Miss Parloa's New Cook Book · Chapter 21Part 21
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Raised Corn Cake.
One pint of Indian meal, one pint and a half of boiling milk or water, one table-spoonful of sugar, two of butter, an egg, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a cake of compressed yeast or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast. Pour the boiling milk, gradually, on the meal; then add the salt, sugar and butter, and beat well. Set away to cool. When blood warm, add the compressed yeast, dissolved in two table-spoonfuls of cold water, or the liquid yeast, and the egg, well beaten. Let the batter rise five hours. Turn into buttered pans to the depth of about two niches. Let it stand in a warm place for half an hour, and then bake it from thirty-five to forty-five minutes.
Thin Corn Cake.
One cupful of Indian meal, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, butter the size of an egg, one cupful and a half of boiling water, one teaspoonful of sugar. Pour the boiling water on the meal, sugar and salt. Beat thoroughly. Add the butter, and, when well mixed, spread very thin on buttered tin sheets. Bake slowly for about twenty minutes.
Rye Muffins.
One pint of rye meal, not flour; one pint of wheat flour, one pint of milk, half a cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of soda, two of cream of tartar and two eggs. Put the meal in a mixing bowl. Put the flour and other ingredients in a sieve, and mix thoroughly, and sift. Beat the eggs light. Add the milk to them and pour on the dry ingredients. Beat well. Butter the muffin tins and bake twenty minutes is a quick oven. The quantities given will make twenty-four muffins. To make a less quantity, divide the dry mixture after it is prepared (it can be used whenever it may be wanted if it is kept dry); then halve the other ingredients.
Fried Rye Muffin.
One cupful and a half of rye meal, one cupful and a half of flour, one cupful of milk, two eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream of tartar, two generous table-spoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt. Put the meal in a large bowl. Put the flour, cream of tartar, soda, sugar and salt in the sieve, and rub through on to the meal. Beat the eggs well, add the milk to them, and stir into the dry ingredients. Fry the same as Indian muffins.
Rice Muffins.
One pint of milk, one quart of flour, one pint of boiled rice, three eggs, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of soda, two of cream of tartar. Mix the sugar, salt, soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs and add to the milk. Stir gradually into the flour. When a smooth, light paste, add the rice. Beat thoroughly. Bake thirty-five minutes in buttered pans. Three dozen muffins can be made from the quantities given.
Raised Rice Muffins.
One pint of warm milk, two cupfuls of warm boiled rice, one quart of bread flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast. Mix the butter, rice and milk together. Pour the mixture on the flour, and beat till a light batter is formed. Mix the yeast with four table-spoonfuls of cold water, and add it and the salt to the batter, which let rise over night in a cool place. In the morning fill buttered muffin pans two-thirds to the top, and set them in a warm place till the batter has so risen as to fill the tins. Bake thirty-five minutes. One-third of a cupful of liquid yeast may be substituted for the compressed yeast.
Hominy Muffins.
A pint of milk, a quart of Haxall flour, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one-third of a cake of compressed yeast, or one-third of a cupful of liquid yeast; half a cupful of hominy, measured before cooking. Wash the hominy, and add a pint of boiling water. Boil one hour, stirring often. Then add the milk, salt, yeast and butter. Pour this, gradually, on the flour, beating well. Let it rise over night In the morning put in buttered muffin pans and let rise from half to three-quarters of an hour. Bake thirty-five minutes. The muffins may be put to rise in the morning for tea.
Gems.
One pint of flour, one of milk, an egg, half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the egg until light, add the milk and salt to it, and beat, gradually, into the flour. Bake twenty minutes in hot gem pans. A dozen cakes can be made with the quantities given.
Hominy Drop-Cakes.
