To make a stew, which is the basis of a number of other dishes, take 1/2 lb. German lentils and scald for a minute or two in boiling water to make sure that they are thoroughly clean. Drain, and put in good-sized saucepan with plenty of fresh boiling water, and allow to simmervery gentlyfor an hour. In another stewpan melt 1 oz. butter, and into that shred very finely two or three onions. Cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes to bring out the flavour. They may brown or not as preferred, but there must not be the least suspicion of burning. Turn the lentils into this pan, add some chopped celery if at hand—it is very good without, but to my taste most dishes are improved by celery—and allow to simmer an hour longer. See that there is plenty of water—there should be a rich brown gravy. Add seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, Jamaica pepper, parsley, &c. A few tomatoes may be added, or carrots, turnips, &c. A few ozs. macaroni, par-boiled in salted boiling water and added an hour or less before, will make one of the many pleasing varieties of this dish. Serve like a mince, garnished with sippets of toast or fried bread, or toasted Triscuits.
Savoury Pot-Pie.
Line a pudding basin with suet paste [Footnote: See pastry.], and fill in with lentils cooked as above, and tomatoes, or any vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, cauliflower, beetroot, &c., to keep the mixture from being too heavy, for whatever may be thought to the contrary, there is a much larger proportion of solid nutriment to the bulk in pulse foods than in the "too, too solid flesh" which we esteem so highly. And, at the risk of wearying readers with reiteration, I must say again that herein lies the danger. Quite a number of people have told me that they would like such foods, buttheycould not take enough to keep up their strength, and were reproachfully incredulous when, ignoring the gentle insinuation as tootherpeople's capacity, I told them the great difficulty was to take little enough! But we must finish the pot-pie. Put a thin round of paste on the top. Wet the edges and press together, tie down with greased paper, and steam 2 to 3 hours. Turn out and send to table with suitable hot garnish.
The same paste may be made into little balls or flat cakes and put to cook with lentil stew, but great care must be taken to see that there is plenty gravy, and that they cook very gently, for if they "catch" ever so slightly they are spoiled. All danger of this can be avoided by steaming in a basin or jar instead of cooking in open pan.
Savoury Brick.
Take about 2 teacupfuls cooked German lentils—not too moist. Put in a basin and add a cupful fine bread crumbs, and a cupful cold boiled rice or about half as much mashed potatoes. Add any extra seasoning—a little ketchup, Worcester sauce, Marmite or Carnos Extract, &c.—also a spoonful of melted butter. Mix well with a fork and bind with one or two beaten eggs, reserving a little for brushing. Shape into a brick or oval, and press together as firmly as possible. Brush over with beaten egg, put in buttered tin, and bake for half-an-hour. Or it may be put in saucepan with 1 oz. butter or Nut Butter that has been made very hot. Cover and braize for 10 minutes. Turn and cook for another 10 minutes. Add a little flour and seasoning to the butter, and then a cupful boiling water, stock, or diluted "Extract," and allow to simmer a little longer. Serve with garnish of beetroot or tomatoes.
This can also be made into a delicious
Cold Savoury.
Bake or braize as above. Remove to the ashet on which it is to be served.Allow to get quite cold, then glaze. [Footnote: See Glaze.]
Sausages
are made of the same ingredients as savoury brick. Pound well in a basin, so as to have all the materials nicely blended, or put in a saucepan over gentle heat, and mash well with a wooden spoon. See that the seasoning is right. Some chopped tomatoes and mushrooms are an improvement, also some grated onion, ketchup, and "Extract." These should be put in saucepan with a little butter until lightly cooked, then the lentils, &c., should be added, the whole well mixed and turned out to cool. When quite cold, flour the hands and form into small sausages. Brush over with beaten egg and fry, or put on greased baking tin and bake till a crisp brown. They may need a little basting, or to be turned over to brown equally.
The filling for
Sausage Rolls
is compounded exactly as above, but should be rather moister, and have more butter added to prevent their being too dry. Have quantity required of rough puff pastry. [Footnote: See Pastry.] Roll out and divide into 9 or 10 4-inch squares. Put a little sausage meat in centre, wet the edges and fold over. Press the edges lightly together with pastry cutter, if you have one, brush all over with beaten egg except the edges. Place on oven plate and put at once in hot oven. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. They may be served either hot or cold, but are best hot. They can easily be re-heated in oven at any time.
Fifeshire Bridies
may have the same filling put in plain short crust, or raised pie-crust, rolled very thin and cut in oval or diamond shapes. Fold over, and turn up the under edge all round. Brush over with egg and bake—if raised pie crust—in rather a slower oven.
Rissoles.
Roll out rough puff or short crust very thin, stamp out into rounds, put a little of the mince on one, wet edges and put another on top, press very firmly together, brush over with egg and fry in deep, smoking-hot fat.
German Pie.
Take an ordinary pie-dish, such as used for steak pie. Have one or two large Spanish onions half-cooked, remove the centres, and put in pie-dish. This will serve both to keep up the paste and to hold gravy. Fill up the dish with partially stewed German lentils, and either sliced tomatoes or pieces of carrot and turnip first fried in a little butter. There should also be plenty of chopped onions put in the bottom of the dish, which should be buttered. Fill nearly up with well-seasoned stock, "Extract," gravy, or water, cover with rough puff paste, and bake for an hour or longer, according to size. There should be a hole in top of pastry, covered with an ornament, which could be lifted off, and some more gravy put in with a funnel. Serve very hot. If to be used cold, a little soaked tapioca should be cooked with it, or some vegetable gelatine might be dissolved in the gravy.
By way of variety, a few force-meat balls may be put in; also mushrooms when in season.
Haricot Pie
is made much the same as above, substituting Butter Beans or Giant Haricots for the German lentils. They should be soaked all night and nearly cooked before using. Put in a layer of beans, sprinkle in a little tapioca, then put a layer of sliced tomatoes and repeat. Fried beetroot may be used instead of tomatoes, and crushed vermicelli or bread crumbs instead of tapioca.
Haricot Raised Pie,
which is very good to eat cold for pic-nic luncheon, &c., is made as follows:—Soak 1/2 lb. large beans all night, when the skins should come off easily, and put to stew or steam with butter, shred onions, and a very little stock or water till soft, but not broken down. Set aside to cool. Prepare a raised pie case [Footnote: See Pastry.], put in half the beans, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and a layer of hard-boiled eggs. Repeat. Put on lid, which should have hole in centre, and bake in a good, steady oven for an hour. Meanwhile, have some strips of vegetable gelatine soaking, pour off the water, and bring to boil in a cupful well-seasoned stock, "Extract," gravy, &c. Stir till gelatine is dissolved, and when the pie is removed from the oven, pour this in. When cold this should be a firm jelly, and the pie will cut in slices. If tomato or aspic jelly is prepared, some of that would save trouble. Melt and pour in.
