Dr. Allinson's cookery book Part 9

CAULIFLOWER WITH WHITE SAUCE.

Trim the cauliflower, cutting away only the bad and bruised leaves and the coa.r.s.e part of the stalk. Put it into salt water to force out any insects in the cauliflower. After soaking, wash it well in fresh water and boil quickly until tender, and serve with white sauce.

CELERY (ITALIAN).

2 heads of celery, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 egg, 1 cupful of breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste. Cut up the celery into pieces, boil it in water for 10 minutes; drain it and put it into the stewpan with the milk, 1/2 oz. b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt. Simmer the celery gently until tender, put it aside to cool a little, and add the egg well beaten. b.u.t.ter a shallow dish, strew it well with some of the breadcrumbs, and pour in the celery, sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs over the top, put the b.u.t.ter over it in little bits, and bake the celery until brown.

CELERY (STEAMED) WITH WHITE CHEESE SAUCE.

Prepare the celery as in previous recipe, leaving it in long pieces, and place it in a vegetable steamer, which consists of a large saucepan over which is fitted a perforated top. Add a little pepper and salt, and let the celery steam for 1-1/2 hours. For the sauce you need: 1 pint of milk, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1-1/2 oz. of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the milk with the b.u.t.ter, thicken it with the cornflour smoothed first with a spoonful of water, and last add the grated cheese and seasoning; let the sauce simmer, stirring it until the cheese is dissolved. Have ready some Allinson plain rusks on a flat dish, place the celery on it, pour the sauce over, and serve very hot.

CELERY (STEWED) WITH WHITE SAUCE.

2 or 3 heads of celery (according to quant.i.ty required), 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste. Remove the outer hard pieces from the celery, saving them for flavouring soups or sauces; wash well and cut up in pieces about 3 inches long. Set over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, the b.u.t.ter and seasoning. Let cook gently until the celery is quite tender, which will take about 1 hour; add the thickening and the milk. Let all gently simmer for a few minutes, and serve.

LEEKS.

Remove the coa.r.s.e part of the green stalks of the leeks. If the leeks are gritty cut them right through and wash them well, and if necessary use a brush to get out the sand. Tie the leeks in bunches and steam them until tender, which will take about 1-1/2 hours. Make a white sauce as for the cauliflower. Put the leeks on pieces of dry toast on a flat dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve.

MUSHROOMS (STEWED).

1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 teaspoonful of herbs, 1/2 saltspoonful of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, juice of 1/2 a lemon, the yolk of 1 egg, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Peel and clean the mushrooms, and wash them in water with a dash of vinegar in it. Wipe them dry with a cloth; have the water and b.u.t.ter ready in a saucepan with the herbs, and seasoning. Stew the mushrooms in this for 10 to 15 minutes. Thicken with the cornflour, then stir in the yolk of egg with the lemon juice, and serve.

ONION TORTILLA.

1 lb. of Spanish onions, 1-1/2 oz. of b.u.t.ter or oil, 3 eggs. Melt the b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan, slice the onions, and fry them for 10 or 15 minutes, beat the eggs, add them to the onions, season with pepper and salt, and fry the whole a light brown on both sides.

ONIONS (BRAISED).

2 lbs. of onions, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, vege-b.u.t.ter, or oil, pepper and salt to taste. Peel and slice the onions, and fry them a nice brown in the b.u.t.ter. Then add enough water to make gravy, add pepper and salt, and stew the onions for 20 minutes. Eat with wholemeal toast. This is very savoury, and is much liked.

ONIONS (SPANISH) (BAKED).

Peel as many onions as are required, making an incision crossways on the top, and put in a baking-dish with 1/2 oz. of b.u.t.ter on each large onion, or half that quant.i.ty on small ones; dust them over with pepper and salt, and bake them for 3 hours. Keep them covered for 2 hours, and let them brown after that. Baste the onions from time to time with the b.u.t.ter.

SCOTCH OR CURLY KAIL.

Scotch kail is best after there has been frost on it. Wash the kail, and cut away the coa.r.s.e stalks, boil it for 1-1/2 to 2 hours in a small quant.i.ty of water, adding a chopped up onion. Drain it when soft and chop it fine like spinach. Into the saucepan in which the kail was cooked put a piece of b.u.t.ter; melt it, and stir into it 1 tablespoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and brown it very slightly.

Then add some of the drained-off kail wafer and stir it smooth with the browned flour. Return the chopped Scotch kail to the saucepan, add pepper and salt to taste; let it cook for a minute, and serve.

SPINACH.

Wash the spinach thoroughly, and set it over the fire in a saucepan without any water, as enough water will boil out of the spinach to cook it. Heat it gently at first, stirring it a few times to prevent it burning, until enough water has boiled out of the spinach to prevent it from catching. Let the spinach cook 20 minutes, then strain it through a colander, pressing the water out with a wooden spoon or plate. Put a piece of b.u.t.ter in the saucepan in which the spinach was cooked; when melted, stir into it a spoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, and keep stirring the meal and b.u.t.ter for 1 minute over the fire. Return the spinach to the saucepan, mix it well with the b.u.t.ter and meal, and add as much of the strained-off water as is necessary to moisten it; add pepper and salt to taste, and a little lemon juice.

