Breakfast and Tea
Meat Hash.
Chop rather fine any kind of cold meat; corned beef is, however, the best. To each pint add one pint and a half of cold boiled potatoes, chopped fine; one table-spoonful of butter and one cupful of stock; or, if no stock is on hand, two-thirds of a cupful of hot water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the mixture in a frying-pan, and stir over the fire for about eight minutes, being careful not to burn. Spread smoothly. Cover the pan and set back where the hash will brown slowly. It will take about half an hour. When done, fold it like an omelet and turn on to a hot dish. Garnish with points of toast and parsley. Serve hot. If there are no cold potatoes, the same quantity of hot mashed potatoes may be used.
Vegetable Hash.
Chop, not very fine, the vegetables left from a boiled dinner, and season them with salt and pepper. To each quart of the chopped vegetables add half a cupful of stock and one table-spoonful of butter. Heat slowly in the frying-pan. Turn into a hot dish when done, and serve immediately. If vinegar is liked, two or more table-spoonfuls of it can be stirred into the hash while it is heating.
Breaded Sausages.
Wipe the sausages dry. Dip them in beaten egg and bread crumbs. Put them in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook ten minutes. Serve with a garnish of toasted bread and parsley.
Meat Fritters.
Cut any kind of cold meat into dice. Season well with salt and pepper. Make a fritter batter. Take up some of it in a large spoon, put a small spoonful of the meat in the centre, cover with batter, and slide gently into boiling fat. Cook about one minute. Drain on brown paper, and serve on a hot dish.
Lyonnaise Tripe.
About one pound of cooked tripe, cut in small pieces; two table-spoonfuls of butter, one of chopped onion, one of vinegar, salt, pepper. Put the onion and butter in a frying-pan, and when the onion turns yellow, put in the tripe. Cook five minutes. Season with the salt, pepper and vinegar. Serve on slices of toast.
Meat and Potato Sandwiches.
Any kind of cold meat, cut in slices and seasoned with salt and pepper; four large potatoes, two eggs, salt, pepper, one-forth of a cupful of boiling milk, one table-spoonful of butter. Have the meat cut in thin slices and seasoned with salt and pepper. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes. Add the milk, butter, salt, pepper and one well-beaten egg. Cover the slices of meat on both sides with this preparation, and dip in well-beaten egg. Put in the frying-basket and fry till a light brown. Serve on a hot dish.
Minced Veal and Eggs.
One quart of cold veal, chopped rather coarse; one teaspoonful of lemon juice, one cupful of stock or water, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of flour, salt, pepper. Melt the butter in a frying-pan. Add the flour to it. Stir until smooth, and add the stock and seasoning. When it boils up, add the chopped veal. Heat thoroughly, and dish on slices of toast. Put a dropped egg in the centre of each slice, and serve very hot.
Mutton, Réchauffé.
Cut cold roasted or boiled mutton in slices about half an inch thick, and cover both sides with sauce made in this way: Put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when melted, add one of flour. Stir until smooth. Add, gradually, one cupful of stock, and two table-spoonfuls of glaze. Boil for one minute, and stir in the yolks of two eggs. Season with salt, pepper and one table-spoonful of lemon juice, and remove from the fire at once. Season the mutton with salt and pepper, and as soon as the sauce begins to cool, dip both sides of the slices in it, and roll them in fine bread crumbs. Beat one whole egg and the two whites together. Dip the sauced mutton in this and again in the crumbs. Fry in boiling fat for two minutes. Drain on brown paper, and serve with either tomato, Tartare or Hollandaise sauce. Any kind of cold meat can be served in this manner.
Chicken In Jelly.
A little cold chicken (about one pint), one cupful of water or stock, one-fifth of a box of gelatine, half a teaspoonful of curry powder, salt, pepper. Cut the meat from the bones of a chicken left from dinner. Put the bones on with water to cover, and boil down to one cupful Put the gelatine to soak in one-fourth of a cupful of cold water. When the stock is reduced as much as is necessary, strain and season. Add the curry and chicken. Season, and simmer ten minutes; then add the gelatine, and stir on the table until it is dissolved. Turn all into a mould, and set away to harden. This makes a nice relish for tea or lunch. If you have mushrooms, omit the curry, and cut four of them into dice. Stir into the mixture while cooking. This dish can be varied by using the whites of hard-boiled eggs, or bits of boiled ham. To serve: Dip the mould in warm water, and turn out on the dish. Garnish with parsley.
Chicken Cutlets.
Season pieces of cold chicken or turkey with salt and pepper. Dip in melted butter; let this cool on the meat, and dip in beaten egg and in fine bread crumbs. Fry in butter till a delicate brown. Serve on slices of hot toast, with either a white or curry sauce poured around. Pieces of cold veal make a nice dish, if prepared in this manner.
