The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book Part 18

=Potage Eliza.= Same as potage sante.

=How to boil terrapin.= Put two live terrapin into boiling water and leave for two minutes. Then remove the outer skin from the feet, neck and head, with a towel. Put the terrapin in a kettle with two quarts of cold water, an onion, a carrot, a bay leaf, and one clove, and boil until the feet are soft. The time required depends upon the age of the terrapin, some being cooked in fifteen minutes, and others requiring two or three hours. When done open the sh.e.l.l, take out all the meat, and the liver, removing the gall from the latter with scissors. Remove the tail and claws and head. Cut up the legs in inch-long pieces, or at the joints, as preferred. Reduce the broth by boiling down to about a cupful, and put in a jar with the meat, and add a whiskey gla.s.s of sherry wine. The terrapin is then ready to prepare in any style desired.

=Terrapin, Maryland.= Put one cup of terrapin, prepared as above, in a flat pan, add a little grated nutmeg, salt and pepper, and half a gla.s.s of dry sherry. Boil until half reduced, then add a cup of thick cream, boil, and thicken with the yolks of two eggs, a quarter of a cup of thick cream and an ounce of b.u.t.ter beaten together. Heat, but do not boil. Serve in chafing dish, with dry sherry, and toast on the side.

=Terrapin, Jockey club.= Same as Terrapin, Maryland. Before serving add two ponies of Cognac and six slices of truffles.

=Terrapin, Baltimore.= One cup of the prepared terrapin without the liver. Put in saucepan with salt, pepper, nutmeg, celery salt, and a gla.s.s of dry sherry. Boil for five minutes. Mash the liver in a salad bowl, add the yolks of two raw eggs, one ounce of sweet b.u.t.ter, and strain through a fine sieve. Add a cup of brown sauce to the simmering terrapin, then add the liver prepared as above, pouring in gradually.

Heat barely enough to thicken. Before serving add half a gla.s.s of dry sherry.

MARCH 22

BREAKFAST Fresh raspberries with cream Scrambled eggs with smoked beef Rolls Coffee

LUNCHEON Grapefruit en supreme Crab meat, Monza Loin of pork, baker's oven style Field salad Prune souffle Coffee

DINNER Little Neck clams White bean soup Salt codfish, Nova Scotia Fried chicken, Vienna style Corn fritters Mashed potatoes Romaine salad Diplomate pudding, glace Coffee

=Crab in chafing dish.= Mince a shallot onion and brown slightly with two spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter. Add a spoonful of flour, mixing well, then add a half pint of sweet milk, and stir to a smooth cream. Add the meat of a California crab (or six eastern crabs) and a tablespoonful of sherry.

Place toast, cut in fancy shapes, on a deep platter, and cover with the crab. This is a favorite way of preparing crab.

=Crab meat au gratin.= Shred the meat of one crab, mix with a cup of cream sauce and a little paprika, or Cayenne; or if this is too strong use white pepper. Fill individual baking dishes, and sprinkle the top liberally with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in an oven until the top is an even brown.

=Crab meat, Gourmet.= Put a quarter of a pound of picked shrimps in a saucepan, add one ounce of b.u.t.ter and one-half whiskey-gla.s.sful of dry sherry wine. Simmer for five minutes, then add the meat of one crab, prepared Monza.

=Crab meat, Suzette.= Bake four good-sized potatoes, and cut off one side like the cover of a box. Scoop the insides out with a spoon, and fill with the meat of one crab prepared in cream. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese on top, and bake in oven until nice and brown.

Serve on napkins, garnished with parsley in branches and quartered lemons.

=Oysters or crab, a la Poulette.= If for oysters, boil them in their own liquid for about five minutes. If the small California oysters are used boil for half that time. Into this liquid of, say, a pint of oysters, stir a heaping teaspoonful of corn starch mixed with a half pint of white wine. Then beat the yolks of two eggs with half a cup of cream, and stir slowly into the above, add two large spoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, and keep on the stove but do not let it boil. Finally squeeze in the juice of half a small lemon. If crab is used, cut the meat in small pieces, and make the sauce in the same manner, but instead of beginning with the juice of oysters for the foundation of the sauce, begin with a cup and a half of cream and water in equal proportions, thicken with corn starch, then add the yolks of eggs, etc., as above. The oysters or the crab meat should be added last.