One pint of fresh boiled hominy (or, cold hominy may be used; if the latter, break into grains, as lightly as possible, with a fork, and heat in a farina kettle without adding water), one table-spoonful of water, two eggs--whites and yolks beaten separately. Stir the yolks into the hominy first, then the whites, and a teaspoonful of salt, if the hominy has not been salted in cooking; or, if it has, use half a teaspoonful. Drop, in table-spoonfuls, on well-buttered tin sheets, and bake to a good brown in a quick oven.
Squash Biscuit.
One cupful and a half of sifted squash, half a cupful of sugar, half a cake of compressed yeast, or half a cupful of liquid yeast; one cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, four table-spoonfuls of butter, five cupfuls of flour. Dissolve the yeast in a scant half cupful of cold water. Mix it and the milk, butter, sugar, salt and squash together, and stir into the flour. Knead well, and let it rise over night In the morning shape into biscuit. Let these rise an hour and a half, and bake them half an hour.
Sally Lunn.
One quart of flour, one generous pint of milk, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, two eggs, three table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, half a cake of compressed yeast. Have the milk blood warm, and add the butter, melted; the eggs, well beaten; and the yeast, dissolved in three table-spoonfuls of cold water. Pour, gradually, on the flour, and beat into a smooth batter; then add the salt and sugar. Butter baking pans, and pour in the batter to the depth of about two inches. Let it rise two hours in a warm place. Bake half an hour.
Snow Pancakes.
Half a pint of milk, an egg, an apple, pared, quartered, and chopped very fine; a cupful and a half of flour, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, a bowl of snow. Beat the egg light, and add the milk to it. Pour gradually on the flour, and beat until smooth and light Add the apple and salt, and at the last moment the snow. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling fat, and cook until a rich brown.
Waffles.
One pint of sifted flour, milk enough to make a thin batter (about two-thirds of a pint), two eggs, beaten very light; a table-spoonful of melted butter, and a little salt. Gradually mix the milk with the flour until there is a smooth paste; then add the salt and butter, and lastly the eggs. Have waffle irons about as hot as a griddle for cakes, and butter them well, or grease with pork as you would a griddle. Pour in enough of the batter to cover an iron, and put the other side gently down upon it. Keep over the fire about half a minute; then turn over, and let the other side remain to the fire the same time. Remove, and place the waffles where they will keep warm until enough are cooked to serve.
Many people butter the waffles as they place them on the dish, and others add sugar. This is very well if known to be to the taste of the family, but it is always safe to let each suit himself at the table.
Waffles, No. 2.
One pint of milk, two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, one scant pint and a half of flour. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs very light. Add the milk and the butter, which should be melted with two table-spoonfuls of boiling water. Stir into the flour.
Raised Waffles.
One pint of milk, one pint and a half of flour, an egg, a teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a yeast cake, or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast. Dissolve the yeast in two table-spoonfuls of cold water. Have the milk blood warm, and add to it the yeast, salt and the egg, well beaten. Stir gradually into the flour. Cover, and let it rise four hours. Cook as usual.
Indian Waffles.
Half a cupful of Indian meal, two cupfuls of boiling milk, two eggs, one generous cupful of flour, one table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of baking powder, half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the boiling milk on the meal and butter. Beat well, and set away to cool. Mix the other dry ingredients with, the flour, and sift. Beat the eggs, and add them and the flour to the cold mixture.
Rice Waffles.
Stir two cupfuls of boiled rice into the mixture for waffles, No. 2. Hominy waffles can be made in the same way.
Flannel Cakes.
One cupful of Indian meal, two of flour, three of boiling milk, one-fourth of a yeast cake, or one-fourth of a cupful of liquid yeast; one teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, two of butter. Have the milk boiling, and pour it on the meal and butter. When cool, add the flour, salt, sugar and the yeast, which has been dissolved in four table-spoonfuls of cold water. Let the mixture rise over night. Fry like griddle-cakes.
Graham Griddle-Cakes.
