Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Dainties
J >> Janet McKenzie Hill >> Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish DaintiesSalads, Sandwiches
and
Chafing-Dish Dainties
[Illustration: Table laid for Sunday-Night Tea.
"Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week."--ADDISON.]
Salads, Sandwiches
and
Chafing-Dish Dainties
_With Fifty Illustrations of Original Dishes_
By
Janet McKenzie Hill
Editor of "The Boston Cooking-School Magazine"
Author of "Practical Cooking and Serving"
NEW EDITION
WITH ADDITIONAL RECIPES
"_Things which in hungry mortals' eyes find favor._"
BYRON
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1909
_Copyright, 1899, 1903_
BY JANET M. HILL.
Printers
S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.
TO
MRS. WILLIAM B. SEWALL,
President of the Boston Cooking-School Corporation,
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF THE OPPORTUNITY
PRESENTED BY HER FOR CONGENIAL WORK IN A
CHOSEN FIELD OF EFFORT, THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
* * * * *
THE favor with which the first edition of this little book has been
received by those who were interested in the subjects of which it
treats, is eminently gratifying to both author and publishers. It has
occasioned the purpose to make a second edition of the book, even more
complete and helpful than the first.
In making the revision, wherever the text has suggested a new thought
that thought has been inserted; under the various headings new recipes
have been added, each in its proper place, and the number of
illustrations has been increased from thirty-seven to fifty. A more
complete table of contents has been presented, and also a list of the
illustrations; the alphabetical index has been revised and made
especially full and complete.
JANET M. HILL.
April 10, 1903.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
* * * * *
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."
By many women cooking is considered, at best, a homely art,--a necessary
kind of drudgery; and the composition, if not the consumption, of salads
and chafing-dish productions has been restricted, hitherto, chiefly to
that half of the race "who cook to please themselves." But, since women
have become anxious to compete with men in any and every walk of life,
they, too, are desirous of becoming adepts in tossing up an appetizing
salad or in stirring a creamy rarebit. And yet neither a pleasing salad,
especially if it is to be composed of cooked materials, nor a tempting
rarebit can be evolved, save by happy accident, without an accurate
knowledge of the fundamental principles that underlie all cookery.
In a book of this nature and scope, the philosophy of heat at different
temperatures, as it is applied in cooking, and the more scientific
aspects of culinary processes, could not be dwelt upon; but, while we
have not overlooked the ABC of the art, our special aim has been to
present our topics in such a simple and pleasing form that she who
attempts the composition of the dishes described herein will not be
satisfied until she has gained a deeper insight into the conditions
necessary for success in the pursuit of these as well as other
fascinating branches of the culinary art.
Care has been exercised to meet the actual needs of those who wish to
cultivate a taste for light, wholesome dishes, or to cater to the
vagaries of the most capricious appetites.
There is nothing new under the sun, so no claim is made to absolute
originality in contents. In this and all similar works, the matter of
necessity must consist, in the main, of old material in a new dress.
Though the introduction to Part III. was originally written for this
book, the substance of it was published in the December-January
(1898-99) issue of the _Boston Cooking-School Magazine_. From time to
time, also, a few of the recipes, with minor changes, have appeared in
that journal.
Illustrations by means of half-tones produced from photographs of actual
dishes were first brought out, we think, by The Century Company; in this
line, however, both in the number and in the variety of the dishes
prepared, the author may justly claim to have done more than any other
has yet essayed. The illustrations on these pages were prepared
expressly for this work, and the dishes and the photographs of the same
were executed under our own hand and eye. That results pleasing to the
eye and acceptable to the taste await those who try the confections
described in this book is the sincere wish of the author.
JANET M. HILL
Contents
Part I.
