\~v T X ■ m^^ Qj urrey LIBRARY 0FX0N6RESS. ■'A |. "^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. LUNCHEON THOMAS J. MURREY AUTHOR OF " FIFTY SOUPS," " FIFTY SALADS," " BREAKFAST DAINTIES," "puddings AND DAINTY DESSERTS," " THE BOOK OF ENTREES," " COOKERY FOR INVALIDS," " PRACTICAL CARVING," " VALUABLE COOKING RECIPES," ETC. ^76 9 ' \ 'V NEW YORK Copyright, 1888, by FREDERICK A. STOKES & BROTHER ■R z,-^ ^ 0^ <> (J DEDICATION. To My Friend THE HON. AMOS J. CUMMINGS, One who, though attending all rich banquets, prefers the unassuming well-made dish "which smells of home, '^ to the most expensive Fantaisies Ctilinaires ever invented, this unpretentious work is most respectfully dedicated by THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. PAGE REMARKS ON LUNCHEON . .11 RELISHES FOR THE LUNCHEON TABLE 13 German Radishes . . . . 14 Pickles 14 Nasturtiums' Pickled . . . 15 Tomatoes for Winter Use . .15 Field Mushrooms for Winter Use 15 Mushroom Table Sauce . , .16 Chervil Vinegar . . . . 16 Preserved Watermelon Rind . . 17 Preserved Strawberries . ,17 Preserved Peaches . . , .18 Brandy Peaches . . . ,19 "Sweet-Pickle" Peaches . . .19 Crab Apples' Pickled ... 20 Tomatoes in Sweet Pickle . . 21 Pears in Sweet Pickle . . . 21 Cucumbers in Sweet Pickle • . 21 Fig Tomatoes . . . . 22 Tomato Ketchup . , , , 23 5 6 CONTENTS. ^ PAGE FISH AND SHELL FISH 24 Raw Oysters . . . . 24 Oysters en Brocheti'e . 25 Fried Oysters .... 25 Curry of Oysters 25 Deviled Oysters on Toast 26 Pickled Oysters . 26 Soft Clams in Chafing Dish 26 Stevved Li'it'le-Neck Clams . 27 Soft Claims .... 27 Snapping Turtle . 27 Shrimp Paste . . . 28 Finnan Haddie with Poached Eggs 29 Spiced Salmon .... • 29 Broiled Yarmouth Bloaters . • 30 How to eat Prepared and Preserved Fish . ... 30 Potted Fish .... 31 Potted Eels , ... 31 Fried Eels . . . . 32 Codfish Balls . 32 Shad Roe en Brochette . ZZ HASH. A Kind Word for it Z3 Corned Beef Hash . 34 Minced Lamb on Toast 35 Beef Hash with. Poached Egg . 35 Minced Ham with Poached Egg 35 CONTENTS. 7 PAGE Frizzled Beef with Egg . .* 36 MACARONI .... 36 Macaroni with Roast Meats , • 37 Macaroni with Tomato Sauce 37 Macaroni Pie . . 38 Spaghetti . . . , < 38 LUNCHEON CURRIES . • 39 Curry of Baked Fish . 39 Curry of Cold Roast Beef • . 40 Fresh Beef Curry 40 Curry of Brisket of Lamb . 41 Curry of Frogs' Legs . 42 Curry of Prawns . 42 EGGS AND OMELETS . 44 Chicken- Liver Omelet • 44 Kidney Omelet . . . , 45 Omelet with Spanish Pepper . . 46 Pickled-Oyster Omelet 46 Crayfish Omelet • 47 Stuffed Eggs . . . . 47 Eggs with Brown Butter . • 47 Oyster-Crab Omelet 48 PATTIES . . . . . . 48 Dainty Luncheon Patties 48 Beef Paities • . • • . 49 8 CONTENTS. VEGETABLES . . . • Broiled Sweet Potatoes . Sweet-Potato Souffle . Fried Sweet Potatoes Green Corn, Maryland style Green Corn Fritters Elder-Flower Fritters Oyster- Plant Croquettes . Egg Plant, Fried . SWEETBREADS .... Lamb Sweetbreads, Tomato Sauce Sweetbreads, Broiled Sweetbreads, Stewed Sweetbreads with Scrambled Eggs MISCELLANEOUS . GoLOASH, Hungarian style Spring Chicken Paprika Oyster and Chicken Pie . Chicken, Economical Use of Calf's Liver en Brochette A Lenten Luncheon Dish Potted Pigeons . Blackbirds en Brochette Calf's Brains Croquettes of Calf's Brains Stewed Beef with Dumplings PAGE 50 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 53 53 54 54 55 55 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 58 59 CONTENTS. 9 PAGE Flank Steak ..... 60 Roast Tenderloin of Beef . 61 Lamb's Liver .... 61 Lamb's Liver, saut6, with Potatoes . 62 Lamb's Liver, au gratin 62 Cold Tongue .... . ^Z Cold Tongue with Nudels . 63 NUDELS '. 63 Venison Steak, Sauce Bearnaise . 64 Sauce Bearnaise ' 65 Venison Steak in Chafing Dish . 65 Cheese Toast . 66 Cheese Fondu .... 66 Sausages , 66 Ham 67 Deviled Ham .... . 67 Ham in Chafing Dish . 67 Ham, a la Russe . . . . 67 6S Frankfort Sausages . . • , 68 Pigs' Feet . . , • , 6S REMARKS ON LUNCHEON. The midday meal of the household is too often an indifferent affair, or consists of ingredients which upset the system instead of benefiting it. This should not be. Quite as much care should be exercised in the table appointments at lunch as at any other meal. If servants are allowed to shirk their duties at one time, is it not human to expect them to be careless whenever they feel so disposed ? Should a child be expected to have pretty table manners at a particular meal, when he is allowed to run riot at others ? • Heavy soups should not appear at the lunch- eon table, for it is too much to ask of a servant to make soup twice a day. Clam broth, however, is easily made, and served in cups is always acceptable. Small china crocks of beef extract should always be on hand for emergency cases, as a cup of bouillon is then quickly prepared. A stew of oysters, clams, scallops, or a dainty II 12 REMARKS ON LUNCHEON. lobster or prawn stew, is most appropriate at luncheon. The dish takes the place of shellfish and soup, and is, as it were, a combination of the two. Vegetable salads occupy a similar position, for they take the place of special vegetables and the salad. Fish salads also serve this purpose ; and a lunch table with a bounteous dish of well- made fish salad is considered at all times a well-appointed table. This rule equally applies to a well-made salad of poultry or meats. A well-made hot dish of some kind should invariably appear at lunch table, and much more care should be taken with it than even the joints for dinner. If they are not well made and served, they will not be eaten, and much good food and seasoning will thereby be spoiled. The utilization of the culinary odds and ends, which accumulate in the ice-box and pantry, deserves the highest consideration ; for without this it would be impossible to please the palates of the " men-folks," who, if fed on a continual diet of fresh meats which were but once cooked, would become unbearable. Their nerves would be shattered ; and happiness, under such a con- dition of things, would be impossible. RELISHES FOR THE LUNCHEON TABLE. 1 3 RELISHES FOR THE LUNCHEON TABLE. Relishes are very essential at the lunch table, and they should be served in as neat a manner as possible. They should be constantly varied from day to day, whenever possible. On fish days the salted anchovies and the Ger- man sardellen are acceptable ; they should, how- ever, be served in fillets or strips, and firee fi-om skin and bone. Lemon should be served with them. Broiled sardines are sometimes served as a relish. When cold roast meats are served, a most ac- ceptable relish to accompany them is pickled walnuts. A jar of horse radish is always appre- ciated by the lover of cold meats. Radishes are excellent as a relish, but they should not be served repeatedly. If they are, they are more apt to cloy and dull one's appe- tite than to tantalize it. A most agreeable relish will be found in the raw green sweet peppers; they are not too 14 GERMAN RADISHES. peppery, and their peculiar flavor is a delight to the epicure. German Radishes. — The little red radish is seldom tender after the first of June, and in its stead we name the white rusty German radishes, which are excellent. Scrape off the outer coating, and cut the radish in very thin slices ; arrange them on a platter, and strew over them a liberal quantity of salt; let them stand a few moments, then serve. The long black radish is prepared thus : Scrape off the skin carefully, and cut the thin slices nearly through without spoiling the shape of the radish or dividing it, then insert a Httle salt be- tween the slices ; let it stand fifteen minutes, and eat by pulling off one or two slices at a time. Pickles. — Wash one hundred small cucum- bers in cold water, dry them in a cloth, and put them in a butter firkin or an unglazed crock. Boil two gallons of water, and add a pound and a quarter of coarse kitchen salt ; skim until clear, and pour it on the cucumbers ; let them remain in the brine three days ; drain them in a colander. Wash out the vessel, and put into it a sliced raw onion, three green peppers sliced, a tablespoonful of mustard seeds, a tablespoonful each of whole cloves, peppercorns, and allspice. NASTURTIUMS PICKLED. 1 5 Now add the cucumbers, and pour over them two gallons of boiling cider vinegar. The spices may be put in a thin cloth bag if desired ; and if you wish to have the pickles brittle, add a bit of alum the size of two peas. The cucumbers may remain in the brine for days, but should be soaked in fresh water before pickling. Nasturtiums Pickled. — Wash the fleshy fruits in cold water, and drain. Strew over each quart of them a teaspoonful of salt; let them stand over night. Wipe them dry and free from salt, and put them in bottles. Boil a quart of vinegar with an ounce of whole mixed spice. When it is cold, add a little of it to each bottle. If the seeds are packed closely, half a pint of the vinegar will be sufficient in each bottle. Add a few whole green tarragon leaves to each bottle, cork and seal. Tomatoes for Winter Use. — Select sound and thoroughly-ripe tomatoes, scald and peel them; parboil them three minutes; salt slightly; put them into warm jars, and make them air-tight as fast as filled. Field Mushrooms for Winter Use. — Select the smallest of those gathered, and wipe them free from grit. Put into a frying pan a quarter of a pound of the very best butter. Add to it two whole cloves, a saltspoonful of salt, and 1 6 MUSHROOM TABLE SAUCE. a tablcspoonful of lemon juice. When hot add a quart of the small mushrooms, toss them about in the butter for a moment only, then put them in jars ; fill the top of each jar with an inch or two of the butter, and let it cool. Keep the jars in a cool place, and when the butter is