Nelson's Home Comforts Part 10

This well-known essence is extracted from the little cells visible in the rind of lemons, by submitting raspings of the fruit to pressure. The greater portion of the oil of lemons sold in England is imported from Portugal, Italy, and France. It is very frequently adulterated with oil of turpentine. In order to present the public with a perfectly pure commodity, G. Nelson, Dale, and Co. import their Essence of Lemon direct from Sicily, and from a manufacturer in whom they have the fullest confidence.

Nelson's Essence of Lemon is sold in graduated bottles, eightpence each, each bottle containing sufficient for twelve quarts of jelly.

MACARONI, ETC.

We now give recipes for a few useful little dishes, chiefly of macaroni, which can be had at such a price as to bring it within the reach of all cla.s.ses. English-made macaroni can be bought at fourpence, and even less, the pound, and the finest Italian at sixpence. The Naples, or pipe-macaroni, is the most useful for families, and the Genoa, or twisted, for high-cla.s.s dishes. The English taste is in favour of macaroni boiled soft, and in order to make it so, many cooks soak it.

But this is not correct, and it is not at all necessary to soak macaroni. If kept boiling in sufficient water, the macaroni requires no attention--ebullition prevents it sticking to the saucepan.

Although we give several ways of finis.h.i.+ng macaroni, it is excellent when merely boiled in water with salt, as in the first recipe, eaten as an accompaniment to meat, or with stewed fruit.

MACARONI WITH CHEESE.

Throw a quarter of a pound of macaroni broken into pieces an inch long, into three pints of boiling water, with a large pinch of salt. The saucepan should be large, or the water will rise over when the macaroni boils fast, which it should do for twenty or twenty-five minutes. When done, strain the macaroni through a colander, put it back into the saucepan with an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, a small pinch of white pepper and of salt, if necessary, and shake it over the fire for a minute or two. Take the saucepan off the fire, and stir into the macaroni two ounces or more, if liked, of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with crisp dry toast, cut in neat pieces. If not convenient to use Parmesan, a mild dry English or American cheese will answer very well.

Some cooks prefer, when the macaroni is boiled, to put a fourth part of it on to a hot dish, then to strew over it a fourth part of the grated cheese, and so on till all of both are used, cheese, of course, covering the top.

MACARONI CHEESE.

Boil and drain the macaroni, mix with a quarter of a pound an ounce of b.u.t.ter, and two ounces of grated cheese; pepper or cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Put the macaroni in a dish and strew over it sufficient grated cheese to cover it up, run a little dissolved b.u.t.ter over the top, and put it in the oven till it is a bright-yellow colour; serve quickly.

MACARONI WITH BACON.

Boil two ounces of streaky bacon, cut it into dice or mince it, stir it into a quarter of a pound of macaroni boiled as for macaroni cheese: if liked, add a few drops of vinegar, pepper, and salt, and serve very hot.

MACARONI WITH ONIONS.

Boil the macaroni as above, mix with it two or three onions sliced and fried a delicate brown, add a few spoonfuls of gravy, stir over the fire for a few minutes and serve.

STEWED MACARONI.

Throw a quarter of a pound of macaroni into three pints of boiling water with a teaspoonful of salt, and let it boil for twenty minutes. Drain in a colander, then put it into a stewpan with half a tin of Nelson's Extract of Meat dissolved in half-a-pint of water, and stir over the fire for five minutes. Take it off the fire and stir in one ounce of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste.

MACARONI WITH TOMATOES.

Prepare the macaroni as in the above recipe, put it into a stewpan with a small piece of b.u.t.ter and a teacupful of tomato sauce, or a small bottle of conserve of tomatoes, and stir briskly over the fire for five minutes.

SWEET MACARONI.

Boil the macaroni as for the other dishes, but with only a pinch of salt, until tender, when drained put into a stewpan with a gill of milk to each two ounces, and two ounces of sifted lump sugar. Any flavouring may be used, but perhaps there is nothing better than grated lemon-peel, and for those who like it, powdered cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Stir over the fire until all the milk is absorbed; a little cream is, of course, an improvement. For those who do not like milk, the juice of a lemon, or a little sherry, may be subst.i.tuted, and for a superior dish vanilla can be used for flavouring.