There are many other toothsome ways of serving haricot and butter beans. In every case they should first be well washed, soaked, and three-parts cooked with stock or water, butter, onions, and seasoning.
Savoury Haricot Pie.
This is made without paste. Put a layer of beans in buttered pie-dish, then pieces of carrot and turnip—previously par-boiled—to fill up the dish. Pour in a little gravy. Cover with a good white sauce, well seasoned with made mustard, chopped parsley, &c., and coat thickly with bread crumbs. Dot over with bits of butter, and bake 30 or 40 minutes.
Many variations will suggest themselves—cauliflower, parsnips, vegetable marrow, sliced tomatoes, beetroot, &c., instead of the other vegetables. Or the same ingredients as in the first haricot pie might be used, with the crumbs instead of pastry.
Haricot Ragout.
Half pound soaked beans boiled till tender in one pint water, with butter and sliced onions. Drain, but keep the liquor. Slice some carrots and turnips thin, fry lightly, and then simmer in the liquor for half-an-hour. Put a little butter in stewpan, slice and cook two onions in that, with the lid on, stir in a tablespoonful flour, and add the haricots, vegetables, and the liquor. Simmer gently till all are quite cooked, and serve. Some tomatoes or a little extract may be added, and it can be varied in many other ways.
Golden Marbles.
Take nearly a teacupful of haricots pulped through a sieve, and add to this 2 ozs. bread crumbs. Same of mashed potatoes; a shallot finely minced, or a spoonful of grated onion. Beat up an egg and add, reserving a little. Mix thoroughly, and form into marbles. Coat with the egg, toss in fine crumbs, and fry in smoking-hot fat till golden brown in colour.
Haricot Kromeskies
can be made with the same mixture as for marbles. Some chopped tomatoes, beetroot, or mushrooms may be added. If the mixture is too moist add a few more crumbs; if too dry add a little ketchup, milk, tomato juice, &c. Form into sausage-shaped pieces or small flat cakes. Dip into frying batter, and drop into smoking-hot fat. When a golden brown lift out, and drain on absorbent paper. Serve them, as also the golden marbles, on sippets of toast or fried bread with tomato or parsley sauce.
Haricot Croquettes or Cutlets
are of course made with any of these mixtures. Shape into cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry in the usual way.
There are an immense number more dishes which can be made with pulse foods, for which I have not space here. There are also a number of new varieties of pulses being put upon the market, which can be used with advantage to vary the bill of fare and enlarge its scope.
Giant Split Peas
are especially good, and might be used in any of the foregoing recipes in place of haricots. One advantage is that they do not require soaking. If scalded with boiling water, drained, and put to cook in fresh boiling water, they will be quite soft in little over an hour.
The best quality of butter beans also need no soaking. After scalding for a few minutes the skins come off quite easily. There is also a new variety called
Butter Peas, or "Midget" Butter Beans,
which I can heartily recommend. In appearance they resemble the small haricots, but are much finer and boil down very quickly. They make a very rich white soup, and may, of course, be used for any of the savouries for which recipes are given. Scald with boiling water (or they may merely be rubbed in a clean coarse cloth), plunge into more boiling water—the quantity proportioned to the purpose for which intended, soups, stews, &c.—and simmer till just tender, but not broken down.
Though they can be made up in a host of ways they are perhaps nicest as a simple stew. When just cooked—and great care must be taken not to _over_cook, for much of the substance, as well as the delicacy of flavour, is lost if we do—have a saucepan with some shred onions, sweated till tender, but not in the least coloured, in a little butter. Stir in a spoonful of flour, and when smooth a gill of milk, or the stock from the butter peas. Stir till it thickens and add the peas themselves, and any extra seasoning required. See that all is quite hot, and serve garnished with sippets of toast.
Brown Lentils
also furnish us with unlimited possibilities for new dishes. They are as yet rather difficult to procure, but need only to be known to become very popular. They somewhat resemble German lentils, but are much browner and smaller. Being so small, extra trouble must be taken to see that they are clean and free from grit. They can be used in place of German lentils for any of the soups or savouries for which recipes are given. They cook very quickly, and care must be taken with them also not to waste any of their goodness up the chimney.
Toad-in-a-Hole.
Make the sausages the same as in previous recipe, only using brown lentils instead of German lentils. Put in a buttered pie-dish and pour over the following
Batter.
Beat up one or two eggs. Add 3 tablespoonfuls flour, and by degrees two gills milk, also seasoning of grated onion, chopped parsley, white pepper, "Extract," &c. While
Fresh Green Peas or Beans
are to be had, one need not be confined to the dried pulses. Cook the peas, broad beans, or French beans, as directed in "Vegetables." Serve with poached or buttered eggs, fried or baked tomatoes, &c.
One might go onad infinitumto suggest further combinations and variations of the different pulse foods, but these must be left to suggest themselves, for I must now pass on to another class of foods.
We are only beginning very slowly to recognise the valuable properties of nuts and their possibilities in the cuisine. Indeed, there is a rather deep-rooted prejudice against them as food, people having been so long accustomed to regard them as an unconsidered trifle to accompany the wine after a big dinner, and as in this connection they usually call up visions of dyspepsia, many people regard the idea of their bulking at all largely in a meal with undisguised horror. I remember a lady saying to me that she was quite sure a meal composed to any extent of nuts wouldkillher, for if she took even one walnut after dinner it gave her such pain. That rather reminds one of the story of a half-witted fellow who used to go about the country doing odd jobs, and asking in return a meal and a shake-down of straw or hay.
He always expressed astonishment at folks being able to sleep on feather beds, his aversion being founded on the fact that he had one night lain down on the hard ground with a single feather under him. "An' if I had sic a sarkfu' o' sair banes wiaefeather," he argued, "what like maun it be wi' a hale bed?"
Well, I can assure readers that whatever may be the troubles of a solitary nut in an oasis of good things, it is very different when nuts are taken alone or in a suitable and simple combination. Most of our digestive troubles are due to an excess of proteid matter, which clogs up the system, and either lodges in the body in the shape of some morbid secretion, or tries to force its way out in an abnormal way, as by the skin. Now, nuts are very rich in proteid, or flesh-forming matter, and it stands to reason, that if we superimpose them on an already full, or overfull, meal, the result is surfeit, and however wholesome or digestible this excess matter may be in itself, it may, and usually does, work harm in more or less obvious ways.