quite firm, add a top layer of salt. Cover to keep out dust. Mushroom Table Sauce. — Select the largest mushrooms for this purpose. Put into the wooden chopping bowl a layer of mush- rooms with the root ends upright. Strew over them a layer of fine salt. Repeat this process until five pounds of mushrooms and one pound of salt are used. Cover with a cloth, and let them stand forty-eight hours ; then rub through a colander or sieve, and put it in an unglazed crock or porcelain-lined kettle. Mix together one-quarter of an ounce of black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of ground allspice, half of a bay leaf, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, and one clove of garlic. Mix, and add to it a quart of claret ; boil it a moment, and add it to the mushroom sauce. Boil the whole fifteen min- utes ; strain, and add to it half a pint of soy (to be had at the grocer's) ; mix and bottle. Chervil Vinegar. — Chervil is a delicious salad herb, invariably found in all salads prepared PRESERVED WATERMELON RIND. I 7 by a French epicure. No man can be a true epicure who is unfamiliar with this excellent herb. Its leaves resemble parsley, but are more divided, and a few of them added to a breakfast salad give a delightful flavor. A few drops of vinegar flavored with it, or added to fish sauces or salads, is excellent, and well repays the little trouble taken in its preparation. Half fill a bottle with fresh or dry chervil leaves ; fill the bottle with good vinegar, and heat it gently by placing it in warm water, which bring to boiling point ; re- move from the fire ; cork when cool, and in two weeks it will be ready for use. Preserved Watermelon Rind. — Cut off the outer rind and all of the red part from the inside ; cut the rind in strips or squares, and boil in a liberal quantity of sirup, allowing a pound and a quarter of sugar in a quart of water to the pound of rind. Make the sirup first, and clarify it with white of egg, skim, and add the rind ; simmer until quite transparent ; remove the rind, boil down the sirup one-third, then pour it over the rind. Preserved Strawberries. — Gather the strawberries in dry weather, when they are not over-ripe, and pick without bruising them. Put them in clean, dry, wide- mouthed bottles. Take equal weight of sugar, and add a pint of water 1 8 PRESERVED PEACHES. to every three-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar ; boil until quite clear, and strain. When a little cool, pour it in the bottles, cork, and tie tliem with string. Wrap straw around them to prevent them from being broken. Put them in a large stewpan, and add cold water up to their necks. Allow the water to boil, then draw to one side, and let the bottles remain until the water becomes cold. Examine the corks, retie or wax them over, and they are ready for use or keeping. Preserved Peaches. — Fill a four-quart steamer with perfectly sound ripe peaches ; place the steamer on top of a pot of fast-boiling water for three minutes, then remove, and allow the fruit to become cold ; peel them carefully, and weigh them. Boil together three pounds of sugar and one pint of water ; remove all scum until quite clear. Soak a tablespoonful of Nel- son's gelatine in a gill of cold water ten minutes, drain off the cold and add a pint of hot water. Add this to the sugar, and boil and skim until clear. If not clear enough, whisk into it the v/hite and shell of one egg, and strain through a flannel bag; but this is hardly necessary for ordinary household sirup used in preserving. Make an incision in one side of each peach down to the stone. Add four pounds of the BRANDY PEACHES. 1 9 peaches to, the sirup, and boil five minutes. Scald the jars carefully, so as not to crack them, then place them in a dripping-pan, and surround them with hot water ; fill the jars with the sirup, and put about nine peaches in each quart jar ; place the clean rubber band on each jar as fast as it is filled, and screw on the cover. Remove, and when they are cold test the covers to make them as tight as possible. (The gelatine is used only when a thick sirup is desirable.) Brandy Peaches. — Prepare the peaches and the sirup as in the foregoing recipe, using the same proportions, and before filling the jars add a pint of the best brandy, slightly warmed. ** Sweet -Pickle" Peaches. — Mix the following spices together : a teaspoonful each of whole allspice and "chip" cinnamon, a table- spoonful of minced green ginger, half a tea- spoonful of cloves, and one nutmeg broken into small pieces ; put the mixed spice in an earthen crock, and pour on it a quart of hot vinegar; cover, and let it infuse three days, stirring it daily ; allow it to settle, then strain. Put into a porcelain-lined kettle or pot five pounds of C sugar; add the spiced vinegar, and boil ; skim, and when no more scum rises it is ready. Do not procure your peaches until the pickle is ready. Scald five pounds of firm 20 CRAB APPLES PICKLED. but ripe peaches ; wipe them well ; boil the pickle, and pour it over the peaches ; boil five minutes, and let stand until cold ; remove the fruit, and boil the pickle once more ; add the peaches, and put into a large crock with a cover. Six days afterwards, boil up once, fill the warm jars, and make them air-tight. [It sometimes happens that the most carefully-pre- pared pickles or preserves will prove a disap- pointment; but if you will keep all kinds of home-made relishes in a room or cellar free from sudden changes of temperature, you will experience very little trouble with them. Should they appear cloudy, or develop a fungoid growth, drain off the sirup, and boil up once, or open the jars and place them in warm water which should be brought to the boiling point. All jars not filled to the top should be refilled. This is best done by using the contents of one of the jars, which is less troublesome than preparing a fresh pickle. Do not put too many peaches in a jar ; if quart jars are used, nine medium-sized peaches to each jar will be sufiicient.] Crab Apples Pickled. — Select bright red crab apples with stems on, and boil them whole' until tender.^ Care must be exercised not to cook them long enough to break their skins. Boil the sweet pickle, and pour it over the fruit ; TOMATOES IN SWEET PICKLE. 21 repeat the process three days in succession, boil- ing the pickle each time ; fill the jars after the last boiling, and seal. Toinatoes in Sweet Pickle. — Select sound, ripe tomatoes of equal size, and blanch or scald them. When cool, skin them. Dry and powder the skins, which are excellent for color- ing soups, sauces, etc. Put the peeled tomatoes into a large steamer, and steam them a quarter of an hour; then put them in a sweet pickle, and boil ten minutes over a very moderate fire. Handle them carefully so as not to break them. Store them away in wide crocks. The pickle should cover the tomatoes when they are put away. Pears in Sweet Pickle. — When pears are cheap, families are warranted in putting them up for winter use. Pare the fruit as neatly as possi- ble, leaving the stems on. Boil them in hot water or steam them twenty minutes ; then boil them in the pickle twice upon successive days, only a moment each time. Cucumbers in Sweet Pickle. — Select large, full-grown cucumbers ; quarter them length- wise, remove the seeds, then cut each piece in two crosswise. Cover the pieces with wine vinegar, and let them stand two days. Then drain, and boil them a moment in a sweet pickle ; 22 FIG TOMATOEg. take them out of the pickle, and put them in a crock. Let the pickle boil five minutes, and pour it over the cucumbers. Let them stand ten days, and boil the pickle once more. When cold pour it over the cucumbers. Let them stand two weeks before using. Watermelon rind may be treated in like manner. (Pumpkin, squash, and citron boiled ten minutes, then boiled in the sweet pickle, with the addition of a root or two more of green ginger, will be found excellent winter relishes.) Fig Tomatoes. — (This excellent recipe originally appeared in " Harper's Magazine," contributed some years ago by Mrs. EHza Marsh. As I have tested it, and found it valuable, it is proper to give the lady due credit.) The fig tomatoes are both yellow and red, and are abun- dant at their season. " Pour boiling water over them to more easily remove their skins, after which weigh them, and place them in stone crocks in layers with an equal amount of sugar. Let them stand two days; then pour off the sirup, and boil and skim it until no scum arises. Pour it over the tomatoes, and let them stand two days, then boil the sirup and skim again. After the third4ime they are fit to dry, if the weather is good ; if not, let them stand in the sirup until pleasant weather ; then place the to- TOMATO KETCHUP. 23 matoes on large platters or dishes, and set them in the sun to dry, which will take about a week. When thoroughly dry, pack them neatly in small wooden boxes with fine sugar between the layers, and they will keep for years." Fig tomatoes put up in sweet pickle are ex- cellent. The skins may be left on. Tomato Ketchup. — Cut into slices half a bushel of ripe tomatoes, put them in a large earthen crock, and between each' layer put a small quantity of salt (enough to season them nicely) . Let them stand eight hours. Put into a large saucepan two ounces of mustard seed, one ounce of celery seed, a dozen whole cloves, the bruised cloves of six roots of garlic, two roots of green ginger shredded, an ounce of fresh capsicum peppers, a blade of mace, and two ounces of shredded horseradish root. Add the tomatoes and half a pound of cut sugar. Boil slowly three hours ; stir occasionally, care being used not to allow it to burn. Add a quart of new brandy. Strain while hot ; cover close, and let stand two days ; bottle, cork, seal, and keep in a cool place. It will be noticed that no vine- gar is used. The object is to prevent fermenta- tion, which invariably appears when it is used. Strain the ketchup as free from seeds as possi- ble, as they are objectionable. 