Passion From The Heart, Sharing My Private Emails: March 2015

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Put ¼ of a lb. of bacon into a frying pan with 1 onion sliced; fry a light brown. Into a saucepan put a layer of potatoes, a layer of fish, then a few slices of the onion and bacon, then season. Continue until all has been used. Add 1 qt. of water, cover and let simmer 20 minutes without stirring. In a double boiler put 1 pt. of milk and break into it 6 water crackers; let it stand a few minutes then add to the chowder. Let it boil up once and serve. Use 3 lbs. of chopped fish and 3 potatoes for this.

SOUFFLE BISCUIT

Souffle Biscuit.

Rub 4 ozs. of butter with a qt. of wheat flour, add a little salt. Make it into a paste with ½ a pt. of milk. Knead it well: roll it as thin as paper. Cut it out with a tumbler, and bake brown.

COCONUT ICE CREAM

Cocoanut Ice Cream.

Put 1 pint of milk over the fire in a double boiler with the grated yellow rind of a lemon and three well-beaten eggs. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from the fire; add a cup and a half of sugar, and 1 qt. of cream. Then add a grated cocoanut. Stir until the custard is cold, add the lemon juice and freeze.

Monday, March 30, 2015

FIG ICE CREAM

Fig Ice Cream.

Put 3½ cupfuls of milk in a double boiler and as soon as it comes to a boil stir in two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch that has been mixed with ½ a cupful of cold milk. Cook for ten minutes. Beat together 3 eggs and a cup and a half of sugar. Pour the cooked corn-starch and milk on this, stirring all the time. Put back again on the fire, and add 1 tablespoonful of gelatine which has been dissolved in 4 tablespoonfuls of cold water. Cook three minutes. Set away to cool. When cold add 1 pt. of cream and 1 tablespoonful of vanilla and freeze. When the mixture has been freezing for ten minutes, take off the cover and add 2 cupfuls of chopped figs. Cover again and freeze hard.

CHICKEN IN CELERY SAUCE

Chicken in Celery Sauce.

Take the roots of a bunch of celery, clean and cut it into small pieces, put them into a saucepan and cover with cold water, about a pint, stew slowly and when tender put through a vegetable press. Into a saucepan put 1 tablespoonful each of flour and butter. When melted and rubbed smooth add ½ a cup of milk and the celery. Stir well and when it boils add salt and pepper. Have 1 pt. of cold chicken cut into dice, and add them to the boiling sauce when all is hot. Serve with toast points.

CURRIED HARE

Curried Hare.

Clean and cut the hare or rabbit as for fricassee. Simmer slowly in just enough water to cover, add a thickening of 1 tablespoonful each of butter and flour, season with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoonful of curry powder.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

SCRAMBLEDE EAGGS WITH SHAD ROES

Scrambled Eggs with Shad Roes.

When you have shad for dinner scald the roes ten minutes in boiling water (salted), drain, throw into cold water, leave them there three minutes, wipe dry, and set in a cold place until you wish to use them. Cut[Pg 18] them across into pieces an inch or more wide, roll them in flour, and fry to a fine brown. Scramble a dish of eggs, pile the roes in the centre of a heated platter, and dispose the eggs in a sort of hedge all around them.—From "The National Cook Book.

A BOX OF CHESTNUTS

A Box of Chestnuts.

Shell 1 qt. of chestnuts and cover with boiling water; leave them for fifteen minutes, then rub off the brown skins. Put them into a saucepan, cover them with soup stock and let them boil ½ an hour; when done, drain. Save the stock. Into a frying pan put 1 tablespoonful of butter and when melted add 1 of flour; cook until browned, then add the stock and stir until it boils; add salt and pepper to taste. Lay the chestnuts in a box made of fried bread and pour the sauce over.

KORNLET OMELET

Kornlet Omelet.

Melt 1 tablespoonful of butter; cook in this 1 tablespoonful of flour, ¼ of a tablespoonful each of salt and pepper, then add gradually ½ a cup of kornlet. When the mixture boils, remove from the fire and stir in the yolks of three eggs beaten until thick, then fold in the whites of the eggs beaten dry. Turn into an omelet pan, in which two tablespoonfuls of butter have been melted. Spread evenly in the pan and let cook until "set" on the bottom, then put into the oven. When a knife cut down into the omelet comes out clean, score across the top at right angles to the handle of the pan. Fold and turn onto a heated dish.

