Salad dressing

“ When a salad basket is not available, the materials should be well drained and shaken in a colander, and afterwards in a clean dry cloth held by the corners, and shaken lightly until the salad is dry. Lettuce should always be torn into shreds, not cut with a knife; and it is a good plan to pour the salad dressing into the bottom of the bowl, lay the vegetables upon it, and mix vigorously at the moment of serving. Salads afford considerable scope for the exercise of individual taste and inventive faculty, and whatever their composition, they should always look cool, inviting, and dainty. ”

“ Indeed, the dressing of a salad, though in the early days of the century considered a special art,—an art that rendered it possible for at least one noted Royalist refugee to amass a considerable [7] fortune,—is entirely a matter of individual taste, or, more properly speaking, of cultivation. On this account, particularly for a French dressing, no set rules can be given. By experience and judgment one must decide upon the proportions of the different ingredients, or, more specifically, upon the proportions of the oil and acid to be used. Often four spoonfuls of oil are used to one of vinegar. ”

“ An excellent salad dressing is also made by using the yolk of hard-boiled eggs, some cold mashed potatoes well pressed together with a fork, oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt rubbed in, in the proportions of two of oil to one of vinegar.
A salad must be fresh and freshly made, to be good. Never serve a salad the second day; and it is not well to cover a delicate salad with too much mayonnaise. The 130 very heart of the celery or the delicate inner leaves of the lettuce are the best for dinners. The heavy chicken and lobster, cabbage and potato salads, are dishes for lunches and suppers. ”

“ Remove the yolks, and cream them with a good salad dressing. Mix with chopped ham, or chicken, or any cold meat, if you choose. Make mixture into balls, and fill in the hollows of your whites. If you have not the salad dressing mix the yolks from six eggs with a teaspoonful of melted butter, a dash of cayenne pepper, a little prepared mustard, salt, vinegar and sugar to taste.
SALADS AND SALAD DRESSING. "To make a perfect salad, there should be a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a wise man for salt, and a madcap to stir the ingredients up, and mix them well together." ”

“ In the first place, a slightly smaller amount of salad dressing will be required when the ingredients are marinated and, in addition, a better looking dish can be made, for the dressing need not be mixed with the salad but merely placed on top.
30. In case the housewife prefers not to take the time nor the trouble to marinate a salad, she should at least mix thoroughly with salt and pepper the ingredients that require seasoning. The fact that a salad should be a well and highly seasoned dish must never be overlooked. ”

“ The variety in salads may consist of one fruit salad, one vegetable salad and one salad in which protein predominates, such as cottage cheese, meat or fish.
Head lettuce salad is universally popular and may appear at every meal.
In salad dressings, there should always be a cooked dressing, French dressing and mayonnaise. ”

“ Pour over a salad dressing or just oil and vinegar; shred over it a nice white lettuce, and garnish with sliced beetroot.
REMOULADE SALAD DRESSING This is a good dressing when mayonnaise is not liked. It is made in the same way as mayonnaise, using hard boiled eggs (yolks) instead of raw ones. Put the yolks into a basin and work very smoothly with the bowl of a wooden spoon; add the oil gradually, using about one gill to every two yolks. A little French mustard and vinegar may be added before using.
SOUP MEAT SALAD The meat which has been boiled down for soup makes a nice salad. ”

“ The best dinner salad will perhaps always be white, crisp lettuce, with a simple French dressing, although, to those acquainted with it, escarole runs it hard, with its cool, watery ribs and crisp leaves. Elaborate salads, or those dressed with mayonnaise, are too heavy to form the latter part of an already sufficiently nourishing meal, but for luncheons and suppers the rich salad is invaluable. ”

“ In this method, a French dressing is generally used, and this is often mixed at the table and added to the salad just before it is put on the small plates. Such a salad can be made very attractive, and it should be remembered above all things that the appearance of a salad is its great asset until it is eaten and that an artistically made salad always helps to make the meal more satisfactory. ”

“ Young housekeepers will be surprised at the many vegetables, frequently left-overs, from which appetizing salads may be made by the addition of a couple tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise, besides nut meats, lettuce, watercress, celery and fruit, all of which may be used to advantage. A good potato salad is one of the cheapest and most easily prepared salads. A German dressing for dandelions, lettuce or potatoes may be prepared in a few minutes by adding a couple of tablespoonfuls of salad dressing (which the forehanded housewife will always keep on hand) to a little hot ham or bacon gravy. ”

“ Garnish these with radishes cut into rose shape and stems of celery cut in any desired way. Be sure that the vegetables, which should all be crisp and fresh, are thoroughly cleaned and drained before being put on the plate. Add the salad dressing in the preferred way. It may be poured over the vegetables in the large dish, passed to each individual, or put on the salad plates by the person who serves. French dressing is without doubt the most suitable for combination salad, but mayonnaise or cooked salad dressing may be served with it if desired. ”

“ If the last course is salad instead of dessert, then, as you take off the used plates of the meat course, replace them with cold plates, bring the bowl of salad on and do not remove crumbs, salts, etc., until this course is finished. If your mistress prefers to make the salad dressing herself, put the bowl of lettuce in front of her, and at her right hand the oil, vinegar, and condiments she desires, and a small bowl and a tablespoon to mix the dressing in. ”

“ Jellies.—Tomato jelly, meat, chicken, and fish molded in jelly, may be served as a salad.
Eggs.—Hard-boiled eggs are used as a garnish.
Cream cheese.—May be served with lettuce.
Salad dressings.—Plain lettuce or celery served with salt is in a sense a salad, but it is our custom to dress the lettuce with a mixture which contains an acid and usually an oil. A very simple, old-fashioned form of dressing used in this country is vinegar and sugar. Substitute lemon juice or fresh lime juice for the vinegar and you will have a very refreshing and simple salad for a summer day. ”