Two cupfuls of Graham, one of flour, two and a half of milk, one table-spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, two eggs. Let half the milk come to a boil. Pour it on the Graham, and stir until perfectly smooth; then add the cold milk, and set away to cool. Mix the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. Add with the eggs, well beaten, to the Graham and milk. Rye griddle-cakes are made the same way.
Squash Griddle-Cakes.
One pint of flour, nearly a pint of milk, two eggs, one tea-spoonful of cream of tartar, half as much soda, four table-spoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, two cupfuls of sifted squash. Mix the flour with the other dry ingredients, and rub through a sieve. Beat the eggs well, add them and the milk to the squash, and pour on the flour. Beat till smooth and light. This gives a thin batter. If the cakes are liked thick a little more flour may be used. Fry as usual. Indian Griddle-Oakes.
One cupful of Indian meal, one of flour, three of boiling milk, two eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, two table-spoonfuls of sugar. Have the milk boiling, and, gradually, pour it on the meal. Put the other dry ingredients with the flour, and rub through a sieve. When the scalded meal is cool, add to it the flour and the eggs, well beaten.
Hominy Griddle-Cakes.
To a pint of warm boiled hominy add a pint of milk or water and a pint of flour. Beat two or three eggs and stir into the batter with a little salt Fry as any other griddle-cakes. They are delicious.
EGGS.
Omelets.
There is no better form in which to serve eggs than as an omelet, but so few people make a good omelet that that is one of the last things the inexperienced housekeeper or cook will attempt. Yet the making is a simple operation, the cause of failure usually being that the pan for cooking is not hot enough, and too much egg is put in at one time. When there is too much egg in the pan, one part will be cooked hard before the other is heated through. A pan measuring eight inches in diameter will cook an omelet made with four eggs; if more eggs are used, a larger pan is necessary.
Plain Omelet.
Four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of milk, one table-spoonful of butter. Beat the eggs with a Dover, or any other good egg beater, and add the salt and milk. Have the pan very hot. Put in the spoonful of butter and pour in the beaten egg. Shake vigorously on the hottest part of the stove until the egg begins to thicken; then let it stand a few seconds to brown. Run the knife between the sides of the omelet and the pan, fold, and turn on a hot dish. Serve without delay.
Quaker Omelet.
A Quaker omelet is a handsome and sure dish when care is taken in the preparation. Three eggs, half a cupful of milk, one and a half table-spoonfuls of corn-starch, one tea-spoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of butter. Put the omelet pan, and a cover that will fit closely, on to heat. Beat well together the yolks of the eggs, the corn-starch and the salt. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Add to the well-beaten yolks and corn-starch. Stir all together very thoroughly, and add the milk. Put the butter in the hot pan. When melted, pour in the mixture. Cover, and place on the stove where it will brown, but not burn. Cook about seven minutes. Fold, turn on a hot dish, and serve with cream sauce poured around it. If the yolks and corn-starch are thoroughly beaten, and if, when the stiff whites are added, they are well mixed, and the pan and cover are very hot, there can hardly be failure.
Cheese Omelet.
Make the same as plain omelet, and as soon as it begins to thicken, sprinkle in three table-spoonfuls of grated cheese.
Ham Omelet.
The same as plain omelet, and add three table-spoonfuls of cooked ham, chopped rather fine, as soon as it begins to thicken.
Chicken Omelet.
The same as plain omelet, and, just before folding, add one cupful of cooked chicken, cut rather fine, and warmed in cream sauce.
Jelly Omelet.
A jelly omelet is made like the others, and, just before folding, spread with any kind of jelly (currant or grape is the best, however). Fold quickly, and serve.
Savory Omelet.
This is made like a plain omelet, with the addition of salt and one table-spoonful of chopped parsley. A little grated onion may be used also, if you like it.
Fish Omelet.
Boil a shad roe twenty minutes in salt and water. Chop it fine, and add to it a cupful of any kind of cold fish, broken fine. Season with salt and pepper, and warm in a cupful of cream sauce. Make a plain omelet with six eggs. When ready to fold, spread the prepared fish on it. Roll up, dish, and serve immediately.