Broiled Liver.
Cut in slices and dip in melted butter, and lightly in flour. Broil over a bright fire eight or ten minutes.
Liver, Fried in Crumbs.
Season slices with salt and pepper. Dip in beaten egg and very fine cracker crumbs. Fry six minutes in boiling lard.
Liver and Bacon.
Cut in slices, season with salt and pepper, and cut again into small squares. Place on a skewer pieces of liver and bacon, alternating. Fry five minutes in boiling fat. Slip off of the skewer on to toasted bread, and serve immediately.
Liver, Sauté.
Cut the liver in thin slices. Season with salt and pepper. Heat together in a small frying-pan two table-spoonfuls of butter and a large one of flour. Lay in the liver, and brown it on both sides. Add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, two table-spoonfuls of water and one of wine. Taste to see if salt enough. Boil up once, and serve.
Liver, Sauté, with Piquant Sauce.
Cut the liver in slices about one-third of an inch thick, and if beef liver, let it stand in warm water ten minutes (calves’ livers will not need this). Drain dry, and put in the frying-pan with enough beef or pork drippings to prevent its sticking, and cook very slowly for eight minutes, turning constantly. Take up on a hot dish and pour a piquant sauce over it. Serve immediately.
Curry of Liver.
Cut the liver in small, thin pieces, and for every pound have four table-spoonfuls of butter, two slices of onion, two table-spoonfuls of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, pepper, one teaspoonful of curry powder. Let the butter get hot; then cook the liver in it slowly for four minutes. Add the flour and other ingredients. Cook two minutes, and add, slowly, one cupful of stock. Let this boil up. Dish, and serve.
Chicken Livers, Sauté.
Wash and wipe six livers. Put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add a large slice of onion, which cook slowly ten minutes, and then take out. Dredge the livers with salt, pepper and flour, and fry for ten minutes in the butter; add one teaspoonful of flour, and cook a minute longer. Pour in half a cupful of stock, one tea-spoonful of lemon juice, one of vinegar and one-fourth of a spoonful of sugar, and boil up once. Serve with a garnish of toasted bread.
Chicken Livers and Bacon.
Cut the livers in pieces the size of a half dollar, and have thin slices of bacon of the same size. Nearly fill a small wire skewer with these, alternating. Place in the frying basket and plunge into boiling fat for about one minute. Serve on the skewers, or on toast, with thin slices of lemon for a garnish. Or, the skewers can be rested on the sides of a narrow baking pan and placed in a hot oven for five minutes. Serve as before. The livers of all other kinds of poultry can be cooked the same as chicken.
Chicken Livers in Papillotes.
Wash the livers and drop them into boiling water for one minute. Take them up; and when drained, split them. For eight livers put two table-spoonfuls of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add one table-spoonful of flour. Stir until smooth; then gradually add half a cupful of cold water. Stir into this two spoonfuls of glaze, if you have it. Season with pepper and salt, and stir into the sauce half a cupful of finely-chopped ham. Spread this mixture on the livers, place them in papillotes the same as cutlets, lay them in a pan, and put in a slow oven for fifteen minutes. Have little squares of toast or of fried brown bread. Heap these in the centre of a hot dish, and arrange the livers around them. Serve very hot.
Stewed Kidneys.
Cut the kidneys in thin round slices. Cover them with cold water and let them stand half an hour; then wash them clean, and put them in a stew-pan with one quart of water or stock, a clove, two table-spoonfuls of onion juice, and salt and pepper. Simmer two hours. Put one table-spoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and when hot, add one of flour. Stir until it is brown and smooth, and add to the kidneys. Put a small bouquet of sweet herbs in the stew-pan, and simmer half an hour longer. Taste to see if seasoned enough; if not, add more salt and pepper, and, if you like, one table-spoonful of lemon juice. Take out the bouquet, and serve. This dish can be prepared any time in the day, as it is quite as good warmed over as when first prepared.
Kidneys, Sauté.
Skin, wash and wipe the kidneys, cut in thin, round slices, and season with salt and pepper. Put one table-spoonful of butter and half a table-spoonful of flour in the frying-pan, and when hot, put in the kidneys. Stir two minutes, then add half a cupful of stock or water. When the dish boils up, add half a table-spoonful of lemon juice. Serve with a garnish of points of toast.
Broiled Kidneys.
Skin, wash, wipe and split sheep’s or lambs’ kidneys. Run a small skewer through each, to keep it open. Season with salt and pepper, dip in melted butter and in flour, place in the double broiler and cook six minutes over a bright fire. Serve on a hot dish.
Kidneys à la Maître d’Hôtel.
