Chapter XII: Part 12

Any kind of cold meat, cut in slices and seasoned with salt and pepper; four large potatoes, two eggs, salt, pepper, one-forth of a cupful of boiling milk, one table-spoonful of butter. Have the meat cut in thin slices and seasoned with salt and pepper. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes. Add the milk, butter, salt, pepper and one well- beaten egg. Cover the slices of meat on both sides with this preparation, and dip in well-beaten egg. Put in the frying-basket and fry till a light brown. Serve on a hot dish.

Minced Veal and Eggs.

One quart of cold veal, chopped rather coarse; one teaspoonful of lemon juice, one cupful of stock or water, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of flour, salt, pepper. Melt the butter in a frying-pan. Add the flour to it. Stir until smooth, and add the stock and seasoning. When it boils up, add the chopped veal. Heat thoroughly, and dish on slices of toast. Put a dropped egg in the centre of each slice, and serve very hot.

Mutton, Réchauffé.

Cut cold roasted or boiled mutton in slices about half an inch thick, and cover both sides with sauce made in this way: Put two table- spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when melted, add one of flour. Stir until smooth. Add, gradually, one cupful of stock, and two table-spoonfuls of glaze. Boil for one minute, and stir in the yolks of two eggs. Season with salt, pepper and one table-spoonful of lemon juice, and remove from the fire at once. Season the mutton with salt and pepper, and as soon as the sauce begins to cool, dip both sides of the slices in it, and roll them in fine bread crumbs. Beat one whole egg and the two whites together. Dip the sauced mutton in this and again in the crumbs. Fry in boiling fat for two minutes. Drain on brown paper, and serve with either tomato, Tartare or Hollandaise sauce. Any kind of cold meat can be served in this manner.

Chicken In Jelly.

A little cold chicken (about one pint), one cupful of water or stock, one-fifth of a box of gelatine, half a teaspoonful of curry powder, salt, pepper. Cut the meat from the bones of a chicken left from dinner. Put the bones on with water to cover, and boil down to one cupful Put the gelatine to soak in one-fourth of a cupful of cold water. When the stock is reduced as much as is necessary, strain and season. Add the curry and chicken. Season, and simmer ten minutes; then add the gelatine, and stir on the table until it is dissolved. Turn all into a mould, and set away to harden. This makes a nice relish for tea or lunch. If you have mushrooms, omit the curry, and cut four of them into dice. Stir into the mixture while cooking. This dish can be varied by using the whites of hard-boiled eggs, or bits of boiled ham. To serve: Dip the mould in warm water, and turn out on the dish. Garnish with parsley.

Chicken Cutlets.

Season pieces of cold chicken or turkey with salt and pepper. Dip in melted butter; let this cool on the meat, and dip in beaten egg and in fine bread crumbs. Fry in butter till a delicate brown. Serve on slices of hot toast, with either a white or curry sauce poured around. Pieces of cold veal make a nice dish, if prepared in this manner.

Broiled Liver.

Cut in slices and dip in melted butter, and lightly in flour. Broil over a bright fire eight or ten minutes.

Liver, Fried in Crumbs.

Season slices with salt and pepper. Dip in beaten egg and very fine cracker crumbs. Fry six minutes in boiling lard.

Liver and Bacon.

Cut in slices, season with salt and pepper, and cut again into small squares. Place on a skewer pieces of liver and bacon, alternating. Fry five minutes in boiling fat. Slip off of the skewer on to toasted bread, and serve immediately.

Liver, Sauté.

Cut the liver in _thin_ slices. Season with salt and pepper. Heat together in a small frying-pan two table-spoonfuls of butter and a large one of flour. Lay in the liver, and brown it on both sides. Add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, two table-spoonfuls of water and one of wine. Taste to see if salt enough. Boil up once, and serve.

Liver, Sauté, with Piquant Sauce.

Cut the liver in slices about one-third of an inch thick, and if beef liver, let it stand in warm water ten minutes (calves' livers will not need this). Drain dry, and put in the frying-pan with enough beef or pork drippings to prevent its sticking, and cook very slowly for eight minutes, turning constantly. Take up on a hot dish and pour a piquant sauce over it. Serve immediately.

Curry of Liver.

Cut the liver in small, thin pieces, and for every pound have four table-spoonfuls of butter, two slices of onion, two table-spoonfuls of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, pepper, one teaspoonful of curry powder. Let the butter get hot; then cook the liver in it slowly for four minutes. Add the flour and other ingredients. Cook two minutes, and add, slowly, one cupful of stock. Let this boil up. Dish, and serve.

Chicken Livers, Sauté.

Wash and wipe six livers. Put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add a large slice of onion, which cook slowly ten minutes, and then take out. Dredge the livers with salt, pepper and flour, and fry for ten minutes in the butter; add one teaspoonful of flour, and cook a minute longer. Pour in half a cupful of stock, one tea-spoonful of lemon juice, one of vinegar and one- fourth of a spoonful of sugar, and boil up once. Serve with a garnish of toasted bread.

Chicken Livers and Bacon.

