BEEF.
Bullock's Heart.—Thisis an inexpensive portion of the beef, but a very tasty one when properly cooked. It should always be served on very hot dishes, both plates and platter. If you elect to roast your heart, put in a basin of warm water and let soak for an hour to draw out the blood. Wipe dry, brush with oil or butter and tie or skewer in shape. Put in well-greased bag and roast about two hours. Serve with a border of carrots sliced and fried.
Stewed Bullock's Heart.—Soak in a basin of warm water for an hour, then drain and wipe dry. Cut in halves, rub each side with flour and put in a frying pan with a little hot butter. As soon as browned, transfer to a buttered bag, adding four or five onions sliced and browned lightly in the same butter, together with a sprig of thyme and salt and pepper to season. Add a half cupful of water and cook slowly about three hours.
Filet of Beef.—Cut from the end of a tenderloin of beef, slices about 5/8 of an inch thick. Flatten down to about 3/8 of an inch and trim round. Salt lightly on both sides, dust with pepper, and lay in a little hot melted butter, flavored with a tiny scraping of garlic for an hour, turning three or four times in the meantime. Take out, put in a well-buttered bag, seal and cook twenty-five minutes. Serve on small pieces of toast that have been spread with butter and browned in a bag, pouring over them the juice of the meat that will have collected in the bag.
Hamburg Steak.—Hamburg steak, which is too often a delusion and a snare as furnished by the inexperienced cook, can be so manipulated in paper bag cookery as to emerge a very delectable and decorative dish. In the first place never telephone for hamburg steak nor buy that already chopped and mounded ostentatiously on a platter with a garnish of parsley. Naturally the butcher works up his trimmings and inferior cuts into this comparatively inexpensive and much patronized form. Having purchased your cut of round steak in the slice, its lack of natural fat must be made up by the addition of a little beef suet (preferably from the kidney). A piece of suet the size of a butter nut may be allowed to each pound of lean meat. Next, if possible, get the butcher to chop it by hand rather than by the easier-to-him method of running it through the meat grinder. Now having your good meat at home it may be prepared in any one of a half dozen ways. For the Hamburg steaks, press lightly together into cakes about the size of a chop. If onion is desired a little onion juice may be added with discretion, but for most tastes boiled onions served separately, to accompany the steak, will be found preferable, or a few rings of raw onion added to a lettuce salad. The closely packed Hamburg steak is bound to be tough and dry. Better add a beaten egg to hold the chopped meat together than press the small and delicate particles of meat compactly.
Season lightly, brush over with oil or melted butter and lay in buttered bag. Seal and roast for half an hour. Take up on a hot platter, season, add a little melted butter mixed with finely chopped parsley and serve hot with baked or mashed potatoes. A tomato sauce may go with the steaks or a brown gravy made from beef stock. A pleasant change in the appearanceof Hamburg steak can be effected by shaping it to look like lamb chops. When these are bag broiled with a bit of macaroni in each end to simulate the chop bone they can be arranged to stand on a bed of parsley stacked against a pretty bowl containing tomato sauce or stewed tomato, a spoonful of which is to be served with each portion. The bed on which the chops are to rest may be mashed potato or peas, if preferred to the parsley.
Pot Roast.—While this does not eliminate washing the pot, the juices and flavor of the beef are so conserved that instead of the usual dry pot-roast it is moist and tender and so well worth the trouble.
Peel and slice a good sized onion and brown in a round bottomed iron pot with a piece of beef suet. Wash a four or five pound piece of bottom round, place in the pot without any water and brown quickly on all sides, turning it without piercing with a fork. When very brown add a small cup of water, push it back and let simmer for one hour, turning frequently. Season and cook for ten minutes longer, then place it in a well-greased bag, seal and put in a hot oven on a broiler, adding about a cupful of the liquid in which it was cooking, before sealing. Reduce the heat of the oven after ten minutes and cook an hour and a half to two hours according to size. Potatoes may be peeled and browned in the gravy left in the pot. When done, the liquid in the bag should be added to that in the pot and thickened for gravy, first skimming off the fat if too rich.
Rib Roast of Beef.—Grease the roast lightly with drippings or vegetable oil, season with pepper, but not with salt, dust lightly with flour and place in well-greased bag, seal, and place in a hot oven, at the endof fifteen minutes, reduce the heat one-half and continue cooking for half an hour longer in case of a three pound roast or for a seven pound one, a little over an hour.
