Omelet.
Beat six or eight eggs, with some chopped parsley and a little salt; have the pan or speeder nicely washed; put in a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, when it is hot, pour in the eggs; stir it with a spoon till it begins to form; when it is of a light-brown on the under side it is done; turn it out on a plate, and send to table immediately.
Grated bread, soaked in cream, put in the omelet, some think an improvement. The dripping of a nice ham, some persons use for omelet instead of b.u.t.ter.
To Boil Eggs.
Have the water boiling, and look at your watch as you put them in; two minutes and a half will cook them to please most persons; if you want them very soft, two minutes will be sufficient, or if less soft three minutes. If you wish them hard, as for lettuce, let them boil ten minutes. Spoons that have been used in eating eggs should be put in water immediately, as the egg tarnishes them.
VEGETABLES.
To Boil Green Corn.
Pick out ears near the same size, and have the water boiling when you put them in; half an hour is long enough for young corn; that which is old and hard will take an hour or more; if young corn is boiled too long, it becomes hard and indigestible.
To Frica.s.see Corn.
Cut green corn off the cob; put it in a pot, and just cover it with water; let it boil half an hour; mix a spoonful of flour with half a pint of rich milk, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and a piece of b.u.t.ter; let it boil a few minutes, and take it up in a deep dish. Corn will do to cook in this way when too old to boil on the cob.
To Keep Corn for Winter.
When boiled, cut the corn off the cob, and spread it on dishes; set these in the oven to dry after the bread comes out. If you have no oven, it can be dried in a stove of moderate heat, or round a fire. When perfectly dry, tie it up in muslin bags, and hang them in a dry place; when you use it, boil it till soft in water; mix flour, milk, b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt together, and stir in.
Corn Fritters.
Cut the corn through the grain, and with a knife sc.r.a.pe the pulp from the cob, or grate it with a coa.r.s.e grater, and to about a quart of the pulp, add two eggs beaten, two table-spoonsful of flour, a little salt and pepper, and a small portion of thin cream, or new milk; beat the whole together; have the b.u.t.ter or lard hot in the pan, and put a large spoonful in at a time, and fry brown, turning each fritter separately; this makes an agreeable relish for breakfast, or a good side dish at dinner.
Hominy.
Large hominy, after it is washed; must be put to soak over night; if you wish to have it for dinner, put it to boil early in the morning, or it will not be done in time; eat it as a vegetable.
Small hominy will boil in an hour; it is very good at breakfast or supper to eat with milk or b.u.t.ter, or to fry for dinner.
Both large and small hominy will keep good in a cool place several days.
Be careful that the vessel it is cooked in, is perfectly clean, or it will darken the hominy.
To Fry Hominy.
Put a little lard in your frying-pan, and make it hot; mash and salt the hominy; put it in, and cover it over with a plate; let it cook slowly for half an hour, or longer if you like it very brown; when done, turn it out in a plate. If you do not like it fried, mash it well, with a little water, salt, and b.u.t.ter, and warm it in a frying-pan.
To Boil Potatoes.
When the potatoes are old, pare them, put them in plenty of boiling water, and boil them till you can run a fork through easily; if you wish to have them whole, pour off all the water, throw in some salt, and let them stand a few minutes over coals, to let the steam go off; they will then be white and mealy.
It is a mistaken notion, to boil potatoes in but little water, as they are sure to turn dark and taste strong. In cold weather they may be kept pared several days in a pan of water, by changing the water every day, and will be whiter. If you like mashed potatoes, take them up when barely done, sprinkle them with salt and mash them; put in a spoonful of cream and a small lump of b.u.t.ter; keep them hot till they are taken to table.
In the summer when potatoes are young, put them in a small tub, with a little water, and rub them with a piece of brick, to break the skin; you can then peel enough for dinner with a knife in a few minutes. When they are older, boil them with the skins on, and squeeze them separately in a cloth, to make them mealy. New potatoes are nice with cream and b.u.t.ter over them.
In boiling old potatoes, some persons cut them round without paring, which allows the moisture to escape; this is an improvement: you can then either peel them or send them to table without peeling.
To Stew Potatoes.
Chop or slice cold potatoes; season with pepper and salt; stew them, with a little b.u.t.ter and milk, and a dust of flour; when nearly done, stir in a yelk of egg with some chopped parsley--they will cook in a few minutes, and may be sliced over night if you wish an early breakfast.
Sweet Potatoes.
To boil sweet potatoes, put them in a pot with plenty of water; let them boil fast till you can run a fork through the largest; then pour off the water, and leave them in the pot a quarter of an hour; you can then peel the skin off or leave it on. Some prefer them baked in a dutch-oven; they should have a quick heat; large potatoes will take an hour to bake.
It has been found a good way to boil them, till nearly done; then peel and bake them--they are drier and nicer.
To Fry Potatoes.
Cold potatoes are very good fried for breakfast with sc.r.a.ps of bacon; if they have been mashed, make them out in cakes with a little flour, and fry them brown, or slice them.
Tomatoes.
If you wish to bake tomatoes in the oven with bread, pour boiling water on, and skin them; cut them in small pieces; season with salt and pepper, and put them in a pan with crumbs of bread and b.u.t.ter; cover the pan with a plate, and bake three-quarters of an hour; when done, mash them and take them out on a dish.
To Fry Tomatoes.
Slice them, season with pepper and salt, and fry in hot b.u.t.ter; if they are green, dip them in flour after being seasoned.
Tomato Omelet.
Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, skin and cut them fine; to one quart of this, put two chopped onions and a lump of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg; let them boil half an hour, then mash them; put in grated bread, pepper, salt, and the yelks of two eggs.
To Stew Tomatoes.
Wash and pour boiling water over them; peel off the skins, and cut them up; season them with pepper and salt; put in a lump of b.u.t.ter, and boil them in their own juice for half an hour; stir in enough crumbs of bread to thicken them; let them cook slowly ten minutes longer; be careful that the bread does not burn.