The Century Cook Book Part 75

=STRING-BEAN SALAD=

Cut each bean in four strips lengthwise; lay them evenly together and boil in salted water until tender. Remove them carefully and drain. When they are cold and ready to serve, pile them on a flat dish, trim the ends even, and pour over them slowly a French dressing. Garnish with parsley, white chicory leaves or nasturtium leaves.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STRING-BEAN SALAD.]

=BEAN SALADS=

Boiled navy beans, flageolets, or Lima beans may be mixed with French or Mayonnaise dressing, and garnished with hard-boiled eggs and parsley.

=CAULIFLOWER SALAD=

Break the vegetable into flowerets; season with salt, pepper, and a little vinegar and oil. Pile them in a pyramid on a dish, and pour over them a white Mayonnaise. Arrange around the base a border of carrots or beets, cut into dice or fancy shapes, to give a line of color. Place a floweret of cauliflower on the top of the pyramid.

=MACeDOINE SALAD=

This salad is composed of a mixture of vegetables. The vegetables are boiled separately; the large ones are then cut into dice of equal size.

The salad is more attractive when the vegetables are cut with fancy cutters or with a small potato-scoop. Peas, flageolets, string beans, flowerets of cauliflower, beets, celery roots, asparagus points, carrots, and turnips--all, or as many as convenient, may be used. Mix them lightly with French dressing or with Mayonnaise. If the latter, marinate them first. Be careful not to break the vegetables when mixing them. Arrange lettuce leaves like a cup, and place the macedoine in the center.

=POTATO SALAD=

Boil the potatoes with the skins on; when cold remove the skins and cut them into slices three eighths inch thick, or into dice three quarters inch thick, or cut the potatoes into b.a.l.l.s with a scoop; sprinkle them with a little grated onion and parsley, chopped very fine. Turn over them a French dressing. They will absorb a great deal. Toss them lightly together, but do not break the potatoes, which are very tender. A Mayonnaise dressing is also very good with marinated potatoes. A mixture of beets and potatoes with Mayonnaise is also used. Garnish with lettuce, chopped yolk of hard-boiled egg and capers. In boiling potatoes for salad, do not steam them after they are boiled, as they should not be mealy. New or German potatoes are best for salad.

=COLD SLAW=

Shred a firm cabbage very fine. Mix it with a French dressing, using an extra quant.i.ty of salt, or put into a bowl the yolks of three eggs, one half cupful of vinegar (if it is very strong dilute it with water), one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one half teaspoonful each of mustard and pepper, and one teaspoonful each of sugar and salt. Beat them together, place the bowl in a pan of boiling water, and stir until it becomes a little thickened. Pour this while hot over the cabbage, and set it away to cool.

=HOT SLAW=

Place shredded cabbage in a saucepan with enough salted boiling water to cover it. Boil it until tender, but not so long as to lose shape; turn it onto a sieve and drain it well in a warm place. Pour over the drained cabbage a hot Bearnaise sauce.

Cabbage salads are good to serve with fried oysters, meat fritters, or chops.

The boiled cabbage, cold, may be used with French dressing.

=TOMATO SALADS=

To remove the skins from tomatoes, place them in a wire-basket, and plunge them into boiling water for a minute. This is better than letting them soak in the water, which softens them if left too long.

=No. 1.=

Select tomatoes of the same size and shape; peel, and place them on ice until ready to use; then cut each one in two and place on each piece a teaspoonful of Mayonnaise. Dress them on a bed of lettuce leaves; or, slice the tomatoes without breaking their form, place each one on a leaf of lettuce, cover the tomato with Mayonnaise, and sprinkle over a little parsley chopped fine; or scoop out a little of the center from the stem end and fill it with dressing.

An attractive salad is made of the small yellow tomatoes which resemble plums. Remove the skin carefully; let them get thoroughly cold; then pile them on a dish the same as fruit, garnish with leaves of lettuce, and pour over them a French dressing.

=No. 2. STUFFED TOMATOES=

Select round tomatoes of equal size; peel and scoop from the stem end a part of the center. Place them on ice until ready to serve; then fill them with celery cut fine and mixed with Mayonnaise. Let it rise above the top of the tomato. Put a little Mayonnaise on small lettuce leaves, and place a stuffed tomato on the dressing in the center of each leaf.

Arrange them in a circle on a flat dish. Tomatoes may be stuffed in the same way with chopped veal, celery and veal or chicken, celery and sweetbreads, or chopped hard-boiled eggs and shredded lettuce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CELERY AND MAYONNAISE STANDING ON LETTUCE LEAVES.]

=No. 3. TOMATOES AND EGGS=

Prepare the tomatoes as above; partly fill them with Mayonnaise, and press into each one the half of a hard-boiled egg, letting the rounded top rise a little above the tomato. Serve on lettuce as above.

=No. 4. MOLDED TOMATOES=

Select small round tomatoes. Stuff them in any way directed above, but do not let the filling project beyond the opening. Place individual molds on ice. Small cups will do; pour in one eighth of an inch of clear aspic or chicken aspic (see page 323); when it has set, place in each one a tomato, the whole side down; add enough jelly to fix the tomato without floating it. When that has set, add enough more to entirely cover it (see Fancy Molding, page 323). Turn each molded tomato onto the plate on which it is to be served, and arrange around it a wreath of shredded lettuce. Pa.s.s Mayonnaise dressing separately.

=No. 5. TOMATO JELLY=

1/2 can or 2 cupfuls of tomatoes.

3 cloves.

1 bay-leaf.

1 slice of onion.

1/2 teaspoonful of thyme.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1 teaspoonful of sugar.

1/4 teaspoonful of pepper.

1/4 box or 1/2 ounce of Cooper's gelatine, soaked in 1/2 cupful of water.

Boil together the tomatoes, spices, and onion until the tomato is soft; then add the soaked gelatine, and stir until the gelatine is dissolved; then strain and pour it into a border or ring-shaped mold to set. Serve with the center of the jelly-ring filled with celery cut into pieces, into straws, or curled, and mixed with Mayonnaise. Form outside the ring a wreath of shredded lettuce.

This jelly may also be molded in a solid piece and surrounded by the celery. (See ill.u.s.tration opposite page 384.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMATO JELLY MOLDED IN RING, THE CENTER FILLED WITH CURLED CELERY AND MAYONNAISE--LETTUCE CUT INTO RIBBONS AROUND THE OUTSIDE. (SEE PAGE 381.)]

=CELERY AND WALNUT SALAD=

Mix with the celery, cut into small pieces, one third the quant.i.ty of English walnut meats broken in two, and enough Mayonnaise to well moisten it. Garnish with lettuce.

=SWEETBREADS WITH CELERY=