Roast Round of Beef in Paper Bag.—Get three or four pounds of beef from top round, asking the butcher for a high chunky piece—not a slab—from the tenderest, juiciest part. Have him tie it up securely and add a piece of suet. Well grease the bag inside. Season and flour the meat, place a small piece of suet on top, insert in bag, fasten with paper clips, and put on a broiler in a hot oven, reducing the heat after about five minutes. Allow fifteen minutes for each pound. It will be a rich brown on the outside but rare and juicy. With an exceptionally sharp carving knife the meat should be cut in very thin, appetizingly rare and tender slices.
This is a most economical and nutritious roast, having no waste in bones and trimmings, and if cut from good beef is as delicious as a porterhouse roast.
Sauer Braten.—Rub a solid piece of the round of beef with vinegar, dust lightly with salt and pepper and a bit of bay leaf rubbed to a powder. Let the meat stand over night or twelve hours. Cut several slashes in the meat, put in two small onions cut in quarters and two carrots cut in strips and the same amount of turnip. Dust a pinch of poultry seasoning or sweet herbs over. Lay three thin slices of salt pork in the well-greased paper bag, add a half cupful boiling water and if there is room in the bag tuck in a few more carrots or onions. Seal and place in a very hot oven for eight minutes, then reduce the heat at least half, and cook about two hours. Have a dripping pan with an inch of water in it, set under the oven rack so that if by any mischance the bag should burst, nothing would be lost. The steamfrom the water in the pan serves the same purpose as wetting the bag before filling, keeping it from becoming too brittle. Two bags will be found better than one in this case.
Beef Steak.—Wipe the meat, trim off extra fat and brush over with oil or butter. Season lightly with salt and pepper, put in well-greased bag, seal, place on grid in very hot oven and cook from fifteen to eighteen minutes, according to thickness of steak. At the last, pierce a few holes in the top of the bag, if there is any doubt about the steak being sufficiently browned. Take up on hot platter and spread with parsley butter, pouring any gravy remaining in the pan over the meat.
Toledo Beef Steak.—Place a top sirloin steak in a wood cookery dish, season with salt and pepper and place in bag. Seal and cook twenty minutes. Remove from the oven, open the bag and turn the steak. Spread over the top a little dry mustard and season with salt, pepper, two tablespoonfuls of drawn butter and a large tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Place on the top grate of the oven without the bag, and leave ten or fifteen minutes until crisp and brown.
Stuffed Roast Beef or "Mock Duck."—Take two flank steaks or one large round steak. If the former, sew together with coarse strong cotton, leaving one side open like a bag to be filled with the dressing. If the latter, place on the meat board and spread with a dressing made from mashed potato, well seasoned, sweet potatoes sliced and seasoned, or a forcemeat made from two cupfuls bread crumbs, a quarter cup butter or vegetable oil, in which a chopped onion has been cooked, with salt, pepper and cloves to season. The Germans like a half cupful of seeded raisins or chopped prunesadded to this. Roll the meat about the filling and tie with strips of cotton cloth, or if you are using the flank steak, stuff the pocket and tie in shape. Butter the pocket or roll well on the outside, slip into a large well-buttered bag, add a tablespoonful of broth or hot water, seal, and cook in a hot oven ten minutes.
Reduce the heat and cook forty or fifty minutes more according to weight of the steak. A second bag over the first is advised here when the roll is heavy.
LAMB AND MUTTON.
Thepaper bag seems made expressly for lamb and mutton cookery.
Breast of Lamb With Tomato Sauce.—Get three pounds breast of lamb, boil until tender, and slip out the bones. This is best done the day before you are to bag it. Half an hour before serving, egg, crumb, season and put in a well-greased bag. Seal and put in a very hot oven for twenty minutes. Serve with tomato sauce.
Lamb Chops.—If you use the rib chops have them frenched, saving the trimmings for the stock pot. If you have the loin chops, skewer to keep in shape. Season with salt and pepper and brush over with oil or melted butter. Put in a well-greased bag, seal, place on the grid shelf in a hot oven, and cook for ten or fifteen minutes according to the thickness of the chop. When done put on a hot platter and spread with parsley or mint butter.
Lamb or Mutton Cutlets With Tomatoes.—Cut the best end of the neck into neat cutlets, flatten and trim. Season with salt and pepper, brush with melted butter or oil, sprinkle with mint or chopped parsley and chives, and place in a buttered bag, with a tablespoonful of tomato on each chop. Seal and cook in hot oven twelve or fifteen minutes.
Lamb Fry.—Wash thoroughly a pound and a half of lamb's fry and put in a pan of cold water. Simmer five minutes, lift out and pat dry on a soft cloth. Divide in nice pieces, dip in a batter made of one egg, one tablespoonful of milk, salt and pepper to season and flour to make of the consistency of cream. Arrange these pieces in a buttered bag. Seal and bake ten minutes. Serve with fried parsley.
