Spinach and Egg Salad.Spinach and Egg Salad.
Seepage 86
Marguerite Salad.Marguerite Salad.
Seepage 86
Cut six or eight slices of tender bacon into small squares and fry until they are delicately browned; then drain on soft paper. Heat six tablespoonfuls of the fat and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar or lemon juice; beat together the yolks of three eggs and one-fourth a teaspoonful, each, of paprica and mustard, and cook with the fat and vinegar over hot water until the mixture thickens slightly. When the dressing is cold cut a head of lettuce into narrow ribbons, toss the lettuce and bits of bacon together, and mix with the dressing. Serve at once.
(Miss Cohen.)Ingredients.
Method.—Mix the ingredients together thoroughly; add mayonnaise to moisten well. Serve on a flat dish. Mask the top with mayonnaise,then divide into squares like a checker-board, using fine-shredded pimento or pickled beet to mark the divisions; fill in alternate squares with sifted yolk of hard-boiled egg and the remaining squares with chopped white of egg. Garnish the edge with parsley, and set in the centre halfahard-boiled egg cut lengthwise in points and filled with capers.
Cover the bottoms of small-sized timbale moulds with a little aspic jelly; decorate the jelly with bits of royal custard and capers; cover with more aspic; then add, alternately, layers ofpâté de foie grasand aspic, until the mould is filled. Turn on to shredded lettuce and garnish with mayonnaise, using pastry bag and tube. Arrange on individual dishes, so as not to disarrange the dressing in serving. Or, garnish with a chopped cucumber dressed with French dressing.
Ingredients.
Method.—Cook the spinach in salted boiling water until tender; drain, and chop very fine, and season with salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice. Press into small, well-buttered moulds or cups.Have ready thin, round slices of cold boiled or braised tongue, the slices a trifle larger than the cups of spinach. When the spinach is cold turn it from the moulds on to the rounds of tongue, and press a star of sauce tartare on the top of each mould. Garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.
Easter Salad.Easter Salad.
Country Salad.Country Salad.
Seepage 87
(See cut facingpage 84.)
Prepare and mould the spinach as in the preceding recipe. Have ready, also, some cold boiled eggs and mayonnaise. Turn the spinach from the moulds on to nests of shredded lettuce. Dispose, chain fashion, around the base of the spinach, the whites of the eggs cut in rings, and press a star of mayonnaise in the centre of each ring. Pass the yolks through a sieve and sprinkle over the tops of the mounds, and place above this the round ends of the whites.
(See cut facingpage 84.)
Arrange garden cress on a serving-dish; in the centre dispose whites of hard-boiled eggs cut in eighths lengthwise, to resemble the petals of a flower, and sift the yolks into the centre. When ready to serve, sprinkle with French dressing and toss together.
With the smooth sides of butter-hands roll Neufchatel cheese into small egg shapes. Cutlong radishes into straws and season with French dressing. Scatter the straws in lettuce nests, arrange the eggs in the nests, sprinkle with dressing, and fleck with chopped parsley or paprica.
Arrange flat nests of shredded lettuce on individual plates. Cut a five-cent Neufchatel cheese in three pieces; roll each piece into a ball and flatten to resemble the white of a poached egg, having the cheese about one-fourth an inch in thickness. These may be shaped upon a plate and then removed carefully with a spatula to the nests of lettuce. With pastry bag and plain tube put a mound of mayonnaise on the centre of each cake of cheese, to represent the yolk of an egg. Serve thoroughly chilled. A dash of pepper (paprica preferred) may decorate the top of the dressing.
(See cut facingpage 86.)
Cut cold boiled corned beef or tongue into thin strips and pile in the centre of a serving-dish. Cook potato balls in meat broth until tender; blanch and cool, roll in mayonnaise or boiled dressing, and dispose about the meat. About these put a ring of celery cut fine, then cooked carrot and turnip cut in straws. Garnish with parsley and cucumber pickles cut in fans. Serve with additional dressing.
