Chapter II: Part 2

RIBS OF PORK IN CASSEROLE

UYNVECHE

(Serbian)

Fry 3 sliced onions in 1 tablespoon of lard. Mix this with 1 lb. of rice. Remove the seeds and cut in halves 3 green peppers. Add these to the rice; also 3 or 4 sliced tomatoes and 2 potatoes sliced. Place this rice mixture in a casserole and put on top a piece of ribs of pork of about 2 lbs. Pour in water enough to well cover the rice. Bake in the oven.

SALMIS DE LAPIN

(French)

Cut up your rabbit into neat pieces, removing as much of the bone as possible. Have an iron saucepan ready, in which you have put a good quarter of a pound of fat bacon. Put in your pieces of rabbit, which you fry until they become a nice golden brown, and which the French call doré; just before they are this colour add 2 tablespoonsful of rum, or of cognac, according to taste, also 2 échalotes cut up into very small pieces, which you must see do not burn.

FOR THE GRAVY.--Take the trimmings of the rabbit, the head, and liver, and pound them all up in a mortar. When pounded, add a heaping spoonful of flour and pound it in. Now measure out a pint and a half of white ordinary wine (hock), to which you will add a good breakfastcupful of good bouillon, or gravy. Into this put what you have already pounded up and mix it in, then pass it all through a sieve (passoire). When ready pour it over the pieces of rabbit, now that they are become of a golden colour, and let it simmer with them in a covered saucepan by the side of the fire for a good two hours and more, so as to have it very tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Bouquet garni--which means thyme, and if one likes the flavour, a leaf of bay laurel--but for the latter just to let it be in an instant only, as it has such a strong flavour. Many prefer just the thyme, which is more delicate. Half an hour before the rabbit is cooked, add a good spoonful of vinegar[1]; two, should the vinegar not be strong. Add a piece of butter of the size of a walnut whilst it is simmering or stewing by the side of the fire.

FOOTNOTE: [1] The vinegar is quite optional.

SHEEP'S HEAD

(Scotch)

Choose a nice sheep's head, get it slightly singed, then have it sawn up the middle, steep it all night with a little soda in the water, then clean it thoroughly, take out the brains, put on with cold water, slowly bring to boil, and boil slowly for three hours. Boil the brains in a cloth for a quarter of an hour, then mince small, make a white sauce, stir in the minced brains, lay the head flat on a dish and pour sauce over. Decorate with a few small bits of parsley.

MACARONI PIE

(Italian)

Three-quarters lb. of cold beef, or mutton, 1/2 an onion, 3 or 4 tomatoes, 1/4 lb. of macaroni, bread-crumbs, grated cheese, stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Cut the beef or mutton into thin slices, peel the onion and slice it thinly, slice the tomatoes, and boil the macaroni in slightly salted water until tender. Cool and drain the macaroni, and cut it up into small pieces. Line a buttered baking-dish with macaroni, and arrange the meat, onion, and tomato slices in layers on the baking-dish. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, pour over a little stock, and cover the top with macaroni. Sprinkle over some bread-crumbs, and grated cheese, and bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven.

KIDNEY AND MUSHROOMS

(English)

Take some sheep's kidneys, skin, halve, and core them, sprinkle each piece with pepper, salt, and sauté them in butter till a good brown; have a large mushroom peeled and cored for each half kidney, fry in the same fat as the kidney; lay the mushrooms in a hot dish, on each put a piece of tomato heated in the oven, then a half kidney, put a little pat of butter on each, and serve with either a pile of mashed potatoes or spinach in centre of dish.

Curries

INDIAN CURRY

Most of the curry powder or paste to be found in this part of the world is a mixture of 1/4 of dried chilli, 1/4 coriander, 1/2 dagatafolum; but the native curry cook uses a much larger variety of spices and likes to grind them himself fresh daily between two stones. The spices commonly used are:

Red chilli (roasted)
Coriander seed (roasted)
" " (fresh)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Baked garlic
Scraped cocoanut
Dagatafolum
Caraway seed
Yellow pimentos
Red pimentos
Cardamon seeds
Curcuma (saffron root)

A FRICASSEE OF CHICKEN

(Ceylon style)

Cut 2 good-sized chickens in 8 pieces. Season with salt and pepper; put in a saucepan with about 1 quart of cocoanut milk; add to this a little cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon fresh coriander, 1/4 teaspoon of powdered saffron, a little red pimento, and boil until tender; at the last minute thicken the sauce with 4 yolks of eggs mixed well with 1/2 pint cocoanut cream; keep hot but do not boil, as the richness of the ingredients would make it curdle. As this curry is not hot it is served with a sambo which consists of small dishes on one tray containing such savories as plain scraped cocoanut, pimento paste, and chopped onion with a red pepper sauce.

To obtain cocoanut cream, use the same process as that for ordinary cream;--as for the milk: have 3 fresh cocoanuts scraped very fine to which you add 3 pints of water, stir together for a few moments, then strain, let this milk stand for 3 hours to obtain the cream.

A SIMPLER INDIAN CURRY

One lb. of beef, mutton, fish, or vegetables, as desired. One tablespoon of curry powder, 1 heaping tablespoon of butter, 1 onion, 1/2 fresh cocoanut, juice of half a lemon, salt to taste. Curry powder to be mixed in 2 ozs. of water. Onion to be finely chopped. Cocoanut to be scraped and soaked in a teacup of boiling water, then squeezed, and the milk (or the liquid) to be put in the curry. First cook the butter till it bubbles, put in the onion and let it brown, add the curry powder, and let that cook a few minutes; if it becomes too dry and sticks to the pan add a little hot water. Then put in the meat (raw), cut in small pieces, fish, or vegetables, and fry them, add salt, and if dry, add a little more water, let all simmer till meat is thoroughly done; when about half done, add the cocoanut milk and the lemon-juice.

