Civic League Cook Book Part 2

DUMPLINGS FOR CHICKEN STEW.--In a pint of flour, sift a heaping teaspoon baking powder, one fourth teaspoon salt, sift flour twice, now rub in a tablespoonful of shortening, and wet with enough milk to make a dough that can be rolled out. Cut into rounds and drop into the boiling gravy. Should be done in ten minutes.--Mrs. Paul Leonhardy.

CREAMED CHICKEN.--Three pounds of chicken boiled tender in salted water and freed of bones, skin and gristle. Cut the meat into small pieces.

Boil two sweet breads tender in salted water with the juice of half a lemon. When tender, drain and throw them into cold water to blanch; then free from skin and gristle and cut into small pieces; drain a can of French mushrooms and cut them into quarters. Make a cream sauce of two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter, melted and blended with two tablespoons of flour, add one pint of hot thin cream, one teaspoon of salt, juice of one lemon, and juice pressed from half a small onion, and a dash of pepper, cook thick but remove from fire and add one beaten egg yolk mixed with one cup of whipped cream. Add to the heated chicken, mushrooms and sweet breads. Mix well and serve in patty sh.e.l.ls, or timbales. (The whipped cream may be omitted.) For escalloped chicken turn the above mixture into a b.u.t.tered baking dish, cover with fine rolled bread crumbs, dot with b.u.t.ter and bake until well browned.

Reserve the chicken broth for soup or make a gravy of it and serve with baking powder biscuit or dumplings.--Contributed.

CROQUETTES.--Cook one large tablespoon of b.u.t.ter with two tablespoons of flour, add one cup milk or cream, one teaspoon onion juice, one teaspoon salt, dash of pepper and nutmeg and one beaten egg. Mix with one cup of minced meat or chicken, form into croquettes after the mixture has stood an hour. Fry brown in deep fat after rolling in egg and bread crumbs.--Contributed.

HOT TAMALES.--Cook a three pound chicken tender in salted water to cover. Chop chicken meat fine and return bones to the kettle. Cut open six large chilli peppers or chillies, wash, cut out seeds and cut into halves. Cover with boiling water and cook until soft and press through a fine sieve. Brown a golden color two medium sized chopped onions in hot b.u.t.ter, add the chilli pulps with half a cup of chicken broth, cover pan and cook slowly fifteen minutes. Put one quart of corn meal into a bowl and pour over it enough hot chicken broth to make a dry paste; work with the hands into a soft but not wet paste. Have broad six inch long corn husks soaked until pliable in warm water. Open these and down the center of each put a wide strip of corn meal paste; mix the chopped chicken with the chilli mixture and spread it on the corn meal paste down the center; roll up the husks, fold in the ends and tie with narrow strips of husks. The corn meal must surround the chicken mixture. Lay the prepared tamales carefully on top of the bones keeping them above the broth. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and cover the kettle and cook steadily one hour, being careful that the broth doesn't boil over the tamales. For the novice, it is easier to steam the tamales over the broth in a flat covered steamer. Serve very hot in the husks. Minced beef may be used instead of chicken and often one cup of chopped tomatoes are added to the chillies before cooking.--Contributed.

CHILE-CON-CARNE.--Cook chillies as in tamale recipe, add to the sieved chillies one pint of thick strained tomato pulp, one minced large onion, one fourth teaspoon salt and cover and simmer fifteen minutes.

Cut dark meat from a boiled or roasted chicken, into small pieces or use small pieces of cooked veal, cover with the chilli sauce and stew slowly one hour or stand over hot water and steam about an hour or until chicken has practically absorbed the sauce.--Contributed.

CHILLI MINO PAN CAKES.--Make a light fritter or pan cake batter and fry cakes in hot olive oil or b.u.t.ter shaking them until they are set.

Spread these cakes with chicken and chilli mixture (as prepared for tamales) roll up the pan cakes, pour over more of the sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and serve immediately.--Contributed.

RICE AND CHICKEN CON-CARNE.--One pint of stewed chicken cut up in chicken broth and seasoned with three cooked chillies (sieved) half a cup of washed rice, half a pint of finely minced cooked tongue, one teaspoon of salt. Stir often and cook until rice has absorbed most of the broth but do not let it scorch. Serve with half a pint of strained tomato cooked with one tablespoon of b.u.t.ter and a little salt.--Contributed.

Meat

"Room! Make way! Hunger commands. My valour must obey."--Beaumont and Fletcher.