But curiously enough, this does not always work out with mathematical directness. Most things in the physical, as in the metaphysical, world work out as Ruskin says "not mathematically, but chemically." Though this may seem a far-fetched simile in connection with our dinner, it is a true one. To get back to our nuts. If after a meal of several courses, rich in quality and variety, highly-spiced and flavoured, and perhaps interspersed with little piquant relishes, serving to whet the appetite for the next course, one takes only a very few nuts, or an apple, or a banana, the probability is that "these last" will give the most direct trouble. The gastric juices may be already exhausted, and the nuts, therefore, lie a hard undigested mass on the stomach; or the apple digesting very quickly, and being ready to leave the stomach some hours before its other contents, but having to bide their time, ferments and gives off objectionable gases. Thus, the innocent fruit gets the blame, and the fish, game, or meat go free. Another way in which fruits may prove indigestible, through no fault of their own, is because of the unsuitable combination in which they are eaten. Most nuts, with the exception of chestnuts, which are largely composed of starch, consist almost entirely of fat, which, unless it meets with an alkali to dissolve it, is digested with great difficulty. The uric acid in flesh tends to harden this fat, and so retards digestion.
The medical faculty now recognise the nutritive properties of nuts, as also their wholesomeness and freedom from all toxic elements, and at all sanatoria for the treatment of rheumatic and gouty affections a nut and fruit diet is the established regime. We need not, however, go to an expensive sanatorium to enjoy this food, but may cure, or better, prevent these diseases in our own homes.
They are, I believe, best in their natural state, along with fresh fruits, salads, and the like, but there are also many dainty dishes, in the composition of which they may be used with advantage.
Mock Chicken Cutlets
only require to be known to be appreciated. Grate 1/4 lb. shelled walnuts—this is best and easiest done by running through a nut-mill, but these are not expensive, as they may be had from 1s. 6d.—or Brazil nuts, and add to them two teacupfuls bread crumbs, mix in 1/2 oz. butter, spoonful onion juice, and a little mace, white pepper, salt or celery salt. Melt 1/2 oz. butter in saucepan. Mix in a teaspoonful flour, and add by degrees a gill of milk. When it thickens add the other ingredients. Mix well over the fire. Remove and stir in a beaten egg and teaspoonful lemon juice. Mix all thoroughly and turn out to cool. Form into cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry. Serve with bread sauce or tomato sauce.
Brazil Omelet.
Take 2 ozs. shelled Brazil nuts and rub off the brown skin. If they are put in slow oven for 10 minutes, both shell and skin will come off easily. Flake in a nut-mill or pound quite smooth. Add the yolk of hard boiled egg, a teaspoonful ground almonds, or almond meal, and make into a paste. Then add some grated onion, a tablespoonful baked or mashed potato, the same of bread crumbs, and seasoning to taste. Mix well, and add the yolks of two eggs beaten up, and after mixing thoroughly, stir in lightly the two whites beaten quite stiff, butter a shallow tin or soup-plate, and pour in the mixture. Cover and bake gently, till set—about an hour. When cool, cut into neat shapes, egg, crumb, and fry. The same mixture will also make a delicious
Brazil Souffle.
Add another white of egg stiffly beaten, and steam gently for 30 minutes.
Brazilian Quenelles.
Add another two tablespoonfuls bread crumbs, and leave out the potato; use three eggs, but beat yolks and whites together. Butter one large or a number of small moulds, fill with the mixture, and steam gently for 20 to 40 minutes, according to size; turn out, and serve, if large, with slices of tomatoes baked or fried, arranged round. If small ones, have tomatoes piled up in centre and quenelles placed round.
A number of other savouries, in which nuts form a part, can be made by substituting grated walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, almond meal, Barcelonas, &c., for peas, beans, lentils, &c., in the previous recipes. As they are highly nutritive and concentrated, they must be used sparingly, however, along with plenty of bread crumbs, rice, and the like. There is no need to detail these, but I will give one to show what I mean.
Walnut Pie.
Run 4 ozs. shelled walnuts through the nut-mill—this will give about a teacupful. Have some whole rice boiled as for curry, and put a layer of that in buttered pudding dish. Put half of the grated nuts evenly on the top, then a layer of tomatoes seasoned with grated onion, parsley, salt, pepper, pinch mace, ketchup, &c. Repeat. Cover thickly with bread crumbs, pour some melted butter over and bake till a nice brown. If rather dry, pour some tomato sauce, diluted extract, gravy, &c., over. Serve with tomato or other sauce.
The same ingredients may be put in a buttered mould and steamed, or the whole may be mixed together, a beaten egg added, then made into one large or a number of small rolls, place in baking tin, put some butter on the top and bake, basting and turning now and then.
Prepared Nut Meats.
Of late years since the food value of nuts has been recognised, the attention of specialists has been turned in their direction with very practical results. Quite a number of excellent "Nut Meats" are now upon the market, and each year adds to their variety, so that one's storeroom can be supplied in a way that was impossible only a few years ago. For a cold luncheon dish Mapleton's Fibrose, Almond Nut Meat, and
Savoury Nut Meat
Are very good. The latter is put up in air-tight glass dishes. Tomatoes or any vegetable may be served with it. Then Meatose, Nut-Meatose, Vejola, Nutvego, &c., are all excellent. The
"F.R." Meatose
Is specially fine. These "Meats" are all ready for use, and may be made up in any of the ordinary recipes for Stews, Pies, Sausage Rolls, &c. One dish which most people would like is
Curried Nut Meat.
Melt 1 oz. butter in stewpan, and into that put a tablespoonful finely shred or grated onion, a few slices of tart apple or a little rhubarb, and, if possible, some tomatoes—fresh ones peeled and sliced are best, but the tinned ones will do very well. Stir in a dessert-spoonful flour and curry powder to taste, and pour on boiling water, stock, or gravy as required. Slice the nut meat and lay it in. Cover, and cook gently for about half an hour. Serve with plain boiled rice.
I have not space to give further recipes, but would just add a word of caution—use very sparingly. They are highly concentrated and nutritious foods, and a large quantity is not only unnecessary, but harmful.
In addition to above, there are the products of the International Health Association, "the pioneer manufacturers of health foods," who have within the past year removed their works into the country (Stanborough Park, Watford, Herts). Then Messrs Winter, Birmingham, "Pitman," Birmingham, and Messrs Chapman, Liverpool, have a number of excellent nut meats, fuller reference and recipes for which will be found in the chapter on "Health Food Specialties" at end of book.
Many excellent cheese dishes, such as macaroni cheese, &c., are to be found in the category of every household, so it will be needless to detail those which are most generally known. Cheese is highly nutritious, and not indigestible for those in ordinary health, if taken in moderation and combined with other lighter and bulkier foods. Cheese with rice, bread crumbs, macaroni, tomatoes, &c., is exceedingly good. It should be used very sparingly, or not at all, in dishes which contain pulse, nuts, or eggs. It should always be grated so that it can be mixed thoroughly with the other ingredients.
Rice and Cheese.