Cut the livers in pieces the size of a half dollar, and have thin slices of bacon of the same size. Nearly fill a small wire skewer with these, alternating. Place in the frying basket and plunge into boiling fat for about one minute. Serve on the skewers, or on toast, with thin slices of lemon for a garnish. Or, the skewers can be rested on the sides of a narrow baking pan and placed in a hot oven for five minutes. Serve as before. The livers of all other kinds of poultry can be cooked the same as chicken.

Chicken Livers in Papillotes.

Wash the livers and drop them into boiling water for one minute. Take them up; and when drained, split them. For eight livers put two table- spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add one table- spoonful of flour. Stir until smooth; then gradually add half a cupful of cold water. Stir into this two spoonfuls of glaze, if you have it. Season with pepper and salt, and stir into the sauce half a cupful of finely-chopped ham. Spread this mixture on the livers, place them in _papillotes_ the same as cutlets, lay them in a pan, and put in a slow oven for fifteen minutes. Have little squares of toast or of fried brown bread. Heap these in the centre of a hot dish, and arrange the livers around them. Serve very hot.

Stewed Kidneys.

Cut the kidneys in thin round slices. Cover them with cold water and let them stand half an hour; then wash them clean, and put them in a stew-pan with one quart of water or stock, a clove, two table- spoonfuls of onion juice, and salt and pepper. Simmer two hours. Put one table-spoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add one of flour. Stir until it is brown and smooth, and add to the kidneys. Put a small bouquet of sweet herbs in the stew-pan, and simmer half an hour longer. Taste to see if seasoned enough; if not, add more salt and pepper, and, if you like, one table-spoonful of lemon juice. Take out the bouquet, and serve. This dish can be prepared any time in the day, as it is quite as good warmed over as when first prepared.

Kidneys, Sauté.

Skin, wash and wipe the kidneys, cut in thin, round slices, and season with salt and pepper. Put one table-spoonful of butter and half a table-spoonful of flour in the frying-pan, and when hot, put in the kidneys. Stir two minutes, then add half a cupful of stock or water. When the dish boils up, add half a table-spoonful of lemon juice. Serve with a garnish of points of toast.

Broiled Kidneys.

Skin, wash, wipe and split sheep's or lambs' kidneys. Run a small skewer through each, to keep it open. Season with salt and pepper, dip in melted butter and in flour, place in the double broiler and cook six minutes over a bright fire. Serve on a hot dish.

Kidneys à la Maître d'Hôtel.

Split and cut in two, lengthwise, lambs' or sheep's kidneys. Wash and wipe them. Season with salt and pepper, and dip in melted butter and fine bread crumbs. Run a small skewer through each, to keep it open. Put them in the double broiler and cook about six minutes over a bright fire. Serve on a hot dish with _maître d'hôtel_ butter.

Ham and Eggs on Toast.

Chop fine the trimmings from cold boiled or roasted ham. Toast and butter slices of stale bread. Spread the ham on these, and place in the oven for about three minutes. Beat six eggs with half a cupful of milk, a little pepper and one teaspoonful of salt. Put this mixture in a sauce-pan with two table-spoonfuls of butter, and stir over the fire until it begins to thicken. Take off, and beat for a moment; then spread on the ham and toast. Serve immediately.

Ham Croquettes.

One cupful of finely-chopped cooked ham, one of bread crumbs, two of hot mashed potatoes, one large table-spoonful of butter, three eggs, a speck of cayenne. Beat the ham, cayenne, butter, and two of the eggs into the potato. Let the mixture cool slightly, and shape it like croquettes. Roll in the bread crumbs, dip in beaten egg and again in crumbs, put in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook two minutes. Drain, and serve.

Canapees.

After cutting the crust from a loaf of stale bread, cut the loaf in very thin slices, and toast to a delicate brown. Butter lightly, and spread with any kind of potted meat or fish. Put two slices together, and, with a sharp knife, cut them in long strips. Arrange these tastefully on a dish and serve at tea or evening parties. Sardines may be pounded to a paste and mixed with the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, also pounded to a paste, and used instead of potted meats. In this case, the slices of bread may be fried in salad oil.

Welsh Rare-Bit.

Half a pound of cheese, two eggs, a speck of cayenne, a table-spoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of mustard, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a cupful of cream. Break the cheese in small pieces and put it and the other ingredients in a bright sauce-pan, which put over boiling water. Stir until the cheese melts; then spread the mixture on slices of crisp toast. Serve immediately. A cupful of ale or beer can be used instead of the cream.

Welsh, Rare-Bit, No. 2.

Grate one pint of cheese. Sprinkle on it half a teaspoonful of mustard, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt and a speck of cayenne. Heap this on slices of buttered toast. Put in the hot oven for a few moments, and when the cheese begins to melt, serve at once.

Corn Pie.

Four ears of cold boiled corn, two eggs, one table-spoonful of butter, one of flour, half a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper. Cut the corn from the cobs. Mix the milk, gradually, with the flour. Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately, and add them and the other ingredients to the flour and milk. The butter should be melted. Bake twenty minutes in two squash pie plates. This is a dish for breakfast.

Hominy.

Wash a cupful of hominy in two waters; then stir it into one quart of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and boil from thirty to sixty minutes. The latter time is the better. Be careful that the hominy does not burn. It can be used more than oatmeal, as it is good with any kind of meat. It is appropriate for any meal, and is nice eaten warm or cold with milk.

