School and Home Cooking Part 52

VEGETABLES WITH SALAD DRESSING (B)

SALAD GARNISHING.--Successful garnishing of a salad requires a sense of good color combination, judgment in blending flavors, and ingenuity in arranging materials. Usually it is well to use only edible materials for garnishing. Certain flowers and greens may be used to advantage, however, in garnishing the salad for an occasional dinner or luncheon. Celery with "fringed ends," stuffed olives cut in slices, lettuce shredded or whole, pimentos, parsley, hard-cooked eggs sliced or pressed through strainer, and vegetables of p.r.o.nounced color (as beets or carrots) cut into slices, cubes, or fancy shapes,--all these make pleasing garnishes.

PERFECTION SALAD

2 tablespoonfuls granulated gelatine 1/2 cupful cold water 1/2 cupful vinegar 1 lemon,--juice 2 cupfuls boiling water 1/2 cupful sugar 1 teaspoonful salt 1 1/2 cupfuls sliced celery 1 1/2 cupfuls shredded cabbage 3 pimentos chopped

Prepare all ingredients, except the vegetables, as for a gelatine mixture (see _Lemon Jelly_). When the mixture begins to set, stir in the vegetables, and pour into a mold. Serve on lettuce leaves with Mayonnaise Dressing.

Other vegetable mixtures such as cuc.u.mbers and tomatoes or peas and celery molded in jelly make tasty salads.

QUESTIONS

Mention at least four different kinds of salads, with a suitable garnish for each.

What should be the condition of all green vegetables used in salads?

How should lettuce be kept and prepared for salads?

From _U. S. Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin No. 28, tabulate the percentage composition of tomatoes, cuc.u.mbers, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, celery, and onions.

Which contains the most water? Which contains the most ash?

Aside from the fact that sugar improves the flavor of Perfection Salad, why is it a valuable ingredient of the salad mixture (see Figure 94)?

Explain why Mayonnaise Dressing with wafers or rolls would make a valuable food addition to Perfection Salad.

FOOD COMBINATIONS

LESSON XCV

FISH SALAD AND SALAD ROLLS

SALMON OR TUNNY SALAD

1 can salmon or tunny (or tuna) fish 1 cupful shredded cabbage or sliced celery

Drain the oil from the fish; remove the bone and bits of skin. Add the cabbage or celery, and Mayonnaise or Cream Salad Dressing. Arrange on lettuce and garnish as desired.

If Cream Dressing is used with salmon, the oil drained from the salmon may be used for the fat of Cream Dressing.

The salmon may be marinated before adding the other ingredients. When this is done, the salad dressing may be omitted. Salmon contains so much fat that it is not well to add more oil after marinating.

SALAD ROLLS

2 cupfuls flour 3 1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 4 tablespoonfuls vegetable oil or melted b.u.t.ter or subst.i.tute 1/2 cupful milk 1 egg

Sift some flour, then measure 2 cupfuls of it. Add the baking powder and salt to the flour. Beat the egg, add the milk and oil or melted fat to it.

Through a sifter add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture. Thoroughly mix the ingredients by cutting them with a knife. Roll out on a floured board, cut into oblong pieces, and with a floured knife make a deep crease through the center of each roll. Brush the top with diluted egg (use 2 tablespoonfuls of water to 1 egg) and sprinkle granulated sugar over it.

Bake in a moderate oven.

QUESTIONS

Why is the top of the salad roll mixture brushed with egg? Why should the egg be diluted for such purposes?

What reason is there for combining fish, salad dressing, and rolls?

How much fat and protein does canned salmon and tunny contain (see _U.

S. Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin No. 28)?

Compare this with the quant.i.ty of fat and protein in beef steak (see Figure 68).

LESSON XCVI

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP AND CHEESE STRAWS

COMBINING MILK WITH ACID.--In the preparation of Cream of Tomato Soup, it is necessary to combine milk with tomatoes,--a food containing acid. If the following experiments are performed, and applications drawn from the results of the experiments, it should be possible to make this soup successfully.

EXPERIMENT 61: EFFECT OF ACID ON MILK.--Put a small quant.i.ty of milk in a test tube, heat it slightly, and add a few drops of some acid substance,-- tomato juice, lemon juice, or vinegar. What is the result?

EXPERIMENT 62: NEUTRALIZATION OF ACID BY MEANS OF SODA.--Put a small quant.i.ty of any of the acids mentioned above in a test tube and add 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda. What happens? Now add a little milk to the mixture. Does the milk curdle? How has the acid been changed so that it does not curdle the milk? What conclusions may be drawn from this as to the use of soda in cooking tomato and milk mixtures?

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

1 can tomatoes 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda 1 quart milk 1/3 cupful flour 1/4 cupful b.u.t.ter or subst.i.tute 1 tablespoonful salt 1/8 teaspoonful pepper

Turn the tomatoes into a saucepan, cover them; cook at simmering temperature for about fifteen minutes. Press through a strainer and add the baking soda. Make a White Sauce of the milk, flour, and fat, _remove from the fire_. Add the _hot_ tomatoes slowly to the White Sauce, stirring constantly. Add the seasonings. _Do not heat the mixture after combining the tomatoes and White Sauce. Serve at once._

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 64--THE COMPOSITION OF MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS]

Cream of Tomato Soup may also be prepared by making a sauce of the tomatoes, flour, and fat, adding the baking soda and pouring the sauce into the hot milk and finally adding the seasonings.

Note that in either method of preparation, the tomato is added to the milk and the salt is added just before serving. Only enough baking soda is used to affect a portion of the acid of the tomatoes so that the pleasing acid flavor of the tomatoes still predominates.

CHEESE STRAWS

2/3 cupful flour 1/4 teaspoonful salt Cayenne 1 cupful soft bread crumbs 1 cupful grated cheese 2 tablespoonfuls milk

Mix the ingredients in the order given in the recipe. (The milk should merely moisten the ingredients so they will stick together. It may be necessary to increase the quant.i.ty.) On a slightly floured board roll the mixture to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut in strips 1/4 inch wide and 4 to 6 inches long. Place on an oiled pan. Bake until brown in a moderate oven.