Janet McKenzie Hill

“ In regard to the chafing-dish and its most prominent use, some one may fittingly ask: Is it hygienic to eat at midnight? Can one keep one's health and eat late suppers? As in all things pertaining to food, no set rules can be given to meet every case; much depends upon constitutional traits, individual habits and idiosyncrasies. One may practise what another cannot attempt. As a rule, however, people who eat a hearty dinner, after the work of the day is done, do not need to eat again until the following breakfast hour. ”

“ Bear in mind that the hot-water pan is to be used in all cases where the double boiler would be used, if the cooking were to be done upon the range. For instance, where the recipe calls for milk or cream, except in the making of a sauce, use the bath from the beginning. Also, be careful always to place the blazer in the bath before eggs are added to any mixture. Indeed, the hot-water pan is the one feature of the chafing-dish which it is most important to notice; for on the proper use of the hot-water pan the value of the chafing-dish as an exponent of scientific cookery entirely depends. ”

“ Have prepared on a hot serving-dish a can of tomatoes, stewed until they are reduced to a scant pint, and upon the tomatoes rounds of buttered toast for each egg to be served. Break some eggs, one by one, into a cup, and turn them into the blazer two-thirds filled with hot water; turn the flame low and put on the chafing-dish cover; if the water boils, turn down the flame. When the eggs are nicely poached, remove with a skimmer to the toast. Pour out the water and melt in the blazer, browning if desired, two tablespoonfuls of butter; add one tablespoonful of lemon juice ”

“ The flavor of a few drops of onion juice is relished by many in any kind of fish or meat sandwich, while others would prefer a few grains of fine-chopped parsley.
When salad sandwiches are to be prepared, chop the meat or fish very fine and mix it with the salad dressing. Celery, cabbage, cress, cucumbers, tomatoes or olives may be chopped and added to the meat with the dressing. When lettuce is used, the leaf is served whole, the edges just appearing outside the bread. Any one of these vegetables, combined with a salad dressing, makes a delicious sandwich without meat or fish. ”

“ Of uncooked vegetables, cabbage lettuce—called long ago by the Greek physician, Galen, the philosopher's or wise man's herb—stands at the head of salad plants. Like all uncooked vegetables, lettuce must be served fresh and crisp, and the more quickly it is grown the more tender it will be. When dressed for the table, each leaf should glisten with oil, yet no perceptible quantity should fall to the salad-bowl. Watercress, being rich in sulphuretted oil, is often served without oil. Cheese or eggs combine well with cress ”

“ Thudichum recommends sea water, whenever it is available, for boiling fish; lacking this, hot water, salted (an ounce of salt to a quart of water) , and acidulated pleasantly with lemon juice or vinegar, is the proper medium of cooking. The addition of a slice or two of onion and carrot, a sprig of parsley, a stalk of celery, with aromatic herbs or spices, provided they be not used so freely as to overpower the delicate savor of the fish, is thought to improve the dish. ”

“ For one cup of sauce, put two tablespoonfuls of butter into the blazer; let the butter simply melt, without coloring, if for a white sauce, but cook until brown for a brown sauce. Mix together two tablespoon [159] fuls of flour, one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt and a dash of black or white pepper, or a few grains of cayenne or paprica, and beat it into the bubbling butter; let the mixture cook two or three minutes, then stir into it, rather gradually at first, and beating constantly, one cup of cold milk, water or stock. ”

“ Cauliflower Salad, Egg Garnish.
Separate a cauliflower into flowerets and boil in salted water until tender, not longer. Drain carefully. Season with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of chopped tarragon leaves (or use tarragon vinegar) . Arrange symmetrically in an earthen bowl, having the upper surface level. Let stand to become thoroughly chilled, then turn on to a serving-dish; the shape of the mould will be [50] retained. Cover with mayonnaise dressing or Sauce Tartare, and surround with lengthwise quarters of hard-boiled eggs. ”