Oatmeal.

Oatmeal, Indian meal and hominy an require two things for perfection-- plenty of water when put on to boil, and a long time for boiling. Have about two quarts of boiling water in a large stew-pan, and into it stir a cupful of oatmeal, which has been wet with cold water. Boil one hour, stirring often, and then add half a spoonful of salt, and boil an hour longer. If it should get too stiff, add more boiling water; or, if too thin, boil a little longer. You cannot boil too much. The only trouble in cooking oatmeal is that it takes a long time, but surely this should not stand in the way when it is so much better for having the extra time. If there is not an abundance of water at first the oatmeal will not be very good, no matter how much maybe added during the cooking. Cracked wheat is cooked in the same way.

Strawberry Short-Cake.

One pint of flour, measured before sifting; one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, four of butter, one tea-cupful of milk. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Rub the butter into the mixture, and add the milk. Butter two tin squash-pie plates. Spread the mixture in them, and bake in a quick oven from eighteen to twenty minutes. Mash one quart of strawberries with three-fourths of a cupful of sugar. When the cakes are taken from the oven, split and butter them, and put half of the strawberries and sugar in each cake. Serve immediately.

Sweet Strawberry Short-Cake.

Three eggs, one cupful of sugar, two of flour, one table-spoonful of butter, one scant teaspoonful of cream of tartar, a small half teaspoonful of soda. Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, well beaten. Mix the soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Stir into the beaten egg and sugar. Bake in deep tin plates. Four can be filled with the quantities given. Have three pints of strawberries mixed with a cupful of sugar. Spread a layer of strawberries on one of the cakes, lay a second cake over this, and cover with berries. Or, a mèringue, made with the white of an egg and a table-spoonful of powdered sugar, may be spread over the top layer of strawberries,

MUFFINS AND CAKES.

English Muffins.

One quart of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast, or one-third of a cupful of liquid yeast; one cupful and a half of water. Have the water blood warm. Dissolve the yeast in one-third of a cupful of cold water. Add it and the salt to the warm water, and gradually stir into the flour. Beat the dough thoroughly; cover, and let it rise in a warm place until it is spongy (about five hours). Sprinkle the bread board with flour. Shape the dough into balls about twice the size of an egg, and drop them on the floured board. When all the dough has been shaped, roll the balls into cakes about one-third of an inch thick. Lay these on a warm griddle, which has been lightly greased, and put the griddle on the back of the stove, where there is not much heat. When the cakes have risen a little, draw the griddle forward and cook them slowly, turning often, to keep the flat shape. It will take about twenty minutes for them to rise on the griddle, and fifteen to cook. Tear them apart, butter them, and serve.

Muffins, No. 1.

One quart of flour, two cupfuls of milk, half a cupful of sugar, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt, butter the size of an egg. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Melt the butter with four table-spoonfuls of boiling water. Beat the eggs light, and add the milk. Stir into the flour, and add the butter. Beat thoroughly. Bake in buttered muffin pans from twenty-five to thirty minutes, in a quick oven.

Muffins, No. 2.

One cupful of milk, one of flour, one teaspoonful of sugar, a scant half teaspoonful of salt, two eggs. Beat the eggs light, and add the milk, salt and sugar. Pour gradually on the flour. Beat till light and smooth. Pour into buttered muffin pans and bake in a _hot_ oven for twenty minutes.

Raised Muffins.

One pint of warm milk, half a cake of compressed yeast, or half a cupful of liquid yeast; one quart of flour, one table-spoonful of butter. Beat two eggs well, and add them and the salt, butter and yeast to the milk. Stir gradually into the flour. Beat until the batter is light and smooth. Let it rise four hours in a warm place. Fill buttered muffin pans two-thirds to the top with the batter, and let them stand until the batter has risen to the brim. Bake half an hour.

Graham Muffins.

Into a bowl put one and a half pints of Graham, half a cupful of sugar, and a teaspoonful of salt. Into a sieve put half a pint of flour, a teaspoonful of saleratus and two of cream of tartar. Mix thoroughly with the flour, and sift on to the material in the bowl. Mix all thoroughly while dry, and add two well-beaten eggs and a pint of milk. Fill muffin cups about two-thirds to the top, and bake in a quick oven.

Raised Graham Muffins.

These are made the same as Graham bread. Fill tin muffin pans two- thirds to the brim and let the mixture rise to the top. This will take an hour. Bake in a rather quick oven for twenty minutes.

Corn Muffins.

One pint of flour, one of Indian meal, one-third of a cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream of tartar, two eggs, a pint of milk, one table-spoonful of melted butter. Mix the dry ingredients together, and sift them. Beat the eggs light, add the milk to them, and stir into the dry ingredients. Bake twenty minutes in buttered muffin pans. Two dozen muffins can be made with the quantities given.

Fried Indian Muffins.

One pint of Indian meal, one pint of _boiling_ water, two eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, one heaping table-spoonful of flour. Pour the boiling water gradually on the meal, salt and sugar. Beat thoroughly, and set away in a cool place. In the morning add the eggs, well beaten, and the flour. Dip a table-spoon in cold milk, fill it with batter, and drop this into boiling fat Cook ten minutes.

Corn Cake.