Peel the oranges and cut them into lengthwise slices. Crush the shells of the nuts, take out the meats, and remove the stones; cut the nut meats in halves. Mix the nuts with oil, a tablespoonful to a cup, and sprinkle the orange slices with oil; add also a little lemon juice if the oranges are sweet. Garnish with slices of orange from which the skin has not been taken, also, if desired, with lettuce dressed with French dressing. The oil and lettuce may be omitted, using sugar in place; little, however, will be needed, as the nuts are sweet, tasting much like raisins.
Cut cooked chicken or sweetbreads in half-inch cubes; remove the skin and seeds from white grapes, and cut each grape in halves; cut tender blanched celery stalks in small pieces. Take equal portions of celery and meat and half as much of seeded grapes. Mix with French dressing; the meat should stand in the dressing an hour or more, when ready to serve. Serve in nests of lettuce. Dispose a little white mayonnaise or cream dressing on each nest. Garnish with halves of blanched pistachio nuts.
"Fat olives and pistachio's fragrant nut,And the pine's tasteful apple."
(Sweet, to serve with cake.)
Peel and slice four bananas, also four oranges, lengthwise, carefully removing pith and seeds. Dissect half a ripe pineapple, taking the pulp from the core in small pieces with a silver fork. Hull and wash a part of a basket of strawberries. Arrange the fruit in the salad-bowl, making each layer smaller than the preceding. Pour over the dressing given below, and serve thoroughly chilled.
(Sweet.)
Boil one cup of sugar and half a cup of water five minutes, then pour on to the beaten yolks of three eggs; return to the fire and cook over hot water, stirring constantly until thickened slightly; cool, and add the juice of two lemons. Half a cup of wine may be used in the place of the lemon juice, retaining one tablespoonful of the lemon juice.
(June.)
Pare lengthwise aripepineapple and remove the eyes. With a fork dislodge from the hard centre the single fruits (the lines left by the bracts will indicate the places where the divisions should be made). Slicelengthwisethree sweet oranges, after removing the peel and white skin. Peel and slice two bananas, and cut in halves lengthwise one cup of strawberries. If the fruit be sweet, use the juice of half a lemon, otherwise omit it. Beat to an emulsion one-fourth a cup of olive oil, one tablespoonful of honey, and, if needed, the lemon juice; toss the fruit, together or separately, in the dressing, and serve on delicate leaves of lettuce. The most striking effect is produced by dressing each kind of fruit separately, thus massing each color by itself. When new figs are seasonable, they may be used in fruit salads to take the place of the honey. If the pineapple be of large size, more dressing will be required.
Peel neatly three oranges and slice them lengthwise; also cut three bananas in thin slices. Skin and seed half a pound of white grapes, and blanch and slice the meats of one-fourth a pound of English walnuts. Serve very cold on lettuce leaves, dressed with four tablespoonfuls of oil, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice—less, if the oranges are sour—and half a teaspoonful of salt.
Skin and seed half a pound of white grapes; blanch and slice half a pound of English walnuts or almonds. Toss with four tablespoonfuls of oil, one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Serve in nests of lettuce. Garnish the nests with maraschino cherries.
(Mrs. Peterson.)
Marinate as many hazelnuts as cherries with plenty of oil, half as much lemon juice as oil, and a little salt, one or two hours. Put a nut in the place of the stone in the cherries. Sprinkle with oil and a very little lemon juice, and serve in lettuce nests.
(Winter.)
Peel two oranges; with a sharp knife cut between the pulp and the skin and remove the section entire. Slice the meats of one-fourth a pound of English walnuts. Of one-fourth a pound of figs select a few for a garnish and cut the rest in thin slices. Slice three bananas. Toss half the ingredients with two or three tablespoonfuls of oil, and, if the oranges are sweet, toss again with one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Arrange in a mound on a salad-dish. Put the rest of the fruit, each kind separately, on the mound in sections; garnish the edge and top with heart leaves of lettuce,and add stars of mayonnaise and candied cherries here and there.
This is a particularly good salad to serve with game. Select fine oranges, remove the peel and every particle of white skin, and slice very thin lengthwise. Slice English walnuts, blanched or plain. To each pint of orange slices add half a pint (scant) of the sliced nuts; dress with three tablespoonfuls of oil, one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt, and, if the oranges are particularly sweet, a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Serve on a bed of watercress or lettuce.