“ German potatoes, which are waxy rather than mealy, may be procured in large cities especially for salads. Peel the potatoes and cut them while hot into [38] slices or cubes; pour over them as much beef broth as they will readily absorb and sprinkle with the salt and pepper, the oil and onion; mix lightly and set aside for some hours. Then add the whites of the eggs chopped fine, the yolks passed through a sieve, and mix with the rest of the oil, stirred with the vinegar into the mustard and sugar. After disposing in the dish, sprinkle with the parsley. ”

“ Heat one-fourth a cup of chopped cold tongue or ham, and half a cup of chopped veal or chicken, with half a cup of good sauce and two tablespoonfuls of curry paste (curry powder mixed with [206] just enough water to form a paste) . Let the mixture simmer five minutes, stirring constantly; then set aside to become cool. Have some bits of bread prepared as for sandwiches. Heat some clarified butter in the blazer, and in it sauté the bread a delicate brown, and drain on soft paper. Spread with the cold mixture, press two pieces together, and heat over hot water five or ten minutes. Serve hot. ”

“ Mayonnaise dressing is composed largely of olive oil. A small amount of yolk of egg is used as a foundation. The oil, with the addition of condiments, is slightly acidulated with vinegar and lemon juice, one or both, and the whole is made very light and thick by beating. Mayonnaise forms a very handsome dressing, and it is much enjoyed by those who are fond of oil. ”

“ Cook tiny string beans until tender in boiling salted water; season while hot with onion juice, salt, pepper and tarragon vinegar. When cold add oil and toss the beans about until each bean is coated with the oil. Fill the centre of the jelly, fashioned in a ring mould, with the beans, and sprinkle over them a fine-chopped pimento. Garnish with lettuce leaves. Fine-chopped chives may be used in the place of the onion juice; they are particularly appropriate in any bean salad. If the beans are large, cut in halves lengthwise and the halves crosswise. ”

“ There is positive need of more widespread knowledge of the principles of cookery. Few women know how to cook an egg or boil a potato properly, and the making of the perfect loaf of bread has long been assigned a place among the "lost arts." ”

“ For chicken, veal or sweetbread salad, use chicken or veal stock, or a light-colored consommé. In an emergency, aspic may be made from the prepared extracts of beef, or from bouillon capsules. Aspic is often tinted delicately to harmonize with a particular color scheme. A light-green aspic has been found quite effective.
RECIPE.
To one quart of highly seasoned stock, freed from all fat, add the juice of a lemon, a bay leaf, half a cup of wine and one box of gelatine soaked in a cup of cold water. Beat into the mixture the slightly beaten whites and crushed shells of two eggs. ”

“ Sometimes we make the sauce after another fashion, using the same proportions of the various ingredients. If water or stock be used, put it in the blazer directly over the fire. If the liquid be milk, put it into the blazer, and the blazer over hot water; cream together the butter, flour and seasonings, dilute with a little of the hot liquid, pour into the remainder of the hot liquid, and stir constantly until the sauce thickens, and then occasionally for ten or fifteen minutes, until the flour is thoroughly cooked. ”

“ A French dressing is used for green vegetables, for fruit and nuts, and to marinate cooked vegetables, or the meat or fish for a meat or fish salad. Mayonnaise dressing is used for meat, fish, some varieties of fruit, as banana, apple and pineapple, and for some vegetables, as cauliflower, asparagus and tomatoes. ”

“ Ever, and justly, fish have taken high rank in the list of salad ingredients. No wonder, when we consider that nothing excels in delicacy of flavor many a variety of fish; and, while fish are not necessarily expensive in any locality, in many sections of the country their cost is merely nominal. ”

“ Beat the yolks with a small wooden spoon or silver fork, add the condiments and mix again; then add one teaspoonful of vinegar, and, when well mixed with the other ingredients, add the oil, at first drop by drop. When the mixture has become of good consistency the oil may be added faster. When it is too thick to beat well, add a little of the lemon juice, then more oil, and so on alternately, until the ingredients are used. ”