BROILED BEEF AND MUSHROOM SAUCE

Broiled Beef and Mushroom Sauce.

Stew ½ a can of mushrooms in 1 oz. of butter, salt, and cayenne pepper. Have ready mashed potatoes. Put them in a mound in the centre of a hot dish; make a hole in the centre, pour in the mushrooms, lay against the outside of the mound slices of cold roast beef.

CREAMED CORN BEEF

Creamed Corn Beef.

Scald 1 pt. of milk with slice of onion and stalk of celery. Stir into this ¼ of a cup each of butter and flour creamed together, let cook 15 minutes, stirring until thickened and then occasionally add a dash of paprika and strain over 1 pt. of cold cooked corn beef, cut into cubes. Turn into a pudding dish and cover with half a cup of cracker crumbs, mixed with 3 tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Set into the oven to reheat and brown the crumbs.

SHRIMP SALAD

Shrimp Salad.

Shell 1 can of shrimps, arrange on lettuce leaves, serve with French dressing.

TOAD IN A HOLE

Toad in a Hole.

Cut 1 pt. of meat into 1 inch pieces and put them into a greased baking dish. Beat 2 eggs very light, add to it 1 pint of milk and pour it gradually into 6 tablespoonfuls of flour, beating all the time. Strain, add salt and pepper and pour it over the meat. Bake an hour and serve at once.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

LIVER AND ONIONS

Liver and Onions.

Take 1 lb. of liver, cover it with boiling water and let it stand for five minutes, then cut it into dice. Into a frying pan put 3 slices of fat bacon and fry. When the oil is hot add the liver and 4 onions, sliced thin; cook until done. Add a tablespoonful of flour, salt, and pepper. Mix well and serve.

BROILED SWEETBREADS

Broiled Sweetbreads.

For these use veal sweetbreads. Wash and parboil them and cut in half lengthwise. When cold, season with salt and pepper, and pour over them a little melted butter. Broil over a clear fire about 5 minutes. Serve with melted butter and chopped parsley poured over them.

OYSTER LOAF

Oyster Loaf.

Take a loaf of bread, cut off the crusts, dig out the centre, making a box of it, brush it all over with melted butter and put into the oven to brown. Fill with creamed oysters, cover the top with fried bread crumbs, put into the oven for a minute and serve. Garnish with parsley.

CAROLINA PHILPES

Carolina Philpes.

One gill of rice, boiled soft; when cold, rub it with a spoon. Moisten with water a gill of rice flour, and mix it with the rubbed rice. Beat 1 egg, very light, and stir in. Bake on a shallow tin plate, split and butter while hot.

POTTED BEEF

Potted Beef.

Take the outside slices left from boiled or braised beef, cut up into small pieces and pound it thoroughly with a little butter in a mortar; add salt, pepper and a little powdered mace. Mix thoroughly. Put it into jelly glasses, pour a coating of clarified butter over the top. Cover with paper until wanted.

CREAMED CORN BEEF

Creamed Corn Beef.

CALF'S LIVER FRIED IN CRUMBS

Calf's Liver Fried in Crumbs.

Wash and parboil slices of liver, then roll each piece, in crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crumbs again. Fry in hot oil.

BREAD OMELET

Bread Omelet.

Beat 3 eggs separately. To the yolks add ½ a cup of milk, pinch of salt, pepper and ½ a cup of bread crumbs. Cut into this very carefully the well beaten whites; mix lightly. Put 1 tablespoonful of butter into a frying pan; and as soon as it is hot turn in the mixture. Set it over a good fire, being careful not to burn. When half done, set the pan in the oven for a few minutes to set the middle of the omelet. Turn onto a hot platter and serve.

BARLEY STEW

Barley Stew.

Cut ½ a lb. of cold meat into dice; wash ¼ of a cupful of barley, chop 2 onions very fine, put all into a saucepan and dredge with flour, season with salt and pepper. Add a qt. of water and simmer about 2 hours. Pare and slice 5 potatoes, add them to the stew and simmer an hour longer.

YMMMMY MEATBALLS

CARRABBA'S MEATBALLS YUMMMY. VISIT THE RESTAURANT AND ENJOY.

STEWED STEAK AND OYSTER SAUCE

Stewed Steak and Oyster Sauce.