Split and cut in two, lengthwise, lambs’ or sheep’s kidneys. Wash and wipe them. Season with salt and pepper, and dip in melted butter and fine bread crumbs. Run a small skewer through each, to keep it open. Put them in the double broiler and cook about six minutes over a bright fire. Serve on a hot dish with maître d’hôtel butter.
Ham and Eggs on Toast.
Chop fine the trimmings from cold boiled or roasted ham. Toast and butter slices of stale bread. Spread the ham on these, and place in the oven for about three minutes. Beat six eggs with half a cupful of milk, a little pepper and one teaspoonful of salt. Put this mixture in a sauce-pan with two table-spoonfuls of butter, and stir over the fire until it begins to thicken. Take off, and beat for a moment; then spread on the ham and toast. Serve immediately.
Ham Croquettes.
One cupful of finely-chopped cooked ham, one of bread crumbs, two of hot mashed potatoes, one large table-spoonful of butter, three eggs, a speck of cayenne. Beat the ham, cayenne, butter, and two of the eggs into the potato. Let the mixture cool slightly, and shape it like croquettes. Roll in the bread crumbs, dip in beaten egg and again in crumbs, put in the frying-basket and plunge into boiling fat. Cook two minutes. Drain, and serve.
Canapees.
After cutting the crust from a loaf of stale bread, cut the loaf in very thin slices, and toast to a delicate brown. Butter lightly, and spread with any kind of potted meat or fish. Put two slices together, and, with a sharp knife, cut them in long strips. Arrange these tastefully on a dish and serve at tea or evening parties. Sardines may be pounded to a paste and mixed with the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, also pounded to a paste, and used instead of potted meats. In this case, the slices of bread may be fried in salad oil.
Welsh Rare-Bit.
Half a pound of cheese, two eggs, a speck of cayenne, a table-spoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of mustard, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a cupful of cream. Break the cheese in small pieces and put it and the other ingredients in a bright sauce-pan, which put over boiling water. Stir until the cheese melts; then spread the mixture on slices of crisp toast. Serve immediately. A cupful of ale or beer can be used instead of the cream.
Welsh, Rare-Bit, No. 2.
Grate one pint of cheese. Sprinkle on it half a teaspoonful of mustard, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt and a speck of cayenne. Heap this on slices of buttered toast. Put in the hot oven for a few moments, and when the cheese begins to melt, serve at once.
Corn Pie.
Four ears of cold boiled corn, two eggs, one table-spoonful of butter, one of flour, half a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper. Cut the corn from the cobs. Mix the milk, gradually, with the flour. Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately, and add them and the other ingredients to the flour and milk. The butter should be melted. Bake twenty minutes in two squash pie plates. This is a dish for breakfast.
Hominy.
Wash a cupful of hominy in two waters; then stir it into one quart of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and boil from thirty to sixty minutes. The latter time is the better. Be careful that the hominy does not burn. It can be used more than oatmeal, as it is good with any kind of meat. It is appropriate for any meal, and is nice eaten warm or cold with milk.
Oatmeal.
Oatmeal, Indian meal and hominy an require two things for perfection—plenty of water when put on to boil, and a long time for boiling. Have about two quarts of boiling water in a large stew-pan, and into it stir a cupful of oatmeal, which has been wet with cold water. Boil one hour, stirring often, and then add half a spoonful of salt, and boil an hour longer. If it should get too stiff, add more boiling water; or, if too thin, boil a little longer. You cannot boil too much. The only trouble in cooking oatmeal is that it takes a long time, but surely this should not stand in the way when it is so much better for having the extra time. If there is not an abundance of water at first the oatmeal will not be very good, no matter how much maybe added during the cooking. Cracked wheat is cooked in the same way.
Strawberry Short-Cake.
One pint of flour, measured before sifting; one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, four of butter, one tea-cupful of milk. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Rub the butter into the mixture, and add the milk. Butter two tin squash-pie plates. Spread the mixture in them, and bake in a quick oven from eighteen to twenty minutes. Mash one quart of strawberries with three-fourths of a cupful of sugar. When the cakes are taken from the oven, split and butter them, and put half of the strawberries and sugar in each cake. Serve immediately.
Sweet Strawberry Short-Cake.
Three eggs, one cupful of sugar, two of flour, one table-spoonful of butter, one scant teaspoonful of cream of tartar, a small half teaspoonful of soda. Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, well beaten. Mix the soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Stir into the beaten egg and sugar. Bake in deep tin plates. Four can be filled with the quantities given. Have three pints of strawberries mixed with a cupful of sugar. Spread a layer of strawberries on one of the cakes, lay a second cake over this, and cover with berries. Or, a mèringue, made with the white of an egg and a table-spoonful of powdered sugar, may be spread over the top layer of strawberries,