Lamb's Kidney.—Skin, split, dip in butter and place on skewer. Dust with salt and pepper, and place in buttered bag. Seal, place in hot oven and cook eight minutes.
Leg of Mutton Cooked in Cider.—Buy the leg of mutton two or three days before you wish to serve it. Take off the "woolly" skin that has the strong taste on the outside and wipe carefully with a damp cloth. Then rub with a mixture of spices, using half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, pepper and nutmeg. Rub thoroughly and hang the mutton in a cool place for two days; then put in a well-greased bag, adding four onions chopped fine, a cupful seedless raisins and a cupful of sweet cider. Put in hot oven and bake half an hour, then reduce the heat, and cook an hour and a half. Serve with a hot cider sauce.
Mutton Chops and Sausage.—Place two thick chops in a wooden dish with three links of sausage. Season lightly with salt and pepper, lay two strips of bacon over the top of the chops and seal in bag. Bake from twenty minutes to half an hour in a moderate oven.
Ragout of Lamb.—Grease the bag well, and lay in a layer of sliced raw potatoes, seasoned lightly. Put on top of the potatoes a layer of meat, seasoned with salt,pepper and chopped parsley, and lay thin slices of onion across meat. Add one-half cup canned tomato or tomato sauce, cover the whole with another layer of sliced potato, seal, and bake thirty-five minutes. You may use a wooden cooking dish here to advantage.
Roast Leg of Lamb.—Trim nicely and rub over with oil, dredge with a little flour and season with salt, pepper and powdered mint. Seal and bake two hours. Serve with mint sauce.
A Genuine Irish Stew.—Cut two pounds of chops from the best end of a neck of mutton, and pare away nearly all the fat. A portion of the breast may be cut into squares and used, but a neck of mutton is the best joint for the purpose. Take as many potatoes as will amount after peeling to twice the weight of the meat. Slice them with eight large onions sliced. Put a layer of mixed potatoes and onions at the bottom of the buttered paper bag. Place the meat on this and season it plentifully with pepper and lightly with salt. Pack closely, and cover the meat with another layer of potato and onion. Pour in as much water or stock as will moisten the topmost layer, seal tightly, and let the contents cook gently for two and a half hours. You may use one of the large wooden cooking dishes here.
PORK IN VARIED FORMS.
Bacon and Apples.—Core, but do not peel, well flavored apples and cut in crosswise rings about a quarter of an inch thick. Lay on thin slices of streaky bacon in a well-buttered bag, dust lightly with sugar, seal and cook eight minutes in a hot oven.
Bacon and Bananas.—Peel firm bananas, halve them lengthwise, dust lightly with pepper and wrap each in a thin slice of streaky bacon. Put in a well-greased bag, seal and cook in a hot oven ten minutes.
Bacon and Calf's Liver.—Pour boiling water over thin slices of calf's liver and let stand ten minutes. Drain, pat dry and dredge with flour, seasoning with pepper and a little salt. Lay slices of bacon in a greased bag and on top put a layer of the liver, seal and bake fifteen minutes. Serve on hot platter.
Baked Pork Chops.—Season with salt and pepper, then cover each side of the chops with a forcemeat made moist enough to stick to them. Place in a well-greased bag, adding a spoonful of water, seal and bake twenty-five minutes.
Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes.—Select six sweet potatoes of uniform size. Peel, cut in half lengthwise, brush each piece all over with melted butter and dredge lightly with powdered sugar. Place in a thoroughlybuttered bag flat side down. On top of them put pork chops, seasoned, rolled in flour and from which the fat has been partly trimmed. Seal and bake in hot oven on broiler for twenty-five minutes.
Pork chops cooked in this way are as tender as chicken, not hard in fibre as they usually are when fried.
Ham and Scalloped Potatoes.—Peel and slice potatoes very thin. Put a layer in the bottom of a buttered bag and on top of the potatoes a layer of raw ham sliced very thin, and with the most of the fat trimmed off. Sprinkle with a little flour. Add little bits of butter rolled in flour and salt and pepper to season. Proceed in this way until the desired amount is obtained, having the top layer of potatoes sprinkled with flour and bits of butter. Turn in enough sweet milk or cream to come even with the top layer, and bake twenty minutes or until the potatoes are tender. The trimmings from the fat of the ham can be used in place of the butter if preferred. One of the wooden cooking dishes is convenient here.
Ham, Spinach and Lamb Chops.—Place two or more slices of ham in a wood cookery dish. Spread over it the contents of a small can of spinach and on top of the spinach place Frenched lamb chops. Put in greased paper bag, and surround by six potatoes prepared for baking. Close the bag, and bake 45 minutes in a moderate oven. This makes a very easy dinner—as the whole meal can be cooked in the oven without having to be watched—and the mistress of the house can be ready dressed to entertain guests without danger of spoiling her frock by spattering grease.