=Crab meat, a la Louise.= Have the crab meat thoroughly chilled, and allow one crab to three or four people, according to the size of the fish. Use small fancy fish plates, or salad plates. Lay on each plate some slices of the white hearts of firm heads of lettuce. Lay on top some canned Spanish pimentos, using the brilliant red variety, which is sweet. On top of this place the crab meat, taking care not to break it too small. Over all pour French dressing made with tarragon vinegar, well-seasoned with freshly-ground black pepper.

MARCH 23

BREAKFAST Hominy and cream Ham and eggs Rolls Coffee

LUNCHEON Sardines with lemon Clam broth in cups Sand dabs, meuniere Plain boiled potatoes Asparagus, vinaigrette Edam cheese and crackers Coffee

DINNER Potage Coquelin Radishes and olives Broiled pompano, Havanaise Leg of mutton, Clamart Rissolees potatoes Lettuce and tomato salad Fancy ice cream a.s.sorted cakes Coffee

SUPPER Eggs Pocahontas

=Eggs Pocahontas.= Fry six strips of bacon, and two dozen California, or one dozen Blue Point, oysters. Scramble ten eggs and mix with the above.

Season well.

=Potage Coquelin.= Garnish puree of pea soup with chicken and leeks cut Julienne style, and boiled in broth.

=Broiled pompano, Havanaise.= Serve broiled pompano with a Colbert sauce, to which has been added two red peppers (pimentos), cut Julienne style. Pour the sauce over the fish, or serve separate, as desired.

=Leg of mutton, Clamart.= Roast leg of mutton garnished with puree of peas. Serve brown gravy.

=Lettuce and tomato salad.= Put the leaves of a head of lettuce in a salad bowl. In the center place four peeled and sliced, or quartered, tomatoes. Pour one-half cup of French dressing or mayonnaise over the tomatoes.

=Crab meat, Belle Helene.= Put six whole tomatoes in hot water for fifteen seconds, then cool immediately, and remove the skins. Cut a hole in the tops the size of a quarter of a dollar, scoop out the insides, season the inside of the sh.e.l.ls with salt and pepper, fill with crab meat Monza, and bake in oven for ten minutes. Serve on platters, garnished with parsley and quartered lemons.

=Prune souffle.= Wash a cupful of prunes thoroughly, and soak them over night. Boil them in the water in which they were soaked, flavoring with half of a vanilla bean, and sweetened with a cupful of sugar. When done pour off and save the juice. Strain the pulp through a colander or wire sieve, making a good firm puree, and about a cupful in quant.i.ty. Whip the whites of six eggs until dry, then whip in the prune pulp, and bake in the same manner as an omelette souffle. Bake on a platter, formed into a symmetrical mound; or in a b.u.t.tered pudding mould. Serve hot or cold, with a sauce made of the flavored juice in which the prunes were cooked, or it may be served with whipped cream. Other fruit may be prepared in the same manner, if desired.

=Salt codfish, Nova Scotia.= Soak two pounds of salt codfish in cold water for six hours. Then put in ca.s.serole in one pint of water, boil for ten minutes, drain, add one pint of Creole sauce, boil slowly for five minutes, and serve hot with fresh-boiled rice.

MARCH 24

BREAKFAST Stewed prunes Boiled eggs b.u.t.tered toast English breakfast tea

LUNCHEON Crab c.o.c.ktail, Victor Broiled shad roe, ravigote Tripe saute, Lyonnaise Chateau potatoes Escarole salad Caroline cake Coffee

DINNER Clam chowder, Boston style Fillet of sole, under gla.s.s Roast chicken Julienne potatoes Asparagus, Hollandaise Baked Alaska Coffee

=Broiled shad roe, ravigote.= Broil the roe, place on a platter, and cover with a sauce made by mixing one-half cup of maitre d'hotel sauce with two chopped vinegar pickles and one teaspoonful of French mustard.