One quart of milk, one pint of Indian meal, two eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, butter the size of an English walnut. Let the milk come to a boil, and gradually pour it on the meal Add the butter and salt, and beat well, and set away in a cool place. Do this at night. In the morning beat thoroughly. Beat the eggs well, and add them. Pour the mixture into buttered deep earthen plates. Bake from twenty to thirty minutes. Success depends upon a good, beating of the cake in the morning.

Corn Cake, No. 2.

Two tea-cupfuls of corn meal, one of flour, three of sour milk, two eggs, one table-spoonful of sugar, or of molasses, if you prefer; one teaspoonful of soda, one of salt. Mix together the sugar, salt, meal and flour. Beat the eggs light. Dissolve the soda in two table- spoonfuls of boiling water, and pour into the sour milk. Stir well, and add to the other mixed ingredients. Add the eggs, and mix thoroughly. Pour into buttered tins to the depth of about an inch and a half. Bake twenty-five minutes in a quick oven.

Raised Corn Cake.

One pint of Indian meal, one pint and a half of boiling milk or water, one table-spoonful of sugar, two of butter, an egg, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a cake of compressed yeast or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast. Pour the boiling milk, gradually, on the meal; then add the salt, sugar and butter, and beat well. Set away to cool. When blood warm, add the compressed yeast, dissolved in two table- spoonfuls of cold water, or the liquid yeast, and the egg, well beaten. Let the batter rise five hours. Turn into buttered pans to the depth of about two niches. Let it stand in a warm place for half an hour, and then bake it from thirty-five to forty-five minutes.

Thin Corn Cake.

One cupful of Indian meal, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, butter the size of an egg, one cupful and a half of boiling water, one teaspoonful of sugar. Pour the boiling water on the meal, sugar and salt. Beat thoroughly. Add the butter, and, when well mixed, spread _very_ thin on buttered tin sheets. Bake slowly for about twenty minutes.

Rye Muffins.

One pint of rye meal, not flour; one pint of wheat flour, one pint of milk, half a cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of soda, two of cream of tartar and two eggs. Put the meal in a mixing bowl. Put the flour and other ingredients in a sieve, and mix thoroughly, and sift. Beat the eggs light. Add the milk to them and pour on the dry ingredients. Beat well. Butter the muffin tins and bake twenty minutes is a quick oven. The quantities given will make twenty-four muffins. To make a less quantity, divide the dry mixture after it is prepared (it can be used whenever it may be wanted if it is kept dry); then halve the other ingredients.

Fried Rye Muffin.

One cupful and a half of rye meal, one cupful and a half of flour, one cupful of milk, two eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream of tartar, two generous table-spoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt. Put the meal in a large bowl. Put the flour, cream of tartar, soda, sugar and salt in the sieve, and rub through on to the meal. Beat the eggs well, add the milk to them, and stir into the dry ingredients. Fry the same as Indian muffins.

Rice Muffins.

One pint of milk, one quart of flour, one pint of boiled rice, three eggs, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of soda, two of cream of tartar. Mix the sugar, salt, soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs and add to the milk. Stir gradually into the flour. When a smooth, light paste, add the rice. Beat thoroughly. Bake thirty-five minutes in buttered pans. Three dozen muffins can be made from the quantities given.

Raised Rice Muffins.

One pint of warm milk, two cupfuls of warm boiled rice, one quart of bread flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast. Mix the butter, rice and milk together. Pour the mixture on the flour, and beat till a light batter is formed. Mix the yeast with four table-spoonfuls of cold water, and add it and the salt to the batter, which let rise over night in a cool place. In the morning fill buttered muffin pans two-thirds to the top, and set them in a warm place till the batter has so risen as to fill the tins. Bake thirty-five minutes. One-third of a cupful of liquid yeast may be substituted for the compressed yeast.

Hominy Muffins.

A pint of milk, a quart of Haxall flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast, or one-third of a cupful of liquid yeast; half a cupful of hominy, measured before cooking. Wash the hominy, and add a pint of boiling water. Boil one hour, stirring often. Then add the milk, salt, yeast and butter. Pour this, gradually, on the flour, beating well. Let it rise over night In the morning put in buttered muffin pans and let rise from half to three-quarters of an hour. Bake thirty-five minutes. The muffins may be put to rise in the morning for tea.

Gems.

One pint of flour, one of milk, an egg, half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the egg until light, add the milk and salt to it, and beat, gradually, into the flour. Bake twenty minutes in hot gem pans. A dozen cakes can be made with the quantities given.

Hominy Drop-Cakes.

One pint of fresh boiled hominy (or, cold hominy may be used; if the latter, break into grains, as lightly as possible, with a fork, and heat in a farina kettle without adding water), one table-spoonful of water, two eggs--whites and yolks beaten separately. Stir the yolks into the hominy first, then the whites, and a teaspoonful of salt, if the hominy has not been salted in cooking; or, if it has, use half a teaspoonful. Drop, in table-spoonfuls, on well-buttered tin sheets, and bake to a good brown in a quick oven.

Squash Biscuit.

