TX

GIFT OF

THOMAS HUTHERFORD BACON

MEMORIAL LIBRARY

*

HARTFORD

ELECTION CAKE

AND

OTHER RECEIPTS

CHIEFLY FROM MANUSCRIPT SOURCES,

COLLKCTED 1!Y

ELLEN TERRY JOHNSON.

PUBLISHED FOR THE BENEFIT OF

ST. PETER 'S-IN-THE-MOUNT, HOLDERNESS, N. II.

HARTFORD, CONN.:

THE FOWLER & MILLER Co, PRINTERS, 341 MAIN STREET. JUNE, 1889.

receipts included in this collection are chiefly taken from manuscript sources Others are either framed by the collector or adapted from recipes already known.

Others still are obtained from published authorities, and either modified or found to be so valuable, by practical experience, that they are reprinted here, by the kind permission of the authors.

Every receipt in the little volume the compiler has

knowledge is of value.

E. T. J.

No. 69 VERNON STREET,

HARTFORD, CONN.

SOUPS.

STOCK FOR SOUP.

BY PERMISSION OF CATHERINE E. OWEN

THE following rule is suitable for the preparation of stock for soup, which can be modified in many ways. It cannot fail, if carefully followed, to produce the strongest meat broth, which will be a solid jelly when cold, and which, in the estimation of many physicians, is preferable to beef tea for the use of the sick.

Put a shank of beef or veal, or both, into a soup-pot, with cold water, allowing a quart of water for each pound of meat, and salt in the proportion of a half tea- spoonful to each quart of liquid. Let the soup simmer on the back of the stove for two hours ; skim carefully. Put a full teaspoonful of butter into a very hot frying- pan ; stir until it begins to brown, then fry in it a small onion, half a small carrot, half a turnip, and a stick or two of celery, if convenient, chopped moderately fine. When fried a light brown, add the vegetables to the soup; boil slowly three hours more. Remove from the fire, strain through fine sieve ; set away until next

284708

4 Reitipts.

day, when the soup should be a solid jelly from which every particle of fat can be removed.

For use, take a portion of the jelly, melt it in a small kettle, and add, if it is desired to have the soup colored, a teaspoonful of burnt sugar ; if necessary, add more salt and pepper. Let it boil up once, and, having carefully skimmed the soup, serve in a hot tureen.

If rice is used to thicken the soup, boil it beforehand in a separate saucepan, and, while hot, put into the soup as it is near boiling point. If maccaroni or French paste are used, boil as directed for rice.

Always have the tureen hot before pouring in the soup. If sliced hard-boiled egg or lemon is used, or wine, place them in the tureen and pour the soup over them.

A shank of beef weighing six pounds will make soup for twelve people. If clear, serve with croutons.

CROUTONS. — Put a teaspoonful of butter into a very hot frying-pan ; cut some dry bread into small squares or dice. When the butter is beginning to brown, add the bread, a little at a time; fry lightly; drain on a napkin, and serve in a warm dish.

Croutons are sometimes merely dry bread, toasted slowly until quite brown, and cut into dice. Serve in a warm dish.

Soups. 5

CALF'S HEAD SOUP.

MRS. THOS. BELKNAP.

One calf's head. The head will have been thoroughly cleaned at the butcher's, but should be carefully washed again. Remove the brains and tongue ; tie the brains in a bit of muslin. Put the head, brains, and tongue in a pot ; cover with four quarts of water ; boil three or four hours. Strain the stock through a sieve, and set it away until the next day. Pick the meat from the bones; cover the bones with water, and boil three hours. Strain the broth, and add it to the jellied stock an hour or two before serving, with a quart can of tomatoes. Add also the bits of meat previously picked from the bones, and cut into dice, and season with one tablespoonful of whole cloves, one table- spoonful of whole allspice, one tablespoonful each of summer-savory and sweet marjoram, one tablespoonful of salt, one small onion, chopped fine. Boil gently an hour or so. Just before serving, stir into the boiling soup three tablespoonfuls of browned flour, mixed with a little stock or butter. Put into the tureen two hard- boiled eggs, sliced, and one lemon, sliced thin. Pour the soup over the egg and lemon. A wineglass of sherry or brandy may be added to the lemon and egg.

6 Receipts.

CLAM SOUP.

E. T. J.

Chop rather fine a quart of clams. Add to the liquor double the quantity of water. Let it simmer slowly on the back of the stove an hour, skimming carefully. Add the chopped clams. Let it cook slowly half an hour more. Add a pint of new milk, which, if not very carefully done, will result in curd- ling. Let the soup get very hot, but not boil. As you pour into the tureen, put in two teaspoonfuls of butter.