24 RAW OYSTERS. This ketchup is expensive ; but it is wonder- fully good, and very little of it produces re- markable results on the palate of an appreciative guest. FISH AND SHELLFISH. Raw Oysters. — It is in order to advise housewives how they should order their oysters opened ; for, while there may not appear to be any danger in so innocent-looking a thing as an oyster, there is nevertheless great danger of its killing us if by chance we should swallow a ragged piece of oyster shell when eating oysters. There is just one way to prevent this danger, and that is by refusing all oysters that have been opened by the process known as " smashing.'* This operation spoils the appearance of the oyster and its shell ; and small particles of the shell are hammered into the body of the oyster, which, when introduced into the stomach, be- come a terror as deadly as the mistakes of drug- gists. Insist on it that your oysters are opened by the stabbing process, and you avert this dan- ger. Children should not be allowed to eat oysters — raw or cooked — unless they have been thoroughly and carefully examined for OYSTERS EN BROCHETTE. 25 minute particles of shells. I am very serious about this oyster- opening business ; for, having lost a very dear friend through his having care- lessly swallowed a piece of oyster shell which clung to the oyster, I feel that I cannot be too emphatic on this subject. Oysters en Brochette. — Select one dozen choice oysters, plunge them into hot water a second to make them firm (this process is called blanching) , then drain, and dip them into melted butter ; arrange them on skewers with alternate layers of neatly- sliced bacon; broil over a moderate fire. When done add maitre-d'hotel butter to them, and serve on the skewers. Fried Oysters. — Beat up the yolks of four eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sweet oil, and season them with a teaspoonful of salt and a s-altspoonful of cayenne pepper; beat up thor- oughly. Dry twelve fat oysters on a napkin ; dip them in the egg batter, then in cracker dust ; shake off the loose cracker dust, dip them again in the egg batter, and lastly roll them in fine bread crumbs. Fry in very hot fat, using fat enough to cover them. The oil gives them a nice flavor. Curry of Oysters. — Put an ounce of butter in a pan, add to it a teaspoon of curry powder, and water enough to prevent burning. 26 DEVILED OYSTERS ON TOAST. Put fifteen oysters in just water enough to cover them, simmer three minutes, and drain ; thicken the broth with a teaspoonful of flour, salt to taste, stir this into the curry; add the oysters, simmer a moment, and serve with boiled rice. ^ Deviled Oysters on Toast. — Mix to- gether a heaping saltspoonful of mustard flour, half a saltspoonful each of white pepper and salt, and the yolk of one egg. Dip six oysters in the paste, then in fine crumbs, and broil over a moderate fire. When done, arrange on toast, and squeeze over them the juice of half a lemon. Pickled Oysters. — A few pickled oysters may be served instead of clams during warm weather. Scald a quart of oysters a moment, drain, and put them in jars. To a pint of oyster liquor, add half a pint of hot water and half a pint of hot vinegar ; pour over the oysters ; add three cloves, four whole peppers, a small bit of mace, and a slice of lemon, to each jar. This will be sufficient for two ordinary fruit jars. Soft Clams in Chafing Dish. — Select a dozen large Guilford clams, wash them thor- oughly, and plunge them into boiling water for a moment. Drain and open them, and use the round plump part only. Put in a chafing dish a pat of butter, and when quite hot add a dash of flour, and cayenne to suit the taste ; add the STEWED LITTLE-NECK CLAMS. 27 clams, and, when they are slightly cooked, add a gill of light sherry. Cover the dish, and allow it to simmer five minutes. Have ready three slices of toast, put four clams upon each slice, add a little of the hot sherry, and serve. Stewed Little-Neck Clams. — Get two dozen freshly opened, very small clams. Boil a pint of milk, a dash of white pepper, and a small pat of butter. Now add the clams. Let them come to a boil, and serve. Longer boiling will make the clams almost indigestible. Soft Clams. — Select a dozen soft-shell clams ; wash them well ; remove the shells ; trim off the tough neck \ place each clam on a half shell, and add to each half a teaspoonful of finely-chopped bacon, a little cayenne, a very small bit of onion, and a pat of butter rolled in flour ; strew over the top a little grated Parmesan cheese, and bake to a delicate brown. Cracker crumbs may be used instead of the cheese if preferred. Snapping Turtle. — Philadelphia is the home of this most highly-esteemed dish. Select a turtle weighing about ten pounds, allow it to swim in a tub of clean water half a day. Half fill a wash boiler with water ; when it boils, drop the snapper into it. (This is the quickest and best mode of killing : cutting his head off is apt 28 SHRIMP PASTE. to be attended with difficulties when attempted by amateurs.) Boil twenty-five minutes, then plunge in cold water to cool. Remove the nails, scales, and outer skin, turn it over, and separate and remove the breast or lower shell. Remove the entrails carefully, saving the liver only ; cut off the gall bag without breaking it ; divide the remainder of the flesh in neat pieces, put them in a pot, and add a gallon of water. Simmer four hours. Add salt to taste, a teaspoonful of whole peppercorns, a pinch of nutmeg, the grated rind of a lemon, and a heaping table- spoonful of mixed dry herbs. Five minutes before serving, add a pint of sherry, a little cayenne, and three hard-boiled eggs chopped fine ; cut a lemon in slices, and add them, and serve. Should the turtle contain eggs, they may be served separately. Shrimp Paste. — You can make an excel- lent shrimp paste as follows : Boil the shrimps half an hour; when cool, shell them; put the shells in a mortar, and pound them to a paste ; add two ounces of butter to the pound of shells, and season with salt and cayenne ; add a pint of hot water, and simmer an hour ; strain. Now put the edible or_tail part in the mortar, and pound it to a paste, moisten with the liquid from the shells, and season liberally with salt and cayenne. Put FINNAN HADDIE WITH POACHED EGGS. 29 it in a double saucepan, surrounded by water, and heat it through. Fill the jars three-fourths full of the mixture. Pour over it enough melted butter to fill the jar, and keep in a cool place. When wanted, remove the butter. This paste will be found excellent for sandwiches, sauces, etc., but not of the same color as the shrimp paste of the shops, which is colored with chemi- cals. Finnan Haddie with Poached Eggs. — Finnan baddies are smoked haddock. Most of the fish smoked in this vicinity are invariably kept too long before being cured, and are, there- fore, quite inferior to the Scotch and Canadian prepared fish. Cut the fish into pieces about three inches square. Remove the skin, and par- boil fifteen minutes. Drain quite dry in a towel, and brush over the fish a little butter ; broil a moment, and add melted butter and a little lemon juice ; on top of each piece of fish place a poached egg. The fish may be boiled until done, and served in this manner, instead of broiling afterwards. Spiced Salmon. — Cut from a medium- sized salmon six slices even, about an inch and a half in thickness. Put a slice in an earthen crock, one wide enough to admit of the salmon being removed from it, when cooked, without 30 BROILED YARMOUTH BLOATERS. breaking the slices. Season it nicely with a part of a blade of mace, a bit of bay leaf, one clove of garlic, six whole peppercorns, four cloves, a little salt, and a thin slice of lemon. Add an- other slice of salmon, and season in like manner, and repeat the process until all the slices are used. Add equal parts of vinegar and water to cover the fish; set the crock (covered) in a saucepan of water, simmer three hours, and allow it to cool before uncovering. The best brand of canned salmon is excellent served in this manner, but requires not more than fifteen minutes boiling to make it perfect. Broiled Yarmouth Bloaters. — Bloat- herrings, or bloaters, are large herrings smoked and cured. They are called Yarmouth from Yarmouth, Eng., where they were supposed to be first cured. They are a very appetizing breakfast dish. Spht them down the back, re- move the bone and head, and broil three min- utes. Pour over it a little lemon juice mixed with hot butter. How to eat Prepared and Preserved Fish. — Many object to eating fish of any kind, owing to the after effects. This unpleasantness is caused by flooding the food with liquids while eating. Drink your coffee and other \iqi\ids Jirsf, and afterward eat the salmon. Above all, POTTED FISH. 3 1 masticate properly, and you will have no further trouble. Potted Fish. — The lunch table is the place to introduce home-made potted and pickled fish of all kinds ; and when good fish are plentiful and cheap, a jar of them should be found in every household. Clean the fish thoroughly, remove the head, tail, and skin ; split the fish in two lengthwise, then cut each half into neat pieces of equal size. Put into an old-fashioned stone jar a layer of sliced onion, add a layer of the raw fish, strew over it a liberal quantity of whole mixed spice and salt ; add another layer of fish, and season as before, and continue this process until all the fish is used. Cover the fish with good vinegar ; make the jar air-tight, and put it in a pan of water, simmer half a day, and do not remove cover until it is cool. When serving, arrange neatly on the dish, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs quartered length- wise, and lemon similarly cut. Potted Eels. — This is the only way in which eels are appreciated by some. They seem to lose their peculiar oily flavor, and are very acceptable at lunch. Prepare them as in the foregoing recipe, and add a few bay leaves to the seasoning ingredients. 