Half teacupful rice, 2 ozs. grated cheese, one egg. Wash rice and put on with cold water to barely cover, and pinch salt. When that is absorbed, add milk enough to swell and cook the rice thoroughly without making it sloppy. Remove from the fire and stir in the cheese, seasoning of salt, pepper, or made mustard, pinch cayenne, and the egg beaten up. Turn into buttered baking dish and bake gently till set and of a pale brown—cheese dishes must never be done in too hasty an oven, as they acquire an unpleasant flavour if in the least burnt. Turn out on hot ashet, and serve garnished with slices of hard-boiled egg or fried tomatoes.
Cheese and Semolina.
Four ozs. cheese, breakfast cup milk, 1 oz. semolina, 2 eggs. Bring milk to boil and stir in semolina. Cook till it thickens; remove from fire and stir in the cheese, pinch cayenne, and yolks of eggs beaten up, beat up whites stiffly, and mix in lightly. Turn into buttered pudding-dish and bake gently till ready—about half-an-hour. This mixture, and the previous one, may also be steamed for about 40 minutes. Serve with fried tomatoes or tomato sauce.
I may say here that tomatoes go very well with cheese in almost any form. A nice variety of rice and cheese can be contrived as follows:—Put half of the cooked rice in pudding dish, put breakfastcupful tomatoes in saucepan with a little butter, the cheese and seasoning, and just stir over the fire till quite mixed. Put half over the rice, then the rest of the rice, and the other half of the tomato mixture. Coat thickly with crumbs, put some butter on top, and bake.
Cheese Souffle.
Two tablespoonfuls grated cheese, 2 eggs, 1-1/2 gills milk. Beat yolks of eggs and mix in cheese, milk, pepper, salt, pinch cayenne, and, lastly, the whites beaten quite stiff. Make souffle tin very hot, pour in mixture, and bake in quick oven till set—15 to 20 minutes. Serve very hot.
Scotch Woodcock.
This is a favourite savoury in many non-vegetarian households. There are numerous different recipes, which will doubtless be well known, but the following is quite new and original. Prepare some slices of buttered toast or fried bread, take about 1 lb. fresh tomatoes or a large cupful tinned ones drained from the liquor, put in saucepan with a little butter and grated onion, and stew gently till the tomatoes are pulped. If at all stringy, put through a sieve. Add 2 ozs. grated cheese, seasoning to taste, and stir over gentle heat till quite thick. Spread a layer of this mixture on each slice of toast and pile on the top of each other. Reserve a little of the mixture and to it add some tomato juice or milk, mushroom ketchup, or diluted extract. Make very hot and pour right over, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs—or these might have the whites chopped up and the yolks grated over the top. Serve very hot. A very tasteful effect is made by having the slices of toast, which may be round, oblong, &c., graduating pyramid-wise from a large one at the bottom to a small one at the top.
Cheese Straws (1).
Rub 2 ozs. butter into 4 ozs. flour. Add 2 ozs. grated cheese, a little mustard and cayenne, and make into a stiff paste, with the yolks of 2 eggs or one whole egg beaten up. Roll out thin, cut into straws, lift on to baking sheet carefully with a knife, placing them a little apart, and bake a pale brown—about 10 minutes in moderate oven. Another way is to break off small bits of the paste and roll into thin pipes on a floured board. Savoury
Cheese Biscuits
are made by cutting above paste, rolled very thin, into oblong or diamond shapes, with pastry cutter. Bake in same way. Serve either hot or cold. Spread with a little Marmite and savoury tomato mixture, or sandwich this between two biscuits.
Cheese Straws (2).
Two ozs. cheese, same of batter, flour and fine white crumbs. Add seasoning, and make into paste with one egg, roll out, stamp out a few rings, make the rest into straws, bake and put a bundle of straws into each ring.
Parmesan Puff Pie.
Prepare some cheese pastry, as for "Straws No. 1," and with it line a round shallow tin or tart ring. Common short or puff pastry will do, but the cheese pastry is nicer. Fill in with rice or crusts to keep in place. Bake rather briskly, and remove from the tin. Fill in with the following mixture:—In a saucepan melt 1 oz. butter, and into that stir 1 oz. flour and 1 oz. flaked or ground rice. Add gradually a teacupful milk, and when it thickens, 2 ozs. grated cheese and seasoning, cayenne, and made mustard. Pour into pastry case. Sprinkle a few browned crumbs or shredded wheat biscuit crumbs on the top. Dot over with bits of butter, and bake in moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Put a little more grated cheese on the top and serve very hot.
Small Cheese Tartlets
can be made by dividing same ingredients into a number of small cases or patty tins. Ten minutes should be long enough to bake. Another very good filling for these or the previous puff pie is the mixture given in recipe for Scotch woodcock, while a novel and delicious
Welsh Rarebit
could be made with either of these mixtures, with perhaps a rather more liberal supply of cheese and made mustard spread between slices of hot buttered toast.
Mock Crab
is made with somewhat similar filling, but is best with fresh tomatoes. Remove skin and seeds from 1/2 lb. firm, ripe tomatoes, and cut small; grate 4 ozs. rich, well-flavoured Cheddar cheese. Add to tomatoes in basin with teaspoonful made mustard, yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs, large spoonful mushroom ketchup, a little extract, and a very little curry powder or paste. Pound all together with back of a wooden spoon till quite smooth. Serve in scallop shells, garnished with the white of egg.
These cheese tartlets, mock crab, patties, &c., can be most acceptably varied by using
Shredded Wheat Biscuits
in place of pastry cases or scallop shells. Use any of the cheese mixtures given for Scotch woodcock, mock crab, &c. With a sharp-pointed knife split the biscuit open and place in buttered tin, with a bit of butter on the top of each, in hot oven till crisp and brown. Remove to hot dish, fill in each biscuit with the mixture made very hot, and pile up more on the top.
Dresden Patties.
Stamp out 6 or 8 rounds of bread, dip quickly in milk, gravy, or diluted extract, and drain—on no account allow to soak. Brush over with egg, toss in fine crumbs and fry. Drain and keep very hot. Prepare a cheese and tomato mixture same as for "Scotch Woodcock," and while in saucepan add 1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs—the white chopped in small dice or tiny strips. Mix lightly over the fire and pile up on centre of each round. Serve on hot napkin, garnished with fried parsley. These patties may also be made with shredded wheat biscuits.
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Scotch Haggis.
"Fair fa' yer honest, sonsy face,Great chieftain o' the puddin' race."
It is to be hoped the shade of Burns will forbear to haunt those who have the temerity to appropriate the sacred name of Haggis for anything innocent of the time-honoured liver and lights which were thesine qua nonof the great chieftain. But in Burns' time people were not haunted by the horrors of trichinae, measly affections, &c., &c. (one must not be too brutally plain spoken, even in what they are avoiding), as we are now, so perhaps this practical age may risk the shade rather than the substance.