Cream, if used instead of milk, must be put in the hot tureen and the boiling soup poured over it, as, if heated, it will be apt to curdle.

CLEAR SOUP.

MRS. GEORGE HOADLEY.

Melt the stock jelly in a bright saucepan. If neces- sary, add more salt and pepper. Color with a tea- spoonful of burnt sugar. Add the white and shell of one egg. When boiling, skim carefully; every particle of solid matter will be thus removed, and the soup be clear as sherry. Serve with croutons.

Soups. 7

CRANBERRY BEAN SOUP.

E. T. J.

The cranberry bean will be found preferable for soup to the turtle bean, ordinarily employed.

Soak one pint of cranberry beans over night. Boil the next morning in water until very soft. Drain off the water and rub the beans through a sieve. Add to the beans two quarts of stock. Season with a quarter teaspoonful of pepper, a half teaspoonful of salt, a tenth of a teaspoonful of powdered clove, or less. Let it boil up once. Put into the tureen two hard- boiled eggs and a small lemon, both sliced thin, and half a wineglassful of sherry. Pour the soup over them.

If you have no stock, boil a half pound of pork in two quarts of water one hour. To this the strained beans are added. If too salt, pour off the water once from the pork and add fresh. When in the tureen, stir in a large teaspoonful of butter. The pork can be cut into small dice and served with the soup, or sent whole to table on a platter.

CREAM SOUPS.

MTSS CORSON.

By the old method the preparation of cream soups was a long and difficult process, but by following Miss

Receipts.

Corson's rule, an excellent white soup, in numberless varieties, can be prepared, when vegetables are em- ployed.

Put any cold cooked vegetable, such as potato, young beets, tomato, peas, beans, carrots, rice, through a sieve, until you have a cupful. Put a tablespoonful butter and a tablespoonful of flour, rubbed together, into a hot saucepan. Stir over the fire until smooth and bubbling, but not brown. Stir into it, gradually, a pint of hot milk and a pint of hot water, mixed — all milk is better. Stir until quite free from lumps, then add the vegetable pulp, the salt and pepper. Let it get very hot, but not boil. Pour into hot tureen. If rice is used, a little celery, boiled and strained out, may be added.

TOMATO SOUP.

E. T. J.

Peel and cut in small pieces one quart of tomatoes. Stew in a pint of water, gently, on the back of the stove, for about an hour. When the tomato is thoroughly soft, strain through a sieve. Return to fire. When at boiling point, stir in two tablespoon fuls of butter, mixed with a tablespoonful of flour, a scant teaspoon- ful of salt. Add a quart of milk or a pint of cream; let it boil up a moment, then serve.

FISH.

DEVILLED CRABS.

MRS. H. W. CLOSSON.

A LTHOUGH fresh crabs are always preferable, when -£*• they can be had, those put up by the Hampton, Virginia, companies are a very good substitute. The crab shells always accompany each can of crab meat, but, as they are very brittle, there is always danger of bits of the broken shell becoming mixed with the food. The china fish or shells are safer. To the con- tents of one can of crab meat add three finely- powdered Boston crackers, or four tablespoon fuls of cracker meal, three tablespoon fuls of melted butter, or olive oil (the butter is better), the grated peel and juice of one lemon, two tablespoon fuls of vinegar, one hard-boiled egg, chopped fine, one well-beaten raw egg, half a teaspoonful of mustard (flour), half a tea- spoonful of salt, a little pepper, red and white.

Mix thoroughly, fill the china fish or shells, scat- ter cracker crumbs over the top, and thickly dot it with bits 'of butter. Baste with a little cold water

10 Receipts.

before going into the oven. Bake fifteen minutes, or until brown. This quantity will fill ten fish or shells.

DEVILLED CLAMS.

MRS. HARNICKLE.

Remove the hard part from long clams. Drain them and chop fine. Mix with the clams the same quantity of fine bread crumbs. Season with pepper ; no salt will be needed, in all probability. Melt a piece of butter, in the proportion of two tablespoon- fuls to a dozen clams. Wet the mixture with this and enough of the clam juice to make it quite moist, but not liquid. Wash the clam shells and rub them dry. Butter them and fill with the clam mixture, scattering fine bread crumbs over the top. Sprinkle a little water over them, and stud the surface of each with small bits of butter. Set the shells in a dripping- pan, and bake twenty minutes. Serve hot, on a nap- kin spread on a platter.

DEVILLED CLAMS, No. 2.

MRS. JUDGE PARKER.