Stuffed Fresh Ham or Shoulder.—Have the knuckle and bone removed, wash, wipe dry, season with salt and pepper and fill the bone space with a forcemeat to which apples or stewed prunes have been added. Sew or skewer into shape, then lay skin side up in a large, well-greased bag. Add a half cup of water or cider, a few slices of onion, seal and bake for fifteen minutes in a very hot oven, then reduce the heat one-half and bake an hour.
Roast Loin of Pork.—Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge lightly with flour and put into a greased bag with a half cup of water or tomato. Seal and bake an hour and a half. Serve with apples baked in another bag.
Roast Spare-Rib.—Cut the skin of the spare-rib in checks, season with salt and pepper and put in a well-greased bag surrounded by apples or sweet potatoes cut in halves, and bake three-quarters of an hour.
Baked Sausage With Apples.—Put links of sausage or sausage cakes in greased bag, and surround with well flavored apples cored and cut in halves but not peeled. Stand the apples flesh side down. Seal and bake fifteen minutes.
Baked Sausage and Potato.—Get the best country sausage meat and mould into a little roll. Dust lightly with flour and put into a well-greased bag. Peel enough potatoes to make a wall about the meat and cut them in halves. They should stand with the cut side against the meat. Seal the bag and bake about thirty minutes until the potatoes are tender and brown and the sausage well done. If desired, use the drippings that come from the sausage as the foundation for a cream gravy to servewith the sausage or serve without. Sausage cooked in this way is also nice sliced cold and makes appetizing sandwiches for the school lunch basket.
Baked Sausage With Toast.—Put a half dozen link sausages in a well-greased bag, separating them by as many slices of bread cut the same height. Add a half cup of good brown sauce and a few mushrooms if desired. Seal and bake twelve minutes. Serve with the sauce and a little minced parsley sprinkled over the sausage.
Baked Sausage With Tomatoes.—Put into the greased bag sausage cakes or links. Chop fine one small onion, a teaspoonful of parsley and two tomatoes, spread over the sausage, seal and cook twenty minutes.
Tenderloin of Pork.—Get fat, large tenderloins and have them split, but leave connected down the side. Fill with a good forcemeat or potato dressing well seasoned, skewer the edges together or tie with string, put in well-greased bag adding a tablespoonful of water and bake twenty minutes. Serve with curried apples, made in this way and baked in another bag at the same time. Peel and core the apples and fill the cavities with a mixture of curry powder, grated cheese and fine breadcrumbs. For eight apples use four tablespoonfuls and a half of curry powder and eight of the bread crumbs. Moisten the mixture with milk. Bag, seal and bake. These apples are nice served cold with cold roast pork.
VEAL.
Baked Calf's Liver.—Onecalf's liver washed and dried, slashed and scored inside. Have bread dressing ready well seasoned with onions. Stuff the liver with this and tie with cord. Skewer to liver with toothpicks several pieces of bacon, put a little hot water in the bag and bake at least one hour in a hot oven. Send to table hot, with a parsley garnish.
Calves' Brains in Tempting But Inexpensive Ways.—Carefully prepared few can tell the difference between sweetbreads and calves' brains though the housewife will appreciate the fact that sweetbreads cost about four times as much as the brains. In whichever way one elects to cook the brains, the preliminary treatment is the same. Parboil fifteen minutes in water, to which has been added a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar. After this, let them lie in cold water a few moments, then remove all membranes and dark streaks. They are now ready to be cooked in any way preferred.
Breaded Brains.—Separate the lobes of a pair of brains that have been parboiled as directed. Then with a sharp knife split each division. Beat the yolk of an egg lightly, thin slightly with cold water or milk, dip the brains in this, then into finely rolled crumbs. Put in a buttered bag and bake twenty minutes. Serve on a hotdish with a garnish of quarters of lemon that have been rolled in finely minced parsley.
Sweetbreads.—The initial treatment of sweetbreads, when they come from the market, is always the same. Parboil at once in salted water, from fifteen to thirty minutes, never allowing them to boil. Then plunge into ice water and lemon juice or vinegar (a tablespoonful to a quart of water) and leave for an hour to blanch and become firm. After parboiling, the little strings and membranes can be very readily removed. Now they are ready for the finishing culinary touch, in anyway the cook may elect.
Baked Sweetbreads.—Sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll in crumbs then beaten egg to which a spoonful of milk has been added, then in crumbs again, the last time having the crumbs well-buttered. Put in greased bag and bake half an hour in a moderately hot oven. Serve on toast with the brown gravy poured over the slices.