For a medium-sized haggis, then, toast a breakfastcupful oatmeal in front of the fire, or in the oven till brown and crisp, but not burnt. Have the same quantity of cooked brown or German lentils, and a half-teacupful onions, chopped up and browned in a little butter. Mix all together and add 4 ozs. chopped vegetable suet, and seasoning necessary of ketchup, black and Jamaica popper.
It should be fairly moist; if too dry add a little stock, gravy, or extract. Turn into greased basin and steam at least 3 hours. An almost too realistic imitation of "liver" is contrived by substituting chopped mushrooms for the lentils. It may also be varied by using crushed shredded wheat biscuit crumbs in place of the oatmeal. Any "remains" will be found very toothsome, if sliced when cold, and toasted or fried.
Rolled Oats Savoury.
Put a teacupful Scotch rolled oats in a basin, and pour over 2 cupfuls milk in which some onion has been boiled. Allow to soak for an hour, remove onion, add pinch salt, &c., and a beaten egg. Steam in small greased basin for an hour. May be served with a puree of tomatoes.
Irish Stew.
Pare and slice 2 lbs. potatoes, and about 1/2 lb. each carrots, turnips, and onions. Fry all, except the potatoes, a nice brown in a little butter or fat. Put in layers in saucepan with 2 ozs. fat, salt, pepper, and good stock to barely cover. Simmer very gently for about 2 hours. It may also be baked in pie-dish.
This may be varied in many ways, as by adding layers of forcemeat, pressed lentils, &c. Then there are the various nut meats—Meatose, Vejola, Savoury Nut Meat, &c.—which can be used to great advantage in such a stew.
Scotch Stew.
This is a most substantial and excellent dish. Wash well 1/4 lb.potbarley—the unpearled if it can be procured—simmer gently in 1 pint white stock for an hour, then add some carrots, scraped—and if large, sliced lengthwise—2 or 3 small turnips cut in halves or quarters, or part of a large one in slices, a Spanish onion sliced, or a few shallots, some green peas, French beans, or other vegetables that may be in season; some cauliflower in sprigs is a welcome addition. It or green peas should not be added till 1/2 hour before serving. Simmer till all the vegetables are just cooked, adding more stock if necessary. Serve with a border of boiled pasties, potato balls, or chips.
Poor Man's Pie.
Pare and slice 2 to 3 lbs. potatoes. Slice 1 lb. onions; put half the potatoes in pie-dish, then the onions, and sprinkle over 2 tablespoonfuls tapioca and a little powdered herbs or parsley. Add the rest of the potatoes, dust with pepper and salt, pour in water or stock to within 1/2 inch from top. Put 2 oz. butter or nut butter on the top, and bake in moderate oven about 2 hours.
Vegetable Roast Duck.
Take a good-sized vegetable marrow, pare thinly and remove a small wedge-shaped piece from the side. Scoop out the seeds and water, fill in with good forcemeat, replace the wedge, brush all over with beaten egg. Coat with crumbs, put some butter over, and bake till a nice brown, basting frequently. Serve with fried tomatoes.
An ordinary forcemeat of crumbs, onion, parsley, egg, &c., will do, or any of the sausage mixtures given previously.
Esau's Pottage.
The following I have had given me as the original recipe for "Esau's pottage," but I think it must be more elaborate than that set before the hungry hunter.
One pint lentils and 2 quarts water boiled 2-1/2 hours, then add 1/2 lb. onions, 2 lbs. tomatoes, a little thyme and parsley. Cook all together 3/4 hour longer and add 3 oz. butter and 1 oz. grated cheese just before serving.
Dahl.
Wash well 1/2 lb. rice and allow to swell and soften in just as much water or stock as it will absorb. Cook 1/2 lb. red lentils with stock or water, some grated onion, pinch herbs, little curry powder, and any other seasoning to taste. Make a border of the rice, pile the lentils high in the centre, and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. The lentils are best steamed, as they can thus be thoroughly cooked without becoming mushy or burnt.
Mushroom and Tomato Pie.
For a fair-sized pie get 3/4 lb. medium-sized flap mushrooms, the meadow ones are best, and 1 lb. good firm tomatoes, remove the stalks from the mushrooms and wipe with a piece of clean flannel dipped in oatmeal or salt. Unless very dirty, it is best not to wash them, as that somewhat spoils the flavour. Pare and put a layer in pie-dish, along with slices of tomato, pared and free from seeds. Put a little bit of butter on each, dust with salt and pepper, and repeat till the dish is heaped up. Cover with a good, rough puff paste, and bake till the paste is ready, about an hour. No water should be put in, but the trimmings of the mushrooms and tomatoes should be stewed in a little water, and this gravy may be added with a funnel after the pie is ready.
Mushroom and Tomato Patties.
For these we require some richer puff paste. Prepare and trim a small quantity of tomatoes and mushrooms. Cut rather small and cook gently, with a little butter and seasoning, for 10 or 15 minutes. Allow most of the moisture to evaporate in cooking, as this is much better than mixing in flour to absorb it. When the pastry cases are baked, fill in with the mixture. Good either hot or cold. If baked in patty pans, the mixture should be cold before using. Line in the tins with puff paste, half fill, brush edges with egg or water, lay on another round of paste, press edges together and bake.
Vol-au-Vent.
A delicious vol-au-vent is made with exactly the same filling as above.
Mushroom Pie.
Put on stewpan with a piece of "Nutter" or other good vegetable fat. Cut up one large Spanish onion very small, add to fat and brown nicely. Cover with water and stew along with the contents of a tin or bottle of white French mushrooms (including the liquid), also pepper and salt to taste. Stew till the mushrooms are tender, then take out and chop. Dish along with other contents of saucepan, and when cool add a cup of brown bread crumbs, and one beaten egg. Cover with puff paste or short crust and bake. Serve with brown sauce.
Shepherd's Pie.
Mushrooms same as for mushroom pie, but covered with nicely mashed potatoes, adding pepper and salt to the latter. Beat well and cover, stroke with a fork, and brown in the oven.
BREAKFAST DISHES—Porridge.
"The halesome parritch, chief o' Scotia's food."
In these days of tea and white bread it is to be feared that the "halesome parritch" is now very far removed from the honoured place of chief, and it must be more than a coincidence which connects the physical degeneracy of the Scottish working people with the supplanting of the porridge-pot by the tea-pot. Even in rural districts there is a great change in the daily fare, and there too anaemia, dyspepsia, and a host of other ills, quite unknown to older generations, are only too common. Certainly many people have given up porridge because they found it did not suit them—too heavy, heating, &c.—but we must remember that all compounds of oatmeal and water are not porridge, and the fault may lie in its preparation. It is a pity that any one, especially children and growing youths, should be deprived of such valuable nutriment as that supplied by oatmeal, and before giving it up, it should be tried steamed and super-cooked. It is only by steaming that one can have the oatmeal thoroughly cooked and dextrinised, while of a good firm "chewable" consistency, and not only are sloppy foods indigestible, but they give a feeling of satiety in eating, followed later by that of emptiness and craving for food. The custom, too, of taking tea and other foods after porridge is generally harmful.