Take twenty-five clams. Save the liquor. Chop the clams fine, and add four hard-boiled eggs, chopped, a quarter of the soft part of a medium-sized loaf of bread, soaked in milk; a little parsley, a large table-

Fish. 11

• spoonful melted butter, salt and pepper to taste, one

onion, chopped fine. Put in enough of the clam liquor to make the mixture moist, but not wet. Butter some well-washed shells, fill with the preparation of clams. Scatter bread crumbs over the top, dotted with bits of butter. Baste with a little water. Bake fifteen min- utes.

CLAM CHOWDER.

MRS. JUDGE PARKER.

One dozen clams, chopped fine, three potatoes, and one onion. Boil the vegetables in a pint of water, until tender; then add the chopped clams. Let them boil up. Add the juice of the clams. Roll two soda crackers, and put in the tureen with a tablespoon ful of butter. Boil one pint of milk and pour on the crackers, and then add the chowder. Season with salt and pepper.

FRICASSEED OYSTERS.

MRS. WM. EDWARDS.

Separate a quart of count oysters from the broth j place the oysters in a tightly-covered saucepan, with a quarter of a pound of good butter. Set on the back of the stove, where it will simmer gently until the oysters are done. Cook the broth in another sauce- pan, with three tablespoon fuls of powdered cracker, and

12 Receipts.

a little pepper. When the oysters are done, remove them with a fork from the butter, place them on toasted crackers, on a platter. Add the butter to the oyster broth, let it boil up once, add a half pint of cream, and pour over the oysters.

OYSTER PATES.

The pate shells are best procured from a con- fectioner.

Use small oysters, pour off half the liquor, cook slowly, on the back of the stove, adding to the oysters powdered cracker in the proportion of three spoon- fuls to a pint of liquid. Add a little white pepper. When the oysters are done, skim them out into a hot bowl. Cook the oyster broth ten minutes longer, until quite smooth and thick. Add a little cream, not enough to thin the broth, a very little nutmeg, and, as you take it from the fire, a good-sized bit of butter. Pour over the oysters. Heat the pate shells ; fill with the oysters and cream sauce, which can be also poured over the pate before sending to table, or only enough used to fill the cavity. The little cover should close the opening when the shell is filled. Serve on hot platter.

fish. 13

TURBOT A LA CREME.

ADAPTED BY E. T. J

Make a pint or more of white sauce. Pick to fine bits two pounds of cold boiled fresh cod, or other white fish. Fill a well-buttered pudding dish (the blue Japanese bowls are excellent for this purpose), mixing with the cod a half pint of oysters, chopped fine, and alternating the layer of fish with one of white sauce. Sprinkle a little salt over the layers of cod. Scatter bread or cracker crumbs over the top of the dish, when full, and little bits of butter. Baste, before going into the oven, with a little cold water. Cook twenty min- utes, or until the top is browned.

TURBOT OR FISH AU GRATIN.

ADAPTED BY E. T. J.

Pick in flakes a pound and a half of cold boiled ood or halibut, or any firm white fish. Place a layer of it in a buttered dish ; cover it with a layer of white sauce, made by stirring two tablespoon fuls butter in a saucepan over the fire, adding a tablespoon ful of flour; when it bubbles, being stirred constantly, pour in a pint of milk or water, hot. Flavor with a little salt and a little lemon juice, a tea- spoonful, if desired. When quite thick, remove from

14 Receipts.

fire. Have two or three hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine ; scatter a little over the layer of sauce. Put more fish, sauce, and egg, alternately, until the dish is full. Scatter bread or cracker crumbs on top. Dot the crumbs with small bits of butter, and baste with a little milk or water, just as it goes into the oven. Bake until the top is brown, not over ten or fifteen minutes.

MEATS.

THE secret of properly roasting meat is to have a quick, hot fire on placing it in the oven, that the surface being at once scorched, may retain the juices. After half an hour's quick roasting, the heat should be gradually diminished, until the ordinary temperature for roasting meat is attained. All roast meats should be constantly basted with the contents of the dripping- pan, and poultry may be dredged with flour when put in the oven. Very thin slices of salt pork, not bacon, which imparts a smoky flavor, may be tied over the breast of game birds, and removed before serving.

BRAISED BEEF.

MRS. H. W. CLOSSON.

Take a piece, four inches thick, of the round of beef, from the upper part; put it into a pot, with enough water to half cover it. Let it simmer gently three hours ; when thoroughly tender, remove the beef to a hot platter. Season the gravy in the pot with salt and pepper. Strain into it a pint of stewed tomato. Stir well, and let it boil up once. /Vdd a tablespoon*

16 Receipts.

ful of butter, and pour over the meat in the dish. If used a second day, take the meat only, warm it in a pint of stock; thicken this with stewed tomato and serve as before.