One cupful and a half of sifted squash, half a cupful of sugar, half a cake of compressed yeast, or half a cupful of liquid yeast; one cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, four table-spoonfuls of butter, five cupfuls of flour. Dissolve the yeast in a scant half cupful of cold water. Mix it and the milk, butter, sugar, salt and squash together, and stir into the flour. Knead well, and let it rise over night In the morning shape into biscuit. Let these rise an hour and a half, and bake them half an hour.

Sally Lunn.

One quart of flour, one generous pint of milk, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, two eggs, three table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, half a cake of compressed yeast. Have the milk blood warm, and add the butter, melted; the eggs, well beaten; and the yeast, dissolved in three table-spoonfuls of cold water. Pour, gradually, on the flour, and beat into a smooth batter; then add the salt and sugar. Butter baking pans, and pour in the batter to the depth of about two inches. Let it rise two hours in a warm place. Bake half an hour.

Snow Pancakes.

Half a pint of milk, an egg, an apple, pared, quartered, and chopped very fine; a cupful and a half of flour, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, a bowl of snow. Beat the egg light, and add the milk to it. Pour gradually on the flour, and beat until smooth and light Add the apple and salt, and at the last moment the snow. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling fat, and cook until a rich brown.

Waffles.

One pint of sifted flour, milk enough to make a thin batter (about two-thirds of a pint), two eggs, beaten very light; a table-spoonful of melted butter, and a little salt. Gradually mix the milk with the flour until there is a smooth paste; then add the salt and butter, and lastly the eggs. Have waffle irons about as hot as a griddle for cakes, and butter them well, or grease with pork as you would a griddle. Pour in enough of the batter to cover an iron, and put the other side gently down upon it. Keep over the fire about half a minute; then turn over, and let the other side remain to the fire the same time. Remove, and place the waffles where they will keep warm until enough are cooked to serve.

Many people butter the waffles as they place them on the dish, and others add sugar. This is very well if known to be to the taste of the family, but it is always safe to let each suit himself at the table.

Waffles, No. 2.

One pint of milk, two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one scant pint and a half of flour. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs very light. Add the milk and the butter, which should be melted with two table-spoonfuls of boiling water. Stir into the flour.

Raised Waffles.

One pint of milk, one pint and a half of flour, an egg, a teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a yeast cake, or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast. Dissolve the yeast in two table-spoonfuls of cold water. Have the milk blood warm, and add to it the yeast, salt and the egg, well beaten. Stir gradually into the flour. Cover, and let it rise four hours. Cook as usual.

Indian Waffles.

Half a cupful of Indian meal, two cupfuls of boiling milk, two eggs, one generous cupful of flour, one table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of baking powder, half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the boiling milk on the meal and butter. Beat well, and set away to cool. Mix the other dry ingredients with, the flour, and sift. Beat the eggs, and add them and the flour to the cold mixture.

Rice Waffles.

Stir two cupfuls of boiled rice into the mixture for waffles, No. 2. Hominy waffles can be made in the same way.

Flannel Cakes.

One cupful of Indian meal, two of flour, three of boiling milk, one- fourth of a yeast cake, or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast; one teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, two of butter. Have the milk boiling, and pour it on the meal and butter. When cool, add the flour, salt, sugar and the yeast, which has been dissolved in four table-spoonfuls of cold water. Let the mixture rise over night. Fry like griddle-cakes.

Graham Griddle-Cakes.

Two cupfuls of Graham, one of flour, two and a half of milk, one table-spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, two eggs. Let half the milk come to a boil. Pour it on the Graham, and stir until perfectly smooth; then add the cold milk, and set away to cool. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Add with the eggs, well beaten, to the Graham and milk. Rye griddle-cakes are made the same way.

Squash Griddle-Cakes.

One pint of flour, nearly a pint of milk, two eggs, one tea-spoonful of cream of tartar, half as much soda, four table-spoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, two cupfuls of sifted squash. Mix the flour with the other dry ingredients, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs well, add them and the milk to the squash, and pour on the flour. Beat till smooth and light. This gives a thin batter. If the cakes are liked thick a little more flour may be used. Fry as usual.

Indian Griddle-Oakes.

One cupful of Indian meal, one of flour, three of boiling milk, two eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, two table-spoonfuls of sugar. Have the milk boiling, and, gradually, pour it on the meal. Put the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. When the scalded meal is cool, add to it the flour and the eggs, well beaten.

Hominy Griddle-Cakes.

To a pint of warm boiled hominy add a pint of milk or water and a pint of flour. Beat two or three eggs and stir into the batter with a little salt Fry as any other griddle-cakes. They are delicious.

EGGS.

Omelets.

There is no better form in which to serve eggs than as an omelet, but so few people make a good omelet that that is one of the last things the inexperienced housekeeper or cook will attempt. Yet the making is a simple operation, the cause of failure usually being that the pan for cooking is not hot enough, and too much egg is put in at one time. When there is too much egg in the pan, one part will be cooked hard before the other is heated through. A pan measuring eight inches in diameter will cook an omelet made with four eggs; if more eggs are used, a larger pan is necessary.

Plain Omelet.

Four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of milk, one table-spoonful of butter. Beat the eggs with a Dover, or any other good egg beater, and add the salt and milk. Have the pan _very hot_. Put in the spoonful of butter and pour in the beaten egg. Shake vigorously on the hottest part of the stove until the egg begins to thicken; then let it stand a few seconds to brown. Run the knife between the sides of the omelet and the pan, fold, and turn on a _hot_ dish. Serve without delay.