TO JUDGE GOOD BEEF.--Good beef, if young, will be of a bright red color, fine grained and firm to the touch. The fat of a clear straw color with a little of it through the muscles, giving the meat a marbled appearance. The suet should be dry and crumbly and of a darker shade than the fat. In old beef both flesh and fat will be darker, much coa.r.s.er in fiber and decidedly dry compared with young beef. If the beef is of a pale, dull color, and flabby, it is not well matured; if very dark and colored and coa.r.s.e grained with deep yellow fat it will be found tough and tasteless and if it bears greenish tints and feels slippery on the surface it is already stale and unfit for use. When meat is tough add a little vinegar or a piece of lemon to the water in which it is boiled. This will result in a shortening of time and a saving of fuel, while the meat will be rendered more easy of digestion; also any slight taint that may be about the meat will be entirely removed by this process. A pinch of baking soda can be used instead of lemon or vinegar.

POT ROAST.--Take a nice piece of the round beef weighing about four pounds, season well with salt and pepper and dust over thoroughly with flour. In a flat bottomed kettle melt a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg, when hot put in the meat, turning until well browned on every side. When roast is brown add a little onion, six cloves, six allspice and enough boiling water to come up half way to the top of the meat.

Cook slowly for three hours. When done take out meat, add one tablespoon of flour to a little cold water to thicken gravy.

MEAT b.a.l.l.s.--Two pounds round steak, put through sausage grinder three times, season with salt and pepper, nutmeg and a little cream. Beat two eggs and mix all together; shape into b.a.l.l.s and roll in cracker crumbs and fry in b.u.t.ter to a light brown.

BAKED VEAL CUTLETS.--One and one half pounds of veal cutlets laid in well b.u.t.tered roasting pan with one cup of water; over this spread dressing made of two cups bread crumbs; two onions chopped fine, two well beaten eggs; b.u.t.ter size of an egg, salt and pepper. Mix well, add water to moisten. Lay tin cover on top of pan to prevent scorching.

Bake from half to three quarters of an hour. Remove cover to brown.

ROAST SPARE RIBS.--Trim off ends neatly, crack ribs across the middle, rub with salt, sprinkle with pepper, fold over, stuff with turkey dressing, sew up tightly, place in dripping pan with one pint water, baste often. Turn over once so as to bake both sides equally.

ROAST VEAL LOAF.--Four pounds of veal, one pound of pork, one or two eggs, one cup of crackers rolled fine, one tablespoon of salt, one teaspoon of pepper, one teaspoon of sage, mix and make into roll. Bake three hours.

STEAMED VEAL LOAF.--To two pounds of veal, put through a grinder or chopped very fine, add two teaspoons of salt, one fourth teaspoon pepper, b.u.t.ter size of an egg, one cup freshly grated bread crumbs, two eggs, two tablespoons milk. Knead until well mixed. b.u.t.ter baking powder cans, coat with bread crumbs and fill compactly with the meat and put on cover. Stand in a kettle of water almost to the top of mold.

Boil steadily one and one half hours. When cool take out at once.

STUFFED BEEF STEAK.--Prepare a dressing as for chicken, of one cup of bread crumbs moisten with one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Trim off the fat from a sirloin steak, spread on the dressing; roll up; tie to keep in shape, and bake one hour. Baste often with stock and drippings.

When done remove the string that it may not unroll and serve with brown sauce. Mushrooms may be added to the dressing if desired. (Roll may be steamed instead of roasted if desired.)

SAUCE.--Melt and brown one large tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, add to it two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir until it is smooth and brown, then add one pint of the liquid strained from the pan. Stir until it thickens, take from the fire and add one tablespoonful of Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce; season with salt and pepper.

DIRECTIONS FOR BOILING HAM.--Put the ham in cold water over night and boil in the same water in the morning. When done skin it and roll it in crackers mixed with pepper, and put into oven to brown.

VEAL LOAF.--Two pounds of veal chopped, one half pound salt pork, chopped or put through meat grinder twice. Add one egg, twelve crackers, rolled fine, salt and pepper to taste. Bake one and one half hours. (The above meat recipes were demonstrated in American Cookery series by Mrs. A. McKay.)

VEAL STEW, WITH LEMON AND EGG SAUCE.--Four pounds veal, salt and pepper, stew the veal until tender, drain off the broth, leaving barely enough to cover the meat. Beat six eggs and add slowly to them, beating all the time, the juice of three lemons. Pour this over the veal and heat but do not boil.--Mrs. Aaron J. Bessie.

NORWEGIAN MEAT PUDDING.--Take five pounds of round steak, quarter pound beef suet, grind ten or twelve times, add salt, nutmeg, one cup sweet cream, one pint milk, mix well. Bake in pudding tin with funnel in center. Set tin in pan of boiling water. Bake one hour.