CHICKEN CROQUETTES.

MRS. A. R. TERRY.

Cut off the meat of two boiled or roast chickens, re- move skin and fat, and chop fine. Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a porcelain kettle; when it bub- bles up, stir in two tablespoonfuls flour, one teaspoon - ful salt, one teaspoonful of black pepper, two-thirds of a nutmeg, one teacup of chicken broth, the broth in which the chickens were cooked, boiled down to half its quantity, or a little soup made of the bones of the roast chickens off which the meat has been chopped ; mix well together; mould it with the hands into cro- quettes; dip each into beaten egg, then into fine cracker crumbs. Set them in a cool place, to harden, before frying light brown, in boiling lard.

In frying croquettes, doughnuts, or Saratoga pota- toes, the first object to be attained is to have a large quantity of lard very hot, and kept at that point. The heat can be ascertained by dropping a bit of bread in.

Meats. 17

CHICKEN CROQUETTES, No. .2.

MRS. GEORGE HOADLEY.

Boil a chicken tender, remove skin and bones, and chop fine. Wet with some white meat soup or with drawn butter. Season with salt, pepper, mace, lemon peel and juice. Have the mixture as soft as it can be moulded. Dip in beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs, and fry in boiling lard.

CHICKEN SHORTCAKE.

MRS. ROSE TERRY COOKE.

Joint and stew two fowls till tender, peppering them well. When done, carefully take the flesh from the bones, separating it from every bit of fat, skin, sinew or gristle. Return this to the gravy, and set aside till cold ; then skim off all the fat, pour off the gravy, put it in a saucepan, flavor it with salt, celery salt, and a little nutmeg. Melt a large spoonful of butter in a pan, stir into it two large spoonfuls of flour, till smooth; set the gravy aside, where it will not boil, and mix a little of it, slowly, with the flour and butter. Too much haste or heat will make lumps. When all is added to the gravy, return to the saucepan, and boil till it thickens well, stirring constantly. If onion is not disliked add a small one to the fowls,

18 Receipts.

during the first boiling, but skim it out of the gravy on leaving that to cool. Make a cake of one quart flour, \)ne teaspoonful salt, three teaspoons Royal bak- ing powder, butter size of an egg. Sift salt, flour, and powder together ; then rub in the butter and add milk, to make a soft dough. Roll out a thin square or oblong sheet, the size of your platter, and bake till well done. Cut the rest of the dough into very small rounds, and bake at the same time. When done, split the large cake, butter it, dip out the chicken with a strainer, heap it evenly on one-half the cake, cover with the other, and pour the gravy over all. Put the small biscuit about the edge of the platter, for garnish.

CHICKEN SHORTCAKE, No. 2.

MISS CHARLOTTE M. ELY.

Mix two teaspoonfuls Royal baking powder with one pint of flour. Rub into it a small half cup of butter, and wet it with a cup of sweet milk.

Bake in a quick oven, in a thin sheet.

Proceed as in receipt given above.

This shortcake receipt is excellent for use with straw- berries. It is quite as good with only one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the pint of flour.

Meats. 19

CHICKEN JELLY.

BRIDGET PLUNKETT.

Joint the chicken, cover it with water, and let it simmer, gently, until the meat will come from the bones easily. Strain, and set the liquid to cool. When cold, skim off the fat carefully; add half a box of gelatine, warming the chicken liquid slightly, to allow of its mixing. Pick the meat from the bones, cutting it in small pieces. Season with a little cay- enne, salt, and the juice of a lemon. Add two hard- boiled eggs and a lemon, cut in thin slices. Arrange in the mould in any fanciful pattern. Fill the mould with the prepared chicken, and pour the liquid over it.

CHICKEN CURRY.

A RESIDENT OF INDIA, THROUGH MISS KING.

Two large teaspoonfuls turmeric powder ; one-third of a teaspoonful of shelled cardamon seeds; one small teaspoonful cayenne pepper; one teaspoonful fine salt; a few bits of cinnamon; a small piece of green ginger, sliced ; four small cloves of garlic ; one grated cocoa- nut ; one pint of milk.

All the spices to be pounded separately, then well mixed, the grated cocoanut to be added.

20 Receipts.

Pour over these a pint of warm water, and let it simmer until the water is pretty well absorbed. Then add the milk, warm.

Rub together a large tablespoonful of butter and a little flour, and brown it ; add to the other ingredients. The chicken must be well boiled, and then jointed and cut in pieces. Put it in the curry mixture ; let it boil up once, to thoroughly heat it. Stir the curry well before adding chicken.