Now for the method by which many, who have long foresworn porridge, have become able again to relish it, and benefit by it. Make porridge in usual way, that is, have fast boiling water, and into that sprinkle the oatmeal smoothly, putting abouttwiceas much oatmeal in proportion to the water as is usual. Boil up for a few minutes, add salt to taste, and turn into a pudding bowl or steamer. Cover closely and put in large pot with about one inch water or in a steam cooker and steam for five to twelve hours. Eat with stewed prunes, figs, &c., or with butter or nut butter—almond cream butter is both delicious and wholesome. A mixture of wheatmeal and oatmeal, or wheatmeal itself, may be found to suit some better than oatmeal alone. I heard recently of a hopeless dyspeptic who recovered health on a diet composed almost entirely of porridge made of three-parts whole wheatmeal to one of oatmeal. I may add that one must be careful to take a much smaller quantity of this firm, super-cooked porridge, as it contains so much more nutriment in proportion to its bulk.
Porridge made with Scotch Rolled Oats also will be found easier of digestion by some than ordinary oatmeal porridge. This also is best steamed and super-cooked.
* * * * *
Health Foods.
Granose. The Ideal "Staff of Life."
A kernel of wheat is acknowledged to constitute a perfect food, and Granose consists of the entire kernels of choice wheat, prepared by unique processes, so as to afford the most digestible food ever prepared.
Granose is equally beneficial from infancy to old age, in good or ill health. It is a royal dainty, and should take a prominent place on every table.
Granose Flakes, 7-1/2d. per packet.Granose Biscuits, 7-1/2d. "
Protose. The Standard Nut Meat.
Palatable to the taste, resembling chicken in fibre and flavour, but perfectly free from the tissue poisons that abound in animal flesh.
"Chemically it presents the composition of animal tissue, beef or mutton."—Lancet.
Protose is prepared from the best grains and nuts, and is perfectly cooked. It tastes good, promotes health and vigour, and imparts great staying power.
Price:—1/2 lb. tin, 8d.; 1 lb., 1/-; 1-1/2 lb., 1/4
Bromose. The Rapid Flesh-Former.
A combination of predigested nuts and cereals. No better food for consumptives, the "the too-thin," and all who desire the best physical condition.
30 Tablets in box, 1/6
Full List of our Health Foods sent post free on application.
For One Shilling we will send you Samples of 12 of our Health Foods, and Cookery Book.
The International Health Association, Ltd.,
Stanborough Park, Watford, Herts.
* * * * *
The name Plasmon distinguishes our preparations of milk-albumen from all other foods.
One Pound of PLASMON contains the entire nourishment of 30 pints of fresh milk.
Most foods are deficient in proteid, which is required to support life.
PLASMON should be added to all foods because it supplies this element.
Foods mixed with PLASMON are therefore more nourishing than any others.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
Doctors counsel the regular use of
Shredded Wheat
"Biscuit" and Triscuit
[Illustration]
Because they are ALL-NOURISHING, NATURAL FOODS.
Made in the wonderful Laboratory of the Natural Food Co., Niagara Falls,N.Y., U.S.A.
SHREDDED WHEAT products give greater surface for the action of the digestive fluids than that given by any other food.
This ensures Perfect Digestion and Freedom from Constipation.
SHREDDED WHEAT BISCUIT (with milk) for Breakfast and Supper, or basis for Sweets. "Triscuit" (with butter, preserves, cheese, &c.) for any meal. The best basis for Savouries and Sandwiches.
Send 1d. stamp for Sample and Illustrated Cook-Book.
SHREDDED WHEAT CO. (C. E. Ingersoll), 70, St George's House, EASTCHEAP,E.C.
* * * * *
Most of the rissoles, toasts, &c., given in the earlier part of the book are suited for breakfast dishes, but we may add a few more.
Savoury Omelets.
Separate the whites from the yolks of 3 eggs, or one for each person; beat up the yolks, and add some grated onion, pepper and salt. Beat the whites till very stiff and mix or rather fold in very lightly. Make a small piece of butter very hot in small frying pan, pour in one-third of the mixture, shake over gentle heat till set, easing it round the edges with a knife, fold over and put on very hot napkin. Repeat till all are done and serve very hot. A little hot lemon juice may be squeezed over, or a spoonful of mushroom ketchup will give a nice relish.
Cheese Omelet
is made by mixing in grated cheese—a dessert spoonful for each egg. The onion may be omitted if preferred without. A pinch cayenne and a little made mustard go well with cheese.
Savoury Pancakes.
Take much the same ingredients as above, but beat yolks and whites together, and add one tablespoonful milk, and a level dessert spoonful flour for each egg. Mix all together some time before using. Make a bit of butter hot in very small frying pan, pour in enough batter to just cover, and cook very gently till set, and brown on the under side. Turn and brown on the other side, or hold in front of hot fire or under the gas grill. Roll up and serve very hot. Ketchup and water, or diluted extract, may be used instead of the milk, and some finely minced parsley or pinch herbs is an improvement.
These omelets and pancakes may be varied by adding tomatoes, mushrooms, &c. Cook very lightly and either stir into the mixture before frying, or spread on the top after it is cooked, and fold or roll up. A mixture of tomatoes and mushrooms is especially good.
Mushroom Cutlets.
Remove stalks and skins from 1/2 lb. flap mushrooms. Clean, chop up, and stew gently in a little butter. Melt 1 oz. butter in another saucepan, stir in 1 oz. flour, and add by degrees a teacupful milk, tomato juice, or extract. When smooth add the mushrooms and seasonings. Stir till smooth and thick, and turn out on flat dish to cool. Shape into cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry.
Asparagus, celery, artichokes, and many other vegetables may be used in the composition of omelets, fritters, cutlets, &c.
If for an omelet, only a very small quantity must be used. One tablespoonful of any of the finer cooked vegetables is enough in proportion to two eggs. When a more substantial dish is wanted, it should take the shape of cutlets or fritters.
Bread Fritters.
Put 6 ozs. fine bread crumbs in a basin and pour over 3 teacupfuls boiling milk. Allow to stand for some time, then add seasoning to taste—grated onion, parsley, ketchup, extract, &c.—and 2 beaten eggs, reserving a little of the white for brushing. Mix and pour into buttered baking tin. Cover and bake in good oven till set—about 1 hour. When cold, cut into nice shapes, brush over with egg, toss in fine crumbs and fry. This may also be served simply baked. In that case, put some bits of butter on top, and bake a nice brown without cover.
Eggs
are, of course, invaluable in many ways besides the more familiar boiled, poached, and scrambled.
Buttered Eggs.