32 FRIED EELSr Fried Eels. — Cut the cleaned eels into three-inch pieces, and strew over them a quan- tity of salt ; let stand an hour, rinse off the salt, dip them in beaten egg, then roll in crumbs, and fry in boiling fat. Codfish Balls. — A well-made codfish ball is a delicious dish, but recently it has fallen into disrepute for one reason. Some feAv years ago an inventive Yankee con- ceived the idea of putting up in small boxes what he called " boneless codfish ; " and since then a perfect codfish ball is a very rare article, for the simple reason that very little of the true codfish is used. Species of codfish, such as hake, haddock, pollock, and fifty other varieties, are so put up whenever cheap ; but the true codfish is seldom if ever used. When wanted, purchase the old- fashioned salted, dried fish, and pick it to pieces as fine as possible, or rub it to fine shreds in a mortar. Soak it six hours ; drain, and simmer half to three-quarters of an hour. Wash, peel, quarter, and boil twice the quantity of potatoes that you have of fish; mix fish and potatoes together while warm, and beat them as light as possible. To a pound of fish add three ounces of butter, two beaten eggs, and cayenne or white pepper to taste. When well incorporated shape SHAD ROE EN BROCHETTE. 33 into small, very neat cakes not over half an inch thick or two inches and a half in width, and fry in boiling fat. Shad Roe en Brochette. — Parboil the roes slightly; cut them into inch pieces, and dredge them with flour. Arrange the pieces alternately on skewers with neat thin pieces of bacon, and broil a delicate brown on all four sides j seive with sauce maitre d'hotel. HASH. A Kind Word for it. — The paragraph writer who has not penned a slur at the homely fare known as hash is a rara avis, and the poet whose first attempt at doggerel was not a denun- ciation of boarding-house hash is yet to be found. Slangy men of the world call a hotel or restaurant a "hashery," signifying that the resort is a place to avoid, it being cheap and not nice. Yet, with all the censure heaped upon it by an unappreciative public, hash is, from a hy- gienic standpoint, the very best mode of, serving food. This statement may seem incredible, but when we consider it a moment we realize the truthfulness of it. Statistics are not wanting to prove that minced food digests almost as soon 34 CORNED-BEEF HASH. without being chewed at all as if it had been tlioroughly masticated. People who habitually *' bolt " their food suffer no inconvenience from the practice when their food is cut very fine. Most of us eat too rapidly, either from forgetful- ness, bad teeth, or in case of hurry ; and the re- sult is derangement of the stomach which in time ends in an almost incurable case of dys- pepsia. Hash, then, is the proper food to order in such cases. It need not necessarily be the well-known compound so familiar to all ; but served in the form of croquettes, forcemeats, patties, cromisquis, souffles, etc., it is always ac- ceptable, and may be offered to the most fastidi- ous ; for while those various names sound more poetical, they all mean the same thing, simply — hash. Corned-Beef Hash. — This homely Amer- ican dish, when properly prepared, is very ac- ceptable. The brisket part of the beef is the best for this purpose. The rump or very lean meat does not make good hash. Chop up the meat very fine the night before it is wanted ; add to it an equal quantity of warm boiled potatoes, moisten them a little with clear soup strongly impregnated with onion flavor. Mix meat and potatoes together, and place in ice box until wanted. The next morning it should be warmed MINCED LAMB ON TOAST. 35 in a frying pan. A little onion may be added if not objected to. Moisten the hash with hot water or dear soup, and, when quite hot, serve. Some like the hash browned; this is accom- plished by using a small quantity of butter, and frying the hash a delicate brown. The pan should be raised to an angle of thirty degrees, and the hash shaped like an omelet, then turned deftly out on a hot dish. Minced Lamb on Toast. — The cold lamb left from the preceding day is quite accept- able when served in this manner. All fat should be removed, and the meat chopped quite fine, warmed in the pan, moistened with a little stock or hot water, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then arrange on slices of buttered toast. Poached eggs are appreciated l)y many with this dish. Arrange , each egg neatly on top of the meat without breaking it. Beef Hash with Poached Egg. — Boiled fresh beef, left from the ])receding day, and made into a hash with one-half meat, one-quarter each of potato and apple, and a little minced celery, nicely cooked and seasoned, and served on toast with a poached egg, is a very good dish. Minced Ham with Poached Egg. — Mince half a pound of cold boiled ham ; put an ounce of butter in a frying pan; when melted 36 FRIZZLED BEEF WITH EGG. add the ham and a very little hot water and a pinch of cayenne. When quite hot arrange it neatly on slices of toast, put a poached egg on top of each, and serve. Minced ham prepared for evening parties and not all used may be served in this manner. Frizzled Beef with Egg. — Cut half a pound of smoked or jerked beef into the thin- nest of pieces or shavings ; cover with boihng water for five minutes, and drain. Melt an ounce of sweet butter in the frying pan, and add the wafers of beef. When they begin to frizzle or turn up, break over them three eggs ; stir until the eggs are cooked ; add a little white pepper, and serve on slices of buttered toast. MACARONI. An Italian invention, and the most popular form in which wheat flour is sent to table, bread excepted. It is an excellent dish to serve at luncheon or other impromptu meals ; and, while the dish called " au gratin " is known to nearly all cooks, there are many other ways of preparing this very excellent food product. MACARONI WITH ROAST MEATS. 37 Macaroni with Roast Meats. — A most excellent dish is made as follows. Break into small inch pieces enough macaroni to make a pint; cover with boiling water slightly salted, and boil fifteen minutes ; drain. Cut into small pieces one small onion, put it in a pan with a little oil or lard, simmer until brown, and add half a pint of hot water or soup, then add half a pound of cooked meat of any kind, and also add the macaroni, salt and pepper to taste ; now add a teaspoonful of flour, cover, and let the dish simmer fifteen minutes. This is an excellent way of disposing of those odds and ends which, while they are not large enough to be served a second time, are never- theless too good to be thrown away. Macaroni with Tomato Sauce. — Boil the macaroni fifteen minutes ; then drain, put it on a flat dish, and pour round it a tomato sauce ; strew over the dish a quantity of grated cheese. The tomato sauce is prepared as follows : Open a can of tomatoes that contains but Httle liquid ; simmer them gently three-quarters of an hour ; season with salt, cayenne, a clove of garlic bruised, and very little mace. Press them through a fine sieve ; put the pulp in a clean, hot stewpan with a Httle butter, stir to prevent burning, and when quite thick serve. A most 38 MACARONI PIE. excellent tomato sauce is made of a brilliant red tomato ketchup. Take half a pint of it, heat it gently, add a gill of rich soup stock and a teaspoonful of flour dissolved in a little cold water, simmer until it thickens, and serve. Or- dinary ketchups do not have the proper color, and are liable to sour when heated. Macaroni Pie. — Put into a round baking tin two slices of bacon, add to it a layer of mac- aroni ; next add a layer of raw meat cut into inch pieces ; season with salt and pepper ; add another layer of macaroni, and so on until the dish is nearly full. Then add sufficient quantity of gravy, soup, or hot water, to have the dish quite moist when done. Cover the dish with an ordinary piecrust, and bake brown. A very nice pie is made by adding a layer or two of tomatoes, and, if not objected to, a little onion may be added for its flavor. Fish and shell fish are added to macaroni when the pie is made for fast- day meals. Spaghetti. — (Spaghetti is a variety of mac- aroni, but is much smaller in diameter, and is served unbroken.) Plunge the ends in fast- boiling water, which should be slightly salted ; when soft, coil them in the water, without break- ing, and boil for fifteen minutes j drain in a col- ander, and pour cold v/ater on it. Put it on a CURRY OF BAKED FISH. 39 hot dish, pour a rich hot tomato sauce over it, and keep on the back of the range until it is heated through, or strew over it a quantity of grated cheese. LUNCHEON CURRIES. Curries are very acceptable at luncheon, be- sides being an excellent mode of disposing of small odds and ends of joints which accumulate in the ice box. A few recipes are here given, but a more extended list may be found in "The Book of Entrees " by the same author. Curries are made much stronger in pungency in India, the home of curries, than as prepared by our recipes, owing to climate. People in the North add a little flour to the dish for two rea- sons : one is to tone