LUNCH DISH.

MRS. HEMAN ELY.

Take a pound of veal steak, removing skin and fat. Cover with a quart of water and let it slowly simmer until the liquid is reduced to one pint. Take out the meat, when very tender, cut it into dice. Prepare a mould, by first wetting it in cold water. Boil hard and slice thin two eggs, place them with the veal, and a few thin slices of lemon, in the mould, when the liquid is ready. Season with a half teaspoonful of salt, a tiny pinch of nutmeg, an eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, a very little powdered clove. Strain the broth into the mould. Set on ice and turn out on a platter. Should the liquid refuse to jelly, reheat it and add to the above quantity an eighth of a box of Nelson's gelatine.

Meats. 21

LUNCH DISH.

MRS. PECHIN.

Boil tender two chickens; cut into dice the white meat and a little of the dark. Simmer gently, on the back of the stove, a quart of cream, with one very small onion, a little rhace, salt, and pepper. Thicken it with a tablespoonful of butter, stirred into a roux, with two teaspoonfuls of flour. The consistence of the liquid should be that of thick cream. Meanwhile, stew a can of French mushrooms, gently, for an hour, in a pint of stock, or until the liquid is reduced to less than half its original quantity. Boil, until tender, a pair of sweet breads or more, cut them in dice ; butter a large dish; place on the bottom a layer of the chicken, then of mushrooms, cut in half, then of sweet breads. Pour over it some of the thickened cream, and fill the dish with the alternate layers, in the order named. Scatter bread crumbs over the top, with little bits of butter. Bake an hour.

TIMBALE.

MISS PARLOA.

Chop fine any kind of cold dark meat — cold stewed beef, roast beef, veal, mutton, game. Mix with it a quarter teaspoonful of pepper, half a pickled onion, chopped fine, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a cup

22 Receipts.

of stock or milk, two tablespoonfuls of butter, melted while stirred constantly, to prevent oiling, half a cup- ful of fine bread crumbs, a half teaspoonful of salt. Mix the seasoning with the meat and bread crumbs. Add the stock and two well-beaten eggs. The eggs must be thoroughly incorporated with the mixture or it will present an unsightly appearance when cooked. Put into a well-buttered pan — an oval charlotte russe pan is the best. Set it into a pan of boiling water; cover with a bit of buttered paper. Cook ten or fif- teen minutes. Turn out on a hot platter. A brown sauce may be poured over it, or it will be found very good without it.

TO ROAST QUAILS.

After thoroughly cleansing the birds, and, if desired, stuffing them with bread crumbs, salt and pepper, moistened with melted butter, tie thin slices of fat salt pork over the breast. Place them in a baking pan and set in a quick oven, basting them at first with a little melted butter, then with the drippings in the pan. Roast twenty or twenty-five minutes. Fifteen minutes before they are done, place a small square of buttered toast under each bird, to receive the gravy dropping from it. Send the quail to the table, each on its bit of toast, on a hot platter.

Meats. 23

RISSOLES.

ADAPTED FROM MRS. HENDERSON.

Roll a sheet of puff paste out a quarter inch thick ; make a preparation of minced chicken, veal, or the tenderloin of beef, cut very fine. Heat two or three tablespoonfuls of cream with the same quantity of stock; when very hot, stir into it a large teaspoonful of butter and the same quantity of flour, rubbed together. When quite smooth, add a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, a half teaspoonful of salt, a very little nutmeg. When the gravy is quite hot, add the meat. Let it get thoroughly hot, but not cook.

Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture about three inches from the edge of the paste, three inches apart. Fold the paste over and strike the edge of the hand between each one. Cut out the rissoles with a small tumbler. Bake, in a very quick oven, five minutes.

BEEF HASH.

DAVID S. S. C. JONES.

The prejudice against re-cooked meat is well founded. Meat served a second time should never be more than warmed over, and with this fact thoroughly under- stood, it will be found perfectly digestible.

In preparing minced meat, stock should, if possible, be employed. But whether stock or water forms the

24 Receipts.

foundation of the gravy, it should be allowed to be- come boiling hot in the saucepan. Thicken it when boiling, with a roux of a tablespoonful of butter, rub- bed together with a full teaspoonful of flour, to a half pint of gravy. Let it bubble, stirring until quite smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and whatever spice may be appropriate to the meat used. Turn in the mince, stirring it well but lightly in. Let it become very hot, but not boil for a moment. Turn the hash out upon a hot dish, on buttered toast,

Excellent hash can be made from cold steak, braised or roasted beef. Mince it finely, rejecting the skin and fat. Prepare the gravy of stock, as already described. Cold gravy should never be used in warming over meat. Warm the beef in the stock. Season with salt and pepper only. Serve on a hot dish, with a circle of hot boiled rice about it.