Corn Omelet.
One pint of cold boiled corn, four eggs, half a cupful of milk, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, a little pepper, three table-spoonfuls of butter. Beat the eggs, and add to them the salt, pepper, milk and corn. Fry like a plain omelet.
Baked Omelet.
One pint and a half of milk, four eggs, one table-spoonful of flour, one of butter, one teaspoonful of salt. Let the milk come to a boil. Mix the butter and flour together. Pour the boiling milk on the mixture, which then cook five minutes, stirring all the while. Put away to cool. When cooled, add the salt and the eggs, the yolks and whites having been beaten separately. Pour into a buttered dish, and bake twenty minutes in a quick oven. Serve at once. The dish should hold a little more than a quart.
Dropped Eggs,
Have one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt in a frying-pan. Break the eggs, one by one, into a saucer, and slide carefully into the salted water. Cook until the white is firm, and lift out with a griddle-cake turner and place on toasted bread. Serve immediately.
Scrambled Eggs.
Four eggs, one table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the eggs, and add the salt to them. Melt the butter in a sauce-pan. Turn in the beaten eggs, stir quickly over a hot fire for one minute, and serve.
Poached Eggs.
Two eggs, two table-spoonfuls of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of butter. Beat the eggs, and add the salt and milk. Put the butter in a small sauce-pan, and when it melts, add the eggs. Stir over the fire until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it cook hard. About two minutes will cook it. The eggs, when done, should be soft and creamy. Serve immediately.
Soft-boiled Eggs.
Place the eggs in a warm saucepan, and cover with boiling water. Let them stand where they will keep hot, but not boil, for ten minutes. This method will cook both whites and yolks.
Soft-boiled Eggs, No. 2.
Put the eggs in boiling water, and boil three minutes and a half. By this method the white of the egg is hardened so quickly that the heat does not penetrate to the yolk until the last minute, and consequently the white is hard and the yolk hardly cooked enough. The first method is, therefore, the more healthful.
Hard-boiled Eggs.
Put the eggs in hot water to cover, and boil twenty minutes. Ten minutes will boil them hard, but they are not so digestible as when boiled twenty. Ten minutes makes the yolks hard and soggy; twenty makes them light and mealy.
Spanish Eggs.
Cook one cupful of rice thirty minutes in two quarts of boiling water, to which has been added one table-spoonful of salt. Drain through a colander, and add one table-spoonful of butter. Spread very lightly on a hot platter. On the rice place six dropped eggs, and serve.
Eggs Sur Le Plat.
Little stone china dishes come expressly for this mode of serving eggs. Heat and butter the dish, and break into it two eggs, being careful not to break the yolks. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, and drop on them half a teaspoonful of butter, broken in small pieces. Place in a moderately-hot oven until the white is set, which will be in about five minutes. There should be a dish for each person. The flavor can be changed by sprinkling a little finely-chopped ham or parsley on the plate before putting in the eggs.
Creamed Eggs.
Boil six eggs twenty minutes. Make one pint of cream sauce. Have six slices of toast on a hot dish. Put a layer of sauce on each one, and then part of the whites of the eggs, cut in thin strips; and rub part of the yolks through a sieve on to the toast. Repeat this, and finish with a third layer of sauce. Place in the oven for about three minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
Stuffed Eggs.
Cut six hard-boiled eggs in two. Take out the yolks and mash them fine. Add two teaspoonfuls of butter, one of cream, two or three drops of onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix all thoroughly. Fill the eggs from the mixture, and put them together. There will be a little filling left, to which add a well-beaten egg. Cover the other eggs with this last preparation, and roll in cracker crumbs. Fry in boiling lard till a light brown.
Scotch Eggs.