down the pungency of the curry powder, and the other is to slightly thicken the sauce. Curry of Baked Fish. — It frequently happens that part of a baked fish is left from a preceding dinner, and we know of no more ac- ceptable mode of serving it again than as a curry. Divide the fish into flakes. Put into a frying pan half a teaspoonful of lard, and when hot 40 CURRY OF COLD ROAST BEEF. add a tablespoonful of minced onion. Fry quite brown, add a gill of hot water or broth, salt to taste, and a teaspoonful of curry powder. If the onions are objected to (but we don't see why they should be), strain the sauce, then add half a teaspoonful of wet flour to tone down the pungency of the curry. Now add fish enough to absorb the curry, and place the dish on back of range for fifteen minutes. Curry of Cold Roast Beef. — A most enjoyable dish is made of cold roast beef. Cut the beef into thin slices, then divide each slice into neat, even pieces. Brown a minced onion in the pan with a tea- spoonful of curry powder, add a saltspoonful of salt and half a pint of hot water ; thicken with a teaspoonful of wet flour free from lumps ; now add the meat, squeeze over it the juice of an orange, and you have a delicious dish. When there is too small a quantity of meat, an equal quantity of lima beans, string beans, cut- up potatoes, or almost any other vegetable, may be added. When fresh raw meat is used as a curry, pro- ceed as follows : — Fresh Beef Curry. — The best piece of meat for this dish is the lean part of the flank, called flank steak, which, beipg cross-grained, CURRY OF BRISKET OF LAMB. 4 1 allows the curry to thoroughly assimilate with every particle of the meat. Cut up one pound of the meat into neat square pieces. Put into a frying pan one ounce of oil or butter, and fry in it half of a minced onion, stirred until they begin to brown, add the beef, and stir to prevent burning for about twenty minutes; now add a teaspoon of curry and half a pint of rich gravy (if possible) or hot water ; simmer ; squeeze out the juice of one orange, sweeten it a little, add it to the dish, add a heaping teaspoonful of apple sauce, stir, and simmer nearly an hour. Arrange a border of rice on a flat side dish, pour the contents of the saucepan in the centre, and serve. To those who are very fond of curry, a teaspoonful of the powder will not be enough ; in which case the powder should be placed on the table. The flour is here omitted. Curry of Brisket of Lamb. — Cut up two pounds of lamb into neat pieces, brown them nicely in a frying pan with butter seasoned with salt and half a teaspoonful of chopped green mint ; add a wineglassful of Rhine wine and two teaspoonfuls of curry powder, simmer slowly three-quarters of an hour ; prepare a border of rice, put the lamb in the centre ; squeeze the juice of an orange in a cup, add a little sugar to it, sprinkle it over the rice, and serve. 42 CURRY OF frogs' LEGS. Curry of Frogs' Legs. — This is an excel- lent dish. Wash one pound of frogs' legs in cold water ; brown one-fourth of an onion in oil or butter ; add a teaspoonful of curry and a pint of hot water ; pour this in a saucepan, and add the frogs ; simmer an hour and a half, and drain. Mix a teaspoonful each of rice flour and curry to a paste, with the broth ; add salt to taste, and half a pint of milk. Place on the range, and when hot add the frogs. Blanch two dozen sweet almonds ; rub off the skins, split them, and toss them about in hot butter ; season with pepper and salt; when done squeeze a little lemon juice over them, and send to table on separate dish with the curry. Curry of Prav/ns. — Prawns are at their best served as a curry. Boil two quarts of live" prawns thirty minutes, drain when slightly cooled, break away the shells, and set them aside. Put two ounces of butter in a frying pan ; when very hot add a clove of garlic and one sliced apple ; brown slightly, remove the garlic, and add a dessertspoonful of curry powder mixed with a gill of water ; stir, and add half a pint of soup- stock and half a teaspoonful of flour ; now add the prawns, and the juice of half a lemon in which a lump of sugar has been dissolved. Pour out on a hot dish, and send to table with rice croquettes. CURRY OF PRAWNS. 43 Prawns are plentiful the last of March and the iirst of April, and are at their best at that time. Of the numerous varieties of prawns, the species with which we are most familiar, and which are often fomid associated together, are the PencBUs setifef-us and Penceus brasiliensis ; and, according to Professor Lewis R. Gibbes, these species may be distinguished by the fol- lowing characters : — The common shrimp (P. setiferus) has a groove on each side of the large spine that springs from the fore and upper part of the shell or carapax ; these run backward, and ter- minate about the middle of the length of the shell. In the same tray in the market will frequently be found other individuals, far less numerous, in which these grooves run the whole length of the shell, terminating just in front of the hinder edge or border of the shell, at the first joint. This form I have referred to as the P. brasiliensis of Latreille. Full-grown shrimps {P. setiferus) measure six or more inches in length from the tip of the large anterior spine to the tip of the tail spine, and three-fourths of an inch deep, and broad in the front or body part. The large specimens of both species are known in the markets as " prawns," or "sprawns," and the half-grown individuals are 44 CHICKEN-LIVER OMELET. distinguished as "shrimps." Prawns are in sea- son from the latter part of February or the first of March, and remain in season two or three months. Shrimps are in season from June until autumn. These and other varieties of prawns and shrimps inhabit salt or brackish water, and sometimes ascend streams to where the water is nearly or quite fresh for the purpose of spawning. The foregoing must not be confused with the crayfish or crawfish, which are found in most of the fresh-water streams of the United States, and are in season from early spring until frost sets in. Most of the prawns sent to market are cooked before shipment, and need only warming up. EGGS AND OMELETS. Chicken-Liver Omelet. — As a rule, the chickens used in the household are not enough to make entrees of their livers or other tidbits, so it is advisable to use them in omelets or garnishments to other dishes. Remove the gall pouch carefully, without breaking, from four livers; wash the livers in cold water, then par- boil slightly, and quarter them if too large. Put KIDNEY OMELET. 45 them in a frying pan with enough butter to pre- vent burning, and toss them about until easily- penetrated with a fork ; add a teaspoonful of onion vinegar, and a gill of dark rich gravy or sauce Espagfiole ; season with salt and a dash of cayenne, a tablespoonful of sherry, and, if convenient, add a tablespoonful of chopped mushrooms ; place on back of range while the omelet is preparing, and before finishing the fold add the prepared livers. When nicely made, this is a most excellent dish. Kidney Omelet. — Wash two mutton kid- neys, remove the sinews adhering to them, cut them in slices, cover with water shghtly salted, and allow them to stand six hours ; drain, and parboil a few moments. Put into a frying pan a pat of butter ; when hot add the kidneys ; toss them about to cook them evenly ; add a gill of gravy, a tablespoonful of sherry, salt, pepper, and a little lemon or orange juice. Set the pan on the back of the range while you prepare the omelet as follows : Break three eggs, and ex- amine them before beating them together. Add a teaspoonful of milk, and beat the eggs up to the last moment before pouring them in the pan. As soon as the omelet sets, remove the pan from the hottest part of the fire ; strike the handle of the pan with the left hand to pre- 46 OMELET WITH SPANISH PEPPER. vent the omelet from sticking to the pan, or slip a knife under it, which will accomplish the same result. When the centre of the omelet is quite firm, slant the pan, and prepare for folding the omelet, which is easily done if a little care is exercised. Before folding, add the kidneys, and put the sauce around the omelet. Omelet with Spanish Pepper. — The sweet Spanish pepper, in any form, is a most excellent addition to our list of vegetables, and is most acceptable when served in an omelet. Fry a small spring onion in a little butter, cut up two peppers, add them to the pan, and sim- mer slowly twenty minutes ; add a little water or gravy to prevent burning. Add a little salt, and a pinch of cayenne, for the pepper is not hot notwithstanding its hot name. When re- duced to a pulp, put it inside of an omelet just before folding it. A httle tomato sauce may be served with it if desired. Pickled -Oyster Omelet. — Rinse six spiced or pickled oysters in cold water. Divide an ounce of butter into little balls, and roll them in flour; put them in a saucepan, heat gradually, and whisk to a cream ; add a gill of hot water, salt and pepper. Cut the oysters in two, and add to the butter. Prepare an omelet in the usual manner; before folding, add the oysters, turn out on a hot dish, and serve. CRAYFISH OMELET. 