Better Meals for Less Money

Mix bread crumbs with boiling water and bacon fat, add peanuts finely chopped, and seasonings.

CHAPTER XI

Beat eggs slightly, add salt and pepper, and stir into the hot milk; cook over hot water, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and creamy. Add butter, and serve on toast.

214.—CREOLE EGGS

Cook onion and pepper in butter for five minutes; add tomato and seasonings, and when thoroughly heated add the eggs unbeaten; pick up with a fork until eggs are nearly cooked; add cheese, and cook about one minute. Serve on toast, or with a border of boiled rice.

215.—EGGS WITH CHEESE AND SPAGHETTI

Melt butter, add flour; when well blended add milk gradually and stir until smooth; add seasonings and cheese, and stir until cheese melts; add spaghetti and eggs, cook two minutes, and serve on toast or crackers.

216.—EGGS WITH HAM AND TOMATO

Cook tomatoes, onion, and cloves fifteen minutes, and rub through a sieve; add ham, eggs, and seasonings, and cook three or four minutes, stirring all the time. Serve on toast or crackers.

217.—BREAD OMELET

Melt fat in frying pan, add bread crumbs, and stir until crumbs begin to brown; add hot milk, and let stand five minutes; add salt and paprika, and the yolks beaten until thick and light; fold in the stiffly beaten whites, pour into a hot greased omelet pan, and cook the same as Light Omelet (see No. 222).

218.—CREAMY OMELET

Beat yolks until thick and light; add to sauce and mix well; add salt and pepper to whites of eggs, beat until stiff and dry, and fold into sauce; pour into a hot greased omelet pan, and cook slowly until well risen and firm; put on oven grate for a minute or two to dry the top; fold, and turn on a hot platter.

219.—FRENCH OMELET

Heat fat in the omelet pan; beat the eggs until yolks and whites are well mixed, but not light; add seasonings and hot water, pour into hot pan and cook slowly; pick up with fork while cooking, letting the uncooked mixture run into the place of the cooked; when firm and lightly browned, fold double, and serve plain on a hot platter; or spread before folding with left-over bits of meat chopped, such as ham, bacon, or sausage, or with grated cheese or jelly.

220.—FRENCH CHEESE OMELET

Mix in order given, pour into a hot greased omelet pan; as mixture thickens, pick up with a fork, letting the uncooked part take the place of the cooked; when firm, fold, and serve on a hot platter.

221.—HAM OMELET

Mix crumbs, milk, butter, and seasonings, and let stand five minutes; add egg yolks beaten until thick and light; add the meat, and fold in the whites of eggs beaten stiff; pour into a hot greased omelet pan and cook slowly until firm; fold, and serve at once. A white sauce or tomato sauce may be served around it. A few pieces of cooked bacon chopped fine may be used instead of ham.

222.—LIGHT OMELET

Put fat in omelet pan; beat yolks until light and thick, add seasonings and hot water; fold in the stiffly beaten whites, and pour into the hot omelet pan; cook slowly until well risen and firm, or about twelve minutes, placing the pan on the upper grate in the oven for the last two minutes. When firm in the center, fold double, turn on a hot platter, and serve at once, either plain or with sauce. The omelet must be cooked slowly so that it will be firm throughout, and not fall.

White Sauce (see No. 207), either plain or with bits of cold meat, oysters, peas, or other left-over vegetables, or Brown Sauce (see No. 185) with a few mushrooms or chopped kidneys (see No. 164), or almost any savory sauce, improves an omelet, and also makes it go further.

223.—SALMON OMELET

Melt butter, stir in flour, add milk, and stir until smooth; add salt; rinse salmon with hot water; flake, and add to sauce; beat yolks of eggs until light and thick, and add to sauce; fold in whites of eggs beaten very stiff. Pour into a hot greased omelet pan, and cook slowly until well risen and firm; finish cooking on top grate of oven for a minute or two; fold, and serve on a hot platter.

224.—SCALLOPED EGGS WITH CHEESE

Cut eggs in eighths lengthwise; put half of them into a greased baking dish, cover with half of sauce, and sprinkle with half of cheese; repeat; cover with crumbs, and bake about fifteen minutes, or until crumbs are brown. Bacon or sausage fat may be used in making the white sauce.

225.—SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH SAUSAGES

Cut sausages in half-inch bias pieces, and cook in a frying pan until brown; beat eggs until light, add salt and water, pour over sausages, and scramble until firm. Garnish with toast points and parsley.

226.—SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH TOMATO

Heat soup in an omelet pan; add soda, and stir while foaming; add eggs, scramble slowly with a fork until firm, and serve on toast. Garnish with toast points.