Shell and blanch the chestnuts; then boil about fifteen minutes, or until tender; drain and cool. When cool cut into quarters, add an equal quantity of fine-sliced celery, dress with French dressing, and serve on lettuce leaves. Sliced pimentos may be added.
Peel and cut the apples in small cubes; blanch the nuts and break in pieces, and cut the celery in thin slices; marinate the apple and nuts with oil and lemon juice half an hour; drain, add the celery and mayonnaise dressing, and serve in cups made by removing the pulp from red apples. Cut the edges of the apples in small vandykes; keep fresh in cold water until ready to serve.
(Sweet.)
Stir the juice of two oranges, half a cup of sherry wine, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, half a cup of sugar and the unbeaten white of an egg, over the fire, until the boiling-point is reached; let simmer slowly ten minutes, strain through a cheese-cloth, and, when thoroughly chilled, pour over three bananas and three oranges, sliced and mixed together in a salad-bowl. Sprinkle with half a cup of dessicated cocoanut. Serve thoroughly chilled.
Slice pulled figs, cooked and cooled, and mix with them a few slices of walnuts or blanched almonds. Serve with French dressing made of claret and lemon juice instead of vinegar, or with a cream dressing. In using the cream dressing, mix the ingredients with a little of the dressing and dispose additional dressing here and there, using the forcing-bag and tube. When available, fresh figs are preferable to those that have been cooked.
Cut the chilled fruit in halves, crosswise, and take out the pulp with a spoon; dress with French dressing. The juice of the grapefruit may be used in the place of other acid, and mayonnaise in the place of French dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves, or return to the skin from which the pulpwas removed. The edge of the grapefruit cup may be cut in vandykes, or otherwise ornamented.
Fruit Salad.Fruit Salad.
Seepage 90
Turquoise Salad, No. 2.Turquoise Salad, No. 2.
Seepage 94
Mix together equal parts of celery and tart apple cut in match-like pieces, and one or two pimentos cut in similar pieces. Dress with mayonnaise made light with whipped cream. Serve in nests of lettuce.
Use pineapple in the place of the apple; serve in a mound on a bed of lettuce leaves. Garnish with stars cut from the pimentos with French cutter, curled celery, and heart leaves of celery.
Seed two green peppers, boil two or three minutes, then cut in shreds. Shred the light and dark leaves of a head of lettuce, or endive, separately. Cut three tomatoes in shreds. Remove the peel and skin from one large grapefruit. Serve with French dressing, seasoning, and then arranging each article separately upon the serving-dish, having a circle of light and then dark green material about the edge.
Blanch the almonds and cut in thin slices. Chill the peaches, peel, and cut in slices; use one-fifth as much in bulk of sliced nuts as sliced peaches.Serve with French dressing, or with mayonnaise made white with whipped cream. Garnish the edge with delicate lettuce leaves and serve at once.
(English style.)
Cut ripe, fine-flavored peaches into quarters, after removing the skins. Cover with champagne, thoroughly chilled, and sprinkle with tea-rose petals. Serve at once.
(London style.)
Let a large handful of fresh rose petals stand an hour or two in a cool place in a cup of Hungarian wine. Strain out the leaves and pour the wine over a quart of mixed fruit,—peaches pared and cut in quarters, strawberries hulled and cut in halves, and cherries stoned,—all thoroughly chilled. Let a handful of rose petals stand an hour or two in a cup of thick cream; then strain the cream, sweeten slightly with powdered sugar, whip to a stiff froth, and use as a garnish for the fruit.
Cut a large grapefruit in halves and remove the pulp with a sharp knife to avoid crushing it; remove half the pulp of a large pineapple from thecore with a fork, after carefully removing the unedible outside. Dress with white mayonnaise and serve upon crisp lettuce hearts. Garnish with tiny bits of pimento. 2d.—Omit the pimento, lettuce and mayonnaise, and dress with sherry wine and sugar. For a Christmas salad, use the first formula and canned pineapple if the fresh be not at hand. Dispose the dressed pineapple andgrapefruitupon shredded lettuce, having a circle of heart leaves around the edge. Dot here and there with small stars cut from the red pimento with a French cutter. Or chop the pimento fine and dispose in the shape of a large five-pointed star in the centre of the dish.