PUDDING SAUCE.--Drain liquid from pudding when done. To this add sweet cream, thicken with flour and milk. Season with salt, nutmeg and capers. This will serve ten or twelve people.--Mrs. R. Meidell.

German Cookery

BOILED MEAT b.a.l.l.s.--One pound of round steak, one egg, one slice of bread, two tablespoons melted b.u.t.ter, one teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper. Trim off all the fat, skin and bones, wash them and put on stove in cold water with one onion, piece of celery, a little parsley and salt to taste. Let boil one hour. Chop or grind the meat, soak the bread in water and press, then mix with all ingredients and form into b.a.l.l.s the size of an egg, and boil in the above broth ten minutes. For the gravy brown one tablespoon b.u.t.ter, one of flour, add the broth and stir smooth. Put meat b.a.l.l.s into a deep dish and pour gravy over them.--Mrs. J. Bruegger.

MARYLAND BAKED HAM.--Soak a ham over night in cold water and boil it tender in sweet cider or water, putting it on in enough liquid to cover. It must be tender but not broken. Remove the rind, outline the fat on top into diamonds, placing a clove in each. Rub half a cup of maple syrup into ham, sprinkle with pepper, place in oven and brown, sprinkling with sifted bread crumbs if liked. Serve hot or if sliced cold, lay plate and heavy weight on ham over night to make nice firm slices.--Mrs. Whitehead. Southern Cookery demonstration.

LULA'S CORNED BEEF.--Five pounds rump beef or sirloin, five tablespoons salt, three tablespoons brown sugar. Saltpetre size of a hickory nut.

Dissolve the ingredients in enough water to cover the beef, and let the meat stand in the brine twenty four hours. Boil meat in the same brine three and a half hours. Quick, simple and good as it gives the purchaser a chance to select the cut of meat she prefers for corning.--Contributed.

SPICED BEEF LOAF.--Two and one half pounds of round steak put through a food chopper, with one fourth pound of salt pork; one teaspoonful of dried and rolled bread crumbs; two scant cupfuls of milk, one beaten egg, one teaspoon of b.u.t.ter; one teaspoonful of salt; one half teaspoon each of cinnamon, cloves, mace and allspice, a dash of cayenne pepper.

Mix into one large loaf and lay in a b.u.t.tered roasting pan. (I use two individual bread tins using one loaf hot for dinner and reserving the other to slice cold.) Add a cupful of hot water to each baking pan; sprinkle sifted bread crumbs over the meat and dot with b.u.t.ter. Bake covered until brown and tender basting often but do not cook until hard and dry. Serve with the gravy or hot tomato sauce, horseradish or mayonaise.--Mrs. Whitehead.

FAAR I KAAL. NORWEGIAN.--Get twenty cents worth of leg of mutton, cut in small pieces. Put in the kettle one layer of mutton, one medium sized head of cabbage cut into six pieces, four potatoes, cut in halves, two medium sized carrots, quartered. Between each layer of meat and vegetables add salt, whole peppers and a little flour. Set the kettle on the stove and add about one quart of water. Let boil slowly for at least three hours. When done remove from fire and serve. This will serve three people.--Mrs. R. Meidell.

ROUND STEAK STEW.--Take one and one half quarter pounds of round steak and pound it well, roll in flour and fry (same as any other steak) over this pour one pint of boiling water, season with salt, pepper and a little onion. Let stew one hour or until tender.--Mrs. R. Meidell.

STEAMED VEAL LOAF.--Take two pounds raw veal, grind, two teaspoons salt, one fourth teaspoon pepper, b.u.t.ter size of an egg, one cup freshly grated bread crumbs, two eggs, two tablespoons milk, knead until well mixed. b.u.t.ter baking powder cans, coat with bread crumbs, fill compactly with the meat, put on cover, stand in kettle of water almost to the top of the mold. Boil steadily one and one half hours.

When cool remove from molds at once. Can be eaten hot.--Mrs. Paul Leonhardy.

JELLIED VEAL OR CHICKEN.--Three pounds of stewing veal shank or chicken, one tablespoon of chopped onion, one tablespoon chopped celery; one level teaspoon of salt, dash of pepper. Cover with water and boil steadily until the meat is very tender and liquor reduced.

Remove the meat from the liquor, free it from gristle and bones and chop fine. Strain the liquor, stir it through the meat and pack in a square mold, laying a heavy weight on top. Serve it cold, cut in thin slices and garnished with sliced hard boiled eggs, sliced lemon or pickled beets.--Mrs. Whitehead.