47 Crayfish Omelet. — Boil one quart of live crayfish in well-salted water for twenty-five minutes; drain and cool. Remove the shells, spHt the meat from each tail in two pieces length- wise, and remove the thread-like intestine found therein. Melt two ounces of butter, whip it to a cream while it is slowly melting. Dust in a saltspoonful of flour, a pinch of cayenne, a dash of nutmeg, and a gill of Rhine wine. Set it on the back of the range, add the crayfish tails, and prepare the omelet ; just before folding, add the crayfish, and turn the omelet on a hot dish. Stuffed Eggs. — Work four ounces of boiled or potted ham to a smooth paste ; add a pinch of cayenne, and a teaspoonful of anchovy paste. Hard boil six eggs ; when cold remove the shells, cut a thin slice off the large end of each ; take out the yolks, and put them in a mortar with a third of their bulk of table butter, a little salt, and nutmeg ; add the ham and very little hot soup or water ; heat it gently ; press the paste into the empty whites ; arrange neatly on a dish, small end upwards ; garnish liberally to hide the lower end, and serve. Eggs with Brown Butter. — Break four eggs separated into a cup ; brown two ounces of butter in a frying pan ; add the eggs gently to the butter, and with a spoon pour the butter 48 OYSTER-CRAB OMELET. over them; toast four slices of bread, placing them in the oven instead of before the fire ; sprinkle warm vinegar over the toast ; add the eggs to the toast ; on top of each sprinkle a little salt and nutmeg, and serve. Oyster-Crab Omelet. — This is a most tempting dish. Roll an ounce of butter into little balls, dredge these with flour, put them in a pan, and when they begin to melt whisk them — do not let it brown ; add a gill of hot water, and simmer until thick ; now add half a pint of oyster crabs, salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Beat up four eggs thoroughly, and make them into an omelet; just before folding add the crabs, and serve. PATTIES. Dainty LfUncheon Patties. — Mince a pound of cold roast chicken or turkey, and warm it in a pan. Mince half a pound of fresh mushrooms, simmer them in a gill of good strong gravy, and mix them with the chicken. Boil a pint of milk, and thicken it with a heaping tablespoonful of wet flour. Add the milk to the meat ; season with salt and pepper, and place on back of range to become thoroughly incor- BEEF PATTIES. 49 porated ; then add the juice of a lemon. Fill dainty patty shells with the mixture, and serve. Prepare the patty shells as follows : One pint of flour, two teaspoonfuls baking powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt; sift all together. Wash the salt from half a pound of good butter in ice-water; work half the butter by degrees into the prepared flour, and mix with a little more than a gill of ice-water, or enough to make a stiff" dough ; roll out the paste, and strew over it a part of the remaining butter divided into little pieces, and dredged with flour ; roll up the dough like a jelly roll, and roll it out again with the rolling pin ; repeat this latter process once more, and when rolled out thin, add the remain- ing butter. The paste being ready, now roll it out half an inch in thickness, cut it into rounds with a cake cutter two inches in diameter ; press a small cutter, an inch in diameter, on each round, one-fourth of an inch deep. Place them on a buttered tin or paper, and bake a delicious brown ; when done remove the centre circle carefully, and set it aside to be used as a cover. Remove the soft insides without breaking the walls of the shell. Beef Patties. — Cut into pieces, as for Hamburg steak, one pound of steak free from fat and sinews. Fry brown a tablespoonful of 50 BROILED SWEET POTATOES. chopped onion ; add a pint of gravy or broth • simmer a moment, and remove the onion by straining ; return the broth to the pan, and add the meat. Allow it to cook a very little mider-, instead of over-done. A can of French pease and a few mushrooms added, will improve the dish wonderfully. Add salt and pepper, and, if too moist, add a little flour. Prepare the shells as in the foregoing recipe ; fill them, and serve. VEGETABLES. Broiled Sweet Potatoes. — Raw and boiled potatoes are served in this manner. Cut the raw potatoes in thin slices ; brush melted butter over them and also over the wire broiler, to prevent their sticking to it ; broil them a dark brown. Boiled sweet potatoes need to be but slightly broiled, just enough to warm through and at the same time to show the marks of the broiler. Sweet -Potato Souffle. — Boil four me- dium-sized sWeet potatoes. When done, peel and mash them. Beat up the yolks and whites of two eggs separately; add a gill of cream to the yolks ; beat it into the potato (seasoned with salt and pepper), and place it in the oven. FRIED SWEET POTATOES. 5 1 Whisk the whites to a foam. Remove the pan from the oven, add the foam, replace it in the oven, and when dehcately browned it is done. Fried Sweet Potatoes are usually pre- pared from cold boiled potatoes. They may be either tossed about in very little fat, or dropped into a large quantity of fat and fried like dough- nuts. Mashed and whipped up with milk, but- ter, and one or two eggs, then rolled into little cones or balls and fried, they are much better. Green Corn, Maryland style. — Take six ears of boiled green corn when cool enough to handle, and cut off the kernels. Cut one- quarter of a pound of fat bacon in little strips, then in very small dice, and fry them crisp. Take them out of the fat, and add the corn to the hot fat, toss it about a few minutes, add salt and cayenne, and turn out on a hot dish, strew the bits of bacon over the top, and serve. Green - Corn Fritters. — Cut through the centre of each row of kernels, then press out the centre pulp with the back of the knife. Beat two eggs thoroughly, and add to them a heaping saltspoonful of salt, a pinch of cayenne, one pint of corn pulp, and flour enough to make a moderately stiff batter. Drop the batter in smoking-hot fat by tablespoonfuls, and brown them evenly. 52 ELDER-FLOWER FRITTERS. Elder-Flower Fritters. — (The elder bush is found growing in waste and neglected places, and may be recognized by its large bunches of minute flowers arranged in umbellate and race- mose cymes, the corolla or crown being wheel- shaped and fine-cleft.) Gather the flowers when fully developed, and let them stand in cold water, slightly salted, for an hour; take them out of the water, and pick off the flowers. Sprinkle over them a tablespoonful of brandy to each pint of flowers. Beat the yolks of three eggs ; add a saltspoonful of salt, a heaping teaspoonful of sugar, two ounces of wheat flour, and a pint of elder flowers, and stir into the mixture a tablespoonful of olive oil. Drop spoonfuls of the batter in smoking-hot fat, and serve with brandy sauce. Oyster - Plant Croquettes. — To three quarts of cold water add a gill of vinegar, scrape and throw into the water the oyster plant as fast as cleaned. Drain and plunge them into boiling water slightly salted ; boil fifty minutes, drain, and mash them thoroughly; season with salt, pepper, and butter, and bind together with yolks of eggs ; roll them in cork shapes, dip in egg batter and then in crumbs, and fry in a liberal quantity of hot fat. Throwing the roots in water containing vinegar prevents them from turning black after they are scraped. EGG PLANT FRIED. 53 Egg Plant Fried. — Cut the vegetable into slices one-quarter of an inch thick without removing the skin. Sprinkle salt over each slice, and return the slices to their original shape; press gently to extract the juice, then drain and peel; dip them in egg, roll them in bread- crumbs, and fry in plenty of hot fat. SWEETBREADS. Lamb Sweetbreads, Tomato Sauce. — Lamb sweetbreads are not always procurable, but a stroll through the markets occasionally reveals a small lot of them, which can invaria- bly be had at a low price, owing to their ex- cellence being recognized by but few buyers. Wash them well in salted water, and parboil fifteen minutes; when cool, trim neatly, and put them in a pan with just butter enough to prevent their burning; toss them about until a delicate color; season with salt and pepper, and serve surrounded with tomato sauce. Sweetbreads Broiled. — Parboil them, and remove all sinews. Pour over them cold water, and drain in a napkin. Cut them in long, not too thin, slices; brush over them a little fine olive oil, and broil a delicate brown. Serve 54 SWEETBREADS STEWED. with them a butter sauce, or green pease, string beans, or a puree of spinach or sorrel. Sweetbreads Stewed. — Parboil a pair of large sweetbreads, then trim off the ragged parts and sinews, and cut them into neat pieces. Put them into a saucepan with just water enough to cover them ; add a little salt, two whole peppers, two whole cloves, and a small piece of bay leaf. Simmer three-quarters of an hour. Remove the sweetbreads and the seasoning. Beat up the yolks of two eggs with a gill of cream ; while beating, add the broth in spoon- fuls, and also add a teaspoonful of flour which has been mixed with two tablespoonfuls of cold milk or cream ; beat all together thoroughly, and place on back of range until it thickens, but do not let it boil. Season the sweetbreads with salt and a dash of cayenne, add them to the sauce, and serve when quite hot. Sweetbreads with Scrambled Eggs. — Boil a pair of sweetbreads three-quarters of an hour ; drain and cool them. Remove all skin and sinews, and cut the sweetbreads into neat square pieces. Put them in a frying pan with a little olive oil, and when hot break over them three eggs ; mix the eggs well with the sweetbreads. Have ready a few slices of neatly-trimmed toast ; arrange the slices on a hot platter, and add the cooked ingredients. GOLOASH, HUNGARIAN STYLE. 