To make aspic for moulding or decorating a fish salad, use stock prepared from chicken or veal, or from fish. For chicken, veal or sweetbread salad, use chicken or veal stock, or a light-colored consommé. In an emergency, aspic may be made from the prepared extracts of beef, or from bouillon capsules. Aspic is often tinted delicately to harmonize with a particular color scheme. A light-green aspic has been found quite effective.
To one quart of highly seasoned stock, freed from all fat, add the juice of a lemon, a bay leaf, half a cup of wine and one box of gelatine soaked in a cup of cold water. Beat into the mixture the slightly beaten whites and crushed shells of two eggs. Heat to the boiling-point, stirring constantly, and let boil five minutes. After standing ten minutes skim off the froth, etc., and strain through a cheese-cloth folded double and held in a colander.
Pour the liquid jelly into a new tin to the depth of half an inch. Wring a napkin out of cold waterand spread it smoothly over the meat-board. Dip the pan in warm water and turn the jelly onto the napkin; stamp in rounds, diamonds or other fanciful shapes. If blocks of greater thickness be required, fill the pan to the required depth with the liquid aspic. When turned from the mould, cut in squares or diamonds with a knife, wiped dry after having been dipped in hot water.
Cut the jelly slowly, first in one direction, then in the opposite direction. Each piece, whether large or small, should be clean-cut and distinct. Aspic melts or softens in a warm place, and should not be taken from the mould until the time of serving, and then it must be handled with care.
Cut two pounds of beef from the under part of the round and two pounds of shin of veal into small pieces; crack the bones in the shin. Place over the fire with two and a half quarts of cold water; add one ounce of lean ham. Heat slowly, and cook just below the boiling-point two or three hours; then add to the kettle a three-pound fowl, and allow it to remain till tender. Put some marrow into the frying-pan, and when hot sauté in it a small onion cut fine, two tablespoonfuls, each, of chopped celery, carrot and turnip; add to the soup kettle, removing the fowl, together with a sprig, each, of parsley, thyme and summer savory,two bay leaves, a small blade of mace, four cloves, two peppercorns and one scant tablespoonful of salt. Let simmer about an hour and a half; then strain and let cool.
Put a four-pound fowl and a few bits of veal from the neck over the fire in three pints of cold water. Heat slowly to the boiling-point, let boil five minutes, then skim and let simmer until the fowl is nearly tender. Now add an onion and half a sliced carrot, a stalk of celery, a teaspoonful of sweet herbs tied in a bag with a sprig of parsley, two cloves, a blade of mace, eight peppercorns and a teaspoonful of salt. Remove the fowl when tender, and let the stock simmer until reduced to about one quart; strain, and set aside to become cool.
Break the bones from roasts; add the tough or browned bits of meat and fat; add also the flank ends from chops and steaks, cut small (there should always be a few bits of fresh meat), and cover with cold water. Heat slowly and let simmer two or three hours, then add, for each two quarts of water used, one-fourth a cup, each, of chopped onion and carrot, two stalks of celery and a tomato cut small, two teaspoonfuls of sweet herbs, two sprigs of parsley browned in two tablespoonfuls of butter or drippings, and cook about an hour. Strain and let cool. Stock will keep a day or two in summerand nearly a week in winter, if the cake of fat that forms upon the top be left undisturbed.
(For use in fish aspic, or any fish dish.)
Cover the bones and trimmings from the fish that is to be used for the salad with cold water; add, if convenient, the body bones of a lobster or two. Add also one or two pounds of an inexpensive fish, and a pint of water for each pound of fish. All must be fresh. Bring the water slowly to the boiling-point and let simmer an hour, then add, for each quart of water, one tablespoonful, each, of chopped onion and carrot, a sprig of parsley and one teaspoonful of sweet herbs, sautéd delicately in two tablespoonfuls of butter. Season to taste with salt and cayenne.