“ When choosing the dressing to accompany the salad, remember a safe rule to follow is simple dressings for accompaniment salads, hearty dressings for main-course salads and sweet dressings for dessert salads. Too much dressing can ruin a salad. ”

“ Slices of hard-cooked eggs or the yolks of eggs forced through a ricer likewise offer a touch of attractive color.
17. NATURE OF SALAD DRESSINGS.--When a salad is properly made, a salad dressing of some kind is usually added to the ingredients that are selected for the salad. This dressing generally has for its chief ingredient a salad oil of some kind, many satisfactory varieties of which are to be found on the market. Olive oil has always been the most popular oil used for this purpose, and in many respects it is the most desirable. ”

“ When convenient make French dressing and mix salad at the table.
A small lump of ice put into French dressing while being made keeps it cool and makes it milder.
A tiny pinch of sugar improves most salads.
The secret of making mayonnaise that will not curdle is in using perfectly fresh eggs and cold, pure olive oil. Care and judgment is also needed; materials differ and have to be used accordingly. Stir in one direction.
It is best not to use silver or metal utensil in making dressing or in mixing salads. The writer uses an orange wood fork and spoon. The wood is hard and does not discolor. ”

“ A salad of whichever kind should be cool, delicate, and prepared by a gentle hand. Ordinary servants do not enough appreciate the "niceties" to make acceptable salads. The lettuce, cress, or whatever green is used, should be thoroughly washed, but not crushed, broken, or roughly handled, drained in a wire basket, dried in a napkin, and then torn with the fingers, not cut. Of course, cucumbers, beet-root, olives, etc., are exceptions.
The dressing for salads, whether simply oil and vinegar, or a mayonnaise, should be mixed with a wooden spoon, and an intelligent mind. ”

“ Even though it is not desired to use the salad to carry out a color scheme, it should always be made an attractive dish. As is well known, nothing is so unappetizing as a salad in which the ingredients have not been properly prepared, the garnish is not fresh and crisp, or the dressing and salad ingredients have been combined in such a way as to appear messy or stale looking. ”

“ It will be noted that the preparation of this dressing is similar to that of a custard with the addition of flour. Since the flour requires longer cooking than the eggs, they are added last so that there will be no danger of overcooking them. If the dressing curdles, it may be known that the eggs have cooked too long, but this condition may be remedied by placing the pan containing the dressing in a pan of cold water as soon as the curdling is observed and then beating vigorously with a rotary beater.
BOILED SALAD DRESSING
2 Tb. ”

“ One cannot very well decide upon the particular kind of game and the manner in which it shall be served without giving some thought to the salad that in reality acts as its supplement. And the same rule which forbids the serving of a rich, heavy sauce with game applies to salads. The simpler the salad the more keenly will you relish the game. Chopped celery, lettuce, chicory, watercress or cucumbers, with a simple French dressing, are the salads par excellence to be served with game. ”

“ The chief faults of the average salad, next to the use of inferior oil and flabby lettuce, are the excess of dressing, the excess of vinegar, and the use of pepper which is not freshly ground. A salad prepared in the manner described is as different as chalk is from cheese from the salad which is generally put before one, and no more difficult to make. ”

“ FAT IN SALADS.--The fat in salads is more often included as a part of the dressing than in any other way, but the quantity introduced may be very large. A French dressing or a mayonnaise dressing, as a rule, contains a sufficient proportion of some kind of oil to make the salad in which it is used somewhat high in fat. In fact, salads are often used as a means of introducing fat into a meal, and whenever this is done they should be considered as one of the dishes that supply energy-producing food material to the meals in which they are served. ”

“ A green salad is the proper accompaniment of the roast; it may be watercress, lettuce, celery, chiccory, escarole, burnet, nasturtium (leaves, fruit and flowers) , corn-salad, dandelion, tarragon, fennel, mint, young onions and any of the green sweet herbs; the five first named varieties are the most generally used. Sometimes tomatoes and cucumbers are served here in this, although they more properly belong, the cucumbers with the fish; and the tomatoes with a mayonnaise among the cold entrees. The best dressing for a green salad is of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper ”

“ This will give your salad more body.
Always thoroughly drain the greens you use in salads.
Vary your salad greens. Try chicory, escarole, endive, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, romaine, watercress, and chinese cabbage.
Some salad fruits are likely to turn dark on standing; dip these in a little citrus juice.
Drain canned fruits and vegetables before you add them to a salad.
Tips on dressings
Main-dish salads made with meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, cheese, or potatoes usually call for a mayonnaise-type dressing, but some are good with french or italian dressing (p. 53) . ”

“ Salads play a most important part in all conventional suppers. Chicken, lobster, crab, duck, tongue, and lamb salad take the place of other meats, although for a large supper there is no objection to serving a meat salad following a hot course. If one can make a good mayonnaise dressing, salads are the easiest of all refreshments, and are most acceptable to the guests. ”

“ Transfer the bits of lobster to the plate that has the dressing, and combine the whole with a fork. Lettuce salad is dressed in the same manner.
At a public table, a lady should never volunteer to dress salad for others of the company. Neither should she cut up a pie, and help it round. These things ought only to be done by a gentleman, or a servant.
If a gentleman with whom you are acquainted has dressed a salad, and offers the plate to you, take what you want, and immediately return to him the remainder ”

“ Make a French dressing, using the bacon fat instead of oil, and cider vinegar instead of tarragon. Pour hot over the salad and set away to cool.
SPANISH SALAD
Cut into dice three slices of stale bread. Add an equal quantity of cold, cooked potatoes, three tomatoes, sliced, and one onion chopped fine. Rub the salad bowl with the cut side of a clove of garlic, put in the salad, and pour over plenty of French dressing. ”