Wash 1 pt. of small oysters in a little water, drain into a saucepan and put this water on to heat. As soon as it comes to a boil skim and set back. Put 3 tablespoonfuls of butter into a frying pan and when hot, put in 2 lbs. of round steak; cook ten minutes. Take out the steak and sift 1 tablespoonful of flour into the butter, stir until browned. Add the oyster liquor and boil 1 minute, season; put back the steak, cover and simmer ½ an hour, then add the oysters and 1 tablespoonful lemon juice. Boil for 1 minute and serve.

WOW

BOGGLE BRACELET LET'S WEAR IT.

Friday, March 27, 2015

EGGS ON RICE

Eggs on Rice.

Cover a platter an inch deep with hot well-boiled rice, to which has been added 1 table spoonful of melted butter. On this serve six well-poached eggs. Garnish with parsley.

BAKED CELERY

Baked Celery.

Parboil a bunch of celery, using only the stalks; cut into two inch lengths, put them into a baking dish. Rub smooth 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and 2 of flour, then beat in the yolks of 3 eggs; stir this into 1 qt. of veal stock and pour it over the celery, cover with grated bread crumbs and dust the top with grated cheese.

TOMATO CROQUETTES

Tomato Croquettes.

Stew together for 20 minutes ½ a can of tomatoes, 1 tablespoonful of chopped onion, 1 sprig of parsley, ½ a bay leaf, 4 cloves and enough salt and pepper to season highly. Rub through a sieve. In a clean saucepan melt together 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and 5 tablespoonfuls of flour. Add 2 cupfuls of the strained tomato and stir and cook for ten minutes. Take from the fire and set aside until cold. Flour the hands and carefully mould into small croquettes. Dip each into slightly beaten egg and roll in fine bread crumbs. Let stand for 20 minutes, then repeat the dipping and rolling in crumbs. Fry at once in very hot fat and drain on unglazed paper.

BAKED BEANS AND TOMATO SALAD

Baked Beans and Tomato Salad.

Stir 3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar very gradually into 6 tablespoonfuls of oil and a dash of paprika. Add salt, if the beans have not been seasoned. The oil and vinegar will not unite perfectly. Pour gradually over a pint of cold baked beans such portions of the dressing as they will absorb, toss together and arrange on a serving dish. Make a border of sliced tomatoes around the beans and over these pour the rest of the dressing.

ENGLISH MUFFINS

English Muffins.

Scald 1 pt. of milk and add 1 oz. of butter and let cool; when cool add ¼ of a yeast cake, a teaspoonful of salt and three cups of flour, beat well, cover and let rise about two hours. When light, add sufficient flour to make a soft dough; work lightly and divide into small balls; put each one into a well-greased muffin ring and let rise again. Then bake on a hot griddle. When ready to eat tear them open and butter.

HADDOCK ROES AND BACON

Haddock Roes and Bacon.

Haddock roes are much cheaper than shad roes, and are very nice prepared in this way. Soak for an hour in water and lemon juice, then parboil in salt and water for ten minutes. Fry brown in a little lard and butter mixed. Fry the bacon in a separate pan until brown, remove from the pan and put it in the oven for a few minutes to crisp it. Put the roes in the centre of a hot platter and garnish the bacon around it.

RICE MOULDS

Rice Moulds.

Wash a teacupful of rice in several waters, put it into a saucepan and just cover with cold water, and when it boils, add two cupfuls of milk, and boil until it becomes dry; put it into a mould and press it well. When cold serve with a garnish of preserves around it or with a boiled custard.

TAPIOCA SOUP

Tapioca Soup.

One qt. of veal or chicken broth, 1 pt. of cream or milk, 1 onion, a little celery, 1/3 of a cupful of tapioca, 2 cupfuls of cold water, 1 tablespoonful of butter, a small piece of mace, salt and pepper. Wash and soak the tapioca over night. Cook it in the broth for an hour. Cook milk, onion, mace and celery together for 15 minutes, then strain into the tapioca and broth; add the butter, salt and pepper.

CURRIED RICE

Curried Rice.

Boil 1 cup of rice rapidly for half an hour, drain in a colander and stand in the oven for a few minutes to dry out the rice. Put 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and a slice of onion into a saucepan. Stir until the onion is a golden brown, add a tablespoonful of flour. (Take out the slice of onion.) Stir until smooth, then add a teaspoonful of curry powder, bring to a boil, add salt. Pour over the rice and serve hot.

BEEF RAGOUT

Beef Ragout.

Cut cold roast beef into large slices. Put it into a saucepan with 2 slices of onion, salt and pepper. Pour over it ½ a pt. of boiling water and add 3 tablespoonfuls of soup stock. Stew gently until cooked.

