SALAD DRESSINGS.
=Cream Dressing.=--Where oil is disliked in salads, the following dressing will be found excellent. Rub the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs very fine with a spoon, incorporate with them a dessertspoonful of mixed mustard, then stir in a tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, half a teacupful of thick cream, a saltspoonful of salt, and cayenne pepper enough to take up on the point of a very small pen-knife blade, and a few drops of anchovy or Worcestershire sauce; add very carefully sufficient vinegar to reduce the mixture to a smooth, creamy consistency.
=French Dressing.=--Use one tablespoonful of vinegar to three of salad oil (melted b.u.t.ter will do) one teaspoonful of salt to half the quant.i.ty of pepper and a teaspoonful of made mustard. Mix the salt, pepper, mustard and oil together, then add the vinegar a few drops at a time, stirring fast. A teaspoonful of sc.r.a.ped onion may be added for those who like the flavor.
=Mayonnaise Dressing.=--Put in the bottom of a quart bowl the yolk of a raw egg, a level teaspoonful of salt, and three-fourths of a teaspoonful of pepper; have ready about half a cupful of vinegar, and a bottle of salad oil; use a wooden spoon and fork for mixing the mayonnaise--first the egg and seasoning together, then begin to add the oil, two or three drops at a time, stirring the mayonnaise constantly until a thick paste is formed; to this add two or three drops at a time, still stirring, enough vinegar to reduce the paste to the consistency of thick cream; then stir in more oil, until the mayonnaise is again stiff, when a little more vinegar should be added; proceed in this way until the oil is all used, being careful toward the last to use the vinegar cautiously, so that when the mayonnaise is finished it will be stiff enough to remain on the top of the salad. Some like the addition of a level teaspoonful of dry mustard to a pint of mayonnaise.
=Plain Salad Dressing.=--Set a bowl over a boiling teakettle, into it put a tablespoonful each of melted b.u.t.ter and mustard, rub them well together, then add a tablespoonful of sugar, one half-cup of vinegar and lastly three well-beaten eggs. Stir constantly while cooking, to make the mixture smooth, when done, strain and bottle for use. If too thick upon serving, thin with cream.
BOILED SALSIFY.
Sc.r.a.pe off the outer skin of the roots, cut in small pieces and throw into water with a little vinegar to prevent turning brown. Boil at least an hour, as they should be quite soft to be good. When done put in a little salt codfish picked very fine. Season with b.u.t.ter, salt, and cream, thickened with a little flour or cornstarch and serve with bits of toast. The fish helps to give it a sea-flavor. Instead of fish the juice of half a lemon may be used or it is good without any added flavor.
ESCALLOPED SALSIFY.
Cook salsify in salted water until tender, alternate it in a baking dish with bread crumbs seasoned with pepper and salt, and dot with b.u.t.ter.
Moisten it with cream or milk and a little melted b.u.t.ter, cover the top with bread crumbs dotted with b.u.t.ter, and bake a light brown.
SALSIFY FRITTERS.
Sc.r.a.pe some oyster plant and drop quickly into cold water with a few drops of vinegar to prevent its turning dark. Boil until soft in salted water, mash fine, and for every half pint of the pulp add one well beaten egg, a teaspoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, a tablespoonful of cream, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, salt and pepper. Drop into boiling lard or drippings and fry brown. Or, instead of mashing the salsify after boiling, some prefer to drain it, and to dip each piece in batter and fry it in hot lard. Season with salt and pepper after frying, drain in a napkin and serve hot.
FRIED SALSIFY.
Sc.r.a.pe, cut into finger lengths and boil in salted water, drain and cover with a dressing of oil and vinegar, salt and pepper. Let stand until well seasoned, then drain again, sprinkle with parsley and fry in hot fat. Put in but few pieces at a time as each needs attention. Dry in a hot colander and serve.
SALSIFY SOUP.
Use a pint of salsify cut fine, boil until soft in a pint of water, mash and put through a sieve. Have ready three pints of boiling milk, into this put the salsify, liquor and pulp, thicken with a tablespoonful of flour, and season with b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt. Roll crackers and stir in three tablespoonfuls of cracker dust.