227.—SHIRRED EGGS

Grease individual egg shirrers or a platter which can be put in oven; cover bottom of dish with white sauce or left-over gravy, sprinkle with left-over vegetables or bits of meat chopped; carefully break an egg into dish for each person, dust with salt and pepper; sprinkle with buttered crumbs, and bake in a moderate oven until egg is set.

228.—SHIRRED EGGS WITH HAM

Mix ham, soft crumbs, and milk, and spread in four buttered egg shirrers; make a hollow in the middle, break an egg into it, season lightly with salt and pepper, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until egg is set.

229.—SOUFFLÉED EGG WITH HAM TOAST

For each person cut a round of bread three inches in diameter; spread with finely chopped ham moistened with milk, stock, or gravy; add a few grains of salt to the white of an egg, and beat very stiff; mound on ham, make a depression in the center, put in the yolk, dust lightly with salt and pepper, and bake in a moderate oven until egg is firm. When several pieces of toast are to be made, keep the yolks in separate dishes until needed, but beat the whites together.

230.—SHIRRED EGGS WITH POTATO AND HAM

See recipe for Baked Ham and Potato (No. 171).

CHAPTER XII

Mix in the order given, beating the yolks until thick and light, and the whites until very stiff; pour into a greased baking dish, bake twenty-five minutes in a slow oven, and serve at once.

234.—COTTAGE CHEESE

Put milk in a large bowl, add boiling water, and let stand five minutes; pour into cheesecloth bag, and drain over night or for several hours. Mix cheese with butter and salt, press into a small bowl, and chill. A sweet red pepper (canned) may be pressed through a sieve and mixed with cheese.

235.—CRACKERS AND CHEESE BAKED IN MILK

Split butter crackers, spread with butter and grated cheese, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put in a buttered baking dish, cover with milk, and bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

236.—CHEESE PASTE

Chop American cheese and pimientos, using the finest cutter in the food chopper; add cream cheese and seasonings, and blend with cream until smooth.

237.—BAKED RICE WITH CHEESE

Arrange rice and cheese in layers in a greased baking dish; sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with milk, and bake in a moderate oven about fifteen minutes.

238.—SCALLOPED TOAST AND CHEESE

Butter toast, cut each slice into four pieces, and arrange in a baking dish in layers sprinkled with cheese; mix milk, egg, and seasonings, pour over toast, and let stand fifteen minutes. Bake in a moderate oven about twenty minutes.

239.—TOMATO RAREBIT

Heat soup, add bread crumbs, cheese, and mustard; stir until cheese melts, and serve on toast or crackers.

240.—WELSH RAREBIT

Melt butter, add flour, and when well mixed add milk, and stir until smooth; add cheese and seasonings, and cook until cheese is melted; add egg, cook two or three minutes, and serve on hot toast or crisp pilot crackers. The egg may be omitted.

241.—SALTED ALMONDS

Cover almonds with boiling water and let stand on back of range for ten minutes; slip off the skins, and dry for several hours, or over night; melt butter, add almonds and salt, and mix well; spread in a dripping pan, and bake in a slow oven fifteen or twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. When prepared in this way nuts will keep crisp.

242.—PEANUT BUTTER

Remove shells and skins of peanuts, and put through the food chopper twice, using first a coarse cutter, and then the finest cutter; add salt, and enough cream or melted butter to make a smooth paste.

243.—TO SHELL CHESTNUTS

Cover with boiling water, boil ten minutes, drain, and cover with cold water. Remove the shell with a knife, beginning at top of nut. The inner skin will come off with the shell.

244.—BAKED CHESTNUTS

Shell chestnuts, put in baking dish with stock, butter, and pepper; cover, and bake in hot oven about half an hour, or until soft; remove cover, and brown. If stock is very salt, dilute with water or milk.

245—CELERY, NUT, AND POTATO LOAF

Cook celery in boiling salted water about half an hour, or until tender, and drain; add other ingredients in order given; mix well; pack in deep greased pan, and bake in a moderate oven about half an hour. Turn out on platter, and serve with Creole Sauce (see No. 191) or Tomato Sauce (see No. 203).

246.—NUT LOAF

Mix in order given; pack in a deep greased pan, and bake in a moderate oven half an hour. Turn out on platter, and serve with Cheese Sauce (see No. 188).

CHAPTER XIII

VEGETABLES[8]

247.—BOSTON BAKED BEANS

Soak beans in cold water over night; drain, cover with cold water, heat to boiling point, and simmer until beans are very tender but not broken; place in an earthen bean pot, add seasonings and pork (which has been scalded, scraped, and scored in half-inch squares); fill pot with boiling water, cover, and bake slowly for eight hours. Uncover for the last hour. Replenish water as needed.

