Better Meals for Less Money Part 23

300.--POLENTA WITH DATES

Prepare recipe for Polenta with Cheese (see No. 299), using in place of the cheese one and a half cups of dates, which have been washed, stoned, and cut in pieces. Serve hot as a cereal or dessert, or in any way in which mush is served. Cooked dried peaches, apricots, prunes, or figs may be subst.i.tuted for dates.

301.--FRENCH FRIED POLENTA

Prepare recipe for Polenta with Cheese (see No. 299); pour into a shallow pan until two-thirds of an inch thick; cool; cut into strips about three inches long; dip first in crumbs, then in egg, and then again in crumbs; and fry in deep fat.

302.--SPANISH POLENTA

4 cups boiling water 1 green pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup corn meal 1 onion 1 cup cheese cut fine

Add salt to boiling water; add onion and pepper chopped fine; sift in corn meal very slowly, stirring all the time. Cook over hot water for two hours; add cheese, and serve hot with Tomato Sauce (see No. 203).

303.--BAKED RICE AND HAM

1/2 cup rice 1/2 cup cooked ham finely chopped 2-1/2 cups stock or water 1 tablespoon onion finely chopped 2 cups milk 2 tablespoons carrot finely chopped

Wash rice, place in greased baking dish; add liquid, ham, vegetables, and salt if necessary. Bake slowly for three hours, stirring occasionally during the first hour. Ham stock or corned beef stock may be used, and any cooked meat subst.i.tuted for ham. Serve with boiled spinach or dressed lettuce.

304.--BOILED RICE

Wash one cup rice, and add slowly to two quarts of boiling salted water, allowing one tablespoon of salt; cook until tender, pour into strainer, rinse with boiling water, and put in oven or on back of range for a few minutes, until the grains separate. Very old rice is improved by soaking in cold water for an hour or two before cooking. Corned beef or ham stock may be used in place of salted water.

305.--RICE AND COCONUT LOAF

2 cups cooked rice 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1 cup stewed and strained tomatoes 1/4 teaspoon mustard 1 tablespoon grated onion 1 can grated coconut 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons melted bacon fat 1 egg slightly beaten

Mix all ingredients except the bacon fat; put into a deep greased pan, cover with bacon fat, and bake in a slow oven one hour.

306.--RISOTTO

1/2 cup rice 1 onion chopped 1 cup boiling water 1 green pepper chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 can tomatoes 3 tablespoons bacon fat 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Cook rice with boiling water and salt in top of double boiler twelve minutes, cook onion and pepper in bacon fat ten minutes, stirring often; add tomatoes and paprika, mix with rice, and cook forty-five minutes.

307.--STEAMED SAMP

1/2 cup samp 3/4 teaspoon salt 2-1/2 cups boiling water

Wash samp, soak over night in cold water, and drain; put boiling water and salt in top of double boiler, and place directly on the range; add samp slowly, and boil five minutes; place over hot water and cook for four hours.

308.--CORN MEAL AND BEEF Sc.r.a.pPLE

3-1/2 cups corned beef stock 1 cup corned beef cut in small pieces 1 cup corn meal

Cook meal in stock as directed in Corn Meal Mush (see No. 293), add meat, and pour into a deep bread pan; when cold, either slice and serve cold, or dip in flour and saute in b.u.t.ter, or dip in crumbs, then in egg, and then again in crumbs, and fry in deep fat. If stock is very salt, dilute with water or milk. Any kind of stock or meat may be used in place of corned beef.

309.--WHEAT AND SAUSAGE Sc.r.a.pPLE

3-3/4 cups boiling water 1 cup Cream of Wheat 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 pound link sausage

Stir wheat slowly into boiling salted water, cook five minutes, place over hot water, and cook half an hour. Cook sausages in frying pan until brown, cut into half-inch pieces, add to mush, and pour into deep pan to cool. Serve sliced cold, sauteed, or fried.

310.--BAKED SPAGHETTI AND HAM

2 cups cooked spaghetti 1-1/2 cups White Sauce (see No. 207) 3/4 cup cooked ham finely chopped 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup 1 hard-cooked egg chopped 1/2 cup b.u.t.tered Crumbs (see No. 472)

Put half of spaghetti into a greased baking dish; mix ham and egg, and add half of it to spaghetti; mix sauce and ketchup, and pour half of it over ham; repeat; cover with crumbs, and bake in a hot oven about fifteen minutes.

311.--CREOLE SPAGHETTI

2 cups spaghetti broken in 2-inch pieces 1 cup tomatoes 1 onion chopped fine 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 green pepper chopped fine 1/2 teaspoon paprika 3 tablespoons bacon fat

Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until tender, and drain; cook onion and pepper in bacon fat for ten minutes, stirring often; add tomatoes and seasonings, put in top of double boiler, add spaghetti, and cook half an hour. Macaroni may be used in place of spaghetti.

312.--ITALIAN SPAGHETTI

2 cups spaghetti broken in 2-inch pieces 1/2 bay leaf 1/2 onion 1 can condensed tomato soup 4 cloves 1/4 cup grated cheese

Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water with the onion, cloves, and bay leaf until tender; drain, remove onion, cloves, and bay leaf; add soup and cheese, and heat to boiling point. One-half can tomatoes seasoned, stewed until thick, and pressed through a sieve, may be used in place of soup. Macaroni may be used in place of spaghetti.

CHAPTER XV

CROQUETTES AND FRITTERS[9]

313.--TO CLARIFY FAT

Melt fat, add one pared and sliced raw potato, a pinch of soda, and a tablespoon of water; heat slowly, and cook until fat stops bubbling; strain through double cheesecloth.

314.--TO TRY OUT FAT