=Fillet of sole under gla.s.s.= Cut the fillets into pieces two inches square. Into a b.u.t.tered shirred egg dish put a piece of toast; on top of this place the fish, season with salt and pepper, put three fresh mushroom heads on each portion of fish, add a piece of b.u.t.ter about the size of an egg, and over all squeeze the juice of half a lemon, and sprinkle with finely-chopped parsley. Cover with a gla.s.s cover, such as used for mushrooms, put in a moderate oven and cook for twenty minutes; being careful that the oven is not hot enough to burn the toast. Then take from the oven, pour veloute sauce and a spoonful of white wine over each portion, and return, to cook for another five minutes. Any other fish may be subst.i.tuted for sole, if desired.

=Clam chowder, Boston style.= Put fifty clams, with their liquid, into a saucepan and boil for three minutes. Then set the clams aside, strain the broth and return to the fire. Chop fine, a medium-sized onion, and cut into dice four slices of salt pork. Put a piece of b.u.t.ter into a pan, and fry the pork and onion until light brown in color; stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour and cook thoroughly, add the clam juice, a half pint of rich soup stock, and the same amount of cream, a couple of diced potatoes, and a bit of thyme if the flavor is liked. Cook for about ten minutes. Chop the clams, and add last of all, as they do not require much cooking. Just before serving add a few hard crackers broken into bits.

=Crab c.o.c.ktail, Victor.= Place a boiled crab on ice and chill thoroughly, then remove the meat, taking care not to break the pieces more than necessary. Make a sauce with three-quarters of a cup of tomato ketchup, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, two tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar, and a good pinch of freshly-ground pepper. Mix with the crab meat, fill the c.o.c.ktail gla.s.ses, place them in cracked ice, and serve.

=Baked Alaska.= (Individual). Slice some sponge cake about one-half inch thick, and cut with a round cutter two inches in diameter. Place the discs of cake on a silver platter, put a ball of vanilla cream in the center of each, and cover with meringue paste. Make the meringue with the whites of four eggs, beaten well and mixed with one-half pound of powdered sugar. Use a pastry bag with a fancy tube, and cover carefully; dust with powdered sugar, and bake in a very hot oven for a couple of minutes. Put a French cherry on top of each before serving.

MARCH 25

BREAKFAST Fresh strawberries with cream Bacon with eggs Rolls Coffee

LUNCHEON Grapefruit with cherries Chicken broth with rice Crab meat, Gourmet Rolled veal, Huguenin Onions, Hongroise Camembert cheese, crackers Coffee

DINNER Toke Points on half sh.e.l.l Potage Esau Shrimps with mushrooms Rack of lamb, mint sauce String beans Potato croquettes Chiffonnade salad Peach Melba a.s.sorted cakes Coffee

=Rolled veal, Huguenin.= Cut four thin slices of veal and flatten out smoothly. Chop fine two young green onions and two slices of bacon; and crush and chop fine, half of a clove of garlic, add a little pepper, and spread over the veal, roll up tight and tie with a string. In a saucepan put a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg, and the veal, and simmer for three-quarters of an hour, basting frequently. Before serving season with salt and sprinkle with parsley.

=Shrimps with mushrooms.= Fry two cups of shrimps and half a cup of fresh mushrooms in plenty of b.u.t.ter. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, and the juice of half a lemon. Add two spoonfuls of tomato sauce, half a cup of stock, and a few bread crumbs. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

=Onions, Hongroise.= Chop fine a large Bermuda onion, cover with water, and cook until tender. Drain, add half a pound of fresh cream cheese, a pint of sweet cream, a large can of pimentos, and a teaspoonful of paprika. Serve in a chafing dish. Do not salt.

=Peach Melba.= Peel some large fresh peaches, and cook them whole in a light syrup; or use whole preserved peaches. From vanilla ice cream, that is frozen very hard, cut some round pieces about three inches in diameter and an inch thick. Place the ice cream on plates, place a peach on the center of each, and pour Melba sauce over them.

=Raspberry Melba sauce.= Mix well a half pint of strained raspberry pulp, the juice of one lemon, and half a pound of powdered sugar; place in an earthen pot and let it set over night. Then pack in ice, stir well, add a cup of powdered sugar, and stir every half hour until smooth and thick. Keep in ice until used.