Miss Parloa's New Cook Book Part 37

Boiled Rice.

One cupful of rice, one quart of boiling water, one scant table- spoonful of salt. Wash the rice in three waters, and put in the double kettle with the salt and boiling water. Boil rapidly fifteen minutes; then pour off _all_ the water. Cover tightly, return to the fire, and cook twenty minutes longer. The water in the under boiler must boil rapidly all the time. Rice cooked in this manner will have every grain separate.

Corn Oysters.

One cupful of flour, half a cupful of melted b.u.t.ter, three table- spoonfuls of milk, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one pint of grated corn. Pour the corn on the flour, and beat well; then add the other ingredients, and beat rapidly for three minutes. Have fat in the frying-pan to the depth of about two inches. When smoking hot, put in the batter by the spoonful. Hold the spoon close to the fat and the shape of the oyster will be good.

Fry about five minutes.

New Bedford Corn Pudding.

Twelve ears of corn, four eggs, a generous pint and a half of milk, a generous teaspoonful of salt, four table-spoonfuls of sugar. Grate the corn, beat the eggs with a spoon, and mix all the ingredients together. b.u.t.ter a deep earthen dish, and pour the mixture into it.

Bake slowly two hours. Serve hot. When the corn is old it will take one quart of milk. If very young and milky, one pint of milk will be sufficient.

Pickled Beets.

Cut boiled beets in slices. Lay these in a large gla.s.s jar or earthen pot. For every beet, put in one slice of onion, one table-spoonful of grated horse-radish, six cloves, and vinegar enough to cover. The beets will be ready to use in ten or twelve hours. They will not keep more than a week.

Baked Beans.

Pick one quart of beans free from stones and dirt. Wash, and soak in cold water over night. In the morning pour off the water. Cover with hot water, put two pounds of corned beef with them, and boil until they begin to split open, (the time depends upon the age of the beans, but it will be from thirty to sixty minutes). Turn them into the colander, and pour over them two or three quarts of cold water. Put about half of the beans in a deep earthen pot, then put in the beef, and finally the remainder of the beans. Mix one tea-spoonful of mustard and one table-spoonful of mola.s.ses with a little water. Pour this over the beans, and then add boiling water to just cover. Bake _slowly_ ten hours. Add a little water occasionally.

PIES AND PUDDINGS.

Puff Paste.

One quart of pastry flour, one pint of b.u.t.ter, one table-spoonful of salt, one of sugar, one and a quarter cupfuls of ice water. Wash the hands with soap and water, and dip them first in very hot, and then in cold, water. Rinse a large bowl or pan with boiling water and then with cold. Half fill it with cold water. Wash the b.u.t.ter in this, working it with the hands until it is light and waxy. This frees it of the salt and b.u.t.ter-milk, and lightens it, so that the pastry is more delicate. Shape the b.u.t.ter into two thin cakes, and put in a pan of ice water, to harden. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. With the hands, rub one-third of the b.u.t.ter into the flour. Add the water, stirring with a knife. Stir quickly and vigorously until the paste is a smooth ball. Sprinkle the board _lightly_ with flour. Turn the paste on this, and pound quickly and lightly with the rolling pin. Do not break the paste. Roll from you and to one side; or, if easier to roll from you all the while, turn the paste around. When it is about one-fourth of an inch thick, wipe the remaining b.u.t.ter, break it in bits, and spread these on the paste. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Fold the paste, one-third from each side, so that the edges meet. Now fold from the ends, but do not have these meet. Double the paste, pound lightly, and roll down to about one-third of an inch in thickness.

Fold as before, and roll down again. Repeat this three times if for pies, and six times if for _vol-au-vents_, patties, tarts, etc.

Place on the ice, to harden, when it has been rolled the last time. It should be in the ice chest at least an hour before being used. In hot weather if the paste sticks when being rolled down, put it on a tin sheet and place on ice. As soon as it is chilled it will roll easily.

The less flour you use in rolling out the paste the tenderer it will be. No matter how carefully every part of the work may be done, the paste will not be good if much flour is used.

Chopped Paste.

One quart of pastry flour, two cupfuls of unwashed b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, and a scant cupful of ice water. Put the flour, salt, sugar and b.u.t.ter in the chopping- tray. Chop all together until the b.u.t.ter is thoroughly mixed with the flour; then add the water, and continue chopping. When well mixed, sprinkle the board with flour, turn the paste on it, and roll into a flat piece. Place in a pan on the ice. When hard, use the same as puff paste. It can be used as soon as mixed, but will not, of course, be so nice.

French Paste for Raised Pies.

One quart of pastry flour, one table-spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one scant cupful of b.u.t.ter, one egg, one tea- cupful of water. Rub the b.u.t.ter, salt and sugar into the flour. Beat the egg, and add the water to it. Stir this into the flour and b.u.t.ter.

Stir this mixture until it is a smooth paste; then put on the board and roll the same as puff paste. This paste must be rolled eight times.