248.—THICK PURÉE OF BLACK BEANS

Soak beans over night in cold water; drain, add seasonings, bacon fat, and water, and simmer two hours; remove onion, carrot, and bay leaf, and press through a sieve. Beat well, and serve with lamb or mutton.

249.—LIMA BEAN LOAF

Soak beans over night in cold water, and drain; cover with boiling water, add onion and carrot, and cook until beans are tender; drain, and put through the food chopper with carrot and onion; add crumbs, seasonings, egg, and sausage fat melted in boiling water; add pimolas cut in small pieces, mix well, pack in a greased bread pan, and bake in a moderate oven half an hour. Serve with Tomato Sauce (see No. 203).

250.—BAKED CABBAGE

Cut a small white cabbage in inch pieces, soak in cold water half an hour, and drain; parboil ten minutes, place in greased baking dish, cover with one cup of White Sauce (see No. 207), and one-half cup of Buttered Crumbs (see No. 472); bake in a moderate oven half an hour.

251.—CABBAGE COOKED IN MILK

Put a small white cabbage through the food chopper, using the coarse cutter; soak in cold water half an hour, drain, cover with equal parts of milk and water, and cook uncovered about twenty-five minutes, or until cabbage is tender. Season with salt and pepper.

252.—BRAISED CELERY

Cook celery, bacon fat, and onion in the frying pan for ten minutes; dredge with flour, put in baking dish, add stock (first rinsing frying pan with a little of it), cover, and bake in a moderate oven an hour and a half. Serve on toast. Add salt to stock if necessary.

253.—CREAMED CELERY ROOT (Celeriac) WITH CHEESE

Peel celery root, cut in half-inch cubes, and cook until tender in boiling salted water, to which a tablespoon of vinegar has been added. To three cups of root add one and one-half cups of White Sauce (see No. 207); put into a baking dish, sprinkle with a third of a cup of grated cheese, and place in a hot oven until cheese melts. Celery may be used in place of celery root.

254.—SOUTHERN CORN PUDDING

Cook pepper and onion in bacon fat five minutes; add corn, crumbs, egg, milk, and seasonings; pour into a greased baking dish, sprinkle with the chopped bacon, and bake in a slow oven until firm, or about twenty-five minutes.

255.—CUCUMBERS SAUTÉED

Peel two cucumbers, cut in halves crosswise, slice in one-third-inch slices lengthwise, and soak in salted water for one hour; drain, dry, dip in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and sauté in hot fat until brown. Serve on toast.

256.—CARROTS SAUTÉED

Select very small carrots; wash, scrape, and cook until tender in boiling salted water. Drain, dredge with flour, and sauté in fat until brown.

257.—CARROTS VINAIGRETTE

Cook carrots in boiling salted water until tender, and drain; heat vinegar, sugar, and shortening to the boiling point, add carrots, and cook slowly half an hour, stirring occasionally.

258.—BAKED EGG PLANT

Pare and slice egg plant, cut into half-inch cubes, soak in cold salted water half an hour, and drain; mix with onion, crumbs, and seasonings, and put into a greased baking dish; add boiling water, dot over with butter, and bake one hour in a moderate oven.

259.—FRIED EGG PLANT

Cut a small egg plant in one-third-inch slices; pare; cut each slice in quarters; soak in cold salted water for half an hour; drain; season with pepper and salt, dip in crumbs, then in egg, and then in crumbs again; and fry in deep fat about three minutes. Or dip in flour and sauté in butter.

260.—EGG PLANT JULIENNE

Cut egg plant in two-inch slices, and pare; cut into quarter-inch vertical slices, and cut slices into quarter-inch strips; soak in cold salted water for half an hour; drain; dry, and fry in deep fat about three minutes.

261.—CREAMED LEEKS

Cut off tops of two bunches of leeks, and soak in cold water ten minutes; drain, and cook in boiling salted water about twenty minutes, or until tender; drain, and serve with White Sauce (see No. 207). The tops may be used for flavoring soups.

262.—ONIONS IN POTATO NESTS

Peel onions and cook in boiling salted water about one hour, or until tender; drain, and add butter. Pare, boil, and mash potatoes, season with pepper and salt, add butter and hot milk, and beat until light; shape potato into small nests with a spoon, or force through a bag and a rose tube. Fill with onions and sprinkle with parsley.

263.—GREEN PEAS (Canned)

Remove from can and rinse with cold water; put in saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to boiling point, and drain. Season with one-half teaspoon salt, one-fourth teaspoon pepper, one tablespoon butter, and two tablespoons of milk.