One cupful of cooked lean ham, chopped very fine; one-third of a cupful of stale bread crumbs, one-third of a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, cayenne enough to cover a silver five-cent piece, one raw egg, and six hard-boiled. Cook the bread and milk together until a smooth paste. Add to the ham, and add the seasoning and raw egg. Mix thoroughly. Break the shells from the hard-boiled eggs, and cover with this mixture. Put in a frying basket, and plunge into boiling fat for two minutes. These are nice for lunch, tea, or picnics.
Eggs, Brouillé.
Six eggs, half a cupful of milk, or, better still, of cream; two mushrooms, one teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, three table-spoonfuls of butter, a slight grating of nutmeg. Cut the mushrooms into dice, and fry them for one minute in one table-spoonful of the butter. Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, and cream together, and put them in a saucepan. Add the butter and mushrooms to these ingredients. Stir over a moderate heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Take from the fire and beat rapidly until the eggs become quite thick and creamy. Have slices of toast on a hot dish. Heap the mixture on these, and garnish with points of toast. Serve immediately.
ECONOMICAL DISHES.
Calf's Liver, Braised.
Wash and wipe a calf's liver. Lard one side of it. Cover the bottom of the braising pan with slices of salt pork, using about a quarter of a pound. Cut an onion and half a carrot in small pieces, and spread over the pork. Lay the liver on this, and dredge thickly with salt, pepper and flour. Cover the pan, and place where it will cook slowly for half an hour. Add a bouquet of sweet herbs and three pints of stock or water. Put the pan in a moderate oven and cook for two hours. Baste frequently with the gravy in the pan, and salt, pepper and flour. About twenty minutes before the liver is done, add one teaspoonful of vinegar and one of lemon juice. Strain the gravy over the liver when it is dished.
Beef Stew.
Take the bones and hard, tough parts left from a roast of beef. Remove all the meat from the bones, and cut it in small pieces. Cut about a quarter of a pound of the fat of the meat in very small pieces. Put it in the stew-pan to fry. When it begins to brown, put in half a carrot, one small turnip, and two onions, cut fine. Stir over the fire for ten minutes. Take out the fat and vegetables, and put the bones in the bottom of the kettle. Add the meat and the cooked vegetables, but not the fat. Dredge well with salt, pepper, and flour, shaking in at least half a cupful of flour. Add three pints of water, and simmer gently one hour; then put in six potatoes, pared and cut in slices. Simmer one hour longer. Taste to see if seasoned enough. Draw forward where it will boil more rapidly. Stir the stew, and put in the dumplings. Cook just ten minutes. The cover of the stew-pan must fit tightly. There should be about two pounds of meat for this stew, not counting the bones.
Cold Meat with Purée of Potato.
Six good-sized potatoes, one table-spoonful of butter, one cupful of boiling milk, salt and pepper to taste. Pare and boil the potatoes, and mash light and fine. Add the butter, seasoning and boiling milk. Beat up light, and spread on a hot platter. Lay on this handsome slices of any kind of cold meat, and on each slice put a table-spoonful of hot gravy. Put a little gravy around the dish, and set in the oven for five minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve. If there is no gravy left from the dinner of the day before, make a pint in the following manner: Put a quart of water with some of the hard pieces and bones of the meat, and boil down to one pint. Put one table-spoonful of butter in a frying-pan, and, when hot, add one table-spoonful of flour. Stir until dark brown, and strain the broth on this. Season with salt, pepper and, if you please, one spoonful of Halford sauce.
Shepherds' Pie.
One quart of any kind of cold meat, eight large potatoes, one small onion, one cupful of boiling milk, salt, pepper, and nearly a pint of gravy or stock, thickened with one table-spoonful of flour. Season the meat and put in a deep earthen dish. Grate the onion into the gravy, and pour over the meat. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes. Add the salt, pepper and milk and one table-spoonful of butter. Cover the pie with this, and bake gently half an hour.
Shepherds' Pie, No. 2.