Sweetbreads With Bacon.—Slice sweetbreads, roll in seasoned crumbs, then in egg and again in crumbs. Put on a skewer, alternating with slices of bacon cut thin, put in a greased bag, and bake twenty minutes in medium oven.
Larded Sweetbreads.—Lard the boiled sweetbreads with strips of bacon and lemon peel, having the bacon in the centre and peel on the sides. Lay in paper bag with brown gravy to half cover, and let them bake for an hour, or until brown. Arrange on a hot dish, thicken the gravy with a little flour and season with catsup, lemon juice and spices to taste. Pour over the sweetbreads and serve with peas.
Sweetbreads Straight.—Parboil the sweetbreads, take off the skins, dust each sweetbread with salt and pepper very lightly and pour over each a tablespoonful of cream. Slip the sweetbreads into a thickly greased bag and cook in a moderate oven slowly for forty minutes. Serve on a hot dish with a border of asparagus or green peas.
Vealettes.—Purchase veal cuts from the leg in slices as large as one's hand and about half an inch thick. On each slice lay a large tablespoonful of dressing made from seasoned bread crumbs, a beaten egg and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Roll up the slices, pinning with toothpicks to keep the dressing in. Put in a well-greased bag, seal and bake about three-quarters of an hour. When done, thicken the gravy, pour over the veal and serve on a hot platter.
A variation in vealettes is made by getting from the butcher two slices of veal and a slice of ham the same size. Put together like a sandwich with the ham in the center and skewer together. Trim the edges evenly and bake in a bag. When the veal is done take up on a hot platter, thicken the drippings remaining in the bag, adding enough hot water to make a good consistency.
Veal Loaf.—Mince three pounds raw lean veal and a quarter pound of fine fat pork, salt or fresh. Season with half an onion, grated fine, a tablespoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, a half teaspoonful powdered thyme, quarter of a spoonful sweet marjoram, the same amount Summer savory and a saltspoonful celery salt. Next mix in two-thirds of a cup of rolled cracker crumbs, a scant cupful veal gravy or hot milk, the yolk of one egg and the whites of two beaten together until light. Mix thoroughly and form into a compact loaf. Roll ituntil coated in yolks of the two eggs left over, then in sifted cracker or bread crumbs, and put in buttered bag and bake in a moderate oven. Roast two hours and serve cold, cut in very thin slices.
Shoulder of Veal Stuffed and Braised.—Buy a shoulder of veal and ask the butcher to bone it and send the bones with the meat. Cover the bones with cold water and when it comes to a boil, skim, then add a little onion and carrot, a few seasoning herbs and any spices desired. Simmer gently for an hour or so until you have a pint of stock. To make the stuffing, take a stale loaf, cut off the crust and soak in a little cold water until soft. Rub the crumb of the loaf as fine as possible in the hands, then add to the soaked and softened crust. Chop a half cupful of suet fine, put into a frying pan a tablespoonful of the suet, and when hot add an onion chopped fine. Cook until brown, then add to the bread with regular poultry seasoning or else salt, pepper and a bit of thyme. Mix well and stuff the cavity in the shoulder, then pull the flaps of the meat over and sew up. Put the rest of the suet in the frying pan, and having dusted the meat with flour, salt, pepper and a sprinkling of sugar, brown on all sides in the fat. Into the bottom of the bag put a layer of thin sliced onion and carrot, a bit of bay leaf and sprigs of parsley, and on this lay the meat. Add two or three cloves, pour the hot stock around it, cover closely and braise in a hot oven for two and a half hours.
SAUCES AND GRAVIES.
Bignon's Sauce.—Thisis a delightful appetizer with meats cold or hot, or with fish. Chop fine equal parts, say one tablespoonful of each, capers, parsley, chives, gherkins, tarragon and green Chili peppers. Mix together; season with salt, pepper and cayenne and cover with tarragon vinegar; let it stand an hour and add three tablespoonfuls of oil and a teaspoonful of French mustard.
Bread Sauce.—Mince an onion and boil in milk until soft. Then strain the milk over one cupful of grated bread crumbs and stand aside, closely covered, for an hour. Add the minced onion, two tablespoonfuls of butter, pepper, salt and a bit of mace to season. Set over the fire, boil up and serve with roasted or broiled birds.
Brown Sauce.—The formula for this is the same as for the white sauce, except that the butter and fat are browned before the flour is added, or browned flour is used for thickening. Use a little more flour proportionately, in a brown sauce, as the browning destroys, in a measure, the thickening qualities of the flour. Reduce with brown stock or water.
With this as foundation, any number of palatable sauces can be invented which will be found useful in disposing of many odds and ends of vegetables, cold meatsand left-over fish, that might otherwise "go begging."
