugar to the batter.

Oyster Fritters.

One pint of oysters, two eggs, one pint of flour, one heaping teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of salad oil, enough water with the oyster liquor to make a scant half pint. Drain and chop the oysters. Add the water and salt to the liquor. Pour part of this on the flour, and when smooth, add the remainder. Add the oil and the eggs, well beaten. Stir the oysters into the batter. Drop small spoonfuls of this into boiling fat, and fry until brown. Drain, and serve hot.

Clam Fritters.

Drain and chop a pint of clams, and season with salt and pepper. Make a fritter batter as directed, using, however, a _heaping_ pint of flour, as the liquor in the clams thins the batter. Stir the clams into this, and fry in boiling fat.

Cream Fritters.

One pint of milk, the yolks of six, and whites of two, eggs, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, half a pint of flour, three heaping table- spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, half a teaspoonful of salt, a slight flavoring of lemon, orange, nutmeg, or anything else you please. Put half of the milk on in the double boiler, and mix the flour to a smooth paste with the other half. When the milk boils, stir this into it Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly; then add the b.u.t.ter, sugar, salt and flavoring. Beat the eggs well, and stir them into the boiling mixture.

Cook one minute. b.u.t.ter a shallow cake pan, and pour in the mixture.

Have it about half an inch deep in the pan. Set away to cool. When cold, cut into small squares. Dip these in beaten egg and in crumbs, place in the frying basket, and plunge into boiling fat. Fry tall a golden brown. Arrange on a hot dish, sprinkle sugar over them, and serve _very hot_.

Potato Fritters.

One pint of boiled and mashed potato, half a cupful of hot milk, three table-spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, three of sugar, two eggs, a little nutmeg, one teaspoonful of salt. Add the milk, b.u.t.ter, sugar and seasoning to the mashed potato, and then add the eggs well beaten. Stir until very smooth and light. Spread, about half an inch deep, on a b.u.t.tered dish, and set away to cool. When cold, cut into squares. Dip in beaten egg and in bread crumbs, and fry brown in boiling fat. Serve immediately.

Croquettes.

Care and practice are required for successfully making croquettes. The meat must be chopped fine, all the ingredients be thoroughly mixed, and the whole mixture be as moist as possible without spoiling the shape. Croquettes are formed in pear, round and cylindrical shapes.

The last is the best, as the croquettes can be moister in this form than in the two others.

To shape: Take about a table-spoonful of the mixture, and with both hands, shape in the form of a cylinder. Handle as gently and carefully as if a tender bird. Pressure forces the particles apart, and thus breaks the form. Have a board sprinkled lightly with bread or cracker crumbs, and roll the croquettes _very gently_ on this. Remember that the slightest pressure will break them. Let them lie on the board until all are finished, when, if any have become flattened, roll them into shape again. Cover a board _thickly_ with crumbs. Have beaten eggs, slightly salted, in a deep plate. Hold a croquette in the left hand, and with a brush, or the right hand, cover it with the egg; then roll in the crumbs. Continue this until they are all crumbed.

Place a few at a time in the frying basket (they should not touch each other), and plunge into boiling fat. Cook till a rich brown. It will take about a minute and a half. Take up, and lay on brown paper in a warm pan.

Royal Croquettes.

Three small, or two large, sweetbreads, one boiled chicken, one large table-spoonful of flour, one pint of cream, half a cupful of b.u.t.ter, one table-spoonful of onion juice, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, one teaspoonful of mace, the juice of half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. Let the sweetbreads stand in boiling water five minutes. Chop very fine, with the chicken, and add seasoning. Put two table-spoonfuls of the b.u.t.ter in a stew-pan with the flour. When it bubbles, add the cream, gradually; then add the chopped mixture, and stir until thoroughly heated. Take from the fire, add the lemon juice, and set away to cool. Roll into shape with cracker crumbs. Dip in six beaten eggs and then in cracker crumbs. Let them stand until dry, when dip again in egg, and finally in bread crumbs--not too fine. All the crumbs should first be salted and peppered. Fry quickly in boiling fat.

Royal Croquettes, No. 2.

Half a boiled chicken, one large sweetbread, cleaned, and kept in hot water for five minutes; a calf's brains, washed, and boiled five minutes; one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, half a pint of cream, one egg, quarter of a cupful of b.u.t.ter, one table-spoonful of corn-starch. Chop the chicken, brains and sweetbread very fine, and add the egg well beaten. Mix the corn-starch with a little of the cream. Have the remainder of the cream boiling, and stir in the mixed corn-starch; then add the b.u.t.ter and the chopped mixture, and stir over the fire until it bubbles. Set aside to cool. Shape, and roll twice in egg and in cracker crumbs. Put in the frying basket, and plunge into boiling fat. They should brown in less than a minute.

[Mrs. Furness, of Philadelphia.]

Oyster Croquettes.

Haifa pint of raw oysters, half a pint of cooked veal, one heaping table-spoonful of b.u.t.ter, three table-spoonfuls of cracker crumbs, the yolks of two eggs, one table-spoonful of onion juice. Chop the oysters and veal very fine. Soak the crackers in oyster liquor, and then mix all the ingredients, and shape. Dip in egg and roll in cracker crumbs, and fry as usual. The b.u.t.ter should be softened before the mixing.

Lobster Croquettes.

Chop fine the meat of a two-pound lobster; take also two table- spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, enough water or cream to make very moist, one egg, salt and pepper to taste, and half a table-spoonful of flour.

Cook b.u.t.ter and flour together till they bubble. Add the cream or water (about a scant half cupful), then the lobster and seasoning, and, when hot, the egg well beaten. Set away to cool. Shape, dip in egg and cracker crumbs, and fry as usual.

Salmon Croquettes.

One pound of cooked salmon (about a pint and a half when chopped), one cupful of cream, two table-spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, one of flour, three eggs, one pint of crumbs, pepper, salt. Chop the salmon fine. Mix the flour and b.u.t.ter together. Let the cream come to a boil, and stir in the flour, b.u.t.ter, salmon and seasoning. Boil for one minute. Stir into it one well-beaten egg, and remove from the fire. When cold, shape, and proceed as for other croquettes.

Shad Roe Croquettes.

One pint of cream, four table-spoonfuls of corn-starch, four shad roe, four table-spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of salt, the juice of two lemons, a slight grating of nutmeg and a speck of cayenne. Boil the roe fifteen minutes in salted water; then drain and mash. Put the cream on to boil. Mix the b.u.t.ter and corn-starch together, and stir into the boiling cream. Add the seasoning and roe. Boil up once, and set away to cool. Shape and fry as directed. [Miss Lizzie Devereux.]

Rice and Meat Croquettes.

One cupful of boiled rice, one cupful of finely-chopped cooked meat-- any kind; one teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, two table- spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter,--half a cupful of milk, one egg. Put the milk on to boil, and add the meat, rice and seasoning. When this boils, add the egg, well beaten; stir one minute. After cooling, shape, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry as before directed.

Rice Croquettes.