365 Luncheon Dishes Part 6

20.--Oatmeal Bread.

Boil 2 cups of oatmeal as for porridge, add 1/2 teaspoonful salt, and when cool, 1/2 cup mola.s.ses, and 1/2 a yeast cake; stir in enough wheat flour to make as stiff as it can be stirred with a spoon; put it into 2 well-greased tin pans and let stand in a warm place until very light; bake about an hour and a quarter. Do not cut until the next day.

21.--Kidney Omelet.

Take 3 eggs, 1 kidney, 2-1/2 ozs. of b.u.t.ter; skin the kidney and cut it very small, fry it in some of the b.u.t.ter until cooked. Mix 3 eggs, beating yolks and whites separately, add salt and cayenne, and the kidney, melt the b.u.t.ter in the pan and fry the omelet until done, turn and serve.

22.--Deviled Cheese.

Melt in a saucepan 1/2 a lb. of dairy cheese, add 1/4 of a cupful of cream or milk, a small piece of b.u.t.ter, 1 beaten egg, 1 teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoonful finely chopped cuc.u.mber pickle; season highly with salt and cayenne. Melt the cheese over hot water and stir all the ingredients until thick and smooth. Serve at once on b.u.t.tered toast.

23.--Veal and Ham Pates.

Mince cold cooked veal and ham in the proportion of 2/3 veal and 1/3 ham. A few mushrooms are a pleasing addition. To each cup of the mixture allow a tablespoonful of fine crumbs; season highly with salt, a dash of cayenne, a little lemon juice, and a teaspoonful of catsup. Wet up with stock, or b.u.t.ter and water, and heat in a vessel set in another of hot water, to a smoking boil. Take from the fire, stir in a beaten egg and a gla.s.s of sherry, and fill in sh.e.l.ls of pastry that have been baked empty. The sh.e.l.ls should be hot when the mince goes in. Set in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes, but the mixture must not cook.--From "The National Cook Book," by Marion Harland and Christine Terhune Herrick.

24.--Asparagus Salad.

Boil a bunch of asparagus in rapid boiling salted water. When cooked put on a dish to cool. Cut off the tender part and place four or five stalks on a large lettuce leaf. Put a teaspoonful of thick mayonnaise dressing on the end of each bunch and serve.

25.--Chicken Pie (CONCORD STYLE).

Roll puff paste 1/4 of an inch thick, cut in diamond shaped pieces, chill thoroughly, and bake about 15 minutes. Put a stewed or frica.s.seed chicken into a serving dish, reheat the pastry and arrange on top of the chicken.--Janet M. Hill in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

26.--Parmesan Puffs.

Put 4 ozs. of fine bread crumbs, 4 ozs. of grated Parmesan cheese, 2 ozs. of b.u.t.ter and a little salt and cayenne into a mortar, and pound them thoroughly. Bind the mixture together with a well-beaten egg and form into small b.a.l.l.s, egg and bread crumb them and fry a light brown.

Drain them and serve very hot.

27.--French Bean Omelet.

Cut up 2 tablespoonfuls of boiled French beans and stir them into 4 well-beaten eggs; add 2 tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, put into an omelet pan with 2 ozs. of b.u.t.ter, and fry until done. Serve very hot.

28.--Curry of Lobster.

Remove the meat from a 3 lbs. boiled lobster and cut into 2 inch pieces; season with salt and a little cayenne, and set away where it is cold. Heat hot in a frying pan, 3 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, and then add 2 of flour and 1 small teaspoonful of curry powder. Stir this until browned and then add gradually 1-1/2 cupfuls of stock and season to taste. Add the lobster, cook 6 minutes, then pour over toast arranged on a warm dish. Garnish with parsley. If onion is liked a few slices may be fried with the b.u.t.ter before the flour and curry powder are added.

29.--Champignons en Caisse.

Peel and cut small 12 large mushrooms, put them into well b.u.t.tered china cases. Add pepper, salt and chopped parsley.

30.--Potato and Meat Puffs.

Take 1 cup cold meat, chopped fine, and season with salt and pepper.

Make a paste with 1 cup of mashed potato and 1 egg, roll out with a little flour, cut it round with a saucer, put the meat on 1 half, fold it over like a puff, pinch the edges together in scallops, fry a light brown.

MAY.

1.--Kedgeree (FISH).

Take equal parts of cold fish (free from skin and bone) boiled rice and some hard boiled eggs. Chop the fish and eggs; mix with the rice, add bits of b.u.t.ter, about a tablespoonful in all, season with salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of curry powder. Warm in a saucepan and serve as hot as possible.

2.--Veal Eggs in a Nest a la Turin.

Mince cold veal, season to taste, and wet slightly with a good gravy. To each cupful allow a tablespoonful of finely minced blanched almonds, or the same quant.i.ty of chopped mushrooms. Bind the mixture with a beaten egg, stir over the fire one minute and set aside to cool. Flour your hands and form into b.a.l.l.s the size and shape of an egg; let them get cold, roll in egg and cracker-dust and fry in deep fat. Arrange upon a platter a border of spaghetti, boiled tender in salted water and drained. b.u.t.ter plentifully and pour carefully over it a cupful of strained tomato sauce. Heap the eggs in the centre.--From "The National Cook Book," by Marion Harland and Christine Terhune Herrick.

3.--Baked Cheese and Rice.

Make a white sauce with one heaping tablespoonful each of flour and b.u.t.ter, 1/3 of a teaspoonful of white pepper and 1 cupful and a half of milk. In a deep baking dish place alternate layers of rice, sauce, and grated cheese, having the last layer cheese. Place in a hot oven until brown.--From "Table Talk," Phila.

4.--Stewed Trout.

Wash and wipe the fish dry. Lay it in a saucepan with half an onion; cut in thin slices, parsley, two cloves, 1 blade of mace, two bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper, 1 pint of meat stock, a gla.s.s of claret or port wine. Simmer gently for 1/2 an hour. Take out the fish, thicken the gravy with a little flour and b.u.t.ter rubbed together. Stir for five minutes. Pour over the fish and serve.

5.--Squash Griddle Cakes.

Mix 1 pt. of flour, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1 teaspoonful of salt, and 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar together; sift them; add 2 well-beaten eggs, a pint of milk, and 2 cupfuls of boiled squash that has been strained. Beat until light. Bake on the griddle or add a little more flour and bake in m.u.f.fin rings.

6.--Jellied Chicken.

Take a fowl, cut it up in joints, and put it in a saucepan with enough water to cover it, a pinch of mace, a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. Let it stew until the meat will leave the bones. Then take the meat out, remove the bones and arrange the meat nicely in a mould.

Season the liquor with a little more salt and pepper and dissolve in it 1/4 of an ounce of gelatine. Pour over the chicken. The mould may be lined with slices of hard boiled egg.

7.--Jambalayah (A CREOLE DISH).

Take 1 large cupful of cold meat, 1 of boiled rice and 1 of stewed tomatoes. Let these cook well, season highly; fill a baking dish, cover with crumbs and bits of b.u.t.ter, and brown in the oven.

8.--Lobster (SOUTHERN WAY).