To Make a Pie.

b.u.t.ter the pie plate (tin is the best), and cover with paste that has been rolled very thin. Roll a strip of paste long enough to go around the plate, and cut in strips an inch wide. Wet the edge of the plate with water, and put a strip of paste on it. Fill with any kind of prepared fruit Have the paste in a roll, and cut enough from the end to cover the pie. Sprinkle the board lightly with flour, and place the paste up-on it. Flour the rolling pin with, the hand. Roll from you and to one side until the paste is the right size. It must be much larger than the plate. In the centre cut a slit about halt an inch long. Cover the pie, having the paste "_fulled_" on, as it shrinks in the baking. The oven must be hot at first, and after the first fifteen minutes the drafts must be closed. A mince pie will require one hour to bake, and an apple pie fifty minutes. Peach, and nearly all other fruit pies, require the same time.

Mince Pie Meat.

Boil a beef tongue, weighing six pounds, and six pounds of the vein of a round of beef (these should just simmer). After skinning the tongue, chop it and the beef very fine, and add five pounds of beef suet, chopped fine; five pounds of stoned raisins, three of dried currants, one and a half of citron, cut fine; nine of sugar, one and a half pints of mola.s.ses, two quarts of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, one quart of brandy, one pint of white wine, a cupful of salt, half a cupful of cinnamon, one-fourth of a cupful of cloves, one- fourth of a cupful of allspice, three nutmegs, a table-spoonful of mace. Put all in a large pan, and let stand over night. Put what you wish to bake in another pan with half as much stewed and sweetened apple as you have meat, and let it stand one hour. Put the remainder of the meat in a jar. Cover with a paper dipped in brandy, and then cover tightly, to exclude the air. Set in a cool place for future use, [Mrs. M. L. W.]

Squash pies.

Five pints of stewed and strained squash, two quarts of boiling milk, one and a half nutmegs, four teaspoonfuls of salt, five cupfuls of sugar, nine eggs, four table-spoonfuls of Sicily Madeira and two of rose-water. Gradually pour the boiling milk on the squash, and stir continually. Add the nutmeg, rose-water and sugar. When cold, add the eggs, well beaten; and just before the mixture is put in the plates, add the Madeira. b.u.t.ter deep plates, and line with a plain paste. Fill with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven for forty minutes. [Mrs.

M. L. W.]

Sweet Potato Pies.

When the potatoes are dry and mealy, take a quart after they have been pared, boiled and mashed, a quart of milk, four eggs, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar to taste. Bake the same as squash pies. If the potatoes are very moist, use less milk.

Lemon Pie.

The juice and rind of one lemon, two eggs, eight heaping table- spoonfuls of sugar, one small tea-cupful of milk, one teaspoonful of corn-starch. Mix the corn-starch with a little of the milk. Put the remainder on the fire, and when boiling, stir in the corn-starch. Boil one minute. Let this cool, and add the yolks of the eggs, four heaping table-spoonfuls of the sugar, and the grated rind and juice of the lemon, all well beaten together. Have a deep pie plate lined with paste, and fill with this mixture. Bake slowly half an hour. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and gradually beat into them the remainder of the sugar. Cover the pie with this, and brown slowly.

Orange Pies.

Two cupfuls of sugar, two of flour, five eggs, one tea-spoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, the juice and rind of one orange. These are for the cake. Beat the eggs very light; then add the sugar, and beat until frothy. Now add the orange. Mix the soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve on to the beaten eggs and sugar. Stir well, and bake in deep tin plates. There will be enough for six plates. When baked, put a thin layer of the icing between the cakes, and cover the pie with icing. There should be three cakes in a pie. Icing: The whites of four eggs, one tea-cupful of powdered sugar, the juice and rind of two oranges. After beating the whites to a stiff froth, beat in the sugar and then the rind and juice of the oranges. When the pies are iced, dry them in the heater.

Chocolate Pies.

Make plain cup cake, and bake in Was.h.i.+ngton-pie plates, having the cake thick enough to split. After splitting, spread one half with a filling made as below, place the top piece on, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. The cake should always be fresh.

Filling: One square of Baker's chocolate, one cupful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, one-third of a cupful of boiling milk. Mix sc.r.a.ped chocolate and sugar together; then add, very slowly, the boiling milk, and then the eggs, and simmer ten minutes, being careful that it does not burn. Flavor with vanilla. Have fully cold before using.

HOT PUDDINGS.

Custard Souffle.

Two scant table-spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, two table-spoonfuls of flour, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, one cupful of milk, four eggs. Let the milk come to a boil. Beat the flour and b.u.t.ter together; add to them, gradually, the boiling milk, and cook eight minutes, stirring often.

Beat the sugar and the yolks of the eggs together. Add to the cooked mixture, and set away to cool. When cool, beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and add to the mixture. Bake in a b.u.t.tered pudding dish for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve _immediately_ with creamy sauce.