If not convenient to use the cocoanut milk, ordinary milk can be used, and the mixture thickened with a little flour. Cocoanut milk thickens without flour. When the butter separates and shows itself in the gravy, the curry is ready for serving. Curry should be served with plain boiled rice. Pass rice first, then curry.

If Indian chutney is served with curry it is a great addition. A banana may be cut up in pieces about half-inch thick, and added to the curry mixture while cooking, and is a pleasant addition to the flavour.

ANOTHER CURRY SAUCE

Chop 1 onion and 1 apple and cook them in 1 oz. of butter about 10 minutes, but do not let them brown. Add 1 dessert-spoonful of mild curry powder, the grated rind and juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 pint of water or stock, some salt, and 1 tablespoonful of seedless raisins, and simmer until the onion is quite tender. Unless added to rice or paste put in 1 dessert-spoonful of flour after the onion and apple have cooked about 10 minutes.

Pastes, Cheese, Etc.

MACARONI WITH CHEESE

(Italian)

Into 2-1/2 quarts of boiling water, well salted, throw 1/2 lb. of macaroni broken up into pieces. Let it boil 25 minutes, then drain it upon a sieve; replace in a stewpan with 3 ozs. of fresh butter cut in small pieces, 2 ozs. of grated cheese, and a pinch of pepper; mix all with a fork. The macaroni must not be broken. Add 1/2 cup of cream. Serve hot.

NOTE:--Macaroni should be tender but not pasty; it should possess a certain crispness; obtain this by passing cold water over it when it is in the sieve and quickly returning it to the saucepan.

MACARONI

(Milanaise)

Break up 1/2 lb. macaroni into pieces about 1/4 of an inch long. Boil in salted water 25 minutes. Drain on a sieve. Put it back in the stewpan with a cupful of tomato sauce and 2 oz. of ham cut into dice. Let it simmer a few minutes, then add 2-1/2 oz. of butter and the same of grated cheese.

POLENTA WITH CHEESE

(Italian)

Add to 1-1/2 pints of salted, boiling water, 1/2 lb. of Indian meal, sprinkling it in a little at a time. Let it cook until thick.

With a tablespoon form it into small lumps; arrange them on a dish, sprinkle them with grated cheese, and pour over them some butter cooked brown, but not burnt. Put the dish in the oven a few minutes to melt the cheese before serving.

LENTIL CROQUETTES

Put in cold water 1/2 a cup of dried beans or lentils and let soak overnight. Boil them 1-1/2 hours or until tender. Pass them through a sieve; add 1/2 of a cup of fine bread-crumbs and 3 tablespoons of cream or butter, 1 egg, a grated onion, a pimento chopped, a little mace or nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Make into croquettes and roll in bread-crumbs, then beaten egg and bread-crumbs, and fry in oil or butter. If baked in the oven in a loaf, baste occasionally with oil or butter.

Serve with a tomato or horse-radish sauce.

This is a nourishing substitute for meat.

RISOTTO

Colour for an instant in butter a chopped onion, add to it 1/2 lb. of rice; stir an instant over the fire until it begins to frizzle, but do not colour; add stock to 3 times the quantity of rice, a cupful of tomato sauce, a pinch of saffron, one of pepper, let it boil, cover the saucepan, and let it cook by the side of the fire for 20 minutes. If the rice becomes dry before it is sufficiently tender add a little more stock. Place the saucepan on the corner of the stove away from the hot fire, then add to the rice 2 ozs. of grated Parmesan cheese and the same amount of butter. Arrange the rice on a dish and pour over it some good gravy and serve very hot.

The brown rice now procurable in most large cities is liked by gourmets cooked in this manner and served with partridge and other game.

RISOTTO MILANAISE

Fry a tablespoon of minced onion in a good bit of butter; when slightly browned, add 4 or 5 tomatoes and 1 pimento; after cooking pass through a sieve and replace in the casserole with pepper, salt, and a dash of cinnamon, 2 or 3 chicken livers, or some beef cut into small pieces. Add 1 cup of rice and 1 qt. of stock or, lacking stock, water will do; boil until the rice is tender, when add 1/4 lb. of cheese grated.

RAVIOLI

Prepare a paste made of 4/5 of a lb. of flour, a pinch of salt, 5 eggs, 2 spoonfuls of water. Cover with a cloth and let stand at least 15 minutes. Make a farce with cooked chicken or veal minced--about 2 cups--1 tablespoonful of finely minced cooked ham, 1/2 of a calf's brain cooked, yolks of 2 eggs, a dash of nutmeg, 1 dessert-spoon of grated Parmesan cheese. Take 1/2 the paste, roll out thin into a large square; place a ball of the farce every 2-1/2 inches apart about the size of a walnut, moisten with a brush the paste between the balls of farce. Roll the rest of the paste and place it over the farce; press edges together and between each ball. Cut with a round cutter or into squares as preferred and cook in boiling water 7 or 8 minutes, drain them and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Put on a dish and pour a tomato sauce around them.

EGG COQUILLES, WITH SPINACH

(French)

One-half lb. of prepared and seasoned spinach, 1 breakfastcupful of cream, 6 eggs, pepper, and salt.

Have 6 very small coquille or marmit pots, or china soufflé cases, butter them, and put 1 tablespoonful of spinach in each. Upon this put about 1 dessert-spoonful of cream. Break 1 egg in each, season with salt and pepper, and bake carefully in a moderately heated oven for 8 minutes. Serve quickly.

PIROG OF MUSHROOMS

Boil mushrooms until they are tender, chop them and mix them in the pan with butter, pepper and salt. Roll out the paste, put on one side of the dough cold boiled rice, then the mushrooms, hashed meat of boiled veal, chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped onions, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. When filling is placed on half of the dough lap the other half over it, close the edges with the white of an egg, spread over some beaten egg, and bake in the oven light brown.