55 ^; ^ MISCELLANEOUS. ■J Goloash, Hungarian style. — This is a very good luncheon dish. Put into a frying pan half an ounce of fat, and when very hot add a tablespoonful of chopped onion, and a teaspoon- ful of flour ; when brown, add half a pound of tenderloin steak cut into pieces as large as dice. Cut up a medium-sized potato into pieces the same size, and add to the dish ; now add half a pint of broth or hot water, half a teaspoonful of Hungarian pepper, salt to taste, then cover, and let the dish simmer half an hour. Spring Chicken Paprika. — This is a dish which is likely to be appreciated more by people who keep late hours than others. Cut a raw spring chicken into neat pieces, and saute them three minutes in a pan ; add half a teaspoonful of paprika, and hot water enough to prevent burning ; and the length of time necessary to cook the bird depends on the youth of the chicken. When done, add salt and a dust of nutmeg. Oyster and Chicken Pie. — Cut up a small chicken at the joints, remove the skin. 56 CHICKEN, ECONOMICAL USE OF. Put in, a frying pan half an ounce of butter pre- viously dredged with flour ; when hot add the chicken ; toss it about a few moments, and add a pint of hot water, season to suit the taste, and simmer slowly three-quarters of an hour. Put into a pudding dish a tablespoonful of pieces of fat bacon ; add a layer of oysters and then the pieces of chicken, another layer of oysters and the chicken broth ; add the smallest bit of mace, and cover the top with paste ; bake forty min- utes ; when done brush over the top a very little melted butter. A pie made of beefsteak and oysters is a very appetizing dish, and is prepared much as the foregoing. In fact, meat and shellfish pies are always acceptable at luncheon. Chicken, Economical use of. — When a large chicken is purchased for soup, or a sauce, cut two neat slices from the breast, and dip them in beaten egg; roll in crumbs, and fry in hot fat ; serve with sauce tartar. There will be quite enough left for other purposes. Calf's Liver en Brochette. — Calf's liver is not by any means a dish to be despised, but the manner in which it is usually served has brought it into disrepute. The butcher should cut the slices neatly and not wedge shaped ; then cut them into two-inch squares. Cut a few A LENTEN LUNCHEON DISH. 57 slices of bacon the same size ; arrange them al- ternately on wooden skewers, and broil ; squeeze a Httle lemon juice over them, dust over a Httle salt and pepper, and serve. A Lenten Luncheon Dish. — Trim off all crust from three slices of bread, and grate the bread into a small round tin. Moisten it with milk ; break into the dish three eggs ; add salt and pepper to taste, and break the eggs sHghtly j strew over the dish a layer of grated Parmesan or American cheese, and bake a deli- cate brown. Potted Pigeons. — A jar of pigeons is a very convenient thing to have in the house when friends arrive unexpectedly. Clean a dozen pigeons thoroughly. Put into a wide, short jar a layer of sliced onion ; add the pigeons, and strew over them a tablespoonful of mixed whole spice ; cover them with vinegar, and let them stand over night; drain. Put into a saucepan a layer of sliced bacon, and strew over it a thin layer of chopped onion ; add the pigeons, and a bay leaf, a blade of mace, a dozen cloves, and a teaspoonful of whole allspice ; cover, and allow them to cook slowly an hour ; then add a pint of clear soup ; cover, and allow them to cook an hour longer ; remove the birds, strain the sauce, and skim off the fat. Put the birds in 58 BLACKBIRDS EN BROCHETTE. a jar, add the sauce, and keep in a cool place until wanted. When birds of almost all kinds are reason- able in price, they are are invariably at their best; and famiHes should liberally patronize* them, as they are a most accej^table change from a monotonous diet of meats fresh from the butcher. Blackbirds en Brochette. — Clean the birds nicely ; arrange them on skewers with alter- nate layers of pieces of bacon ; brush a little melted butter over the birds, and broil over a slow fire six minutes. When done, pour a little maitre-d'hotel butter over them, and serve 6n skewers. (All birds such as rice, reed, sparrows, and all small birds of the snipe family, may be served in this manner.) Calf's Brains are often neglected by many who serve calf's head, one reason being that they do not know how to prepare them. For luncheon the following mode is the best. Croquettes of Calf's Brains. — Let the brain stand in cold water an hour, wash it well, and remove the membranous covering carefully without injuring the appearance of the brain ; * put it in a saucepan ; add a quart of water, for each whole brain half a teaspoonful of salt and two tablespoonfuls of white wine vinegar. Sim- STEWED BEEF WITH DUMPLINGS. 59 mer half an hour, and the brain is ready to serve with almost any kind of sauce, or to be cut into slices, dipped into egg or batter, and fried. To make croquettes, mince the brain fine ; add one minced boiled sweetbread, a tablespoonful of fine cracker dust, the yolk of two eggs, a salt- spoonful of white pepper, two of salt, and a few spoonfuls of milk, just enough to make a thick paste, and keep on ice until wanted. When firm, shape it into cones, corks, or balls, dip them in beaten egg, then roll in crumbs, and drop them in a pan full of hot fat ; drain them a moment on a thick towel, arrange them neatly on a, hot dish, garnish with tufts of parsley and slices of lemon, and serve. Stewed Beef with Dumplings. — Select the ends of the roast before it is cooked, or the ends of the meat purchased for steak. Cut it in neat even-sized pieces, and if too fat remove a part of it. Put in a frying pan a quantity of the surplus fat, and when it liquefies add a table- spoonful of minced onion, fry quite brown, then add about two pounds of the meat, toss it about a few minutes until the sides of each piece are slightly fried; then add hot water enough to partly cover the meat ; bruise six whole peppers, and add them with three whole cloves, a stalk or two of celery, and part of a small cherry pep- 60 FLANK STEAK. per ; simmer two and a half hours, take out the meat, and strain the sauce. Peel and parboil a dozen small potatoes, put six of them in a stev/- pan, add the meat, then the six other potatoes, pour in the strained sauce, and if on hand add three half pints of soup stock, if not add hot water ; simmer thirty minutes, and add a liberal quantity of dumplings ; cover, and boil slowly fif- teen minutes longer. Put the ingredients on a platter, have them arranged neatly, and boil the sauce rapidly until reduced one-third, taste it for seasoning, pour it over the dish of beef, potatoes, and dumplings, and serve. Prepare the dump- ling as follows : Three half-pints of sifted flour, two teaspoonfuls baking powder, two-thirds of a teaspoonful salt ; mix with three gills of luke- warm milk, and add spoonfuls of dough to the stew. A very nice stew is made on the above plan by substituting veal, mutton, rabbits, or squirrels, for beef. Flank Steak. — Housekeepers do not thor- oughly appreciate this piece of meat; but butchers and professional cooks do, for they pre- fer it to tenderloin, although it rarely costs more than a trifle per pound. It is the boneless part of the flank, and is secreted between two layers of creamy "fat. There are two ways of cutting ROAST TENDERLOIN OF BEEF. 6 1 It for broiling purposes. One is to slice it diag- onally across the grain ; the other, to divide it in two, and trim off the uneven ends. It should be well basted with melted butter, or, better still, olive oil, and broiled over a moderate fire. This piece of meat is most excellent for mak- ing many kinds of made dishes, and is at its best when used as potted or rolled or spiced beef. It makes a delicious beefsteak pie, and is one of the most economical and useful cuts of the animal. Roast Tenderloin of Beef. — Select a piece cut from the largest end of the tenderloin, trim off most of the fat, and cut away the tough case-like covering. Lard it nicely, put it in a baking tin, surround it with a few young carrots, turnips, and potatoes ; season nicely with salt, pepper, and the shghtest suspicion of nutmeg. Add a little hot water or stock, and bake. When done put the pan on top of the range, pour in half a pint of hot water, and let it simmer a moment, then strain into a frying pan ; add half a gill of sherry and a teaspoonful of browned flour ; simmer and stir ; when quite thick add a few chopped mushrooms, and serve with the meat. Lamb's Liver. — This is a tidbit rarely served at the tables of private families, but we 62 lamb's liver, saute, with potatoes. recommend it when obtainable. It is not only tender, but it has a delicate flavor which is highly appreciated by epicures. Cut into thin slices, and fried or broiled, it is quite acceptable. When served en brochette it will be found an excellent luncheon dish. Lamb's Liver, saute, with Potatoes. — Cut the liver into thin slices, and cut the slices into small square dice. Peel a few raw pota- toes, and cut them into dice the size of the pieces of liver. Put into a pan a little dripping, and add the pieces of liver. Put into another pan an equal amount of potatoes and dripping. Cook both about five minutes, and add the pota- toes to the liver. Now add a gill of broth or hot water, and cover the pan ; let simmer twenty- five minutes, and, should the liquid evaporate, add a little more to it. When the potatoes are tender, the dish is cooked. Then turn it into a hot dish, add salt and pepper, and strew over the top a few blades of chives cut with scissors. Lamb's Liver au Gratin. — Prepare and cook the dish as in the foregoing recipe. Then put it into a small tin, and strew over it a layer of grated cheese ; put into an oven, and, when brown, serve in the dish in which it was cooked. - COLD TONGUE. 