Celery Sauce.—Prepare a smooth, white sauce by blending over the fire two tablespoonfuls each butter, and flour, then reducing with a pint of warm milk. Add a dozen stalks of celery that have been minced fine and cooked tender in just enough water to cover. Cook two minutes, season with salt and pepper and serve with boiled fowl.
Currant Jelly Sauce.—This makes a delicious addition to roast venison or mutton. Cook together in a saucepan one tablespoonful butter and a teaspoonful minced onion. When the onion is lightly colored, (not blackened) add a teaspoonful of flour and stir until smooth. Add gradually a half cupful stock, stirring all the time, and when it boils up add a bit of bay leaf, a teaspoonful vinegar, a half teaspoonful salt, and eighth teaspoonful pepper, one clove, and a tablespoonful of currant jelly. Simmer five minutes, strain and serve hot.
Curry Sauce.—This is nice with any delicate meat or fish or can be poured over boiled rice for a side dish. Put two tablespoonfuls butter in a saucepan, then stir into it two tablespoonfuls flour. Add a scant tablespoonful curry powder and a teaspoonful onion juice, and cook a moment or two, but do not allow them to brown. Stir in gradually one cupful milk and cook until smooth and thickened. Add a cup of cream, season with salt and just before serving, add, if you like, a hard boiled egg chopped fine.
Hollandaise Sauce.—Put one-half cup of butter into a bowl of cold water and wash it to take out the salt. Divide it into three parts and put one-third into the topof a double boiler with the yolks of two eggs and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir and cook until the butter melts, add another piece of butter and continue stirring. As the sauce thickens stir in the last piece, add one-third cup of boiling water, a speck of cayenne and a saltspoon of salt and cook one minute.
Horseradish Sauce.—Put a saucepan over the fire with a tablespoonful of butter and a half tablespoonful of flour. Stir and cook two minutes, then add a half cupful of strained soup stock and a half cupful of milk, six whole peppers, a bit of bay leaf and an even half teaspoonful of salt. Cook five minutes, remove bay leaf and peppers, and add three tablespoonfuls grated horseradish. Cook two minutes and serve.
Maitre d'Hotel Butter.—To make it, rub a quarter cupful of butter to a cream, add a half teaspoonful of salt, a good dash of pepper, white or paprika, a tablespoonful of fine chopped parsley and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. If you are partial to nutmeg, a grating of that is sometimes added.
Mexican Sauce.—Take four large tomatoes or the equivalent in canned, three green peppers and one onion. Chop pepper and onion in a wooden bowl, add the tomato and salt and pepper to season. To one-half cupful of vinegar, add the drippings from four slices fried bacon, pour over the chopped vegetables and serve in individual salad dishes as an accompaniment to meats.
Mint Sauce for Roast Lamb.—Put one cup of vinegar and one rounding tablespoon of sugar together and stir in one-quarter cup of finely minced mint. Let stand fifteen minutes before it is served.
French Mustard Sauce, Creole Style.—Work together three tablespoonfuls mustard and one cupful sugar, then beat in one egg until smooth. Add one cupful of vinegar a little at a time, set over the fire and cook three or four minutes stirring constantly. When cold add one tablespoonful olive oil beating all well together.
An Excellent Mustard Sauce for Cold Meat.—Two teaspoonfuls flour, one teaspoonful sugar, one teaspoonful mustard, a little pepper and salt. Mash all together, add boiling water, to make thick paste. Beat constantly till lumps are all out. Add sufficient vinegar to make it thinner. Be sure the water is boiling.
Onion Sauce.—Prepare a smooth white sauce by blending over the fire two tablespoonfuls of butter and a tablespoonful and a half of flour. When bubbly, turn in two cupfuls of hot milk, and stir until smooth and thickened. Add two large boiled onions minced fine, cook a moment, season with salt and pepper and serve with poultry or boiled veal.
Spanish Sauce.—For veal, lamb or mutton chops, broiled or fried fish, chicken, etc. One large onion, one full section of garlic, one-half large sweet, green or red pepper. Put in two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of olive or vegetable oil. When effervescing stops add a half teaspoonful of salt, and the onion, garlic and green pepper which has been finely grated. When this begins to brown, giving it time to cook rather well, add four good sized tomatoes, skinned and chopped, or the thick part of one can of tomatoes. Let all simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes with occasional stirring to prevent burning. Add salt and pepper, paprika, or cayenne to taste, two tablespoonfuls tomato ketchup and one dessertspoonful Worcestershire Sauce, before taking offfire. It should be the consistency of good cream. If too thin, cook down, or if too thick add a sufficient amount ofboilingwater. Use red pepper as a seasoning.