PASTE FOR RUSSIAN PIROG

One cup of milk, 3 eggs, 1-1/2 cups of butter, a little salt mixed with flour to make a soft dough. Knead it thoroughly, first with hands and then half an hour more with a wooden spoon.

EGGS ROMANOFF

Cover hard-boiled eggs with a stiff mayonnaise. Put a little highly flavoured aspic jelly in the bottom of individual moulds. When the jelly is firm add a spoonful of caviare and place the mayonnaised egg on the top. Pour in more jelly. When it is cold turn from the mould and serve on a garniture of lettuce. This is good for a cold supper.

OEUFS POCHÉS IVANHOE

Cook a piece of finnan haddie in milk, then add 2 tablespoons of sauce (a good cream sauce) with a few fresh mushrooms, salt, pepper, a bit of cayenne, and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Put this through a fine sieve, and in nests of this paste on slices of toast, slip poached eggs. Sprinkle with grated cheese and place for a moment in a hot oven to glaze.

CHEESE PUFFS

Bring to a boil 2/3 of a cup of water, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, then add 1/4 of a lb. of flour and stir to a smooth paste, then stir in, one at a time, 3 eggs, 3-1/2 oz. of grated cheese (Parmesan preferred). Add 1/4 teaspoon of English mustard; when all is well mixed, drop by tablespoonfuls on a baking tin and place on top of each a slice of Gruyère cheese. Put in a moderate oven increasing the heat gradually. Cook from 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

MOSKVA CHEESECAKES

Line tartlet moulds with short paste. Take 2 tablespoons of thick white sauce, well seasoned, add a good pinch of cayenne pepper, bring it to a boil, add 2 yolks of eggs, 4 tablespoons of grated cheese. Again bring to a boil and remove from the fire, add 1 white of egg beaten stiff. Fill the tartlet moulds with this mixture, put in a hot oven for 10 minutes, serve immediately.

CHEESE FRITTERS

Boil 1/2 pint of water, 1 oz. of butter, pinch of salt, pepper. Remove from fire and add 3 oz. flour. Stir until a smooth paste is made, then add 3 oz. of grated cheese and 1 oz. chopped cooked ham; when the mixture is half cold add 3 eggs, one by one, stirring well.

Drop by spoonfuls into hot, not boiling fat; increase the temperature of the fat, turning the fritters often.

When golden brown drain and serve.

CHEESE PUDDING

(A simple and nutritious Welsh dish)

Chop 1/2 lb. of cheese. Toast and butter four slices of bread. Put two slices in the bottom of a dish, cover with half the cheese, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, put in the dish the other two slices of buttered bread and cover with the remaining cheese.

Pour over 1 pint of milk, let it stand for five minutes, then bake in a warm oven 20 minutes.

CHICORY OR ENDIVE

Chicory or endive is scalded the same as spinach, but needs a little longer time in the boiling water. It is prepared the same in brown butter, gravy, or cream.

STEWED COS LETTUCES

(French)

Take off the outer leaves; wash them carefully, keeping them as whole as possible; boil for ten minutes in boiling salted water; pour cold water through them; drain. Extract the water from them by pressing each lettuce lightly with two hands; split them in halves lengthwise; take off the stalk; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put them in a stew-pan, placing each half lettuce partly over the other round the pan. The latter must be well buttered before putting in the lettuces, or in place of butter some very good gravy from which all grease has been taken. Add stock to half the height of the lettuces; cover and cook them gently for an hour. The lettuces should be tender and the liquid much reduced.

NOTE.--Lettuces may be cooked in the same manner with a little lean bacon, ham, or sausage; in the latter case water may be used instead of stock. They can be served as a vegetable or for garnishing.

ASPARAGUS

(French)

One bundle or 100 heads of asparagus, 1 pint of milk (or equal quantities of milk and water), 1 head of lettuce finely shredded and cut into short lengths, 1 medium-sized onion par-boiled and finely chopped, 1 bay leaf, one sprig of thyme, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoonsful of flour, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper, croûtes of buttered toast or fried bread, chopped parsley, strips of cucumber.

Wash and trim the asparagus, and tie it into 3 or 4 bundles. Bring the milk to boiling point, put in the asparagus, lettuce, onion, bay-leaf, thyme, and salt, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes. Drain the asparagus well, cut off the points and the edible parts of the stalks, and keep them hot. Strain the milk and return it to the stew-pan, add the butter and flour previously kneaded together, and stir until a smooth sauce is obtained. Beat the yolks of eggs slightly, add them to the sauce, and stir until they thicken, but do not allow the sauce to boil, or the yolks may curdle. Season to taste, and add the lemon-juice. Pile the asparagus on the croûtes, cover with sauce, garnish with strips of cucumber, and a little chopped parsley, and serve as a vegetable entremet or as an entrée for a vegetarian dinner.

CELERY CROQUETTES

Two heads of celery, stock, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, 1 shallot, 1 gill of milk, seasoning, 2 yolks of eggs, egg and bread-crumbs, fat for frying.

Trim and wash the celery, and cut into short pieces, blanch them in salted water, and drain, then cook till tender in well-seasoned stock. Drain the cooked celery, and chop it rather finely. Melt the butter in a stew-pan, add the shallot (chopped), and fry a little, stir in the flour, blend these together, and gradually add a gill of milk. Stir till it boils, and put in the chopped celery. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 15 minutes, add the egg-yolks at the last. Spread the mixture on a dish and let it get cold. Make up into croquettes--cork or ball shapes--egg and crumb them, fry in hot fat to a golden colour, drain them on a cloth or paper, and dish up.

