365 Luncheon Dishes Part 5

APRIL.

1.--Potato and Meat Turnovers.

Mix with mashed potatoes a few spoonfuls of flour, a little salt and baking powder in the proportion of half a teaspoonful to 1/2 a cupful of flour. Use only sufficient flour to roll out in a 1/2 inch sheet. Cut into circles the size of a saucer, lay on each a spoonful of seasoned meat, fold over and pinch the edges together. Lay on a greased pan, brush each with milk and bake brown in a hot oven.--From "Table Talk,"

Phila.

2.--Browned Potato Puree.

Put 3 tablespoonfuls of good dripping into your soup-kettle and fry in it 1 dozen potatoes which have been pared, quartered, and laid in cold water for an hour. With them should go into the boiling fat a large, sliced onion. Cook fast but do not let them scorch. When they are browned add two quarts of boiling water, cover the pot, and simmer until the potatoes are soft and broken. Rub through a colander back into the kettle and stir in a great spoonful of b.u.t.ter rolled in browned flour, a tablespoonful of browned parsley, salt and pepper to taste. In another saucepan make a sugarless custard of a cup of boiling milk and 2 well-beaten eggs; take from the fire and beat fast for 1 minute, put into a heated tureen, beat in the potato and serve.--From "The National Cook Book," by Marion Harland and Christine Terhune Herrick.

3.--b.u.t.tered Lobster.

Mince fine the meat of a boiled lobster, mix the coral with it, and the green fat, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1/4 of a lb. of b.u.t.ter and a saltspoon each of cayenne and made mustard. Let all get very hot. Serve on a hot dish with lettuce leaves and hard boiled egg.

4.--Tomato Croutes.

Take small tomatoes, scald and peel them, then cut a slice from the stem end. Place them, the cut side down, on slices of b.u.t.tered bread, put them in a b.u.t.tered baking tin, season with salt and pepper, bake 1/2 an hour. Serve with cold roast beef.

5.--English Monkey.

Soak 1 cup of stale bread crumbs in 1 cup of milk for 15 minutes. Into a saucepan put 1 teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter and 1/2 cup cream cheese, melt and add the crumbs, also a well-beaten egg, 1/2 teaspoonful salt and a pinch of cayenne. Cook for 3 minutes and pour it on toasted crackers.

6.--Shad Roe Croquettes.

Boil the roe for 15 minutes in salted water; then drain and mash. Mix 4 tablespoonfuls each of b.u.t.ter and corn-starch and stir into a pint of boiling milk. Add to this the roe and 1 teaspoonful of salt, the juice of a lemon, cayenne and a grating of nutmeg. Boil up once and let get cold. Shape into croquettes and fry.

7.--Cerkestal (TURKISH).

Take pieces of cold chicken. Make a sauce with 1 onion, sliced, 6 walnuts, chopped, 1/2 cup stock, cayenne and salt. Cook the chicken in this and when hot take it out and thicken the gravy with a little flour.

8.--Squash Bread.

Take 1 cup of stewed and strained squash, add to it 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar and 1 teaspoonful of salt; melt 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter in 1-1/2 cups of scalded milk, and when lukewarm, add 1/2 cup yeast, and flour enough to knead; knead 1/4 hour, let rise until light; knead again and put it into greased tins, let rise again and bake.

9.--Fried Whitebait.

Clean, wash and wipe dry, season with salt, roll in flour and fry in hot fat. Melt 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, add a squeeze of lemon juice and a little chopped parsley, pour this over the fish and serve.

10.--Zephyrs.

Whip 1/4 of a pt. of cream. Dissolve 1 good tablespoonful of gelatine in 1/2 a pt. of milk. Warm the milk in which the gelatine is dissolved, add 2 ozs. of grated Parmesan cheese. Stir on the fire for a few moments, take it off, season with pepper and salt, add the whipped cream, pour into small moulds and let it set. When cold turn out and garnish with aspic cut into dice.

11.--Spider Cake.

Beat 2 eggs very light, add 1 cup sour milk and 1 cup of sweet milk; stir into this 2 cups corn-meal and 1/2 cup of flour, 1 tablespoonful of sugar and 1 teaspoonful each of salt and soda. Mix, and heat thoroughly, and then pour it into the spider; pour over it 1 cup of sweet milk, but _do not stir it into the batter_. Bake in a hot oven 1/2 an hour. Slip it carefully onto a platter and serve at once.

12.--Hungarian Patties.

Make a paste with 1/2 a lb. of flour, 1/4 of a lb. of lard, the yolk of 1 egg, 1/2 a teaspoonful of lemon juice, and 1/2 a teaspoonful of baking powder. Line some patty pans with this paste and fill with the following mixture. Mince 2 ozs. of chicken and 6 mushrooms, and an anchovy, season with cayenne, salt, and a little lemon peel. Mix enough white sauce with this, put into the patty pans, cover with paste, brush them over with an egg, bake in a hot oven.

13.--Clam Pie, No. 2.

Put the required number of small, soft-sh.e.l.l clams into a saucepan, and bring to a boil, in their own liquor. Cut cold boiled potatoes into small cubes. Line a pudding-dish with pie-crust around the sides, and put a tea-cup in the centre of the dish to support the top crust when it is added. Put a layer of clams, then the potatoes, salt and pepper, and bits of b.u.t.ter; dredge with flour when all the clams and potatoes are used. Add the liquor and a little water if necessary. Put on the top crust, cutting several slits in it for the steam to escape. Bake 45 minutes.

14.--Broiled Live Lobster.

Kill the lobster by inserting a sharp knife in its back between the body and tail sh.e.l.ls cutting the spinal cord. Split the sh.e.l.l the entire length of the back, remove the stomach and intestinal ca.n.a.l, crack the large claws and lay the fish as flat as possible. Brush the meat with melted b.u.t.ter, season with salt and pepper, place in a broiler, and with the flesh side down, cover and broil slowly until a delicate brown, about 20 minutes. Turn the broiler and broil 10 minutes longer. Serve hot, with a sauce of melted b.u.t.ter.

15.--Cheese Fondu, No. 2.

One cup of bread-crumbs very fine and dry, 2 scant cups of _fresh_ milk, 1/2 a lb. of grated cheese, 3 eggs beaten very light, a small spoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt, a pinch of soda dissolved in hot water and stirred into the milk. Soak the crumbs in the milk, beat into these the eggs, and b.u.t.ter a baking dish. Pour the fondu into it, then sprinkle crumbs over the top. Bake in rather a quick oven until a delicate brown. Serve at once, as it will fall.

16.--Mutton Custard.

Fill a b.u.t.tered custard cup lightly with stale bread-crumbs (centre of the loaf), and cooked mutton (chicken is more dainty), finely chopped.

Beat an egg, add 1/2 a cup of milk, and a few grains of salt; pour the mixture over the bread and meat. Bake in a pan of hot water, or cook on the top of the stove, until the egg is lightly set. _Do not allow the water about the egg to boil._--Janet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

17.--Grape Fruit Salad.

Cut a grape-fruit in half, and scoop out the pulp in as large pieces as possible, and lay them on lettuce leaves. Make a dressing with two tablespoonfuls of sherry wine, and sugar to taste.

18.--Asparagus in Rolls.

Cut off the tips of a well-boiled bunch of asparagus, mix with a thick cream sauce, season well, and fill with this the crusts of baker's rolls.

19.--Walnut Salad, No. 1.

Crack and parboil 1/2 a lb. of English walnuts, rub off the brown skin and when cold serve on lettuce leaves, with a French dressing.