SALADS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
THE DRESSING 6
USE OF DRESSINGS 7
ARRANGEMENT OF SALADS 8
COMPOSITION OF MAYONNAISE 8
VALUE OF OIL 8
BOILED AND CREAM DRESSINGS 9
IMPORTANT POINTS IN SALAD-MAKING 9
WHEN TO SERVE SALADS WITH FRENCH OR MAYONNAISE
DRESSING 9
WHEN TO SERVE A FRUIT SALAD 10
SALADS WITH CHEESE 10
HOW TO MAKE AROMATIC VINEGARS, KEEP VEGETABLES,
AND PREPARE GARNISHES 11
HOW TO BOIL EGGS HARD FOR GARNISHING 11
TO POACH WHITES OF EGGS 11
ROYAL CUSTARD FOR MOULDS OF ASPIC 11
HOW TO USE GARLIC OR ONION IN SALADS 12
HOW TO SHELL AND BLANCH CHESTNUTS AND OTHER NUTS 12
HOW TO CHOP FRESH HERBS 13
HOW TO CUT RADISHES FOR A GARNISH 13
HOW TO CLEAN LETTUCE, ENDIVE, ETC. 13
HOW TO CLEAN CRESS, CABBAGE, ETC. 14
HOW TO RENDER UNCOOKED VEGETABLES CRISP 14
HOW TO BLANCH AND COOK VEGETABLES FOR SALADS 14
HOW TO CUT GHERKINS FOR A GARNISH 15
HOW TO FRINGE CELERY 15
HOW TO SHRED ROMAINE AND STRAIGHT LETTUCE 15
HOW TO KEEP CELERY, WATERCRESS, LETTUCE, ETC. 16
HOW TO COOK SWEETBREADS AND BRAINS 16
HOW TO PICKLE NASTURTIUM SEEDS 16
NASTURTIUM AND OTHER VINEGARS 17
TO DECORATE SALADS WITH PASTRY BAG AND TUBES 18
RECIPES FOR FRENCH DRESSING 21
RECIPES FOR MAYONNAISE DRESSING 22
BOILED, CREAM, AND OTHER DRESSINGS 26
VEGETABLE SALADS SERVED WITH FRENCH DRESSING 29
SALADS LARGELY VEGETABLE WITH MAYONNAISE, ETC. 39
INTRODUCTION TO FISH SALADS 53
RECIPES FOR FISH SALADS 55
RECIPES FOR VARIOUS COMPOUND SALADS 77
RECIPES FOR FRUIT AND NUT SALADS 89
HOW TO PREPARE AND USE ASPIC JELLY 97
CONSOMME AND STOCK FOR ASPIC 98
CHEESE DISHES SERVED WITH SALADS 105
Part II.
SANDWICHES
BREAD FOR SANDWICHES 115
THE FILLING 116
RECIPES FOR SAVORY SANDWICHES 119
RECIPES FOR SWEET SANDWICHES 131
RECIPES FOR BREAD AND CHOU PASTE 137
HOW TO BOIL MEATS FOR SANDWICHES 140
RECIPES FOR BEVERAGES SERVED WITH SANDWICHES 143
Part III.