LOAF CORN BREAD

Loaf Corn Bread.

Mix together 2 cupfuls of corn-meal, 1 cupful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of salt, and 2 of baking powder. Beat together 3 eggs until thick and light. Add 2½ cupfuls of milk and stir into the dry mixture, adding 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar, and 2 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and beating well until the batter is smooth. Grease the pans well, or it will stick. Have the batter a little more than 2 inches deep in the pans and bake in a hot oven for about half an hour.—

Thursday, March 26, 2015

ISN'T IT PRETTY

THIS A GOOD PLAY, WEAR IT, BUY IT.

COCONUT ICE CREAM

Coconut Ice Cream.

CHICKEN CUTLET

Chicken Cutlets.

Chop cold chicken fine; season with onion-juice, celery salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. For 2 cupfuls allow a cupful of cream or rich milk. Heat this (with a bit of soda stirred in) in a saucepan, and thicken with a tablespoonful of butter rubbed in, one of corn-starch, stirred in when the cream is scalding. Cook one minute, put in the seasoned chicken, and cook until smoking hot. Beat two eggs light; take the boiling mixture from the fire and add gradually to these. Pour into a broad dish or agate-iron pan and set in a cold place until perfectly chilled and stiff. Shape with your hands, or with a cutter, into the form of cutlets or chops. Dip in egg, then in cracker-crumbs. Set on the ice an hour or two and fry in deep boiling fat. Send around white sauce with them.

OYSTER POTPIE

Oyster Potpie.

Scald one quart of oysters in their own liquor. When boiling take out the oysters and keep them hot. Stir together a tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, and moisten with cold milk. Add two small cups of boiling water to the oyster liquor, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the flour mixture, and let it cook until it thickens like cream. Make a light biscuit dough and cut out with a thimble. Drop these into the[Pg 4] boiling mixture, cover the saucepan and cook until the dough is done. Put the oysters on a hot dish and pour biscuit balls and sauce over them.

ORANGE SALAD

Orange Salad.

Slice 3 sweet oranges, after removing the skin and pith, make a dressing with 3 tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Serve on lettuce leaves.

ALMOND SOUP

Almond Soup.—Take half a pound of sweet almonds and blanch them, i.e., throw them into boiling water till the outside skin can be rubbed off easily with the finger. Then immediately throw the white almonds into cold water, otherwise they will quickly lose their white colour like potatoes that have been peeled. Next, slice up an onion and half a small head of celery, and let these simmer gently in a quart of milk. In the meantime pound the almonds with four hard-boiled yolks of egg, strain off the milk and add the pounded almonds and egg to the milk gradually, and let it boil over the fire. Add sufficient white roux till the soup becomes of the consistency of cream. Serve some fried or toasted bread with the soup. It is a great improvement to add half a pint of cream, but this makes the soup much more expensive. The soup can be flavoured with a little white pepper.

N.B.—The onion and celery that was strained off can be used again for flavouring purposes.

THICKENING STOCK

Brown and White Thickening, or Roux.—It is of great importance for vegetarians always to have on hand a fairly good stock of white and brown roux, as it is a great saving both of time and money. As roux will keep good for weeks, and even months, there is no fear of waste in making a quantity at a time. Take a pound of flour, with a spoonful or two over; see that it is thoroughly dry, and then sift it. Next take a pound of butter and squeeze it in a cloth so as as much as possible to extract all the moisture from it. Next take a stew-pan—an enamelled one is best—and melt the butter till it runs to oil. It will now be found that, although the bulk of the butter looks like oil, a certain amount of froth will rise to the top. This must be carefully skimmed off. Continue to expose the butter to a gentle heat till the scum ceases to rise. Now pour off the oiled butter very gently into a basin till you come to some dregs. These should be thrown away, or, at any rate, not used in making the roux. Now mix the pound of dried and sifted flour with the oiled butter, which is what the French cooks call clarified butter. Place it back in the stew-pan, put the stew-pan over a tolerably good fire, but not too fierce, as there is a danger of its burning. With a wooden spoon keep stirring this mixture, and keep scraping the bottom of the stew-pan, first in one place and then in another, being specially careful of the edges, to prevent its burning. Gradually the mixture will begin to turn colour. As soon as this turn of colour is perceptible take out half and put it in a basin. This is the white roux, viz., flour cooked in butter but not discoloured beyond a very trifling amount. Keep the stew-pan on the fire, and go on stirring the remainder, which will get gradually darker and darker in colour. As soon as the colour is that of light chocolate remove the stew-pan from the fire altogether, but still continue scraping and stirring for a few minutes longer, as the enamel retains the heat to such an extent that it will sometimes burn after it has been removed from the fire. It is important not to have the mixture too dark, and it will be found by experience that it gets darker after the stew-pan has been removed from the fire. When we say light chocolate we refer to the colour of a cake of chocolate that has been broken. The inside is the colour, not the outside. It is advisable sometimes to have by you ready a large slice of onion, and if you think it is dark enough you can throw this in and immediately by this means slacken the heat. Pour the brown roux into a separate basin, and put them by for use.