Put over the fire one-fourth a cup, each, of onion and carrot, sautéd in two tablespoonfuls of butter, two stalks of celery, a bay leaf, half a dozen peppercorns and two or three cloves, with one quart of water; add three bouillon capsules, or three teaspoonfuls of beef extract (not home-made) dissolved in two cups of boiling water; let simmer about half an hour, then add one box of gelatine softened in one cup of cold water, any additional flavoring desired, and the slightly beaten white and crushed shell of one egg (more shells will be advantageous). Bring slowly to the boiling-point, stirring constantly meanwhile, and let simmer five minutes; let stand in a hot place ten minutes, then skim and strain through a cheese-cloth folded double.
(For coating joints of fowl or game, or medallions of fowl, tongue or sweetbreads.)
To one pint of white sauce, made of white stock, add three-fourths a cup of aspic jelly and one tablespoonful of lemon juice; let simmer until reduced to the consistency of very thick cream; remove the butter from the top and let cool slightly before using.
Digestive cheese and fruit there sure will be.—Ben Jonson.
(Mrs. Dimon.)
Butter a baking-dish, put in a layer of bread cut in pieces one inch square with crust removed, sprinkle thin-sliced cheese over the bread, dust with salt and paprica, or a few grains of cayenne. Add other layers of bread and cheese, seasoning as before, using in all half a small loaf of bread, one cup of cheese and half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat two eggs slightly, add one pint of milk, and pour the mixture over the bread and cheese. Bake about half an hour in a moderate oven.
Cook together four tablespoonfuls of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, into which have been sifted one-fourth a teaspoonful, each, of soda and mustard and a few grains of cayenne. Add gradually half a cup of milk. When the sauce boils, remove from the fire and stir into it one cup of grated cheese (half a pound) and the yolks of three eggs, beaten until light. When well mixed, fold in the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs.Bake in a buttered pudding-dish, in a moderate oven, about twenty-five minutes, or in individual dishes, paper cases, or china shirring-cups, about twelve minutes.Serve at oncefrom the dish or dishes. The soufflé will "stand up" a little better, if three-fourths a cup of milk be used in place of the half-cup as given, and half a cup of stale grated bread be added before the cheese; but it will not be quite so delicate.
Cheese Ramequins.Cheese Ramequins.
Individual Soufflé of Cheese.Individual Soufflé of Cheese.
Seepage 108
Put four tablespoonfuls of butter and half a cup of water into a saucepan. When these boil, add half a cup of flour and a few grains, each, of salt and paprica; cook and stir until the mixture cleaves from the pan. Turn into a mixing-bowl and beat in two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese; then beat in, one at a time, two eggs. On a well-buttered baking-sheet shape the paste into flat circular pieces about an inch in diameter. Brush over the tops with beaten egg, diluted with one or two tablespoonfuls of milk or water, and put three or four dice of cheese on each. Bake about fifteen minutes. Serve very hot.
Roll plain or puff paste into a rectangular sheet one-fourth an inch thick. Sprinkle one-half with grated cheese (any kind of cheese will do, but Parmesan is preferred); also add a few grains of cayenne and salt. Fold the other half over thisand press the edges together closely. Fold again to make three layers, turn half-way round, pat and roll out to the thickness of one-fourth an inch. Sprinkle one half with cheese and proceed as before. Continue rolling and adding the cheese, until, to one cup and a half of flour, from half to a whole cup of cheese has been used. After the last rolling, cut into bands half an inch wide, or into rings and straws one-fourth an inch wide. The straws and bands should be four or five inches in length, and the rings large enough to hold three or four straws. Serve the bands piled in log-cabin style on a doylie-covered plate. If the paste be made expressly for the straws, the cheese and cayenne may be mixed into the flour with the butter, thus diminishing time in making. Bake in a moderate oven until delicately browned.
Melt four tablespoonfuls of butter; cook in it four tablespoonfuls, each, of cornstarch and flour and half a teaspoonful of salt, then add gradually one pint of milk. When thick and smooth stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs, add four tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, and spread on a buttered pan to cool. Just before serving, cut the paste in shapes, lay on a baking-sheet, and brown delicately in the oven.