CHAFING-DISH DAINTIES
CHAFING-DISHES PAST AND PRESENT 151
CHAFING-DISH APPOINTMENTS 153
ARE MIDNIGHT SUPPERS HYGIENIC? 157
HOW TO MAKE SAUCES 158
MEASURING AND FLAVORING 160
RECIPES FOR OYSTER DISHES 163
RECIPES FOR LOBSTER AND OTHER SEA FISH 169
RECIPES FOR CHEESE CONFECTIONS 182
RECIPES FOR EGGS 188
RECIPES FOR DISHES LARGELY VEGETARIAN 195
RECIPES FOR RECHAUFFES AND OLLA PODRIDA 202
Illustrations
Table laid for Sunday Night Tea _Frontispiece_
The Tender Lettuce brings on softer Sleep _Facing page_ 18
Cucumber Salad for Fish Course " " 28
Cooked Vegetable Salad " " 28
Potato Balls, Pecan Meats, and Cress Salad " " 32
Potato-and-Nasturtium Salad " " 32
Endive, Tomato, and Green String Bean Salad " " 36
Stuffed Beets " " 36
Cress, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad " " 41
Tomato Jelly with Celery and Nuts " " 41
Russian Vegetable Salad " " 48
Macedoine of Vegetable Salad " " 48
Miroton of Fish and Potato Salad " " 58
Cowslip and Cream Cheese Salad " " 58
Russian Salad " " 62
Halibut Salad " " 62
Shell of Fish and Mushrooms " " 68
Shrimp Salad in Cucumber Boat " " 68
Shrimp Salad, Border of Eggs in Aspic " " 70
Lobster Salad " " 70
Bluefish Salad " " 72
Litchi Nut and Orange Salad " " 72
Moulded Salmon Salad " " 74
Salad of Shrimps and Bamboo Sprouts " " 74
Spinach and Egg Salad " " 84
Marguerite Salad " " 84
Easter Salad " " 86
Country Salad " " 86
Fruit Salad " " 94
Turquoise Salad No. 2 " " 94
Cheese Ramequins " " 106
Individual Souffle of Cheese " " 106
Pineapple-Cheese and Crackers " " 110
Salad of Lettuce with Cheese and Macedoine " " 110
Chicken Salad Sandwiches " " 126
Halibut Sandwiches with Aspic " " 126
Wedding Sandwich Rolls " " 128
Club Sandwich " " 128
Boston Brown Bread " " 138
Bread cut for Sandwiches " " 138
Bowl of Fruit-Punch ready for serving " " 143
Copper Chafing-Dish with Earthen Casserole " " 149
Chafing-Dish, Filler, etc. " " 153
Course at Formal Dinner served in Individual
Chafing-Dishes " " 157
Butter Balls with Utensils for Chafing-Dish " " 178
Moulded Halibut with Creamed Peas " " 178
Yorkshire Rabbit " " 186
Curried Eggs " " 186
Mushroom Cromeskies, ready for cooking " " 198
Prune Toast " " 198
PART I.
SALADS.
"_Though my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting
To spoil such a delicate picture by eating._"
INTRODUCTION.
At their savory dinner set
Herbs and other country messes,
Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses.
--_Milton._
Our taste for salads--and in their simplest form who is not fond of
salads?--is an inheritance from classic times and Eastern lands. In the
hot climates of the Orient, cucumbers and melons were classed among
earth's choicest productions; and a resort ever grateful in the heat of
the day was "a lodge in a garden of cucumbers."
At the Passover the Hebrews ate lettuce, camomile, dandelion and
mint,--the "bitter herbs" of the Paschal feast,--combined with oil and
vinegar. Of the Greeks, the rich were fond of the lettuces of Smyrna,
which appeared on their tables at the close of the repast. In this
respect the Romans, at first, imitated the Greeks, but later came to
serve lettuce with eggs as a first course and to excite the appetite.
The ancient physicians valued lettuce for its narcotic virtue, and, on
account of this property, Galen, the celebrated Greek physician, called
it "the philosopher's or wise man's herb."
The older historians make frequent mention of salad plants and salads.
In the biblical narrative Moses wrote: "And the children of Israel wept
again and said, We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely;
the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the
garlick."
In his second Eclogue, Virgil represents a rustic maid, Thestylis,
preparing for the reapers a salad called _moretum_. He wrote, also, a
poem bearing this title, in which he describes the composition and
preparation of the dish.
A modern authority says, "Salads refresh without exciting and make
people younger." Whether this be strictly true or not may be an open
question, but certainly in the assertion a grain of truth is visible;
for it is a well-known fact that "salad plants are better tonics and
blood purifiers than druggists' compounds." There is, also, an old
proverb: "Eat onions in May, and all the year after physicians may
play." What is health but youth?
Vegetables, fish and meats, "left over,"--all may be transformed, by
artistic treatment, into salads delectable to the eye and taste.