BOILED CHEESE.

Put four tablespoonfuls of beer into a small saucepan, shred into it a quarter of a pound of good new cheese, and stir briskly over the fire until all is dissolved and is on the point of boiling, then take it off instantly, for, if the cheese is allowed to boil, it will become tough.

Have ready slices of toasted bread, spread the cheese on it, and serve as quickly as possible.

LES CANAPeS AU PARMESAN.

Take the crumb of a French roll, cut it into rounds a quarter of an inch thick, put them into a wire frying-basket, immerse in hot fat, and crisp the bread instantly. Throw it on to paper, dry, and sprinkle over each piece a thick layer of grated Parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt. Put the canapes in a Dutch oven before a clear fire, just to melt the cheese, and serve immediately they are done.

RICE WITH PARMESAN CHEESE.

Boil a quarter of a pound of Patna rice in water with salt; drain it, toss it up in a stewpan with two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Put a quarter of the rice on a hot dish, strew over it equally an ounce of grated Parmesan cheese, then put another portion of rice and cheese until all is used. Serve immediately.

SCALLOPED EGGS.

Take a cupful of finely-sifted bread-crumbs, moisten them with a little cold milk, cream, or gravy, and season nicely with pepper and salt. Put a thin layer of the moistened crumbs on a lightly-b.u.t.tered dish, cut two hard eggs into slices, and dip each piece in very thick well-seasoned white sauce, or Nelson's Extract of Meat dissolved in a little water, so as to glaze the eggs. Having arranged the slices of egg neatly on the layer of moistened bread-crumbs, cover them with another layer of it, and on the top strew thickly some pale gold-coloured raspings. Bake in a moderate oven for ten minutes. If potatoes are liked, they make a nice subst.i.tute for bread-crumbs. Take some mashed potatoes, add to them a spoonful of cream or gravy, and proceed as with bread-crumbs. Serve gravy made of Nelson's Extract of Meat with this dish.

SCOTCH WOODc.o.c.k.

Melt a small piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a nut in a stewpan, break into it two eggs, with a spoonful of milk or gravy, and pepper and salt, stir round quickly until the eggs begin to thicken, keep the yolks whole as long as you can. When finished, pour on to a b.u.t.tered toast, to which has been added a little essence of anchovy or anchovy paste, and serve.

MUSHROOMS WITH CREAM SAUCE.

Dissolve two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, mix in the yolks of two eggs lightly beaten, the juice of a lemon, and a pinch of pepper and salt, stir this over the fire until thickened. Have ready half-a-pint of plain b.u.t.ter sauce, and mix all gradually together, with a small tin of champignons, or about the same quant.i.ty of fresh mushrooms chopped and stewed gently for ten minutes in a little broth or milk. Stir them with the liquor in which they have stewed into the sauce, and let them stand for a few minutes, then spread the mixture on to neat slices of toasted bread. The sauce must be a good thickness, so that it will not run off the toast, and care must be taken in the first process not to oil the b.u.t.ter or make the sauce lumpy.

TO BOIL RICE (A BLACK MAN'S RECIPE).

As rice is so often badly cooked, we make no apology for giving the black man's celebrated recipe. Although he does not recommend a little salt in the water, we think that a small quant.i.ty should always be used, even when the rice has to be served as a sweet dish. "Wash him well, much wash in cold water, rice flour, make him stick. Water boil all ready, very fast. Shove him in; rice can't burn, water shake him too much. Boil quarter of an hour or little more. Rub one rice in thumb and finger; if all rub away him quite done. Put rice in colander, hot water run away. Pour cup of cold water on him, put back in saucepan, keep him covered near the fire, then rice all ready. Eat him up."

TO MINCE VEGETABLES.

Peel the onion or turnip, put it on the board, cut it first one way in slices, not quite through, lest it should fall to pieces, then cut it in slices the other way, which will produce long cubes. Finally turn the onion on its side and cut through, when it will fall into dice-like pieces. The inconvenience and sometimes positive pain caused to the eyes by mincing or chopping the onions on a board is thus obviated, and a large quant.i.ty can be quickly prepared in the above way.

HINTS ON HOUSEKEEPING.