Mix together thoroughly one cup and a half of grated cheese, one tablespoonful of flour, one-fourth, a teaspoonful of salt and a few grains of cayenne; then add the whites of three eggs, beaten stiff. Shape in small balls and roll in cracker crumbs, sifted or crushed to a fine meal; fry in deep fat and drain on soft paper.
(See cut facingpage 106.)
Mix half a cup of grated Parmesan and one-fourth a cup of grated Gruyère cheese and one-fourth a teaspoonful of paprica with two-thirds a cup of chicken aspic, cold, but not set. Stir over ice water until just beginning to form, then fold into it one cup of whipped cream. Fasten strips of white paper around paper soufflé cases, letting the strips rise an inch and a half above the cases, fixing in place with sealing-wax, mucilage, or a stitch. Fill the cases and the papers surrounding them with the cheese mixture, and set them in a pail or mould that is thoroughly chilled. Press the cover down over a paper, and pack in equal parts of ice and salt. Let stand an hour. Before serving, remove the paper, sprinkle the tops with buttered crumbs, browned, and serve at once.
(Touraine.)Ingredients.
Method.—Make a sauce of the butter, flour and milk; add the yolks, slightly beaten, and beat thoroughly; add the grated cheese, and, when melted, remove from the fire; add the seasonings and cubes of cheese. Spread in a shallow pan to cool. Cut in any shape desired, dip in crumbs, then in egg, and again in crumbs; fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper.
Ingredients.
Method.—Boil the water and butter, sift in the flour with the salt and cayenne; stir and cook until the mixture cleaves from the side of the pan. When the mixture has slightly cooled, add the eggs, one at a time, beating in each egg thoroughly before another is added. Lastly, add the cheese. Drop, by teaspoonfuls, into hot fat and fry a golden brown. Drain on soft paper and serve piled on a folded napkin.
Ingredients.
Method.—Cream the butter, beat in the eggs, and add the cheese with a few grains, each, of salt and paprica. Roll the pastry very thin and cut it into two rectangular pieces; lay one of these on a baking-sheet and spread with the cheese mixture; cover this with the second piece of pastry. Score with a knife in strips one inch wide and about three inches long, brush over with beaten egg, and bake about fifteen minutes. Cut out the strips while hot. Serve at once, or reheat before serving.
Pineapple Cheese and Crackers.Pineapple Cheese and Crackers.
Salad of Lettuce with Cheese and Vegetable Macedoine.Salad of Lettuce with Cheese and Vegetable Macedoine.
Slice thin half a dozen large tart apples (select apples that cook quickly), and prepare half as many thin slices of cheese. Beat up one or two eggs, and season with salt, mustard and pepper. Soak the cheese in the egg mixture, then put each slice between two slices of apple, sandwich style; dip in the beaten egg, sauté in hot butter, and serve hot.
Mix together a ten-cent cream cheese, a canned pimento (red) cut in tiny cubes, one-fourth a cup of small green string beans, cut in cubes, five olives, chopped fine, and enough cream to hold the mixture together. When thoroughly mixed, use a piece of paraffine or confectioner's paper to handle and give the mixture the original shape. Letstand in a cold place, wrapped in the paper, until ready to serve, then dispose in the centre of a salad dish, lined with lettuce leaves, dressed with French dressing. Slice the cheese with a silver knife before sending to table. At luncheon, mayonnaise may be served in a dish apart.
Leaf
Socrates brought Philosophy from the clouds, but the Englishmen have dragged her into the kitchen.
—Hegel.
Homer never entertained either guests or hosts with long speeches till the mouth of hunger be stopped.
—Sir Philip Sidney.
A pale young man, with feeble whiskers and a stiff white neckcloth, came walking down the laneen sandwich—having a lady, that is, on each arm.—Thackeray("Vanity Fair").
A pale young man, with feeble whiskers and a stiff white neckcloth, came walking down the laneen sandwich—having a lady, that is, on each arm.
—Thackeray("Vanity Fair").
The term "sandwich," now applied to many a fanciful shaped and encased dainty, was formerly used in speaking of "two slices of bread with meat between." In this sense, the word had its origin, about the end of the eighteenth century, from the fact that the fourth Earl of Sandwich was so infatuated with the pleasures and excitement of the gaming-table that he often could not leave it long enough to take his meals with his family; and, on such occasions, a butler was despatched to him bearing "slices of bread with meat between."