Quaker Omelet.

A Quaker omelet is a handsome and sure dish when care is taken in the preparation. Three eggs, half a cupful of milk, one and a half table- spoonfuls of corn-starch, one tea-spoonful of salt, one table- spoonful of butter. Put the omelet pan, and a cover that will fit closely, on to heat. Beat well together the yolks of the eggs, the corn-starch and the salt. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Add to the well-beaten yolks and corn-starch. Stir all together very thoroughly, and add the milk. Put the butter in the hot pan. When melted, pour in the mixture. Cover, and place on the stove where it will brown, but not burn. Cook about seven minutes. Fold, turn on a hot dish, and serve with cream sauce poured around it. If the yolks and corn-starch are thoroughly beaten, and if, when the stiff whites are added, they are well mixed, and the pan and cover are very hot, there can hardly be failure.

Cheese Omelet.

Make the same as plain omelet, and as soon as it begins to thicken, sprinkle in three table-spoonfuls of grated cheese.

Ham Omelet.

The same as plain omelet, and add three tablespoonfuls of cooked ham, chopped rather fine, as soon as it begins to thicken.

Chicken Omelet.

The same as plain omelet, and, just before folding, add one cupful of cooked chicken, cut rather fine, and warmed in cream sauce.

Jelly Omelet.

A jelly omelet is made like the others, and, just before folding, spread with any kind of jelly (currant or grape is the best, however). Fold quickly, and serve.

Savory Omelet.

This is made like a plain omelet, with the addition of salt and one table-spoonful of chopped parsley. A little grated onion may be used also, if you like it.

Fish Omelet.

Boil a shad roe twenty minutes in salt and water. Chop it fine, and add to it a cupful of any kind of cold fish, broken fine. Season with salt and pepper, and warm in a cupful of cream sauce. Make a plain omelet with six eggs. When ready to fold, spread the prepared fish on it. Roll up, dish, and serve immediately.

Corn Omelet.

One pint of cold boiled corn, four eggs, half a cupful of milk, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, a little pepper, three table-spoonfuls of butter. Beat the eggs, and add to them the salt, pepper, milk and corn. Fry like a plain omelet.

Baked Omelet.

One pint and a half of milk, four eggs, one table-spoonful of flour, one of butter, one teaspoonful of salt. Let the milk come to a boil. Mix the butter and flour together. Pour the boiling milk on the mixture, which then cook five minutes, stirring all the while. Put away to cool. When cooled, add the salt and the eggs, the yolks and whites having been beaten separately. Pour into a buttered dish, and bake twenty minutes in a quick oven. Serve at once. The dish should hold a little more than a quart.

Dropped Eggs,

Have one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt in a frying-pan. Break the eggs, one by one, into a saucer, and slide carefully into the salted water. Cook until the white is firm, and lift out with a griddle-cake turner and place on toasted bread. Serve immediately.

Scrambled Eggs.

Four eggs, one table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the eggs, and add the salt to them. Melt the butter in a sauce- pan. Turn in the beaten eggs, stir quickly over a hot fire for one minute, and serve.

Poached Eggs.

Two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of butter. Beat the eggs, and add the salt and milk. Put the butter in a small sauce-pan, and when it melts, add the eggs. Stir over the fire until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it cook hard. About two minutes will cook it. The eggs, when done, should be soft and creamy. Serve immediately.

Soft-boiled Eggs.

Place the eggs in a warm saucepan, and cover with _boiling_ water. Let them stand where they will keep hot, but _not_ boil, for ten minutes. This method will cook both whites and yolks.

Soft-boiled Eggs, No. 2.

Put the eggs in boiling water, and boil three minutes and a half. By this method the white of the egg is hardened so quickly that the heat does not penetrate to the yolk until the last minute, and consequently the white is hard and the yolk hardly cooked enough. The first method is, therefore, the more healthful.

Hard-boiled Eggs.

Put the eggs in hot water to cover, and boil twenty minutes. Ten minutes will boil them hard, but they are not so digestible as when boiled twenty. Ten minutes makes the yolks hard and soggy; twenty makes them light and mealy.

Spanish Eggs.

Cook one cupful of rice thirty minutes in two quarts of boiling water, to which has been added one table-spoonful of salt. Drain through a colander, and add one table-spoonful of butter. Spread very lightly on a hot platter. On the rice place six dropped eggs, and serve.

Eggs Sur Le Plat.

Little stone china dishes come expressly for this mode of serving eggs. Heat and butter the dish, and break into it two eggs, being careful not to break the yolks. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and drop on them half a teaspoonful of butter, broken in small pieces. Place in a moderately-hot oven until the white is set, which will be in about five minutes. There should be a dish for each person. The flavor can be changed by sprinkling a little finely-chopped ham or parsley on the plate before putting in the eggs.

Creamed Eggs.

Boil six eggs twenty minutes. Make one pint of cream sauce. Have six slices of toast on a hot dish. Put a layer of sauce on each one, and then part of the whites of the eggs, cut in thin strips; and rub part of the yolks through a sieve on to the toast. Repeat this, and finish with a third layer of sauce. Place in the oven for about three minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve.