RAGOÛT OF CELERY

Two or 3 heads of celery, 1 pint of white stock, 1/2 pint of milk, 2 tablespoonsful of cream, 1 medium-sized Spanish onion, 24 button onions, 1 dessert-spoonful of finely chopped parsley, 2 ozs. of butter, 2 ozs. of flour, salt, and pepper.

Wash and trim the celery, cut each stick into pieces about 2 inches long, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, and pour the water away. Put in the stock, the Spanish onion finely chopped, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently for about 1/2 an hour. Meanwhile, skin the onions, fry them in hot butter, but very slowly, to prevent them taking colour, drain well from fat, and keep them hot. Add the flour to the butter, and fry for a few minutes without browning. Take up the celery, add the strained stock to the milk, pour both on to the roux or mixture of flour and butter, and stir until boiling. Season to taste, add the cream and 1/2 the parsley, arrange the celery in a circle on a hot dish, pour over the sauce, pile the onions high in the centre, sprinkle over them the remainder of the parsley, and serve. The celery may also be served on croûtes of fried or toasted bread arranged in rows with the onions piled between them. A nice change may be made by substituting mushrooms for the onions.

STUFFED ONIONS

(Italian)

Remove from 6 onions the centres with an apple-corer and fill them up with the following stuffing: One tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese mixed with 2 hard-boiled eggs and chopped parsley. Boil them first, then roll them in flour and fry them in olive-oil or butter. Then put them in a baking-dish with 1/2 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Put them in the oven and bake until golden.

ONIONS

(Venetian style)

Remove the centres of 6 small onions. Boil them for a few moments, drain them, and stuff them with the following: Take a piece of bread, dip it in milk, squeeze out the milk, and mix the bread with 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs. Mix well together, then add some fine-chopped parsley, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper, and the yolk of 1 raw egg; mix again well, and then stuff the onions with the mixture. Dip them in flour and in egg, and fry them in lard. Put them on a platter and serve with a piquante sauce made as follows: Chop up fine some pickles, capers, and peppers, and 1/2 cup of water. When these are cooked, add 1 tablespoon of butter and cook a little while longer, then pour over the onions and serve.

FRIED PUMPKIN OR SQUASH

(Italian)

Take a slice of pumpkin or squash, remove the rind and the seeds. Cut it into fine strips. Roll in flour and dip in egg, and fry in boiling lard or olive-oil.

If desired as garnishing for meat, cut the pumpkin exceedingly fine, roll in flour, but not in egg, and fry.

CUCUMBERS

(Italian)

Peel and boil 3 or 4 cucumbers in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and cut them into pieces 1 inch thick and put them in a frying-pan with 1 ounce of butter, a little flour, and 1/2 pint of stock; stir well, and add some salt and pepper. Reduce for about 15 minutes, stirring until it boils; add 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, 1/2 a teaspoon of grated nutmeg, 1/2 a cup of cream, and the beaten-up yolks of 2 eggs. Put on the fire again for 3 or 4 minutes. Do not let boil, and serve hot.

SARMA

(Serbian)

Put a cabbage in boiling water. Let it stand while preparing the rest of the dish.

Fry 4 onions in 1 tablespoon of lard. Mix 2 lbs. of chopped pork and 2 lbs. of chopped beef with the onions. Stir into this 4 raw eggs. Add 1/2 lb. of rice, salt and pepper.

Remove the cabbage from the water, tear off the leaves and put into each leaf two tablespoonsful of the meat and rice mixture, wrapping it so that the contents should not come out.

Put a little sauerkraut in a pot, then a layer of the filled cabbage leaves, continue doing this until the pot is filled. Cook slowly about 1 hour.

Make a sauce putting 1 tablespoon of lard in a saucepan on the fire, and add a chopped onion. When a golden brown, add 1 tablespoonful of browned flour and paprika to taste. Add a cup of water. Pour this sauce into the pot and cook about half an hour longer. Some sour cream may be added if liked on serving.

POLENTA PASTICCIATA

(Italian)

Three-quarters of a cup of Indian meal and 1 quart of milk.

Boil the milk, and add the Indian meal, a little at a time, when milk is boiling. Cook for one-half an hour, stirring constantly. Add salt just before taking off the fire. The Indian meal should be stiff when finished. Turn it onto the bread-board, and spread it out to the thickness of two fingers. While it is cooking prepare a meat sauce, and a Béchamel sauce as follows:

MEAT SAUCE

Take a small piece of beef, a small piece of ham, fat and lean, 1 tablespoon of butter, a small piece of onion, a small piece of carrot, a small piece of celery, a pinch of flour, 1/2 cup of bouillon (or water), pepper. Cut the meat into small dice; chop up fine together the ham, onion, carrot, and celery. Put these into a saucepan with the butter, and when the meat is brown, add the pinch of flour, and the bouillon a little at a time, and cook for about one-half an hour. This sauce should not be strained.

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

Take 1 tablespoon of flour, and 1-1/2 tablespoon of butter. Put them into a saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until they have become a golden-brown colour. Then add, a little at a time, 1 pint milk; stir constantly until the sauce is as thick as custard, and is white in colour.

Now take the cold Indian meal and cut it into squares about two inches across. Take a baking-dish of medium depth, butter well, then put in a layer of squares of Indian meal close together, to entirely cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle over it grated cheese; then pour on the top enough meat sauce to cover the layer (about 2 tablespoons), then on the top of this add a layer of Béchamel sauce. Then put another layer of the squares of Indian meal, sprinkle with grated cheese as before, add meat sauce, then Béchamel sauce, and continue in this way until the baking-dish is full, having for the top layer the Béchamel sauce. Put the dish into a moderate oven, and bake until a golden brown.