Thick Tomato Sauce.—Blend over the fire two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour; add a little at a time, and stirring all the while, one large cupful of tomato juice. Stir until the mixture thickens; then season to taste with sugar, salt and cayenne pepper. The seasoning may sometimes be varied by adding a little chopped parsley or chopped onion or even both. For a thinner tomato sauce—use but one tablespoonful of butter and one of flour to each cupful of liquor.
Sauce Tartare.—Make first a good mayonnaise, then finish with the addition of a tablespoonful each of chopped gherkins, olives, parsley and capers; mix together in a bowl a half teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful mustard, a half teaspoonful of powdered sugar and a half saltspoonful of pepper; add the yolks of two raw eggs that have been in the ice box long enough to be as cold as possible and beat lightly; measure out a half cupful of olive oil and have this cold also; add the oil slowly at first, then as it begins to thicken it can be poured in more rapidly. When quite thick, add three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, then the chopped ingredients. This will keep several weeks. Tarragon vinegar may be used in place of the cider vinegar if preferred.
RECOOKED DISHES.
Beef Steak Left Overs.—Mincefine and for each cup of meat add a tablespoonful of chopped ham and half as much bread crumbs as you have meat. Moisten the crumbs with a little hot milk and add to the meat. Season highly with salt, pepper and chopped parsley or substitute a little sage or onion juice for the parsley. Beat one egg light and add to the other ingredients. Make into a brick shaped loaf, grease over with warmed butter or oil, put in paper bag also greased. Seal and bake twenty-five minutes. Dish on a hot platter, pour tomato sauce about it or serve with horse radish sauce.
Chicken Croquettes.—To one solid cupful of meat chopped as fine as powder, add one half teaspoonful of salt, and a half saltspoonful of white pepper. Make a pint of thick cream sauce, allowing to two level tablespoonfuls of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of cornstarch cooked together diluted with a pint of hot milk or cream and stirred and cooked until smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper and add enough to the chicken to make stiff enough to handle when cold. When cold shape into balls, roll in fine, dry bread crumbs and beaten egg diluted with a little water, then crumb again and place in well-greased bag. Seal and cook ten minutes.
Mock Fried Oysters.—To two cupfuls cold boiled rice, add one tin of sardines, from which all bone and skin have been removed. Roll this coarse paste into flat, circular cakes, put into well-greased bag and bake fifteen minutes in moderate oven.
Turkey Croquettes.—Chop the fragments of turkey or other left over meats very fine, adding for seasoning a small portion of bologna, ham or tongue together with a bit of fine minced onion or onion juice, salt, pepper and parsley. Make a thick cream sauce, allowing for a pint of the chopped and seasoned meat the following portions:
Put into a saucepan a heaping tablespoonful butter and two level tablespoonfuls of flour. As soon as blended, pour in a cupful of hot milk stirring until thick and smooth. Salt to taste. Add the meat and beat until well mixed.
Season more highly if desired, then set away in a cold place until cold and stiffened. Form into cones. Dip in beaten egg, roll in fine crumbs and place in a cold place again until quite dry. Bake in well-greased bag and stick a little sprig of parsley in the end of each cone before serving.
Edinboro Hot Pot.—You will need for this one pound of cold meat sliced and browned in sweet drippings, one large onion sliced and browned in the same drippings, a half tin of tomatoes, a half dozen cold boiled or baked potatoes sliced and a little good stock made from the bones and seasoning. Put a layer of meat in the well-greased bag or in one of the oval wood cookery dishes made specially for the purpose. On top of the meat put some of the onions, tomatoes and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and butter or vegetable shortening and pour over all about a cupful of goodstock. Seal the bag and bake for a half hour in a moderate oven.
Individual Meat Pies.—Chop fine any cold cooked meat. Season highly with mustard, pepper sauce and catsup, salt and pepper; add one egg; moisten with liquor of oysters. Make a rich biscuit crust, roll out to a quarter of an inch thickness, and cut in squares. Fill half of each square with one tablespoonful of the prepared meat. Fold remaining half of square over, first moistening edges with oyster liquor, and press closely together. Put in buttered bag and bake twenty minutes in hot oven, reducing the heat after the first ten minutes.
English Pasties.—Cut any cold meat up into small pieces, add a cupful of sliced potatoes, raw, and an onion chopped fine, some parsley and pepper and salt to taste. Stew this until the potato is done and thicken with flour rubbed in butter. Make a crust of flour and salt, using chopped suet and butter in equal quantities for shortening and a teaspoonful of baking powder to each quart of flour. Roll the crust out thin and cut into large discs—the cover of a two quart pail makes a good pastie cutter. Put two large spoonfuls of the meat mixture on the crust and roll over, pinching edges together like a fruit turnover. Bag and bake one-half hour in a hot oven. If there is any of the meat gravy left serve it with the pasties.