VEAL MINCE.

Chop the veal very fine. Make a gravy of a cup of stock. Season with salt, pepper, and a very little powdered mace or nutmeg. When very hot, thicken with a tablespoonful of butter, stirred with a scant teaspoonful of flour. When smooth, add the minced veal, and when hot, stir in a little cream, as you take

Meats. 25

it from the fire. Serve on slices of buttered toast, on a hot platter. Put thin slices of lemon on top.

MUTTON HASH.

DAVID S. S. C. JONES.

Prepare the gravy as for beef hash. Cut the cold roast or boiled mutton in small pieces, with an equal quantity of cold boiled potato, removing skin and fat. The quantity of gravy should be greater for this than for mince. Only heat the meat and potato thoroughly, and serve in a hot dish.

TURKEY HASH.

PLATTSBURGH COOK BOOK.

Two pounds cold roast or boiled turkey — white meat only. Chop it rather fine, and chop with it one head of celery, boiled tender.

Boil a quart of cream ; when boiling, add a little salt and pepper, thicken with a roux, then put in the turkey and celery. Let the mince become thoroughly hot, not boil ; then pour upon slices of buttered toast, upon a hot platter.

Toast, for such purposes, should be well browned. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, by pouring upon it four tablespoonfuls of boiling water, and dip the slices of toast into it, that they may become somewhat soft. Use more butter and water, if you have a large number of slices.

VEGETABLES.

STEWED MACARONI.

MRS. H. W. CLOSSON.

BOIL tender half a pound of medium-sized macaroni ; when soft, add half a pound of cheese, broken in small pieces, and a little butter. Put in a hot dish, and, when serving, pour over the whole a pint of tomato sauce.

STEWED MACARONI, No. 2.

OLIVE HARPER.

Cook one-third of a pound of macaroni in a pint of clear beef soup. Let it cook, gently, fifteen min- utes; add a saltspoonful salt. Take up the macaroni, put it on the dish in which it is to be served. Sprinkle grated cheese thickly over it. Pour over the whole a pint of tomato sauce, and send at once to table.

SARATOGA POTATOES.

MRS. VAN REED.

Slice the potatoes very thin ; let them stand in ice- water for a few hours, changing the water three or four

Vegetables. 27

times. Spread the slices on a soft coarse towel. Have a frying-pan two-thirds full of lard — a small, deep iron kettle is still better. Heat the lard very hot, testing it by dropping in it a bit of the potato ; if the fat is hot enough, the slice will immediately puff up and rise to the surface. Pull the slices of potato care- fully apart, and fry two dozen or so at a time. Turn them with a fork. They will be done in one minute, if the fat is sufficiently hot. Take them from the kettle with a skimmer; drain in a colander, or on sheets of blotting paper. Dust a little salt over them, while hot.

SCOLLOPED POTATOES.

MRS. GEO. WILLEY.

Slice the raw potatoes thin into a well-buttered dish. Pour in enough milk to half fill the dish. Season with salt, and add a heaping tablespoonful of butter cut into little bits. Bake very slowly, covering the dish with a plate until twenty minutes before serving. Let it then color a pale brown.

STUFFED POTATOES.

DAVID S. S. C. JONES.

Select large, smooth potatoes, as nearly as possible of a uniform size. Bake until thoroughly done, but

28 Receipts.

be careful not to over cook them. Cut the top care- fully off; with a small silver fork, scrape the contents of each potato into a warm bowl, taking care not to break the skin. Mash the potato with the fork, adding salt to taste, and a good teaspoonful of butter to each potato. When thoroughly mixed, return the potato to the skins, heaping it high, but not smoothing it. Set the potatoes up on end, in the dish in which you serve them ; return them to the oven to warm, but avoid browning them.

If you prefer it, the covers can be replaced on the potatoes and retained by a narrow ribbon.

These potatoes are excellent with broiled shad or pompanos.

STEWED TOMATOES.

MRS. VAN REED.

The southern method of stewing tomatoes is a great improvement upon the ordinary way.

Put a large tablespoonful of butter into a very hot frying-pan ; when boiling, fry in the butter one-half an onion, or one small onion, chopped fine, to a light brown. Then pour into the pan a can of tomatoes, or a quart of the fresh vegetable, cut in small pieces. Let it stew gently an hour, seasoning it with salt and pep- per. Thicken with half a cup of fine bread crumbs.

Vegetables. 29

BAKED TOMATOES.