FRIED BREAD WITH RAISINS

(Italian)

Take some rather stale bread, cut it into slices, removing the crust. Fry the bread in lard, and then arrange it on a platter; meanwhile prepare the raisins as follows: Take a small saucepan and put into it 2 tablespoons of raisins, a slice of raw ham chopped into small pieces, and a leaf of sage, also chopped up, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Put these ingredients on the fire, and as soon as you have a syrup pour the raisins on the pieces of fried bread, and the sauce around.

POLENTA CROQUETTES

(Italian)

Boil 1/2 cup of corn-meal, and before removing from the fire add a piece of butter and a little grated cheese and mix well. Take it then by spoonfuls and spread it on a marble-top table. These spoonfuls should form little balls about the size of a hen's egg. On each of these croquettes place a very thin slice of Gruyère cheese, so that the cheese will adhere to the corn-meal. Then allow them to cool, and when cold dip into egg; then into bread-crumbs, and fry in boiling lard.

RICE WITH MUSHROOMS

(Italian)

Five or six mushrooms and 3/4 of a cup of rice.

Chop up a little onion, parsley, celery, and carrot together, and put them on the fire with 2 tablespoons of good olive-oil. When this sauce is coloured, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with hot water. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, and add them to the sauce. Cook for 20 minutes over a medium fire. Put on one side and prepare the rice as follows:

Fry the rice with a lump of butter until dry; then add hot water, a little at a time, and boil gently. When the rice is half cooked (after about 10 minutes) add the mushrooms and sauce, and cook for another 10 minutes. Add grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

TIMBALES OF BREAD WITH PARMESAN SAUCE

Soak half an hour 2 cups bread-crumbs in 1 cup thin cream (milk will do with butter added).

To this add grated rind half lemon; 1 tablespoon minced parsley; 1 tablespoon minced chives; 1 teaspoon salt; pepper; yolks two eggs.

Fill buttered timbale moulds or one large mould with this mixture, cover with buttered paper, and bake 20 minutes in moderate oven in a pan half filled with hot water.

Remove from moulds and pour cheese sauce around it.

Sauces

CHEESE SAUCE

Put 2 tablespoons butter on fire. Add 2 tablespoons flour and blend to a paste. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of cayenne. Then add gradually 1 cup milk. Cook five minutes, then add 1 cup grated cheese. Do not allow it to boil after adding the cheese but serve at once.

TOMATO SAUCE

(Italian)

Take 3 chopped shallots, put them in a stew-pan with a tablespoonful of olive oil, salt, pepper, a dash of ground ginger, a very little ground nutmeg. Let the shallots take a good colour without burning; add 6 tomatoes skinned and all the pits well squeezed out. Let them cook very gently until all the moisture has disappeared. They should take the consistency of jam.

This sauce may be eaten hot or cold.

ANOTHER TOMATO SAUCE

Cut in two 5 or 6 tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds, put in a stew-pan with 1 cup of stock; salt and pepper, a bit of tarragon, laurel thyme, parsley, a chopped onion, and a dash of cinnamon. Cook until the moisture has disappeared, then pass through a sieve. Prepare a white thickening with 1 oz. of butter, the same of flour. Add the purée of tomatoes to it; thin the sauce with stock. Let it cook 10 to 15 minutes and finish with a pinch of sugar and 1 oz. of butter.

MUSTARD SAUCE

Two tablespoons of butter, 1-1/2 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of scalded milk, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar.

Blend the butter and flour in a saucepan and pour on the milk little by little, then add the salt, mustard, and vinegar.

A spoonful of mixed capers is sometimes added.

A MEAT SAUCE

(Italian)

Put into a saucepan 1 pound of beef and 1/2 an onion chopped up with 3 ounces of lard, some parsley, salt, pepper, 1 clove, and a very small slice of ham. Fry these over a hot fire for a few minutes, moving them continually, and when the onion is browned add 4 tablespoons of red wine, and 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce (or tomato paste). When this sauce begins to sputter add, little by little, some boiling water. Stick a fork into the meat from time to time to allow the juices to escape. Take a little of the sauce in a spoon, and when it looks a good golden colour, and there is a sufficient quantity to cover the meat, put the covered saucepan at the back of the stove and allow it to simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Then take out the meat, slice it, prepare macaroni, or any paste you desire, and serve it with the meat, and the sauce poured over all, and the addition of butter and grated cheese.

ANOTHER MEAT SAUCE

(Italian)

Chop up some ham fat with a little onion, celery, carrot, and parsley. Add a small piece of beef and cook until beef is well coloured. Then add 1-1/2 tablespoons of red wine (or white), cook until wine is absorbed, then add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste diluted with water, or 4 fresh tomatoes, and boil 15 minutes.

LOMBARDA SAUCE

Put 2 cups of white sauce and 1 of chicken stock into a saucepan, reduce, and add 3 yolks of eggs mixed with 2 ounces of butter and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Before it boils take the saucepan off the fire and add 1 cup of thick tomato sauce, strain, and just before serving add 1 tablespoon of sweet herbs minced fine.

HORSE-RADISH SAUCE

Cook about half an hour in a double boiler 1-1/2 cups of milk, 1 dessert-spoon of sugar, 1/3 cup of bread-crumbs, and 1/3 cup of grated horse-radish root, 1/4 cup of butter, half a teaspoon of salt.

GNOCCHI DI SEMOLINA

One pint of milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of farina, butter and cheese.

Put the milk on, and when it boils add salt. Take a wooden spoon and, stirring constantly, add the farina little by little. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the fire and break into the farina 2 eggs; mix very quickly, so that the egg will not have time to set. Spread the farina about on a marble slab about 1/2 inch thick. Allow it to cool, then cut it into squares or diamonds about 2 or 3 inches across. Butter well a baking-dish, and put in the bottom a layer of the squares of farina; sprinkle over a little grated cheese, and here and there a small lump of butter. Then put in another layer of the squares of farina; add cheese and butter as before. Continue in this way until your baking-dish is full, having on the top layer butter and cheese.