SAUCES.
=Asparagus Sauce.=--Use the tender part of the stalks for the main dish, boil the tougher part until it is as soft as it will be, then rub through a coa.r.s.e sieve. Put the pulp into a mixture of one tablespoonful each of b.u.t.ter and flour and let it simmer for a few moments, add a half-cup of water in which the asparagus was boiled, season with salt and pepper and boil thoroughly; just before taking from the fire add a half-cup of hot cream or one-half cup of milk and water, and a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter; a little grating of nutmeg improves the flavor.
=Bechamel Sauce.=--Bechamel sauce is a white one and needs a white stock; if there is none at hand make it in the following manner: cut up lean veal, free from fat into three-inch cubes and put them into a stewpan.
Add one small onion, one small carrot cut into pieces, and six ounces of b.u.t.ter. Fry the vegetables in the b.u.t.ter ten minutes, without coloring, then stir in three ounces of flour, and continue stirring five minutes longer. Add three pints of stock, one pint of cream, five ounces of mushrooms, a small sprinkling of dried herbs, one half teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of white pepper. Stir until it comes to a boil, skim occasionally to remove the fat, and simmer for two hours. Strain through a cloth or fine sieve into a porcelain stewpan with a gill of cream.
Simmer over the fire till it coats the spoon, strain again through a cloth or fine sieve into a basin, and set till the sauce is cold. This sauce requires the cook"s utmost attention.
=b.u.t.ter Sauce or Drawn b.u.t.ter Sauce.=--Mix one tablespoonful each of b.u.t.ter and flour to a smooth paste, put in a saucepan to melt, not to brown, and add one cupful of water, broth, or milk. Season with one teaspoonful of salt and one saltspoonful of pepper. Stir constantly while boiling. This is a good sauce in itself and is the foundation of many other sauces; it is varied with different vegetable flavors, catsups, vinegars, spices, lemon juice, leaves and the different sweet herbs.
=Brown Sauce or Spanish Sauce.=--Brown a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, add the same amount of flour and brown again, add a cup of boiling water, stock or milk, and stir while it is cooking, strain if necessary; a clove, a bay leaf, and a tablespoonful of minced onion or carrot browned in the b.u.t.ter varies the flavor.
=Caper Sauce.=--Stir into some good melted b.u.t.ter from three to four dessertspoonfuls of capers; add a little of the vinegar and dish the sauce as soon as it boils.
=Celery Sauce.=--Cut half a dozen heads, or so, of celery into small pieces; cook in a little slightly salted water until tender, and then rub through a colander. Put a pint of white stock into a stewpan with two blades of mace, and a small bunch of savory herbs; simmer half an hour to extract their flavor, then strain them out, add the celery and a thickening of flour or corn-starch; scald well, and just before serving, pour in a teacupful of cream, or if one has not the cream, use the same amount of scalded milk and a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, season to taste with salt and white pepper, squeeze in a little lemon juice, if one has it, and serve. If brown gravy is preferred thicken with browned flour, and it is improved by a little Worcestershire sauce or mushroom catsup.
=Cream Sauce.=--Rub to a smooth paste one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and the same of flour, put into a saucepan and melt, do not brown; have ready a cup of hot cream, or the same amount of milk enriched by a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and add to the b.u.t.ter and flour. Stir constantly until it thickens. A dusting of grated nutmeg, grated cheese or a saltspoonful of chopped onion lightly browned in the b.u.t.ter is an agreeable addition.
=Cuc.u.mber Sauce.=--Use two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a scant tablespoonful of vinegar or lemon juice, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, and a saltspoonful of mustard with a teaspoonful of cuc.u.mber; rub the oil and mustard together before adding the other ingredients, stir well and serve very soon as it spoils by standing.
=Egg Sauce.=--Boil the eggs hard, cut them into small squares, and mix them with good b.u.t.ter sauce. Make hot and add a little lemon juice before serving.