264.—PEAS AND LETTUCE

Wash lettuce, drain, and chop; add stock and salt, and simmer half an hour; add pepper and sugar, and thicken with butter and flour blended together; add peas drained from their liquor, and mint, and simmer ten minutes. Remove mint before serving.

265.—STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

Cut off one inch of the tops of peppers, and chop the tops; remove seeds and veins from peppers, scald with boiling water, and drain; cook chopped pepper with onion in the bacon fat for five minutes; add rice, tomatoes, and salt; fill peppers, cover with crumbs, place in a baking dish or in individual ramekins, and bake in a moderate oven half an hour.

266.—BOILED POTATOES

Wash potatoes, pare as thin as possible, remove the eyes, and soak in cold water from fifteen minutes to one hour, according to the age of the potato; cook in boiling salted water about half an hour, or until tender, allowing one tablespoon of salt to two quarts of boiling water. Drain, and dry on the back of the range or in the front of the oven with the door open. Serve very hot in an uncovered dish.

267.—BAKED POTATOES

Select medium-sized potatoes, scrub well, place in tin pan, and bake in a hot oven for about forty minutes.

268.—CREAMED POTATOES

Cook potatoes with the onion in boiling salted water until tender; drain; remove the onion, mix with sauce, and sprinkle with parsley. If potato balls are used, cover unused potato with water and save for soup.

269.—POTATO CROUTONS

Cut potatoes in one-third-inch cubes, rinse with cold water, dry in a towel, and fry about two minutes in deep fat.

270.—FRENCH FRIED POTATOES

Wash and pare medium-sized potatoes, cut in eighths lengthwise, and soak in cold water for half an hour; drain, dry, and fry in deep fat about seven minutes; drain on soft paper, and sprinkle with salt. Cook only one layer in the basket at a time.

271.—HASHED BROWN POTATOES

Melt in the frying pan four tablespoons sausage fat, beef drippings, or other fat; add two cups chopped boiled potatoes, season, and cook slowly twenty minutes, or until well browned; fold double, and garnish with parsley.

272.—LYONNAISE POTATOES

Cut potatoes in half-inch cubes, and season with salt and pepper; put fat in frying pan, add onion, and cook slowly for ten minutes; add potatoes, stir well, and cook for ten minutes without browning.

273.—PAN-ROASTED POTATOES (Franconia)

Prepare potatoes as for boiling (see No. 266), boil ten minutes, drain, and cook in roasting pan with meat about forty minutes; baste often with fat in pan.

274.—SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH CHEESE

Wash and pare four potatoes, cut in very thin slices, put half of them in a greased baking dish; dredge with flour, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and two tablespoons grated cheese; repeat; cover with hot milk, and bake in a moderate oven one hour, or until potatoes are tender. Very old potatoes should not be used in this way.

275.—SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH PEPPERS AND CHEESE

Cook potatoes and onion in boiling salted water twenty minutes, and drain; melt bacon fat, add flour, and blend well; add milk and stir until smooth; add salt, paprika, peppers chopped, and cheese; mix with potatoes; turn into a greased baking dish, cover with Buttered Crumbs (see No. 472), and bake fifteen minutes, or until brown.

276.—STUFFED POTATOES WITH CHEESE AND BACON

Wash potatoes and bake in a hot oven forty-five minutes; cut in halves lengthwise, remove potato, and force through potato ricer; add cheese, seasonings, and hot milk, beat vigorously, and refill potato skins; place half a slice of bacon on top of each, and put on the upper grate of a hot oven until bacon is crisp.

277.—STUFFED POTATOES WITH NUTS AND CHEESE

Cut potatoes in halves, lengthwise, remove potato, and mash; add nuts, cheese, milk, butter, and seasonings, and beat until very light; refill shells, heaping mixture in the center, make a slight depression with spoon, put in a small bit of butter, sprinkle with paprika, and brown in a hot oven.

278.—FRENCH FRIED SWEET POTATOES

Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes into eighths lengthwise, fry in deep fat until brown, drain on soft paper, and sprinkle with salt.

279.—GLAZED SWEET POTATOES

Cut cooked sweet potatoes in one-third-inch slices lengthwise, put in a greased dripping pan, brush with melted butter or drippings, sprinkle thickly with brown sugar, and bake in a hot oven until glazed with melted sugar.

280.—SWEET POTATO CUSTARD

Force potatoes through a ricer; beat the eggs and milk with potato; add other ingredients, pour into buttered baking dish or cups, and bake in a slow oven until firm.

281.—STUFFED SWEET POTATOES