Olla Podrida Pie.—Grease one of the oval wood dishes and line with a crust about a quarter of an inch thick. Fill with meat scraps of any sort cut small and heated together in a little stock or gravy, well seasoned with tomato and powdered herbs. Small leftovers of any vegetable, peas, corn or cauliflower may also be minced and added with good effect. Cover with strips of goodpaste lattice fashion, slip into a well-greased bag and cook half an hour in a moderate oven.
Oyster Bundles.—Cut generous, uniform slices of cold turkey or veal, lay a slice of bacon on each, then an oyster on each slice of the bacon. Roll the three together, fasten with tooth picks and put in buttered bag. Bake fifteen minutes and serve with potatoes baked in another bag.
CHEESE AND EGG DISHES.
Cheese Ball With Tomato Sauce.—Mixtogether two cupfuls grated cheese, a cupful of fine bread crumbs, a quarter teaspoonful of salt and a few grains of cayenne. Then add two eggs beaten stiff, shape in small balls, roll in crushed cracker crumbs and lay in well-buttered bag. Bake ten minutes and serve on triangles of buttered toast with tomato sauce.
Cheese Fritters to Serve With the Salad Course.—Beat two eggs, season with salt, pepper and a suspicion of mustard and then lay in this seasoned egg as many thin slices of American cheese as it will hold. Have ready tart apples cored and sliced crosswise without peeling. Put a slice of cheese between two rounds of apple, sandwich fashion, dip the sandwiches in the egg, lay in a well-greased paper bag seal and cook ten minutes. Serve very hot.
Pepper Cheese.—Take green peppers, scorch slightly in hot oven or over the coals, then remove the outer skin with a sharp knife. Split the peppers, remove the seeds, and put in their place a small roll of cream cheese. Roll up again, skewer together with a wooden tooth-pick, dip in beaten egg and cracker crumbs and put in well-buttered bag. Seal and bake fifteen minutes in hot oven.
Cheese Ramekins.—Roll out a sheet of pie crust and sprinkle liberally with grated cheese. Roll up and roll out again. Sprinkle on more cheese and repeat the rolling. Stamp out with a biscuit cutter (the pastry should be about a quarter of an inch thick), put in buttered bag and bake in a hot oven. When done, dip both sides in melted butter and serve hot.
Cheese and Eggs.—Butter the bottom of a baking dish and cover with slices of rich cheese. Break several whole eggs over the cheese, taking care that the whites and yolks do not become separated. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over all a rich cream, a half tablespoonful to each egg.
Baked Eggs.—Butter little casseroles or gem pans, and drop an egg in each. Season with salt and pepper and put a little cream on the top of each egg. Put in bag, seal and bake five minutes. These are exceedingly delicate, as the steam being retained they bake quickly, yet do not become hard. Set each on a plate for serving.
Baked Eggs With Cheese.—Break into a buttered pan the number of eggs required. Pour over each one tablespoon of rich, sweet cream, sprinkle over all a thin layer of grated cheese and a few fine rolled crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, put in bag, seal, and bake about six minutes.
A Paper Bag Omelette.—Beat two eggs for about five minutes. Add a dash of salt and pepper and a heaping teaspoonful of flour. Beat again until flour is well mixed in and add a small cupful of milk. Put a tablespoonful of minced breakfast bacon into a pie tin, when quite hot pour egg mixture over it. Put in paper bag, seal, and bake a delicate brown in a quick oven. Cut in squares and serve immediately.
Cheese Omelette.—A savory of cheese omelette may be made from one egg if the following recipe is used. Soak one small cupful grated bread crumbs in two cupfuls of sweet milk into which a pinch of soda has been dissolved. Beat one egg very light and add to the softened bread. Stir in one teaspoonful of melted butter and a dash of cayenne. Beat the whole well, add a small cupful grated cheese and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat again, turn into a buttered bag, bake twenty minutes and serve at once.
Swiss Eggs.—For Swiss eggs spread the bottom of a bag with two ounces of fine American cheese. Place four eggs on the cheese, taking care that the yolks are not broken. Season with pepper and salt. Pour around the eggs two tablespoonfuls of rich cream and cover the top with grated cheese. Put in bag, seal and bake for ten minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with fingers of crisp toast.
Eggs in Tomato Cups.—Cut fresh tomatoes in half and scoop out part of the interior. Fry the tomato cups until half done. Then break into each of them an egg. Put then in a buttered bag, seal and cook ten minutes. The tops of the eggs may be sprinkled with minced ham or grated cheese, or they may be served plain. Season and serve hot.