Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus Part 10

-BOILED CELERY---Trim off the tops of the celery about one-third of their length, and also trim the roots into rounding shape. Save the tops for making cream of celery and for garnishes, cook the celery in salted water until tender, drain, lay on toast, and pour a cream sauce over.

-BOSTON BAKED BEANS---Pick over a quart of small pea beans, wash thoroughly and soak over night in warm water. In the morning parboil them until the skins crack open. Pour off the water. Put into the bottom of a glazed earthenware pot, made expressly for the purpose, a pint of hot water in which have been dissolved a half tablespoonful salt, two tablespoonfuls mola.s.ses, a half teaspoonful mustard, and a pinch of soda. Pack in the beans until about a third full, then place in it a pound (or less, if preferred) of streaked pig pork, the skin of which has been scored. Cover with a layer of beans, letting the rind of the pork just show through. Now add enough more seasoned hot water to cover the beans, and bake covered in a slow oven all day or night. When done the beans should be soft, tender and moist but brown and whole, and the pork cooked to a jelly.

-BREADED POTATO b.a.l.l.s---Pare, boil and mash potatoes and whip into three cups of potato three level tablespoons of b.u.t.ter, two tablespoons of hot milk, salt and pepper to taste; also two teaspoons of onion juice and two level tablespoons of chopped parsley, one-quarter cup of grated mild cheese and two well-beaten eggs. Beat well and set aside to cool. Mold into small b.a.l.l.s, roll each in beaten egg, in fine stale breadcrumbs, and then fry in deep hot fat.

-CABBAGE AND CHEESE---Boil the cabbage in two waters, then drain, cool and chop. Season well with salt and pepper and spread a layer in a b.u.t.tered baking dish. Pour over this a white sauce made from a tablespoonful each of flour and b.u.t.ter and a cup of milk. Add two or three tablespoonfuls of finely broken cheese. Now add another layer of cabbage, then more of the white sauce and cheese, and so on until all the material is used. Sprinkle with fine crumbs, bake covered about half an hour, then uncover and brown.

-CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN---Select a firm, well-shaped cauliflower, and after the preliminary soaking in cold salt water throw into a kettle of boiling water and cook half an hour, until tender. Drain, pick off the flowers and lay to one side, while you pick the stalks into small pieces. Lay on the bottom of a rather shallow b.u.t.tered baking dish, sprinkle with pepper, grated cheese and cracker crumbs. Dot with pieces of b.u.t.ter. Add a little milk, then a layer of the flowerets and another sprinkling of milk, cheese and pepper.

-CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS---Soak and boil the cauliflower in the usual way, then separate into flowers. Dip each piece into a thin batter, plunge into boiling fat and fry a delicate brown. Serve very hot on napkins. If preferred, the pieces may be dipped into a mixture of salt, pepper, vinegar and oil, then fried.

-CREAMED SPAGHETTI---Have two quarts of water boiling in a kettle and one-third of a pound of spaghetti. Hold a few pieces of the spaghetti at a time in the water and as the ends soften turn them round and round and down into the kettle. When all are in the water put on a cover and cook the spaghetti twenty minutes, then drain.

Make a cream sauce with a rounding tablespoon each of flour and b.u.t.ter and one cup of cream. Season with one-half teaspoon of salt and a few grains of pepper. Stir in the spaghetti cut in inch pieces, turn on to a dish, and sprinkle with finely grated cheese.

-FRIED CORN---Cut the corn off the cob, leaving the grains as separate as possible. Fry in just enough b.u.t.ter to keep it from sticking to the pan, stirring very often. When nicely browned add salt and pepper and a little rich cream. Do not set near the fire after adding the cream.

-FRIED TOMATOES---Wipe some smooth solid tomatoes and slice and fry in a spider with b.u.t.ter or pork fat. Season well with salt and pepper.

-GLAZED CARROTS WITH PEAS---Wash, sc.r.a.pe and cut three medium-sized carrots in one-fourth inch slices, then, in cubes or fancy shapes, drain and put in saucepan with one-half cup b.u.t.ter, one-third cup sugar, and one tablespoon fine chopped fresh mint leaves. Cook slowly until glazed and tender. Drain and rinse one can French peas and heat in freshly boiling water five minutes. Again drain and season with b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper. Mound peas on hot dish and surround with carrots.