Bake in a hot oven until a brown crust forms. Serve in the baking-dish.

Salads

ITALIAN SALAD

Cut 1 carrot and 1 turnip into slices, and cook them in boiling soup. When cold, mix them with 2 cold boiled potatoes and 1 beet cut into strips. Add a very little chopped leeks or onions, pour some sauce, "Lombardo," over the salad, and garnish with watercress. Boiled Jerusalem artichokes cut into slices are a good addition.

LETTUCE SALAD

Mix one spoonful of thick mayonnaise, 1/2 spoonful of chilli sauce, a little finely hashed pimento, a sprinkling of finely hashed chives, add a few drops of tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoon of A. I. sauce, and a little paprika.

Cut a firm head of tennis-ball lettuce in 4 parts. Put one part on a plate and pour the dressing over it. This recipe is enough for 1 person.

SANDWICH DRESSING

Cream 1/2 lb. of butter and add to it 1 dessert-spoonful of mixed mustard, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a little salt, and the yolk of 1 egg; one may add to this 1/4 cup of very thick cream. Mix thoroughly and set away to cool. To make sandwiches, spread the bread with this mixture and put in very finely chopped ham, or chicken and celery, or cream cheese and chopped nuts, or green peppers and mustard and cress, or lettuce, or "Indian relish," or cucumber, or tomato or anything else you happen to have and may like.

SALAD DRESSING

(For grapefruit or orange)

Mix well 2 tablespoonfuls of Escoffier Sauce Diable and 1 tablespoonful of Escoffier Sauce Robert and then add olive oil, a little at a time. When it becomes thick, season with salt and pepper and vinegar.

CHEESE DRESSING

One quarter of a lb. of Roquefort cheese and 2 tablespoons of thick cream mixed to a smooth paste; stir in, little by little, enough olive oil to give the consistency of mayonnaise; season with tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper. This is especially good for string beans, lettuce, or endive. One may fill celery stalks with this dressing made into a thick paste.

Vegetables

POTATO CAKES

(Russian)

Peel and grate 6 raw potatoes, season with salt and pepper, 1 egg. Mix all together. Drop onto a well-buttered griddle, spoonsful of the mixture, leaving space between to flatten them; continue to add a little butter to the griddle. Cook a golden brown on both sides. Arrange in a crown on a dish with a sprig of parsley in the centre.

PETITS POIS

Fry some finely shredded onion in about a tablespoonful of oil, with salt, pepper, and a sprig of tarragon. Lay the heart and best leaves of a head of lettuce at the bottom of a stew-pan with a quart of very young peas. Add a pint of stock. Stew gently. A little sugar is always an improvement to peas.

STRING BEANS

Cut off the ends of the string beans, slice them in three parts, cook them until three quarters done, then put them into cold water and dry them. Cook an onion in butter and put the beans into a pan and simmer half an hour. Shake at intervals but do not stir them. Take out and pour over a little stock thickened with a very little flour and cream.

Peas may be done in the same way.

RED CABBAGE

(Flemish)

Chop 4 onions and cook in 1 tablespoonful of butter, add 1 large red cabbage chopped. Cover this with 6 chopped apples, next add 1 tablespoonful of rice, 2 cups of water, 1 dessert-spoonful of vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of salt, pepper. Do not stir but cook slowly 4 hours or longer removing the cover occasionally to let out the steam.

CABBAGE WITH CHEESE SAUCE

Cabbage, cauliflower, or cucumbers boiled in salted water are excellent served with cheese sauce. (See Sauces.)

GLAZED ONIONS

Boil onions in water until they are half cooked, then strain. Put them in the stew-pan with a piece of butter, a pinch of powdered sugar, salt, and a cupful of stock; let them finish cooking. The liquid will be reduced and the onions coloured. Young carrots are glazed in the same way.

SPINACH SOUFFLÉ

(Italian)

Boil some spinach in salted water. When cooked drain and chop it. There should be about 2 cupfuls when chopped.

Put into a saucepan on the fire 2 tablespoonsful of butter and 1-1/2 level tablespoonsful of flour. When these are blended add the 2 cupfuls of spinach and one cup of cream. Cook five minutes, stirring carefully. Then mix into this the yolks of 3 eggs and remove the saucepan at once from the fire. When the mixture is cool stir into it the 3 whites of eggs, well beaten. Pour into a buttered soufflé dish, or individual dishes, and bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

Puddings, Cakes, Etc.

FRENCH PANCAKES

Mix 1 teaspoonful of flour and 1 teaspoonful of sifted sugar with 1/2 pint of cream or rich milk. Beat 3 eggs separately and stir into the cream. Bake in a quick oven in 3 large saucers. When brown, place one cake on top of the other and spread jam between.

CRÊPES SUZETTE

Mix well 1 lb. of flour, 5 ozs. of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 10 eggs; add 1/4 pint of cream, 1/4 pint of milk, 2 spoonsful of whipped cream, a liqueur glass Curaçoa and a few drops of essence of mandarines. Three or 4 tablespoons of this mixture are enough for one pancake. Cook in a pan and when brown on both sides put in a hot covered dish.

SAUCE FOR CRÊPES SUZETTE

Cream 1/4 lb. of butter, add 1/4 lb. of powdered sugar, 3 liqueur glasses of Curaçoa, 1 liqueur glass of essence of mandarines, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 1/8 of an oz. of hazelnut milk (_Noisette de beurre d'aveline_).

Put one spoonful of the sauce in a chafing dish, and when the sauce is hot, put in a pancake, fold it over twice, turn it in the sauce, and serve very hot. Prepare each pancake separately in this manner.