MRS. C. A. TERRY.

Butter a baking dish ; cover the bottom with a layer of tomatoes, cut in small pieces. On this place a layer of fine bread crumbs. Season this with pepper, salt, a very little nutmeg, and small bits of butter scattered over the bread. Repeat until the dish is full, having the top layer of bread crumbs, and thickly scattered with bits of butter. The top may be basted with a little cold water, before going into the oven. It will take a quarter of a pound of butter to properly prepare this dish. Bake an hour or more, covering the top with card-board for the first half hour.

STUFFED TOMATOES.

MRS. H. W. CLOSSON.

Take fine, large tomatoes, of equal size ; cut out the stem end, and, with a sharp knife, remove a portion of the inside, leaving a quarter inch of thickness. Stuff with any kind of meat, chopped very fine, seasoned with salt and pepper, and mixed with a quarter its quantity of fine bread crumbs, made soft with melted butter. Set the tomatoes in a baking pan, put a little hot water in the bottom, to prevent burning ; baste, while baking, with a little melted butter and hot water, mixed. Serve in hot dish.

BREAD, BISCUITS, ETC.

BISCUIT.

MRS. HOWARD.

THE YEAST. — Three quarts lukewarm water; a handful of hops ; three potatoes, boiled five minutes and grated ; one-third cup of salt ; one- third cup of sugar, white ; flour enough to make a thin batter. Boil the hops in the water, add the grated potato and flour; when cool, add one-half cup of yeast ; when white on the top, stir.

THE BISCUIT. — Two cups of milk ; one tablespoon- ful of butter ; one-half teaspoonful salt ; one table- spoonful sugar, white ; one-half cup of yeast. Make up the sponge early in the morning, and let it rise. When light, cut down and mould. Let it rise again, then mould into small rolls, place them in a pan, and let them rise an hour and a half, before baking.

SOUTHERN CORN BREAD.

MRS. THOS. WAYNE.

One pint corn meal ; three eggs, beaten separately ; a small bit of butter; two teaspoonfuls of baking

Bread, Biscuits, Etc. 31

powder; one cup cold boiled rice or hominy; milk to make a thin batter. Bake in a loaf or in gem pans.

SOUTHERN BISCUITS.

MRS. THOS. WAYNE.

One tablespoonful lard; one tablespoonful butter;

cut up with a knife or rubbed fine with the tips of cool »f $tffr< f/««»r ngers. Wet with milk or water, to make a dough like

pie crust, mixing with a knife. Roll out very thin, cut with the top of a claret glass or small cutter. Prick and bake ten minutes, in a very hot oven.

These are the true Southern short biscuits, without beating; crisp, light, and which will keep for weeks. They are excellent to take to sea, or upon a journey.

In the hands of a Southern cook, they require no baking powder ; but it is safer to use a teaspoonful and a half of baking powder.

The success depends upon the thinness of the biscuit and the heat of the fire.

BEST CREAM PUFFS.

MRS. B. F. D. ADAMS.

One pint of cream; one pint flour; three eggs, beaten separately ; a half teaspoonful of salt. Bake in gem pans, in a very hot oven.

32 Receipts.

EGG PUFFS.

MRS. JUDGE PARKER.

One pint milk ; three eggs ; six tablespoon fuls flour. Beat well together. Bake in hot cups.

BROWN BREAD.

LYDIA TALBOT.

Two cups unsifted rye flour ; two cups sifted Indian meal ; one cup sifted white flour ; three-quarters cup molasses; one teaspoonful salt; one pint of milk' and water; one teaspoonful soda. Steam four hours in mould.

BROWN BREAD, No. 2.

MRS. JUDGE PARKER.

One pint warm milk; half a cup of molasses; one tea- spoonful soda, dissolved in a very little warm water ; half a teaspoonful salt. Stir in enough graham flour to make a stiff batter, as for bread. Add half a cake of compressed yeast. Beat long and hard. Let it rise over night. When light, stir in enough graham flour to make it like common bread. Put in pans to rise. Bake half an hour.

This is a better rule for brown bread than is found in any receipt book.

Bread, Biscuits, Etc. 33

BOSTON BROWN BREAD.

MRS. JUDGE PARKER.

Two cups corn meal ; one cup rye flour ; two cups sweet mlik; one cup sour milk; two-thirds cup molasses; one teaspoonful soda, put into the molasses; a little salt. Put in a round tin and steam three hours. Do not cover the pan.

GRAHAM GEMS.

MISS WOOLSEY.

One pint of milk or water; one pint of sifted gra- ham flour ; a half teaspoonful salt. Beat well. Heat the gem pans very hot. Bake in a very hot oven.