Stuffed Eggs.

Cut six hard-boiled eggs in two. Take out the yolks and mash them fine. Add two teaspoonfuls of butter, one of cream, two or three drops of onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix all thoroughly. Fill the eggs from the mixture, and put them together. There will be a little filling left, to which add a well-beaten egg. Cover the other eggs with this last preparation, and roll in cracker crumbs. Fry in _boiling_ lard till a light brown.

Scotch Eggs.

One cupful of cooked lean ham, chopped very fine; one-third of a cupful of stale bread crumbs, one-third of a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, cayenne enough to cover a silver five- cent piece, one raw egg, and six hard-boiled. Cook the bread and milk together until a smooth paste. Add to the ham, and add the seasoning and raw egg. Mix thoroughly. Break the shells from the hard-boiled eggs, and cover with this mixture. Put in a frying basket, and plunge into boiling fat for two minutes. These are nice for lunch, tea, or picnics.

Eggs, Brouillé.

Six eggs, half a cupful of milk, or, better still, of cream; two mushrooms, one teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, three table- spoonfuls of butter, a slight grating of nutmeg. Cut the mushrooms into dice, and fry them for one minute in one table-spoonful of the butter. Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, and cream together, and put them in a saucepan. Add the butter and mushrooms to these ingredients. Stir over a moderate heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Take from the fire and beat rapidly until the eggs become quite thick and creamy. Have slices of toast on a hot dish. Heap the mixture on these, and garnish with points of toast. Serve immediately.

ECONOMICAL DISHES.

Calf's Liver, Braised.

Wash and wipe a calf's liver. Lard one side of it. Cover the bottom of the braising pan with slices of salt pork, using about a quarter of a pound. Cut an onion and half a carrot in small pieces, and spread over the pork. Lay the liver on this, and dredge thickly with salt, pepper and flour. Cover the pan, and place where it will cook slowly for half an hour. Add a bouquet of sweet herbs and three pints of stock or water. Put the pan in a moderate oven and cook for two hours. Baste frequently with the gravy in the pan, and salt, pepper and flour. About twenty minutes before the liver is done, add one teaspoonful of vinegar and one of lemon juice. Strain the gravy over the liver when it is dished.

Beef Stew.

Take the bones and hard, tough parts left from a roast of beef. Remove all the meat from the bones, and cut it in small pieces. Cut about a quarter of a pound of the fat of the meat in very small pieces. Put it in the stew-pan to fry. When it begins to brown, put in half a carrot, one small turnip, and two onions, cut fine. Stir over the fire for ten minutes. Take out the fat and vegetables, and put the bones in the bottom of the kettle. Add the meat and the cooked vegetables, but not the fat. Dredge well with salt, pepper, and flour, shaking in at least half a cupful of flour. Add three pints of water, and simmer gently one hour; then put in six potatoes, pared and cut in slices. Simmer one hour longer. Taste to see if seasoned enough. Draw forward where it will boil more rapidly. Stir the stew, and put in the dumplings. Cook just ten minutes. The cover of the stew-pan must fit tightly. There should be about two pounds of meat for this stew, not counting the bones.

Cold Meat with Purée of Potato.

Six good-sized potatoes, one table-spoonful of butter, one cupful of boiling milk, salt and pepper to taste. Pare and boil the potatoes, and mash light and fine. Add the butter, seasoning and boiling milk. Beat up light, and spread on a hot platter. Lay on this handsome slices of any kind of cold meat, and on each slice put a table- spoonful of hot gravy. Put a little gravy around the dish, and set in the oven for five minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve. If there is no gravy left from the dinner of the day before, make a pint in the following manner: Put a quart of water with some of the hard pieces and bones of the meat, and boil down to one pint. Put one table- spoonful of butter in a frying-pan, and, when hot, add one table- spoonful of flour. Stir until dark brown, and strain the broth on this. Season with salt, pepper and, if you please, one spoonful of Halford sauce.

Shepherds' Pie.

One quart of any kind of cold meat, eight large potatoes, one small onion, one cupful of boiling milk, salt, pepper, and nearly a pint of gravy or stock, thickened with one table-spoonful of flour. Season the meat and put in a deep earthen dish. Grate the onion into the gravy, and pour over the meat. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes. Add the salt, pepper and milk and one table-spoonful of butter. Cover the pie with this, and bake gently half an hour.

Shepherds' Pie, No. 2.

Cut into dice one quart of any kind of cold meat. Mince very fine two table-spoonfuls of salt pork, and add to the meat. Pare and cut into dice four large uncooked potatoes; grate or chop fine one onion; chop fine one table-spoonful of parsley. Mix, and season well with salt and pepper, and add a large cupful of water. Put in a deep earthen dish. Make a paste with four potatoes, two table-spoonfuls of butter, a large cupful of boiling milk and a pint of flour. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes; then add butter, salt and milk. When all is very light, beat in the flour, gradually. Sprinkle the board with flour, and roll the paste a little larger than the dish. Make a hole in the centre, to let out the air. Cover the dish with the paste, being careful to have the edge come inside the dish. Bake gently one hour.

Escaloped Meat.