ANOTHER SUZETTE PANCAKE

Mix 3 cups of flour, 1-1/2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 2 cups of milk slowly, then a well-beaten egg, and 2 tablespoonsful of melted butter.

Cook in the same manner as the first Suzette pancake with the following sauce: Cream together 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, add the juice of 1/2 orange and 1 pony of Curaçoa and 1 pony of brandy. Serve from the chafing dish as described for the first Crepe Suzette.

KISEL

(Russian)

Mix three cups of any kind of fruit syrup, add a little water if the syrup is very thick, sugar and vanilla according to taste, and 1/2 cup of potato flour. Cook them in a double boiler until a very thick cream. Served hot or cold with cream and powdered sugar.

CARROT PUDDING

Mix 1 cup of grated carrots, 1 cup of bread-crumbs, 1 cup of minced suet, 1 cup of currants, 1 cup of chopped raisins, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 of a teaspoon of soda. Steam 4 hours, the longer the better.

Serve with the following sauce: 1/4 cup of butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of cream, 2 tablespoons of sherry or 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. The butter must be worked soft before adding the sugar gradually, then the cream and flavouring, little by little, to prevent separating.

OLD ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING

Two lbs. raisins stoned, 2 lbs. currants, 1-1/2 lbs. Sultanas, 1 lb. mixed peel chopped fine, 2 lbs. brown sugar, 2 lbs. breadcrumbs, 2 lbs. chopped suet, 1-1/2 lemons grated with the juice, 4 ozs. chopped almonds blanched, 2 nutmegs grated, 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice, 1/4 teaspoon crushed clove, pinch of salt, 6 eggs whisked, 1/4 pint (generous) brandy.

Mix all together thoroughly, boil 12 hours, the longer the better on the first day and 2 hours just before serving. This is the secret for making it black and light. This makes about 1 two-quart and 5 one-quart puddings. This recipe makes excellent plum cake, black and rich, by substituting flour for the crumbs and lard for the suet.

BANANA TRIFLE

Put thin slices of bread and butter into a glass dish, then cut 3 or 4 bananas into round slices and place them on the top of bread and butter. Make a pint of sweet custard well flavoured with Madeira and pour over. Beat stiff 1/2 pint of cream and put on top of the trifle when cold.

CREAM TART

Make a puff paste and cut it into 3 round pieces; it must be very thin and a few holes pierced to keep it from rising too high. Make a cream filling and spread over each piece, placing one on top of the other. On the top layer sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts (or any chopped nuts) on the cream as a frosting.

Filling: Mix 2/3 of a cup of fine sugar with 1/3 of a cup of flour, add the yolks of 3 eggs and 1 whole egg, 1 cup of scalded milk, 1/4 of a teaspoonful of salt, cook in double boiler 15 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of either cocoanut or almond macaroons, crumbed, 2/3 teaspoonful of vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoonful of lemon extract.

This may be put between simply two crusts, a bottom and a top, and served in a pie plate.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

(French)

Grate 1/4 pound of chocolate. In a separate basin soften 1/2 pound of butter at the entrance of the oven; work it well with a spoon for 5 minutes; add little by little to it 1 whole egg, 5 yolks, and the grated chocolate, 1/4 lb. of white powdered sugar, and a dessert-spoonful of dried bread pounded. Beat up to a froth with 5 whites of eggs, add them delicately and gently to the mixture with two dessert-spoonfuls of dried and sifted flour. Pour into a mould that has been buttered and sprinkled with baked bread-crumbs. Boil in a stew-pan, the water to reach half-way up the mould; leave the stew-pan open, and boil from 35 to 45 minutes. This pudding may also be baked. Serve with cream and chocolate sauce.

SAUCE CRÊME AU CHOCOLAT.--Dissolve a tablet of chocolate in 2 dessert-spoonfuls of hot water; add 2 ozs. of powdered sugar and 3 yolks of eggs, working the mixture for an instant with the spoon, then add very gradually 1/4 pint of hot milk. Stir over the fire until it commences to thicken and stick to the spoon; it must not boil. Pass it through a hair-sieve.

FRIED APPLES

(New England)

Cut 4 or 5 apples of fine flavour into quarters, then divide again until the pieces are about 1 inch in width--do not remove the skin. Throw into cold water.

Put into a saucepan 1 teaspoonful of lard. When this is hot heap all the apples into the pan; spread over the apples 1 cup darkest brown sugar; cover closely. Cook rather slowly about 15 minutes; then turn each piece with a fork. Cover closely again and cook 15 minutes more.

The apples should keep their shape and look clear with a rich syrup.

ORANGE PUDDING

(French)

Put into an enamel saucepan 1/4 lb. of butter, the same of white sugar, a dessert-spoonful of flour, seven yolks of eggs, the juice of an orange, the same of lemon, and the grated rind of an orange. Stir all over a slow fire as you would an ordinary custard, not allowing it to boil, nor must there be any lumps. Pour this custard into a basin of earthenware--it must not be put into any tin vessel; mix with the seven whites of eggs beaten to a firm froth, pour into a plain earthenware mould, and cook in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. The mould must be placed in a bain-marie--that is to say, in a deep dish or vessel half full of boiling water. This pudding must be served quickly, and with a custard flavoured with orange.

OAT CAKES

(Scotch)

Two lbs. of oatmeal, 6 ozs. of flour, 2 ozs. of sugar, 1/2 lb. of butter and lard, 1/2 oz. of carbonate of soda, 1/4 oz. of tartaric acid, a little salt, milk.

