Chapter XX: Miscellaneous Recipes

White Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
Few grains of white pepper

Melt the butter over moderate heat, add the flour, and blend the two thoroughly. Heat the milk over hot water, add it, one-third at a time, to the butter and flour, stirring constantly and allowing the mixture to become perfectly smooth and glossy before adding more milk. Season it and allow it to come to the boiling point. If it is not to be served immediately, cover it and slip it into the cooker to keep hot.

Sauce for Vegetables

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
¹⁄₂ cup of vegetable stock
¹⁄₂ cup milk
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
Few grains of white pepper

Make the sauce in the same manner as white sauce, blending the milk and water in which the vegetables were cooked, which is called vegetable stock.

Brown Sauce

2 tablespoons butter or clarified fat
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup brown stock
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon pepper

Brown the butter slightly, add the flour and stir constantly until the flour is a rich brown. Add the seasoning and stock, one-third at a time, stirring it until smooth. If butter is not used, add the flour as soon as the fat is melted, as other fats will acquire a strong flavour if allowed to brown before the flour is added. Mutton or lamb fat, or that from smoked or salted meats, is not suitable for brown sauce.

Drawn Butter Sauce

¹⁄₄ cup butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup boiling water
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon white pepper

Melt the butter, add the flour and seasoning, and mix them well. Add the water, one-third at a time, stirring until the sauce grows smooth. When it has come to the boiling point it is done.

Caper Sauce

Drain one-half cup of capers, and add them to one cupful of drawn-butter sauce.

Egg Sauce

To one cupful of drawn-butter sauce add two hard-cooked eggs, cut in one-fourth-inch dice.

Sauce for Fish

To one cupful of drawn-butter sauce add one-half tablespoonful of lemon juice and one-half tablespoonful of chopped parsley.

Hollandaise Sauce

¹⁄₂ cup butter
Yolks of two eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
Cayenne pepper
¹⁄₂ cup boiling water

Rub the butter until soft and creamy, add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and seasoning, and rub them till blended, then pour on the boiling water and stand the covered bowl, containing the sauce, on a rack over a cooker pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for three minutes; or cook it on the stove over hot water as soft custard, stirring it constantly.

Tomato Sauce

¹⁄₂ can tomatoes, or
2 cups raw tomatoes
1 slice onion
¹⁄₂ bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
¹⁄₂ cup water or stock

Cook all the ingredients but the butter and flour in a cooker for one hour or more. Rub them through a strainer and add this, gradually, to the blended butter and flour.

Hard Sauce

¹⁄₃ cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
Nutmeg

Rub the butter till soft and creamy, add the sugar gradually. When perfectly blended, pile the sauce on a small dish or plate and put it into a refrigerating box or other cold place till time for serving, then grate nutmeg over the top.

Fruit Sauce

1 glass of jelly, or
¹⁄₂ pint grape juice
³⁄₄ cup boiling water
Sugar to taste

Cut the jelly into small pieces, add the water, and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it stand in a cooker for one-half hour or more, or leave it on the stove till melted. If very sour jelly is used, some sugar may be required to make it sweet enough. With grape juice about one-half cupful of sugar may be used. The sugar and water should be brought to a boil, the grape juice added, and the sauce immediately set aside to cool.

Brandy Sauce

¹⁄₄ cup butter
1 cup sugar
Yolks of two eggs
2 tablespoons brandy
¹⁄₂ cup milk or cream
Whites of 2 eggs

Warm the butter to soften, but not melt it; add the sugar gradually, and rub the two together; add the beaten yolks and, when mixed, the brandy and the milk or cream. Heat the sauce over warm water in a cooker-pail until it registers 160 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring it constantly. Cover it, and set the pail into a cooker for twenty minutes. When it is nearly ready, beat the whites of eggs stiff and pour the hot sauce over them, beating it until it is smooth. Serve immediately.

Serves six or eight persons.

Vanilla Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup boiling water
¹⁄₄ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Rub together the butter and flour in a saucepan, add the water and cook until it thickens. Add the sugar, and, when dissolved, the vanilla. Serve hot.

Nutmeg Sauce

Make it in the same way as vanilla sauce, substituting brown sugar for white, and using one-eighth teaspoonful of grated nutmeg in place of the vanilla.

Buttered Crumbs

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup soft, stale breadcrumbs
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
Few grains pepper

Use bread that is at least one day old, and not sufficiently stale to be hard. Grate the bread, or crumble it in the fingers; or cut it into one-inch slices, and these into quarters, and rub two quarters together. If any large pieces break off, crumble them fine with the fingers. If bread is being crumbled for scalloped dishes, it should be carefully done; if for stuffing, bread puddings, and such uses where it becomes moistened and softened it may be cut into very thin slices, then across into strips and small dice one-eighth inch in size. Mix the seasoning with the crumbs, then add them to the melted butter. When first mixed a few crumbs absorb all of the butter, but if lightly stirred with a fork for several minutes they will become evenly buttered. If richer crumbs are needed, the quantity of butter may be doubled.

Salted Nuts

1 pt. water
¹⁄₂ cup salt
1 cup blanched nuts
1 teaspoon butter

Blanch the nuts according to directions given below. Boil them in the salt and water for eight minutes, drain them and put them into a roasting-pan or pie plate with the butter. When warm, stir them well that the butter may coat each nut. Bake them in a moderate oven until they are a very light brown, stirring them frequently. When they are done, spread them out to cool and allow them to stand until crisp before putting them into a covered receptacle. If peanuts are used, take raw nuts.

To Blanch Nuts

Pour boiling water on to shelled nuts, let them stand two or three minutes, drain them and pour cold water over them. Press them from their skins.