In the houses of most vegetarians more white roux will be used than brown, consequently more than half should be removed if this is the case when the roux first commences to turn colour. When the brown roux gets cold it has all the appearance of chocolate, and when you use it it is best to scrape off the quantity you require with a spoon, and not add it to soups or sauces in one lump.

STOCK

Stock.—Strictly speaking, in vegetarian cookery, stock is the goodness and flavouring that can be extracted from vegetables, the chief ones being onion, celery, carrot, and turnip. In order to make stock, take these vegetables, cut them up into small pieces, after having thoroughly cleansed them, place them in a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them boil gently for several hours. The liquor, when strained off, may be called stock. It can be flavoured with a small quantity of savoury herbs, pepper, and salt, as well as a little mushroom ketchup. It can be coloured with a few drops of Parisian essence, or burnt sugar. Its consistency can be improved by the addition of a small quantity of corn-flour. Sufficient corn-flour must be added not to make it thick but like very thin gum. In a broader sense, the water in which rice, lentils, beans and potatoes have been boiled may be called stock. Again, the water in which macaroni, vermicelli, sparghetti, and all kinds of Italian paste has been boiled, may be called stock. The use of liquors of this kind must be left to the common sense of the cook, as, of course, it would only be obtainable when these materials are required for use.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

CHEESE RAMEQUINS

Cheese Ramequins.

Melt 1 oz. of butter, mix with ½ oz. of flour, add ¼ of a pint of milk, stir and cook well. Then beat in the yolks of two eggs, sprinkle in 3 ozs. of grated cheese, add the well-beaten whites of three eggs. Mix in lightly and put in cases. Bake a quarter of an hour.

FRENCH OMELET

French Omelet.

For a very small omelet beat 2 whole eggs and the yokes of two more until a full spoonful can be taken up. Add 3 tablespoonfuls of water, ¼ of a teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of pepper, and when well mixed turn into a hot omelet pan, in which a tablespoonful of butter has been melted, lift the edges up carefully and let the uncooked part run under. When all is cooked garnish with parsley.

HERRING;S ROES ON TOAST

Herring's Roes on Toast.

Have rounds of toast buttered and seasoned with salt and pepper, on each [Pg 2]piece place ½ the soft roe of a herring which has been slightly fried and on the top of this a fried mushroom. Serve very hot.

CHICKEN CREAMS

—Chicken Creams.

Chop and pound ½ a lb. of chicken and 3 ozs. of ham; pass this through a sieve, add 1 oz. of melted butter, 2 well-beaten eggs, and ½ a pint of cream, which must be whipped; season with pepper and salt. Mix all lightly together, put into oiled moulds and steam fifteen minutes, or if in one large mould half an hour.

LAMB STEW OF BREAST

1.—Stewed Breast of Lamb.

Cut a breast of lamb into small pieces, season, and stew until tender in enough gravy to cover the meat. Thicken the sauce, flavor with a wine-glass of wine, pile in the centre of a platter and garnish with green peas.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

CRANBERRY BREAD

Cranberry Bread:
1 & 2/3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped cranberries
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Combine the first 5 ingredients and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients; pour into the well and fold the wet blend into the dry just until the flour is moist (don’t over stir). Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 F. until done (about 50 minutes). Cool before removing from pan.

CHERRY NUT BREAD PUDDING

Cherry Nut Bread Pudding:
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped cherries
3/4 cup chopped nuts
1 (16 oz.) loaf raisin bread, cut into cubes
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Mix together the first 5 ingredients; then fold in the cherries and nuts; then the bread. Bake in a greased 8x8-inch pan at 325 F. until set (about 30 minutes). Garnish each serving with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.