Cut into dice one quart of any kind of cold meat. Mince very fine two table-spoonfuls of salt pork, and add to the meat. Pare and cut into dice four large uncooked potatoes; grate or chop fine one onion; chop fine one table-spoonful of parsley. Mix, and season well with salt and pepper, and add a large cupful of water. Put in a deep earthen dish. Make a paste with four potatoes, two table-spoonfuls of butter, a large cupful of boiling milk and a pint of flour. Pare, boil and mash the potatoes; then add butter, salt and milk. When all is very light, beat in the flour, gradually. Sprinkle the board with flour, and roll the paste a little larger than the dish. Make a hole in the centre, to let out the air. Cover the dish with the paste, being careful to have the edge come inside the dish. Bake gently one hour.
Escaloped Meat.
Chop the meat rather coarse. Season with salt and pepper. For one pint of meat use half a cupful of gravy and a heaping cupful of bread crumbs. Put a layer of the meat in an escalop dish, then gravy, then a thin layer of crumbs; and continue this until the dish is full. The last layer should be a thick one of crumbs. Cook in a hot oven from fifteen to twenty minutes. All kinds of cold meat can be escaloped, but beef is so dry that it is not so good as mutton, veal, etc,
Curry of Cold Meat.
Three table-spoonfuls of butter, three teaspoonfuls of flour, one onion, one teaspoonful of curry powder, salt, pepper, one generous pint of stock or water, about two pounds of any kind of cold meat, cut in thin slices. Put the butter in the frying-pan, and, when hot, add the onion. When the onion turns yellow, add the flour and curry powder. Stir two minutes, add the stock or water, simmer five minutes, and strain on the meat. Simmer all together for ten minutes. Serve with a border of rice or mashed potatoes.
Barley Stew.
About a quarter of a pound of cold roasted or broiled meat, two onions, four potatoes, a quarter of a cupful of barley, one table-spoonful of flour, one quart of water, and salt and pepper to taste. Cut the meat into dice; wash the barley; cut the onions very fine. Put all in a stew-pan, and dredge with the flour, half a table-spoonful of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Add the water, and simmer two hours. Pare and slice the potatoes. Add them to the stew, and simmer one hour longer. Taste to see if there is enough, salt and pepper, and if there is not, add more.
Dumplings.
One pint of flour, measured before sifting; half a teaspoonful of soda, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt. Mix all thoroughly and run through the sieve. Wet with a small cupful of milk. Sprinkle a little flour on the board. Turn the dough (which should have been stirred into a smooth ball with a spoon) on it roll to the thickness of half an inch, cut into small cakes, and cook ten minutes.
By remembering that the soup should be boiling rapidly when the dumplings are put in; that they should not sink too deep in it; that they should boil just ten minutes; that the cover should fit tightly, so that the steam shall not escape; and that the pot boils all the time, so that the steam is kept up; and by following the other directions, success is insured.
BREAD.
When you put the bread on the board, pat it lightly. Do not press down, but let all motions be as elastic as possible. Knead with the palm until the dough is a flat cake, and then fold. Keep doing this until the dough is light and smooth and will not stick to the board or hands. Use as little flour as possible in kneading. Do not stop until you have fully finished, for bread that has "rested" is not good. Milk can be used instead of water in mixing. It should always be first scalded, and then allowed to cool to blood heat. One table-spoonful of lard or butter makes the bread tenderer when water is used.
In cold weather some kitchens grow cold very quickly after the fire is out. In this case the bread should be made earlier in the evening, and set in a warmer place (about eighty or ninety degrees); because if it begins to rise within the first two hours, it will continue to rise, unless the temperature falls to the freezing point. The reason for letting the rolls rise longer than the loaves is that the former, being smaller, are penetrated by heat much more quickly than the loaves are, and, of course, fermentation is stopped sooner; therefore, the rolls do not rise as much in the oven as the loaves.