The fillings of savory sandwiches may be placed between pieces of bread, crackers, pastry,choupaste or aspic jelly. When preparing sweet sandwiches, these same materials may be used, as also lady-fingers (white or yellow), macaroons or sweet wafers.
As a rule, bread for sandwiches should be twenty-four hours old; but fresh bread, which is more pliable than stale, is better adapted to this use, when the sandwiches are to take the form ofrolls or folds. When stale bread is used for rolls or folds, they must be ribbon-tied; or tiny Japanese toothpicks may be made to keep them in shape.
The bread may be yeast or peptic bread. It may be white or brown. It is not even essential that the two bits of bread be of the same kind; Quaker, rice, whole-wheat, rye or graham bread is interchangeable with white or brown bread. After selecting your loaf or loaves, slice in even, quarter-inch slices; then cut in squares, triangles or fingers, or stamp with a round or fanciful-shaped cutter. Cutters can be obtained in heart, club, diamond and spade shape, also in racquet shape.
Do not spread butter or filling upon the bread before it is cut from the loaf and into shape. When so treated, the butter or filling on the extreme edge of the bread is liable to soil the fingers or gloves that come in contact with it.
Cream the butter, using a small wooden spoon for the purpose, and then it can be spread upon the most delicate bread without crumbling.
Anything appropriately eaten with thecoveringmay be used for thefillingof a sandwich. In meats, salted meat takes the lead in popular favor; when sliced the meat should be cut across the grain and as thin as possible, and several bits should be used in each sandwich, unless a very small, æsthetic sandwich be in order. Tongueand corned beef, whether they be used in slices or finely chopped, should be cooked until they are very tender. When corned beef or ham is chopped for a filling, the sandwich is much improved by a dash of mustard; Worcestershire or horseradish sauce improves a filling of roast beef or boiled tongue; while chopped capers, tomato sauce, catsup or a cold mint sauce is appropriate in sandwiches made of lamb; celery salt, when the filling is of chicken or veal, and lemon juice, when the principal ingredient is fish, areen rapport.
The flavor of a few drops of onion juice is relished by many in any kind of fish or meat sandwich, while others would prefer a few grains of fine-chopped parsley.
When salad sandwiches are to be prepared, chop the meat or fish very fine and mix it with the salad dressing. Celery, cabbage, cress, cucumbers, tomatoes or olives may be chopped and added to the meat with the dressing. When lettuce is used, the leaf is served whole, the edges just appearing outside the bread. Any one of these vegetables, combined with a salad dressing, makes a delicious sandwich without meat or fish. When desired, other well-prepared sauces may be used in the place of salad dressings. Fillings of uncooked fruit may be used; but, in the case of dried fruits, it is preferable to stew until tender, after the fruit has been finely chopped. Pineapple, lemon or orange juice may be added at pleasure. Sandwiches prepared from entire-wheat bread, with figor date fillings, are particularly wholesome for the children's luncheon basket.
When a particularly æsthetic sandwich is desired, wrap the butter that is to be used in spreading the bread in a napkin, and put it over night in a jar, on a bed of violets or rose petals; strew more flowers over the top and cover the jar tightly. If meat or fish is to be used as the basis of the sandwich, substitute nasturtium leaves and blossoms, or sprigs of mignonette, for the former flowers.
Fancy butter makes an attractive filling for a sandwich; it has also the merit of being less often in evidence than many another filling.
Sandwiches, except when vegetables and dressings are used, may be prepared early in the day, placed in a stone jar, covered with a slightly dampened cloth, and set away in a cool place until such time as they are wanted. Or, they may be wrapped in paraffine paper. Still, when convenient, it is preferable to have everything in readiness, and put the sandwiches together just before serving. Garnish the serving-dish with parsley, cress, celery plumes, slices of lemon, barberries and leaves, or fresh nasturtium leaves and blossoms.
Coffee heads the list of beverages most acceptably served with sandwiches. Tea comes next. Cocoa and chocolate are admissible only with the dainty, æsthetic varieties, in which fruit or some kind of sweetmeat is used.