Potatoes are subject to endless combinations. First of all in this
connection, before dressing the potatoes allow them to stand in
bouillon, meat broth, or even in the liquor in which corned beef has
been cooked; then drain carefully before adding the oil and other
seasonings.
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; and such a salad, with a
sandwich of coarse bread and butter, together with a cup of sparkling
coffee, forms an ideal luncheon for a picnic or for the home piazza.
Indeed, all the compound salads,--that is, salads of many
ingredients,--more particularly if they are served with a cooked or
mayonnaise dressing, are substantial enough for the chief dish of a
hearty meal. Their digestibility depends, in large measure, on the
tenderness of the different ingredients, as well as upon the freshness
of the uncooked vegetables that enter into their composition.
A salad has this superiority over every other production of the culinary
art: A salad (but not every salad) is suitable to serve upon any
occasion, or to any class or condition of men. Among _bon vivants_,
without a _new_ salad, no matter how _recherche_ the other courses may
be, the luncheon, or dinner party, of to-day does not pass as an
unqualified success.
While salads may be compounded of all kinds of delicate meats, fish,
shellfish, eggs, nuts, fruit, cheese and vegetables, cooked or uncooked,
two things are indispensable to every kind and grade of salad, viz., the
foundation of vegetables and the dressing.
=The Dressing.=
Salads are dressed with oil, acid and condiments; and, sometimes, a
sweet, as honey or sugar, is used. A perfect salad is not necessarily
acetic. The presence of vinegar in a dressing, like that of onions and
its relatives, on most occasions should be suspected only. Wyvern and
other true epicures consider the advice of Sydney Smith, as expressed in
the following couplet, "most pernicious":--
"Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And twice with vinegar procured from town."
Aromatic vinegars, a few drops of which, used occasionally, lend
piquancy and variety to an every-day salad, can be purchased at
high-class provision stores; but the true salad-maker is an artist, and
prefers to compound her own colors (_i.e._, vinegars); therefore we have
given several recipes for the same, which may be easily modified to suit
individual tastes.
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 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. Four spoonfuls of oil to two, three or
four of vinegar may be the proportion preferred by others, and the
quantity may vary for different salads.
Though in many of the recipes explicit quantities of oil, vinegar and
condiments are given, it is with the understanding that these quantities
are indicated simply as an approximate rule; sometimes less and
sometimes more will be required, according to the tendency of the
article dressed to absorb oil and acid, or the taste of the salad
dresser.
=Use of Dressings.=
The dressings in most common use are the French and the mayonnaise. 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. Any article to be served with
mayonnaise, after standing an hour or more in a marinade,--_i.e._,
French dressing,--should be carefully drained, as, by the pickling
process, liquid will drain out into the bottom of the vessel and, mixing
with the mayonnaise, will liquefy the same.
=Arrangement of Salads.=
In the arrangement of salads there may be great display of taste and
individuality. By a judicious selection from materials that may be kept
constantly in store, and with one or two window boxes, in which herbs
are growing, any one, with a modicum of inventive skill, can so change
and modify the appearance and flavor of her salads that she may seem
always to present a new one.
=Composition of Mayonnaise.=
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.
=Value of Oil.=
Pure olive oil is almost entirely without flavor, and a taste for it can
be readily acquired; and, when we consider that it contains all the
really desirable qualities of the once-famous cod-liver oil, except the
phosphates, and that these may be supplied in the other materials of the
salad, it would seem wise to cultivate a taste for so wholesome an
article. By the addition of cream, in the proportion of a cup of whipped
cream to a pint of dressing, those to whom oil has not become agreeable
can so modify its "tone" that they too will enjoy the mayonnaise
dressing.
=Boiled and Cream Dressings.=
For the French and mayonnaise dressings--particularly for the latter--we
sometimes substitute a _boiled_ and sometimes a _cream_ dressing. In the
first, butter, or cream, is substituted for oil, and the materials are
combined by cooking. In the latter, as the name implies, cream is the
basis, and this may be either sweet or sour.