BROWN SCONES.

WASHINGTON COOKING SCHOOL.

One pound wheaten flour ; six ounces butter ; a little salt. Wet with thick cream. Roll out and cut in thin cakes. Bake on a griddle.

WHEAT MUFFINS.

MRS. CHAS. A. TERRY.

One quart sour milk; one tablespoonful melted butter; one tablespoonful sugar; one teaspoonful soda; two eggs, beaten separately; flour to make a thin

34 Receipts.

batter ; one cup cold boiled rice or hominy, broken up fine with a fork. Bake in hot muffin pans.

These muffins can be made of sweet milk, using two small teaspoonfuls of baking powder, instead of soda.

If two-thirds sour and one-third sweet milk is used, take three-fourths teaspoonful of soda, three-fourths spoonful of baking powder.

WAFFLES.

MRS. H. W. CLOSSON.

One quart sweet milk ; one teacup cold boiled rice or fine hominy ; two eggs, well beaten ; one teaspoonful sugar ; two teaspoonfuls lard or butter, melted ; half teaspoonful salt ; one small teaspoonful soda : two small teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, or instead of these use two teaspoonfuls of baking powder ; flour to make a thin batter, about a pint or more.

CA_KE.

BOSWELL CAKE.

MR. BOSWELL, EAST HARTFORD.

N cups of flour ; six cups of sugar ; three cups of butter; eight eggs; three cups warm milk and one wineglass of rum in it ; one teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in a little of the milk; two pounds of raisins; nutmeg, or mace. Bake an hour and a half.

DELICATE CAKE.

MRS. C. A. TERRY.

Half pound butter ; three-fourths pound flour ; one pound sugar; whites of fourteen eggs. Rub together the butter and flour. Add the sugar, which has been stirred lightly into the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Stir well. Flavor with bitter almond. Bake in oblong sponge-cake pans, with buttered paper.

IMPERIAL CAKE.

MRS. G. V. WEIR.

One pound butter; one pound sugar; one pound flour; one pound raisins; three-fourths pound al-

36 Receipts.

monds, blanced and slit ; three-fourths pound citron ; one pound currants, if desired ; one wineglass of brandy and rose water (not extract of rose) ; the juice and rind of a lemon. Rub the butter and sugar to a cream, with a little rose water. One small teaspoonful mace improves the flavor. Beat the eggs separately.

This makes three loaves.

Bake, in a bread oven, about an hour.

A third of a teaspoonful of soda, or less, improves it, as there is so much fruit in it.

HARTFORD ELECTION CAKE YEAST.

MRS. SHELDON.

Three pints of water ; eight good-sized potatoes, peeled and cut in slices.

Boil in the water with a small handful of hops, until tender. Rub through a sieve. Pour the boiling water in which the potatoes were cooked upon the strained potatoes, through a sieve.

Stir in enough flour to make a stiff batter.

Make the batter very sweet with brown sugar.

Add a coffee cup of distiller's yeast.

Let it rise twenty-four hours before using.

Where the use of domestic yeast is impracti- cable, that obtained from the distillery can be sub- stituted.

Cake. 37

It has been claimed that the compressed yeast of modern use, is worthless for making election cake. This is incorrect, for although it is undoubtedly less successful, as a rule, still excellent loaf cake has been made of it. It requires a cake and a half of Fleisch- man's yeast to raise seven loaves of cake.

ELECTION CAKE, No. 1.

MRS. SHELDON.

Eight pounds flour ; four and a quarter pounds butter ; four and a quarter pounds sugar ; five eggs ; one quart home-made yeast ; four pounds raisins ; one pound citron ; one ounce mace ; one ounce nutmeg ; new milk to make the batter sufficiently thin ; one tumbler mixed wine and brandy.

Beat to a cream the butter and sugar.

Mix half of it with the flour at two o'clock in the afternoon, wet with the new milk, slightly warm. The batter should be thinner than biscuit dough. Add the yeast; a little salt. Let it rise. When light, at night, add all other ingredients, with balance of butter and sugar. Let it rise again ; then put in pans, making ten medium-sized loaves. Let it rise an hour.

38 Receipts.

ELECTION CAKE, No. 2.

MISS REBECCA BUTLER.

Eight quarts flour ; three and a half pounds sugar ; three pounds butter ; five eggs ; one quart home-made yeast ; three quarts milk ; six pounds raisins ; half ounce mace ; half ounce nutmeg ; half pint wine.

ELECTION CAKE, No. 3.

MRS. LEWIS WELD.

Four and a half pounds of flour; two and a half