-GLAZED SWEET POTATOES---Put two rounding tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and one of sugar into a ca.s.serole and set on the back of the range to heat slowly. When hot lay in raw, pared sweet potatoes cut in halves, lengthwise. Dust with salt and pepper and put in another layer of seasoned potatoes and enough boiling water to stand one-half inch deep in the dish. Put on the close-fitting cover and set in the oven to cook slowly. When the potatoes are tender serve in the same dish with the sweet sauce that will not be entirely absorbed in the cooking. This way of preparing sweet potatoes pleases the Southern taste, which demands sugar added to the naturally sweet vegetable.

-GLAZED SWEET POTATOES---Sweet potatoes, like squash and peas, lose a little of their sweetness in cooking, and when recooked it is well to add a little sugar. Slice two large cooked sweet potatoes and lay in a small baking dish, sprinkle with a level tablespoon of sugar and a few dashes of salt and pepper, add also some bits of b.u.t.ter. Pour in one-half cup of boiling water, bake half an hour, basting twice with the b.u.t.ter and water.

-GREEN MELON SAUTE---There are frequently a few melons left on the vines which will not ripen sufficiently to be palatable uncooked. Cut them in halves, remove the seeds and then cut in slices three-fourths of an inch thick. Cut each slice in quarters and again, if the melon is large, pare off the rind, sprinkle them slightly with salt and powdered sugar, cover with fine crumbs; then dip in beaten egg, then in crumbs again, and cook slowly in hot b.u.t.ter, the same as eggplant. Drain, and serve hot. When the melons are nearly ripe they may be sauted in b.u.t.ter without crumbs.

-j.a.pANESE OR CHINESE RICE---Wash one cup of rice, rubbing it through several waters until the water runs clear. Put in porcelain-lined stewpan with a quart of soup stock and bay leaves and boil twenty minutes. The stock must be hot when added to the rice. Shake the kettle in which it is cooking several times during the cooking and lift occasionally with a fork. Do not stir. Pour off any superfluous stock remaining at the end of twenty minutes, and set on the back of the stove or in the oven, uncovered, to finish swelling and steaming. Just before serving add one cup of hot tomato juice, a quarter cup of b.u.t.ter, a tablespoon chopped parsley, a dash of paprika, and one tablespoon of grated cheese. Serve with grated cheese.

-LIMA BEANS WITH NUTS---Soak one cup of dry lima beans over night. In the morning rip off the skins, rinse and put into the bean pot with plenty of water and salt to season, rather more than without the nuts.

Let cook slowly in the oven and until perfectly tender; add one-half cup of walnut meal, stirring it in well; let cook a few minutes, and serve.

-MACARONI WITH APRICOTS---Stew twenty halves of fresh apricots in half a cup of sugar and enough water to make a nice sirup when they are done.

Before removing from the fire add a heaping tablespoonful of brown flour and cook until the sirup is heavy and smooth. Parboil ten sticks of macaroni broken in two-inch pieces, drain, add to one pint of scalding hot milk two ounces of sugar. Throw in the parboiled macaroni and allow it to simmer until the milk is absorbed; stir it often. Pour all the juice or sauce from the apricots into the macaroni, cover the macaroni well, set on back of the stove for fifteen minutes, then take off and allow to cool. When cold form a pile of macaroni in the center of the dish and cover with apricots, placing them in circles around and over it.

-MACARONI AND CHEESE---Cook macaroni broken up into short length in boiling salted water. Boil uncovered for twenty or thirty minutes, then drain. Fill a b.u.t.tered pudding dish with alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese, sprinkling pepper, salt and melted b.u.t.ter over each layer. Have top layer of cheese, moisten with rich milk, bake in moderate oven until a rich brown.

-SCRAMBLED CAULIFLOWER---Trim off the coa.r.s.e outer leaves of a cauliflower. After soaking and cooking, drain well and divide into branches. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper and toss into a frying pan with hot b.u.t.ter or olive oil.

-MACARONI OR SPAGHETTI SERVED IN ITALIAN STYLE---Break a pound of macaroni or spaghetti into small pieces. Put into boiling salted water and boil about twenty minutes. Then drain and arrange on platter.