Break number of eggs required in a bowl, melt a nut of butter to each egg in saucepan, pour in the eggs, seasoning, &c., and stir one way over gentle heat till set. About 2 minutes should do. Serve on toast or bread cutlets.
Tomato Eggs.
Have a quantity of tomato pulp made hot in frying pan, and slip in as many eggs as required, gently, so as not to scatter. Allow to poach for about 3 minutes or till the whites are just set. Serve on toast or shredded wheat biscuits. Another way is to cook the tomatoes, and put, with the eggs, on a flat dish, in the oven till set. Serve on same dish, garnished with sippets of toast or toasted triscuits.
Egg Cutlets (Mrs G. D.)
There are many different recipes for these, but the following is an especially good one, for which I am indebted to an Edinburgh friend. Chop very small two firmly boiled eggs, and 2 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs and the same of grated cheese with a pinch of curry powder, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Mix with the yolk of a raw egg. Shape into cutlets, brush over with the white of the egg beaten up a little, toss in fine crumbs, and fry a nice brown. Garnish with fried parsley.
Inverness Eggs.
Boil hard the number of eggs required, remove the shells, and rub each with a little flour. Take a quantity of any of the varieties of sausage meat, for which recipes are given, or a forcemeat, or quenelle mixture will do, add some finely minced parsley, any other seasoning required, and a beaten egg to bind. Mix thoroughly, flour the hands and coat each egg with the mixture, rather less than 1/4 inch thick, and evenly, so that the shape is retained, flour lightly and fry a nice brown. Cut in halves, and serve, round ends up, with tomato sauce.
Toasts
of various kinds come in nicely for breakfast. They can be of ordinary toast, fried bread, or shredded wheat biscuits. The latter are particularly dainty, and may be prepared thus:—Put in buttered baking tin, with plenty of butter on top of each, and place in brisk oven till crisp and brown—about 10 minutes. Pile high with following mixture:—In an enamel frying pan put a teaspoonful butter, and two tablespoonfuls diluted extract or ketchup and water for each egg. When nearly boiling, break in the eggs and stir gently round over a very moderate heat till just set. Season to taste. A little of the sauce made hot might be first poured over the toast or biscuits.
Bread Cutlets.
Have a number of neat pieces of bread about 1/2 inch thick. Dip in milk, gravy, tomato juice, &c., and drain. Do not soak. Brush over with egg or dip in batter, and fry. Serve as they are or with some savoury mince, tomatoes, &c.
Stuffed Tomatoes.
Have number of tomatoes required, equal in size but not too large. With a sharp knife take off a small slice from the stalk end. Scoop out a little of the centre part, mix this with some forcemeat, or sausage mixture, beaten egg, &c., and fill in the cavity. Put some butter on the top and bake. A few chopped mushrooms with crumbs, egg, &c., make a delicious filling.
Cheese Fritters.
Mix 2 tablespoonfuls flour with 1/2 teacupful milk, 2 ozs. grated cheese, teaspoonful made mustard, and the whites of 2 eggs stiffly beaten. Mix well, and drop by small spoonfuls into hot fat. Fry a nice brown and serve very hot.
One might go on indefinitely to detail breakfast dishes, but that is quite unnecessary. It is a good thing, however, to have some simple, easily-prepared food as a regular stand-by from day to day, just as porridge is in some households, and bacon and eggs in others. Variety is very good so far, but we are in danger of making a fetish of changes and variations. Most of you know the story of the Scotch rustic who was quizzed by an English tourist, who surprised him at his mid-day meal of brose. The tourist asked him what he had for breakfast and supper respectively, and on getting each time the laconic answer "brose," he burst out in amaze: "And do you never tire of brose!" Whereupon the still more astonished rustic rejoined "Wha wad tire o' their meat!" "Meat" to this happy youth was summed up in brose, and to go without was to go unfed.
Well, I am afraid the most Spartanhausfrauamong us will scarcely attain to such an ideal of simplicity, but we might do well to have one staple dish, either in plane of, or along with porridge. For this purpose I know of nothing better than
Shredded Wheat Biscuits.
These have been referred to several times already in various savoury recipes, and, indeed, the ways in which they may be used are practically unlimited. For a
Standard Breakfast Dish,
especially in these days of "domestic" difficulty, they are exceedingly useful. For some years now we have bought them through our grocer by the case of 50 boxes—which, of course, brings them in much cheaper than buying these boxes singly—and use them week in, week out, for the family breakfast. Most people are familiar with the appearance of these, but any who have not yet sampled them should lose no time in doing so. Fortunately, they can now be had of all good grocers. When some of us began to use them first we had no end of bother sending away for them to special depots.
To prepare:—Have a flat tin or ashet large enough to hold the biscuits side by side. Spread the tin liberally with butter, lay in the biscuits, put more butter on the top of each, and toast till nicely crisp and brown in good oven, or under the gas grill. If the latter, turn to toast the under side. Be very careful not to burn. If toasted on an ashet serve on same dish. One can now have fire-proof ware which is not unsightly. There is a very artistic white fire-proof ware which is specially suitable for using in this way, so that besides the saving of trouble, one can have the food hot and crisp from the oven—a rather difficult, or at least uncertain consummation if there is much shifting from one dish to another. These
"Shredders,"
as we familiarly dub them, are most toothsome served quite simply as above, but they may be acceptably varied with sundry relishes. A very good way is to have a little gravy prepared by diluting half a teaspoonful "Marmite" or a teaspoonful "Carnos" in a half teacupboilingwater. Pour a very little over each biscuit, and serve on very hot plates. Prepared thus they may serve as toast for scrambled eggs or any savoury mixture. For
Tomato "Shredders"
fry the necessary quantity of tomatoes, free from skin and seeds, in a little butter, with seasoning of grated onion, pepper, and salt. A little "Marmite" or "Carnos" is a great improvement.