Weigh the flour and meal onto the board, take the soda, acid, and salt, and rub these ingredients through a fine hair sieve onto the flour and meal; then add the sugar and fat, and rub together until smooth; make a bay or hole in the centre and work into a smooth paste with milk, taking care not to have it too dry or tight, or considerable trouble will be experienced in rolling out the cakes, as they will be found very short. Having wet the paste take small pieces about the size of an egg, and roll these out thin and round with a small rolling-pin, dusting the board with a mixture partly of oatmeal and flour. When rolled down thin enough, take a sharp knife and cut them in four, place them on clean, flat tins, and bake in a warm oven. These cakes require very careful handling or they will break all to pieces.

TEA-CAKES (HOT)

(Scotch)

One-half lb. flour, 1/4 lb. butter, 1 oz. sugar, 1 saltspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking-powder, 1 egg, and some sweet milk.

Make the ingredients into a nice soft dough with the milk, cut into rounds about 1/2 an inch thick, and bake for 10 minutes in a quick oven; split open with your fingers, butter, and eat hot.

TEA PANCAKES

(Scotch)

Two eggs, 1 lump of butter, 1/2 teacup sugar, 1 heaping teaspoon carbonate of soda, 1 lb. of flour, salt, 1 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 pint milk (or milk and water).

Rub together the dry ingredients. Beat up eggs and mix well with the milk, beating both together also. Then dredge in gradually with the hand the dry ingredients, stirring all the time. Heat griddle well, rub over till quite greasy with a piece of bacon fat. Drop the mixture on griddle in spoonfuls from a tablespoon. A minute or two will brown them. Then turn over and cook other side.

CANADIAN WAR CAKE

Two cups brown sugar, 2 cups hot water, 2 tablespoons lard, 1 lb. raisins, cut once, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves.

Boil these ingredients 5 minutes after they begin to bubble. When cold add 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water, and 3 cups of flour.

Bake in 2 loaves, 45 minutes in a slow oven.

SERBIAN CAKE

Mix together the yolks of 8 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 7 tablespoons of pounded hazelnuts, 1 cup flour. Add the beaten whites of the eggs. Cook this in shallow pans and put between the layers and on the top a cream made as follows:

Boil 10 minutes 1/4 lb. pounded nuts with 1 cup of milk. Put aside to cool. Cream 1/4 lb. butter, add 2 tablespoons of rum and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix this with the boiled milk and nuts. Add fine sugar until stiff enough to put between the layers of cake and then add more sugar to make it stiff enough for the top. Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with chopped nuts.

RAVIOLI DOLCE

Take 1/2 pound of flour, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 2 tablespoons of lard. Work this into a paste and roll out thin.

Take 1/2 pound of curds, add 1 egg, and the yolk of a second egg, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, a few drops of extract of vanilla. Mix well together and add to the paste as for other ravioli. Then fry in lard until a golden brown. Serve with powdered sugar.

CHESTNUTS

(Italian)

Take 40 chestnuts and roast or boil them over a slow fire. Remove the shells carefully, put them in a bowl, and pour over them 1/2 a glass of rum and 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Set fire to the rum and baste the chestnuts constantly as long as the rum will burn, turning the chestnuts about so they will absorb the rum and become coloured.

GNOCCHI OF MILK

One cup of milk, 1 level tablespoon of powdered starch, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, 2 yolks of eggs; 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Put all these ingredients together into a saucepan and mix together with a wooden spoon for a few minutes. Then put on the back of the stove where it is not too hot, and cook until the mixture has become stiff. Cook a few minutes longer; then turn out onto a bread-board and spread to a thickness of an inch. When cold cut into diamonds or squares. Butter a baking-dish, and put the squares into it overlapping each other. Add a few dabs of butter here and there. Put another layer of the squares in the dish, more dabs of butter, and so on until the dish is full. Brown in the oven.

ALMOND PUDDING

(Italian)

Two ozs. of ground almonds, sugar to taste, 3 eggs, 1/2 pint of cream, 1 dessert-spoonful of orange-juice, blanched almonds, shredded candied peel.

Separate the yolks of the eggs, add 1 tablespoonful of castor-sugar, the ground almonds, and the cream gradually. Whisk the whites stiffly, stir them lightly in, and add more sugar if necessary. Have ready a mould well buttered and lightly covered with shredded almonds and candied peel, then pour in the mixture. Steam gently for 1-1/2 hours, and serve with a suitable sauce.

CHESTNUT FRITTERS

(Italian)

Take 20 chestnuts and roast them on a slow fire. Remove the shells and put them into a saucepan with 1 level tablespoon of powdered sugar and 1/2 glass of milk and a little vanilla. Cover the saucepan and let it cook slowly for more than a half-hour. Then drain the chestnuts and pass them through a sieve. Put them back in a bowl with one tablespoon of butter, the yolks of 3 eggs, and mix well without cooking. Allow them to cool, and then take a small portion at a time, the size of a nut, roll them, dip them in egg, and in bread-crumbs, and fry in butter and lard, a few at a time. Serve hot with powdered sugar.

CHESTNUT CREAM

(A favourite Florentine pudding)

Cut 1 lb. of chestnuts lightly with a knife; put them in a saucepan and cover with cold water; boil 5 minutes. The outer and inner skins should now peel easily.

Cover the peeled chestnuts with milk, add a little vanilla, let them boil in a covered pan until tender and the milk reduced. Now crush the chestnuts in the saucepan and add 1/4 lb. powdered sugar. If the purée is too thick add a little milk, but it should be stiff enough to form into a border around the dish in which it is to be served.

In the centre of the dish heap whipped cream lightly sweetened and flavoured with vanilla. The chestnut border may be made in an ornamental form by a pastry bag and tube.

TAPIOCA PUDDING

(French)

Boil 1-1/2 pints of milk with 3 oz. of sugar and two even tablespoons of butter. Stir in gradually 3 oz. of fine tapioca.

Place the saucepan on a slow fire and simmer 15 minutes.