Let the spinach heat well through before serving. Have ready 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, and decorate the spinach with them.

Use 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, an even tablespoonful of the meal, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon to 4 lbs. of spinach.

TURNIPS (MASHED).

Peel and wash the turnips, and steam them until tender. Mash them up in a saucepan over the fire, mixing with them 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter. Pile the mashed turnips on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

EGG COOKERY.

Eggs are a boon to cooks, especially when dishes are wanted quickly.

They enter into a great many savoury and sweet dishes, and few cakes are made without them. They can be prepared in a great variety of ways. Eggs are a good food when taken in moderation. As they are a highly nutritious article of food, they should not be indulged in too freely. Eggs contain both muscle and bone-forming material, in fact everything required for building up the organism of the young bird.

The chemical composition of hen's and duck's eggs are as follows:--

Hen's egg. Duck's egg.

Water ........ 74.22 71.11 Nitrogen ..... 12.55 12.24 Fat .......... 12.11 15.49 Mineral matter 1.12 1.16 ------ ------ 100.00 100.00

Eggs take a long time to digest if hard boiled. All the fat of the egg is contained in the yolk, but the white of the egg is pure alb.u.men (or nitrogen) and water. Eggs are most easily digested raw or very lightly boiled, and best cooked thus for invalids. The best way of lightly boiling an egg is to put it in boiling water, set the basin or saucepan on the side of the stove, and let it stand just off the boil for five or six minutes. Eggs often crack when they are put into enough boiling water to well cover them, owing to the sudden expansion of the contents. If they are not covered with water there is less danger of them cracking. One can easily tell stale eggs from fresh ones by holding them up to a strong light. A fresh egg looks clear and transparent, whilst stale ones look cloudy and opaque. There are various ways of preserving eggs for the winter; one of the best is by using the Allinson egg preservative. Another very good way is to have stands made with holes which will hold the eggs. Keep these stands in an airy place in a good current of fresh air, and every week turn the eggs, so that one week they stand the pointed end down, next week the rounded end down.

APPLE SOUFFLe.

4 eggs, 4 apples, 2 oz. of castor sugar (or more if the apples are very sour), 1 gill of new milk or half milk and half cream, 1 oz. of Allinson cornflour, and the juice of 1 lemon. Pare, cut up, and stew the apples with the sugar and lemon juice until they are reduced to a pulp. Beat them quite smooth, and return them to the stewpan. Smooth the cornflour with the milk, and mix it with the apples, and stir until it boils; then turn the mixture into a basin to cool. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs; beat the yolks well, and mix them with the apple mixture. Whisk the whites to a stiff froth, mix them lightly with the rest, and pour the whole into a b.u.t.tered souffle tin. Bake for 20 minutes in a moderately hot oven, and serve at once.

CHEESE SOUFFLe.

8 oz. of Parmesan or other good dry, cooking cheese, 4 eggs, 1 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 gill of milk, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, mustard, pepper, and salt to taste. Melt the b.u.t.ter in a saucepan, stir in the wheatmeal, season with mustard, pepper, and salt. Pour in the milk, and stir until the mixture is set and comes away from the sides of the saucepan. Turn into a basin, and let the mixture cool. Grate the cheese and stir it in; separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, and drop the yolks of the eggs, one by one, into the mixture, beating all well. Whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, mix it lightly with the other ingredients; turn the mixture into a b.u.t.tered souffle tin, and bake the souffle for 15 minutes.

CHOCOLATE SOUFFLe.

5 eggs, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 3 oz. of castor sugar, 2 large bars of chocolate, 6 oz. of the crumb of the bread, and vanilla essence to taste. Cream the b.u.t.ter, and stir into it gradually the yolks of the eggs, the sugar, and chocolate. Previously soak the bread in milk or water. Squeeze it dry, and add to it the other ingredients. Add vanilla and the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth, and pour the mixture into a b.u.t.tered pie-dish or cake tin. Bake 3/4 of an hour, and serve immediately. If the souffle is baked in a cake tin, a serviette should be pinned round it before serving.

CURRIED EGGS.

6 hard-boiled eggs, 1 medium-sized English onion, 1 cooking apple, 1 teaspoonful of curry powder, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, and salt to taste. Prepare the onion and apple, chop them very fine, and fry them in the b.u.t.ter in a stewpan until brown. Add 1/2 pint of water and a little salt. Smooth the curry and wheatmeal with a little cold water, and thicken the sauce with it.

Let it simmer for 10 minutes, then rub through a sieve. Return the sauce to the stewpan, sh.e.l.l the eggs, and heat them up in the sauce; serve very hot on a flat dish.