may be used in the same way, and a mixture of mushrooms and tomatoes fried
or baked and mixed together is especially good. Green Onions are also very good. Take 1/2 lb. green onions, trim away any tough or
withered parts, and cut up the green in 1/2 inch lengths. Put these in a
saucepan with boiling water to barely cover, a little salt, pinch sugar, and
a little mint, sage, or parsley. Cook gently for half an hour, then add the
white cut in rings, and stew till quite tender. Stir in 1/2 oz. butter, a
little ketchup or extract, and serve on prepared S.W. Biscuits. Craigie Toast will commend itself to those who wish for a quickly made dish. Allow one
egg and a small tomato to each person. Beat up the eggs and add the
tomatoes minced, also seasoning—a few capers or a little gherkin finely
chopped is very good—and a little milk, ketchup and water, or diluted
extract—half a teacupful to 4 eggs. Melt a good piece of butter in
saucepan, pour in the other ingredients, and mix over the fire till
thoroughly hot. Cover, and allow to cook by the side of the fire for a few
minutes, then serve piled up on crisp toasted S.W. Biscuits. All the recipes I have given for using these biscuits are designed to have
them dry and crisp. I think they are much nicer in that way, but those who
like them soft or as a mush can have them so with even less trouble. Put a
little milk, tomato juice, extract, sauce, &c., &c., in a soup plate. Dip
in each biscuit lightly and drain, place on buttered tin or dish to warm
through. For a Bachelor's Mush which might suitably take the place of porridge where the preparation of
that is inconvenient, toast one or two Shredded Wheat Biscuits on a deep
plate. Pour boiling milk over and serve with sugar or stewed fruit. With stewed fruit, also, one might use Triscuits toasted or plain. These are flat filamented biscuits which can be used to
advantage in many ways. They can be used in place of toast, and are very
suitable to eat with porridge or any food which may be rather mushy alone. One might go on for pages with suggestions for using these handy biscuits,
but one has only to begin using them to find out innumerable ways of one's
own. These are not always whatIwould suggest. One "unreformed"
friend of mine who had begun to use them on my recommendation, told me she
put them to fry every morning, after dipping in egg or batter, among the fat
of the breakfast bacon! Grain Granules. This also is a very handy and sustaining breakfast dish, and needs little or
no cooking. To make a hot mush put a few spoonfuls in a plate or saucer,
and pour hot milk over. It may be eaten at once or allowed to remain in the
oven for a few minutes. If to be eaten with cream or stewed fruit, crisp
for a few minutes in the oven. Nutgraino is another excellent breakfast dish, composed of the whole wheat berry
blended with nuts, and is most nourishing and digestible. It may be used as
Grain Granules. Wheatose is a food which is recommended by eminent authorities on the food question.
It is not so quickly prepared as the foregoing foods, but with a little
forethought costs very little trouble. One teacupful should be soaked with
rather less than twice that quantity of water for 10 hours, then it should
be steamed in Queen pudding bowl, "Gourmet" boiler, &c., for 4 or 5 hours.
It might thus be put on to soak in the morning, then put on to steam in the
evening, or it might be put in covered jar in the oven all night. It can
easily be warmed up in the morning, and when cold it will be quite firm, and
may be cut in slices and fried. As a mush it should be eaten with dry toast
or triscuits and stewed fruit. "Reform" Mould. (Mrs W., Dundee.) Take 1 lb. yellow lentils, wash well, and boil with as little water as
possible and any suitable seasoning, such as chopped onion, pinch herbs,
salt, pepper, and a little butter; also about 2 tablespoonfuls of tapioca
which has been soaked all night or longer. Cook very gently till the
tapioca is quite clear, and turn into wetted or oiled mould. Turn out when
quite firm and serve with any suitable garnish-cooked beetroot, &c. NOTE.—This can be best cooked in double boiler, as it is very ready to
catch the pan. Vegetable Mould. Cut finely about 6 ozs. each of turnip and carrot, and 3 ozs. shallots,
and stew till just tender in stock or gravy to barely cover. Steaming is
better, as the vegetables should not be broken down. Add some cooked
cauliflower cut small, a cupful of cooked green peas or French beans, and 3
or 4 tomatoes sliced and cooked. Mix in 2 ozs. bread crumbs, and the same
of cooked savoury rice, semolina, or tapioca, and cook a little longer.
Press into a dish—an oval cake tin does very well. When cool turn out, see
that it is neat, and brush all over with glaze. Garnish with slices of
hard-boiled egg and Tomato Aspic. This jelly comes in useful in many ways. Take 1 tin tomatoes and rub
through a sieve. Make up with clear stock or water to 1 pint—2
breakfastcupfuls. Have 1/6-oz. Agar-agar (Vegetable Gelatine) soaked for
an hour in cold water, pour off the water, add to the tomato pulp, and put
all in enamelled saucepan along with any additional flavouring required.
Salt and white pepper will do nicely, but a blade of mace, some mixed herbs,
and a few Jamaica peppercorns may be used. Add also the whites and shells
of two eggs, unless you have a number of egg shells, in which case the
whites may be dispensed with. Whisk steadily over the fire till it boils,
then draw to the side and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Pour twice
through jelly-bag. The second time run half on to a flat ashet or some
plates. Colour the rest with a little carmine and put to set also. When
used as a garnish, stamp out in pretty shapes, and arrange with the red and
amber alternating. For Glaze dissolve 2 tablespoonfuls of the clear tomato aspic in saucepan. Add 1/2
teaspoonful "Marmite," or 1 teaspoonful "Carnos" extract, mix thoroughly,
and boil up. Allow to get nearly cool, but not beginning to set, and then
brush over the mould with it. Mock Calf's Foot Jelly. Prepare according to directions given for tomato jelly, and just before
straining add amount required of a good extract. One oz. "Marmite"—or 2
teaspoonfuls—or 1-1/2 ozs. "Carnos" to a pint of tomato jelly, would be a
good proportion. Stir till dissolved. Strain and mould in the usual way. It may of course be prepared without extract, by making a good strong stock.
Vegetables may be used or not at discretion. The liquor strained from
haricots, brown beans, or German lentils, with vegetable gelatine, in the
proportion of 1/8-oz. to the pint, makes a delicious jelly. Care must be
taken to see that none of the pulp gets through. Clarify and strain very
carefully. Legumes en Aspic. Get an equal quantity of red, white, and green vegetables—say young
carrots, tomatoes, turnips, cauliflower, green peas, French beans, &c. Have
each cooked "to a turn" separately, and the carrots and turnips cut into
neat shapes, cauliflower in tiny sprigs, &c. Arrange the vegetables as
neatly as possible in a mould, and fill up with tomato jelly. When set,
turn out and garnish with slices of fresh tomato and lemon. It is not necessary to have a number of different vegetables for this dish.
Any one or two of them will do quite well. The mould might be decorated
with slices of beetroot or hard-boiled eggs. Tomato and Egg Savoury. Boil hard 4 eggs, cut in half, and remove yolks. Divide 4 good-sized, firm,
ripe tomatoes in halves, and scoop out some of the pulp, leaving a nice
case. Put the half whites inside the tomato shells and fill with the
following mixture:—In a saucepan melt 2 ozs. butter, add tomato pulp, 1
oz. fine crumbs, the yolks rubbed through a sieve, a teaspoonful extract,
salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice. Mix well and make quite hot. Fill
in the little cups, piling it up cone-wise, and serve on a bed of aspic. Raised Haricot Pie. Prepare a raised pie case (see Pastry), put in a layer of cooked haricot or
butter beans, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and one of hard-boiled eggs. Put
on the lid, which should have a hole in the centre. Bake, and with a funnel
fill in with dissolved savoury jelly. This is delicious to eat cold, and is
very useful for pic-nics. The same ingredients may also be made into small
pies or bridies.
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