6^ Cold Tongue. — Cold tongue may be pre- pared for the luncheon table as in the recipes for cold ham, also as a curry, and as a salad it is delightful. When cut up small and cooked with eggs, and then served on toast, it is very nice ; one could not possibly object to it cooked as follows : — Cold Tongue with Nudels. — Cut into long, thin strips, six sUces of cold tongue, sim- mer them for five minutes in hot water. Boil half a pound of broad nudels (which are ob- tained from the grocers) in milk enough to just cover ; simmer fifteen minutes, and drain. But- ter a mould or small baking tin, and line it with the nudels ; add a thin layer of the tongue and a layer of sliced mushrooms, another layer of nudels, and so on until the ingredients are used. Season with white pepper and very little salt; add the milk in which the nudels were boiled ; strew over the top a thin layer of bread crumbs, and over these a liberal layer of grated cheese ; bake a delicate brown, and I am certain it will please. Nudels. — Germans are celebrated for " Nu- dels," or home-made macaroni, which take the place of the Italian preparations, and have the ad- vantage of one's knowing their composition when they are made at home. Work into two beaten 64 VENISON STEAK, SAUCE B^ARNAISE. eggs as much flour as they will take, and knead to a smooth, stiff dough ; divide this into six equal parts, and work them into balls ; put one at a time on a very smooth bread board, and roll it out with a straight even-surfaced rolling-pin until it is transparent in every part; lay each sheet on a clean towel as soon as finished, and by the time the last ball is rolled out, the first will be dry enough to cut as follows : Cut the sheet into quarters, place them on top of each other with their cut edges quite even, and cut them with a sharp, thin, steel knife, into very narrow, cord- like stripes ; spread them apart to dry ; con- tinue this process until all are cut. The sheets may be stamped out with fancy-shaped cutters ; when doubled the forms will split apart when cooked. White nudels are made with flour and white of eggs. If intended for future use, dry them well, cover them with paper, and keep in a dry place. When wanted for soups, boil them twelve to fifteen minutes in the soup ; let them float on top a few minutes, and serve. Venison Steak, Sauce Bearnaise. — Venison can be served in as many ways as beef, and is supposed to be more easily digested. Select a thick steak from the leg, brush over it a httle butter, or, better still, olive oil, and broil it. Put it on a hot dish, and squeeze a little SAUCE B^ARNAISE. 65 lemon juice over it ; pour around it a well-made sauce B^arnaise, and serve. Sauce Bearnaise. — Reduce a gallon of strong soup to a quart by long boiling, and keep it warm. Beat up the yolks of four eggs, turn them into a buttered saucepan, whisk them, and gradually add a pint of the reduced soup (which is called glaze) ; add, while whisking, a table- spoonful of vinegar strongly flavored with garlic (or, if liked, a quantity of the juice from bruised garlic or shallots), and the juice of a lemon. After beating the eggs, stir them in the pan continually with a wooden spoon, and do not let the sauce boil at any time; when smooth, serve. A few mushrooms may be added to the sauce if desired. The mention of garlic may prevent many from trying this sauce, but a trial of it will convince one that the sauce is imperfect without the flavor of this odoriferous bulb. Venison Steak in Chafing Dish. — Se- lect a cutlet or rib chop, an inch thick, and having a thick border of fat. Put in a chafing dish a pat of butter ; hght the spirit lamp, and when the butter melts, add the meat. Cook one side a few moments, then the other ; turn two or three times during the five to seven minutes cooking. When half cooked, add half 66 CHEESE TOAST. a gill of sherry, a heaping teaspoonful of currant jelly, salt and pepper. Turn the meat in the sauce, and cover the dish. Serve with hot plates, and pour the sauce over toast. Cheese Toast. — Put half an ounce of butter in a frying pan ; when hot, add gradually four ounces of mild American cheese. Whisk it thoroughly until melted. Beat together half a pint of cream and two eggs ; whisk into the cheese ; add a little salt, pour over toast, and serve. Cheese Fondu. — Melt an ounce of butter, and whisk into it a pint of boiled milk. Dis- solve two tablespoonfuls of flour in a gill of cold milk, add it to the boiled milk, and let it cool. Beat the yolks of four eggs with a heaping tea- spoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and five ounces of grated cheese. Whip the whites of the eggs, and add them; pour the mixture into a deep tin lined with buttered paper, and allow for the rising, say, four inches. Bake twenty minutes, and serve the moment it leaves the oven. Sausages. — Sausages left over from break- fast may be served at lunch, and when served with a water-cress salad they are a very appe- tizing dish. Sandwiches made from cold sau- sages, when cut lengthwise, are often served at HAM. 67 lunch • the bread should not be much larger or longer than the thin slice of sausage. Ham. — Cold boiled ham becomes monoto- nous when served in one way continually, and the housewife should study variations. Deviled Ham is appetizing, and, when not too highly seasoned, ladies can enjoy it. Put into a dish a heaping teaspoonful of French mustard; thin it out with a teaspoonful of lemon juice ; add a scant saltspoonful of curry powder, and a dash of cayenne ; mix, and spread it over a slice of cold boiled ham ; broil this a moment, and serve with sliced lemon. Ham in Chafing Dish. — Put into a chaf- ing-dish half a teaspoonful of butter ; light the lamp, and when the butter melts add two table- spoonfuls of fruit jelly, and a dash of cayenne ; simmer, and add a tablespoonful of sherry; simmer a slice of ham in this a few moments, and serve with toast. The ham may be cut fine and cooked as the foregoing if desired. There are many other appetizing forms in which cold ham may be served, and the house- keeper should experiment a little on her own responsibility. Ham a la Russe.— -Select a small ham; trim off all rusty-lijoking parts, and scald the 68 SPARE RIBS WITH APPLE FRITTERS. ham. Let it remain in the hot water five min- utes ; drain, and dry with a cloth. Prepare a dough, the same as for bread ; cover the ham with it, and bake in a moderate oven two hours ; remove the dough and the skin, dust a Httle sugar over the top, heat the coal shovel in the range, and hold it close enough to the sugar to singe it, then serve with or without sauce. Spare Ribs with Apple Fritters. — Select freshly-cut short ribs, well covered with meat ; cut them so as to have two ribs in each piece. Broil in the usual manner; pour over them a sauce made of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little French mustard, and serve with apple fritters. Frankfort Sausages. — These sausages, being smoked, are very appetizing. While they are characteristically a German dish, they may be made more healthful by much longer cook- ing than is usually given them. Our German brethren are quite satisfied with " Frankfurter " cooked but a few minutes ; but as these sau- sages contain pork, they, in my opinion, require twenty minutes' boiling. A very nice way of cooking them is to heat them in a hot frying pan a few minutes, then add boiling water, and boil them rapidly until done. If they can be steamed, they will be found excellent. pigs' feet. 69 Pigs* Feet. — Over two prepared pig's feet, split in two, brush a little butter, and broil them. When done, squeeze a little lemon juice over them, add salt and a little cayenne. They may be served plain, or with any of the piquante sauces. (The " French " pigs' feet found in market are the most acceptable, as they are thoroughly cleaned, and some of them already boiled ; but I consider them better when placed raw in a marinade pickle for a few hours, then dried and either broiled or sautes. Pigs' feet deviled are a very good dish.) COOKERY BOOI^S. By Thomas J. Murrey, Formerly professional caterer of the Astor Houses New York j Continental Hotels Philadelphia y and other leading hotels, FIFTY. SOUPS. 7~ Containing much valuable information conceminp^ soups and soup-making, and fifty recipes for soups of all kmds, simple and elaborate. "One of the most charming little cook-books recently pub- lished." — Christian Union, FIFTY, SAL ADS. Contains fifty recipes for salads and several for salad-dressings, etc., as well as remarks upon salad-making, salad herbs, etc. " A practical chef Mr. Murrey brings to his volume the experi- ence of many years in the leading kitchens of New York, and his recipes are those which have made the reputation of several famous restaurants."-^ Domestic Monthly. BREAKFAST DAINTIES. With many valuable hints and directions concerning breakfast breads, fruits, beverages, and dainty dishes. Mr. Murrey's own recipes. PUDDINGS AND DAINTY DESSERTS. With Mr. Murray's own recipes for over 75 desserts, many of which are out-of-the-coramon and especially valuable. THE BOOK OF ENTRIES. Remarks and recipes (over T25 in number) for entries of all varieties. Invaluable for dinners, lunches, late breakfasts, etc. COOKERY FOR INVALIDS. PRACTICAL CARVING. LUNCHEON. Each one of the above is attr actively printed on fine laid paper. Covers in colors^ with original design^ \tmOy boards^ eachy 50 cts. Clothy design in gold and color y eachy 75 cts, Mr. Murrey's other volumes are in larger size : VALUABLE COOKING RECIPES, cloth, 75 cts. SALADS AND SAUCES, paper, 60 cts.; cloth, $1.25. Any of these books can be had of your bookseller y or will be sent to any address at publishers' expensey on receipt of adver^ Used price. FREDERICK A. STOKES & BROTHER, Successors to White, Stokes, & Allen, 183 Kiftii. Avenue, N^w Ydrlc City. lliHii!illiir,im,ii!«^>' ^'^;;;;>!ln'!;,,,j)l!t1i'||! LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 00145196152 EM wm^i: 'MuJ'^f^^ l|K:;„:.„--.,.art!