Sprinkle on each layer grated cheese and mushroom sauce. Serve hot.

-MUSHROOM SAUCE, ITALIAN STYLE---(For macaroni, spaghetti, ravioli and rice.)--A small piece of b.u.t.ter about the size of an egg. One or two small onions, cut very small. About two pounds of beef. Let all brown.

Prepare as you would a pot roast. Add Italian dried mushrooms, soaked over night in hot water, chopped in small pieces. Add about one-half can of tomatoes. Let all cook well. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a little flour to thicken.

-MOLD SPINACH---Remove roots and decayed leaves, wash in several waters until no grit remains. Boil in water to nearly cover until tender, drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, chop very fine; reheat in b.u.t.ter, season with salt and pepper and pack in small cups. Turn out and garnish with sifted yolk of egg.

-NUT PARSNIP STEW---Wash, sc.r.a.pe and slice thin two good-sized parsnips.

Cook until perfectly tender in two quarts of water. When nearly done add a teaspoon of salt and when thoroughly done a teaspoon of flour mixed with a little cold water, stir well and let boil until the flour is well cooked, then stir in one-half cup of walnut meal, let boil up once, and serve immediately.

-POTATOES A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL---Slice cold boiled potatoes thin. Melt a rounding tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan, add a heaping pint bowl of the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and heat. Now add a teaspoon of lemon juice and the same of finely minced parsley, and serve at once.

POTATOES AU GRATIN--Make a white sauce, using one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one of flour, one-half a teaspoonful salt, one-quarter of a teaspoonful of white pepper and one cupful of milk. Cut cold boiled potatoes into thick slices, or, better still, into half-inch cubes.

b.u.t.ter a baking dish, put in it a layer of the sauce, then one of the potatoes, previously lightly seasoning with salt and pepper. Continue until all are in, the proportion of potato being about two cupfuls.

To one cupful of dried and sifted breadcrumbs, add one teaspoonful of melted b.u.t.ter and stir until it is evenly mixed through. Spread this over the contents of the baking dish, and place in a quick oven for twenty minutes, or until nicely browned. For a change, a little onion juice, chopped parsley or grated cheese may be added to the sauce.

-POTATO CREAMED---Cut cold boiled potatoes into small dice and cover them in a small saucepan with milk. Let them stand where they will heat slowly and absorb nearly all the milk. When hot add to one pint of potatoes a tablespoon of salt and a dash of white pepper. Sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley over the top as a garnish.

-POTATO MOLD---Mash some potato smoothly, add to it some b.u.t.ter and a little milk to make it smooth but not wet. Season with white pepper and salt and add enough chopped parsley to make it look pretty. Press into greased mold and bake for half an hour until lightly browned. Dust with crumbs and serve.

-POTATO PARISIENNE---Potato marbles seasoned with minced parsley, b.u.t.ter and lemon juice are liked by many. Others find that they are not sufficiently seasoned, that is, the seasoning has not penetrated into the potatoes, especially if a large cutter has been used. This method will be found to remedy this fault, giving a seasoning which reaches every portion of the potato. It may not be quite so attractive as the somewhat underdone marbles, but the flavor is finer.

Pare the potatoes and steam or boil them until soft, being careful they do not cook too fast. Drain off the water and let them stand uncovered until dry. Then cut in quarters lengthwise, and then in thin slices, letting them drop into a stewpan containing melted b.u.t.ter, salt and paprika. When all are sliced cover them and let them heat for a few minutes, add minced parsley and lemon Juice, shake them about so the seasoning will be well mixed and serve at once.

-POTATO PUFFS----No. 1---To one cup of mashed potato add one tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, one egg, beaten light, one-half cup of cream or milk, a little salt. Beat well and fill popover pans half full. Bake until brown in quick oven.

-POTATO PUFFS----No. 2---Add hot milk to cold mashed potato beat up thoroughly. Add one or two well-beaten eggs, leaving out the yolks if preferred whiter. Drop in spoonfuls on a b.u.t.tered tin, place a piece of b.u.t.ter on the top of each and bake a delicate brown or put in a pudding dish and b.u.t.ter the top and bake till of a light brown on top. Fifteen minutes in a hot oven will be sufficient.