=Hollandaise Sauce.=--One half a teacupful of b.u.t.ter, the juice of half a lemon, the yolks of two eggs, a speck of cayenne, one-half cupful of boiling water, one-half teaspoonful of salt; beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream, add the yolks one by one, the lemon juice, pepper and salt; place the bowl in which these are mixed in a saucepan of boiling water; beat with an egg-beater until the sauce begins to thicken, and add boiling water, beating all the time; when like a soft custard, it is done; the bowl, if thin, must be kept over the fire not more than five minutes, as if boiled too much it spoils.
=Horseradish Sauce.=--Two teaspoonfuls of made mustard, two of white sugar, one-half teaspoonful of salt and a gill of vinegar; mix and pour over sufficient grated horseradish to moisten thoroughly.
=Lyonnaise Sauce.=--Brown a small onion minced in a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and the same of flour, add a half-cupful of meat broth, a teaspoonful of parsley, salt and pepper and cook long enough to season well.
=Mint Sauce.=--Four dessertspoonfuls of mint, two of sugar, one gill of vinegar; stir all together; make two or three hours before wanted.
=Mushroom Sauce.=--Mix one tablespoonful each of flour and b.u.t.ter, melt in a stewpan, add a cupful of rich white stock or cream and stir until it thickens; put in a half-cupful of freshly boiled or of canned mushrooms, let all come to a boil again, season with a saltspoonful of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper; serve hot.
=Mustard Sauce, French.=--Slice an onion in a bowl; cover with good vinegar. After two days pour off the vinegar; add to it a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, and mustard enough to thicken; mix, set upon the stove and stir until it boils. When cold it is ready for use.
=Mustard Sauce, German.=--Four tablespoonfuls of ground mustard, one tablespoonful of flour, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, one of salt, two of cinnamon, one of cloves, one of cayenne pepper, three of melted b.u.t.ter; mix with one pint of boiling vinegar.
=Onion Sauce.=--Mince an onion; fry it in b.u.t.ter in a stewpan. Pour over it a gill of vinegar; let it remain on the stove until it is simmered one-third away. Add a pint of gravy, a bunch of parsley, two or three cloves, pepper and salt. Thicken with a little flour and b.u.t.ter, strain, and remove any particles of fat.
=Parsley Sauce.=--Parsley sauce is the usual "cream sauce," to which is added a tablespoonful of minced parsley and one hard boiled egg finely chopped.
=Tartare Sauce.=--Tartare sauce is a French salad dressing to which is added a tablespoonful each of chopped olives, parsley, and capers or nasturtiums; instead of capers or nasturtiums chopped cuc.u.mbers or gherkins can be used. Set on ice until used.
=Tomato Sauce.=--Boil together for one hour, a pint of tomatoes, one gill of broth of any kind, one sprig of thyme, three whole cloves, three pepper corns, and half an ounce of sliced onions; rub through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and set the sauce to keep hot; mix together over the fire one ounce of b.u.t.ter and half an ounce of flour, and when smooth add to the tomato sauce.
=Vinaigrette Sauce.=--A vinaigrette sauce is a brown sauce flavored with vinegar just before serving; it must be cider vinegar, or one of the fancy vinegars, as tarragon, parsley, martynia and the like; or, rub a teaspoonful of mustard into a tablespoonful of olive oil, to which add a teaspoonful of salt and one-half teaspoonful of pepper. Lastly add very slowly a half-cup of vinegar stirring vigorously.
=White Sauce.=--Put one tablespoon each of flour and b.u.t.ter in a saucepan and stir together until they bubble; then gradually stir in a pint of boiling water or white stock; season with salt and pepper and let boil a moment longer. To vary it, the beaten whites of two eggs may be stirred in just before serving.
SCORZONERA.
The roots are eaten boiled like those of salsify--or like the Jerusalem artichoke. The recipes of either are applicable to scorzonera. The leaves of scorzonera are used in salad with a plain or French dressing.
SHALLOTS.
The bulbs are more delicate than onions, and are used to flavor soups, salads, dressings and sauces. The leaves when young help in forming salads.
SORREL AND SWISS CHARD.
Sorrel and Swiss chard are often used together as the chard modifies the acidity of the sorrel. They make acceptable greens when used together and are treated like spinach.