SCRAMBLED CALF'S BRAINS.--Soak two pounds of calf's brains in strong salt water one hour. Then carefully remove all membrane and blood clots. Dip the brains in flour and fry brown in hot drippings, bacon preferred. Hash the brains with a knife and scramble four fresh eggs with them, season with salt and pepper, tossing well together with a knife until nicely browned. Serve with toast or hot b.u.t.tered rolls or baking powder biscuit.--Contributed.

CROWN OF LAMB WITH CURRIED RICE b.a.l.l.s.--Have the marketman prepare the rack of lamb for a "crown" roast by sc.r.a.ping the flesh from the ribs half way down, joining the rack together and fastening it firmly.

Sprinkle with pepper and salt, wrap the ribs in oiled paper and roast in a brisk oven. Baste often and allow fifteen minutes to each pound.

Garnish with rice b.a.l.l.s made as follows: Steam one cupful of rice until tender. Make two cupfuls of sauce by melting two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, adding one teaspoonful currie powder, one saltspoonful of onion juice, and two tablespoonfuls flour, and stock, or water and milk, and one half teaspoonful of salt. Cook until smooth, then add sufficient sauce to the rice to form into b.a.l.l.s; reheat them in a steamer, dip them in the sauce which has been kept warm and fill the crown.

MINT JELLY.--Is a toothsome accompaniment to roast lamb, and is a novel variation to the customary mint sauce. Soak one cupful of chopped mint in one pint of water for one hour. Strain, heat to the boiling point and pour over one half box of gelatin which has been softened in half a teacup of cold water. Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, four tablespoonfuls lemon juice and a saltspoonful of salt. Pour into molds and set in a cold place to harden. Turn out on chilled saucers just before serving.--Contributed.

TONGUE IN PORT WINE.--Boil a beef's tongue until it is tender enough to stick a fork through; put it in cold water and remove the skin; set it away until cold; save the water in which it was boiled and put it on the stove with four small onions and two small carrots, boil until the vegetables are tender, then remove the carrots and mash the onions into pieces; brown two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, add it to the liquor, with a level teaspoonful each of allspice, cloves and mace, and pepper and salt to taste. Blend two tablespoonfuls each of b.u.t.ter and flour, thicken the liquor with this and add three quarters of a cup of port wine. Split the tongue lengthwise, put it in the liquor and heat thoroughly, and serve with the sauce.--Mrs. Whitehead.

SYRIAN STEW.--To be eaten with boiled rice. Neck of mutton will do nicely for this. Separate the fat from the lean meat. Mince the fat and melt it in frying pan. Cut the lean meat into chunks about a cubic inch, more or less, in size, and fry in a hot fat. Have at hand an earthen cooking vessel; remove the meat from frying pan when done and drop into the earthen vessel. Have ready the vegetables, also cut into chunks (not slices), and brown in the fat, removing them as they brown and putting them with the meat. Next, slice two large or four small Spanish onions (slicing not into rings, but first into halves, lengthwise; next slicing each half lengthwise), and fry until well done (sprinkling them with salt hastens the process). Add these to the meat and vegetables, then add a cupful of canned or fresh tomato and a small quant.i.ty of water, seasoned with salt and that brown pepper which is more spicy than hot; let it come to a boil and simmer gently. It should be begun two hours before mealtime. Any vegetable will do. Vegetable marrow is excellent, but this should be allowed to steam for awhile with the meat and onions before the tomatoes are added and cooked without water. For potatoes, add a few cloves or a small piece of cinnamon bark to flavor. Celery stew is excellent and cabbage also is good; but for either of these omit the tomatoes and add some lemon juice shortly before removing from fire. Such vegetables as celery, cabbage and haricot beans should not be browned in the fat, but stirred about for awhile in the cooking vessel with the meat and onions, and thus fried slightly before adding the water. There is an infinite variety of these stews, all on the same principle.

BOILED RICE.--To accompany Syrian stew.--A double boiler is not necessary. Wash the rice until the water is clear, removing any foreign grains or dirt. Have ready in a saucepan double the quant.i.ty of boiling water that you have of rice, in which has been melted a lump of b.u.t.ter.

When the water boils hard drop in the rice, add a rounded teaspoonful of salt to every cup of rice and boil gently, uncovered. Do not stir.

For very hard rice allow two and one half cups of water to a cup of rice. You will soon learn just the quant.i.ty required. By the time the water dries out the rice should be done and each grain firm and separate. Allow a generous teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter to each cup of rice.