Chop the meat rather coarse. Season with salt and pepper. For one pint of meat use half a cupful of gravy and a heaping cupful of bread crumbs. Put a layer of the meat in an escalop dish, then gravy, then a thin layer of crumbs; and continue this until the dish is full. The last layer should be a thick one of crumbs. Cook in a hot oven from fifteen to twenty minutes. All kinds of cold meat can be escaloped, but beef is so dry that it is not so good as mutton, veal, etc,

Curry of Cold Meat.

Three table-spoonfuls of butter, three teaspoonfuls of flour, one onion, one teaspoonful of curry powder, salt, pepper, one generous pint of stock or water, about two pounds of any kind of cold meat, cut in thin slices. Put the butter in the frying-pan, and, when hot, add the onion. When the onion turns yellow, add the flour and curry powder. Stir two minutes, add the stock or water, simmer five minutes, and strain on the meat. Simmer all together for ten minutes. Serve with a border of rice or mashed potatoes.

Barley Stew.

About a quarter of a pound of cold roasted or broiled meat, two onions, four potatoes, a quarter of a cupful of barley, one table- spoonful of flour, one quart of water, and salt and pepper to taste. Cut the meat into dice; wash the barley; cut the onions _very fine_. Put all in a stew-pan, and dredge with the flour, half a table-spoonful of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Add the water, and simmer two hours. Pare and slice the potatoes. Add them to the stew, and simmer one hour longer. Taste to see if there is enough, salt and pepper, and if there is not, add more.

Dumplings.

One pint of flour, measured before sifting; half a teaspoonful of soda, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt. Mix all thoroughly and run through the sieve. Wet with a small cupful of milk. Sprinkle a little flour on the board. Turn the dough (which should have been stirred into a smooth ball with a spoon) on it roll to the thickness of half an inch, cut into small cakes, and cook ten minutes.

By remembering that the soup should be boiling rapidly when the dumplings are put in; that they should not sink too deep in it; that they should boil _just ten minutes_; that the cover should fit tightly, so that the steam shall not escape; and that the pot boils all the time, so that the steam is kept up; and by following the other directions, success is insured.

BREAD.

When you put the bread on the board, pat it lightly. Do not _press down_, but let all motions be as elastic as possible. Knead with the _palm_ until the dough is a flat cake, and then fold. Keep doing this until the dough is light and smooth and will not stick to the board or hands. Use as little flour as possible in kneading. Do not stop until you have fully finished, for bread that has "rested" is not good. Milk can be used instead of water in mixing. It should always be first scalded, and then allowed to cool to blood heat. One table-spoonful of lard or butter makes the bread tenderer when water is used.

In cold weather some kitchens grow cold very quickly after the fire is out. In this case the bread should be made earlier in the evening, and set in a warmer place (about eighty or ninety degrees); because if it begins to rise within the first two hours, it will continue to rise, unless the temperature falls to the freezing point. The reason for letting the rolls rise longer than the loaves is that the former, being smaller, are penetrated by heat much more quickly than the loaves are, and, of course, fermentation is stopped sooner; therefore, the rolls do not rise as much in the oven as the loaves.

Rolls should be made into smooth little balls, and should be placed in even rows in a shallow pan. Breakfast rolls, are first made into little balls and then rolled between the hands until three inches long. They are placed close together in even rows in the pan. Dinner and French rolls, after being made into little balls, are put on a well-floured board, and a little, well-floured rolling-pin, two and a half inches in diameter, is pressed nearly through their centre. The rolls are to be so placed in pans as not to touch each other. Being so small, and baking so quickly, they have a sweet taste of the wheat.

The best-sized pan for loaves is made of block tin; is eight and a half inches long, four and a half wide, and three deep. Those for wheat bread should be greased very slightly with either butter or lard. For rye, Indian, or Graham, they must be greased thoroughly, as the dough clings more to the tins. There are many kinds of bread that can be made readily and safely after once learning to make good common bread. It is difficult to give exact rules for flour, as it varies, some kinds requiring much more water than others. The "new process" flour has so much more starch, and packs so much more closely than the "old process," that one-eighth less is required, or one-eighth more of liquid; but if the flour is weighed, the same amount of water is taken for a pound of flour made by either process. The best flour is always the cheapest for bread. As there is no one article of food of so great importance for the health and happiness of the family as bread, make it as nearly perfect as possible.

Yeast.

Put two quarts of water and two table-spoonfuls of hops on to boil. Pare and grate six large potatoes. When the hops and water _boil_, strain the water on the grated potatoes, and stir well. Place on the stove and boil up once. Add half a cupful of sugar and one-fourth of a cupful of salt. Let the mixture get blood warm; then add one cupful of yeast, or one cake of compressed yeast, and let it rise in a warm place five or six hours. When well risen, turn into a stone jug. Cork this tightly, and set in a cool place. As poor yeast is the chief cause of poor bread, pains should be taken to make yeast properly and to keep it well. It must never be allowed to stand in a warm room after it has risen, and the jug in which it is kept should be carefully washed and _scalded_ each time the yeast is renewed. As much care must be taken with the stopper as with the jug. When it is convenient to get fresh cakes of Fleischmann's compressed yeast, it will be much better and cheaper to use them than to make your own. This yeast is wholly free of any injurious substance, and with it good bread can always be made, provided the flour is good and the rules are followed.

Yeast Bread, No. 1.