To Shell Italian Chestnuts

Cut a slit in each nut with a sharp knife; put them into a frying or roasting pan with one teaspoonful of butter for each pint of nuts. Shake them over moderate heat until the butter is melted, and put them into a moderate oven for five minutes; or continue to shake them over the fire for that length of time. This loosens the shell so that it may be removed with a knife.

To Sterilize Jars or Cans

Wash cans, jars or bottles and their covers and put them into a large pan of cold or tepid water, which is deep enough to fill and cover them.

Bring the water to a boil over moderate heat, unless a rack in the pan prevents contact of the glassware with the bottom of the pan, in which case a hot fire may be used. Let them boil for five minutes or more, and remove them, one by one, as they are to be filled. A clean stick or long wooden spoon-handle thrust into them may be used to take them out. Rubbers for cans should not be sterilized, as the heat will injure them. Corks may be dipped into boiling water or allowed to remain in it for a minute; but unless very stiff and shrunken, they will swell too much to fit the bottles if left long in the water.

Boiled Dressing

1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon mustard
Cayenne
2¹⁄₂ teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
¹⁄₂ cup milk
¹⁄₈ cup vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients, add the beaten egg and milk; heat them over a cooker-pail of warm water until 160 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring it constantly. Put it into a cooker for twenty minutes. Add the vinegar when it is cold, unless it is to be used for cole-slaw, in which case the hot vinegar is added at once and the dressing poured over the cut cabbage.

Soft-Cooked Eggs, No. 1

Into a cooker-pail put as many eggs as are to be cooked. Pour over them one pint of boiling water for one egg and one cup extra for each additional egg. Without heating it further, put the pail into the cooker for ten minutes. Remove them promptly at the end of that time and place them in a folded napkin to keep warm.

Soft-Cooked Eggs, No. 2

Put the eggs and cold water to more than cover them into a cooker-pail. Heat them over the fire until 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then put them into a cooker for ten minutes. Remove them immediately and serve them in a folded napkin.

Hard-Cooked Eggs

Put the eggs and enough cold water to more than cover them into a cooker-pail. Heat them till simmering, then put them into a cooker for twenty or thirty minutes, depending upon their size.

Chocolate

2 squares chocolate
¹⁄₄ cup sugar
1 cup hot water
3 cups hot milk
¹⁄₄ teaspoon vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a pan to fit over a cooker-pail of boiling water; add the salt and sugar and, when mixed, the water. Remove the pan from the pail and let the chocolate cook directly on the stove until it has thickened, add the milk, gradually, and when scalding hot, but not boiling, put the pan back into the cooker-pail of boiling water. Set all in a cooker and leave it until it is to be served. Just before serving beat it well with an egg-beater and add the vanilla. It will keep hot without injury for a number of hours and makes a good drink for a late evening supper. It can be prepared before going out and on returning from concert, theatre, or other entertainment, will be found ready to serve. A tablespoonful or two of cream improves it.

Serves four or five persons.

Cocoa

1¹⁄₂ tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups boiling water
2 cups hot milk
Few grains salt

Mix the cocoa, sugar and salt. Mix it to a paste with boiling water, add to the remaining water, and let it boil one minute. Add the scalding milk and beat it well with an egg-beater and serve it; or put it into a cooker to keep warm until it is to be used. It will keep for several hours and should be beaten upon removal. Reception cocoa is generally made with double the quantity of cocoa and is served with a spoonful of whipped cream laid on top.

Serves four or five persons. For reception serves eight persons.

Cocoa Shells

1¹⁄₂ cups shells
3 cups water
3 cups milk
Sugar to taste

Bring the shells and water to a boil, put them into a cooker for eight hours or more. Add the hot milk, strain the liquid off, pressing the shells with a spoon to squeeze it out. Add the sugar and heat all until boiling. By adding one-third of a cup of cocoa nibs a more satisfactory drink is obtained. This recipe makes one quart.

Serves four or five persons.

Coffee

¹⁄₂ cup coffee
¹⁄₂ egg
Cold water
1 qt. boiling water

Mix the coffee, egg and washed shell with enough water to moisten it, in a cooker-pail or pan. Add the boiling water and let it just come to a boil. Put the pail or pan into a large pail of boiling water and set it in a cooker for one hour or more. If a larger quantity of coffee is made and it will nearly fill the cooker-pail, the outside pail of water may be omitted.

Cereal Coffee

³⁄₄ cup cereal coffee
1¹⁄₂ qts. water

Put the coffee into a cheese-cloth bag and drop it into cold water. Bring it to a boil and put it into a cooker for five hours or more. It is best cooked over night and is a different thing from ordinary cereal coffee prepared by boiling. All brands of cereal coffee may be treated in this way. Serve, if possible, with cream.

Croustades

Cut stale bread into slices one and one-half or two inches thick. Cut off the crusts, making rectangular blocks of the bread, or cutting it with a large biscuit cutter, into rounds. With a fork, carefully scoop out the centres, leaving cases with walls about one-fourth of an inch thick. Brush them lightly with melted butter and brown them in a moderate oven. Creamed oysters, lobster, fish or meat and some vegetables are served in croustades.

Farina Balls

¹⁄₂ cup farina
2 cups milk
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
Dash of cayenne
5 drops of lemon juice
Yolk of one egg

Cook the milk and farina in a cooker for two hours or more, over boiling water, until all the liquid has been absorbed, then add the other ingredients while still over the water, and when well mixed remove it and spread it on a dish to cool. When cold, roll it into balls one inch in diameter, roll them in sifted crumbs, then in egg to which one tablespoon of water has been added and slightly beaten, and again in crumbs, and fry them in hot, deep fat until a golden brown. Drain them on soft brown paper laid on a plate in the open door of an oven. Any cold cereals may be used in this way.