=Important Points in Salad-Making.=
(1) The green vegetables should be served fresh and crisp.
(2) Meat and fish should be well marinated and cold.
(3) The ingredients composing the salad should not be combined until the
last moment before serving.
=When to Serve Salads with French or Mayonnaise Dressing.=
As a rule, subject, however, to exceptions, light vegetable salads,
dressed with French dressing, are served at dinner; while heavy meat or
fish Salads are reserved for luncheon, or supper, and are served with
mayonnaise or cream dressing.
=When to Serve a Fruit Salad.=
A fruit salad, with sweet dressing, is served with cake at a luncheon,
or supper, or in the evening; that is, it may take the place of fruit in
the dessert course. A fruit salad, with French or mayonnaise dressing,
may be served as a first course at luncheon, or with the game or roast,
though in the latter case the French dressing is preferable.
=Salads with Cheese.=
The rightful place of salads is with the roast or game. Here the crisp,
green salad herbs, delicately acidulated, complement and correct the
richness of these _plats_.
Occasionally when the game is omitted and an acid sauce accompanies the
roast, a simple salad combined with cheese in some form, preferably
cooked and hot, is selected to lengthen the menu. This same combination
of hot cheese dish and salad should be a favorite one for home
luncheons, when this meal is not made the children's dinner. The salad
too in this combination, aided by the bread accompanying it, corrects by
dilution the over concentration and richness of the cheese dish. In
England neatly trimmed-and-cleansed celery stalks and cheese often
precede the sweet course; but by virtue of its mission as a digester of
everything but itself and of the common disinclination to have the taste
of sweets linger upon the palate, the place of cheese as cheese is with
the coffee.
HOW TO MAKE AROMATIC VINEGARS, TO KEEP VEGETABLES AND TO PREPARE
GARNISHES.
=How to Boil Eggs Hard for Garnishing.=
Cover the eggs with boiling water. Set them on the back of the range,
where the water will keep hot without boiling, about forty minutes. Cool
in cold water, and with a thin, sharp knife cut as desired.
=To Poach Whites of Eggs.=
Turn the whites of the eggs into a well-buttered mould or cup, set upon
a trivet in a dish of hot water, and cook until firm, either upon the
back of the range or in the oven, and without letting the water boil.
Turn from the mould, cut into slices, and then into fanciful shapes; or
chop fine.
=Royal Custard for Moulds of Aspic.=
Beat together one whole egg and three yolks; add one-fourth a
teaspoonful, each, of mace, salt and paprica, and, when well mixed, add
half a cup of cream. Bake in a buttered mould, set in a pan of water,
until firm. When cold cut in thin slices, then stamp out in fanciful
shapes with French cutters. Use in decorating a mould for aspic jelly.
=How to Use Garlic or Onion in Salads.=
The salad-bowl may be rubbed with the cut surface of a clove of garlic,
or a _chapon_ may be used. A _chapon_, according to gastronomic usage,
is a thin piece of bread rubbed on all sides with the cut surface of a
clove of garlic and put into the salad-bowl before the seasonings. It is
tossed with the salad and dressings, to which it imparts its flavor. It
may be divided and served with the salad. Oftentimes, instead of one
piece, several small cubes of bread are thus used.
After a slice of onion has been removed, the cut surface of the onion
may be pressed with a rotary motion against a grater and the juice
extracted; or a lemon-squeezer kept for this special purpose may be
used.
=How to Shell and Blanch Chestnuts.=
Score the shell of each nut, and put into a frying-pan with a
teaspoonful of butter for each pint of nuts. Shake the pan over the fire
until the butter is melted; then set in the oven five minutes. With a
sharp knife remove the shells and skins together.
=How to Blanch Walnuts and Almonds.=
Put the nut meats over the fire in cold water, bring quickly to the
boiling-point, drain, and rinse with cold water, then the skins may be
easily rubbed from the almonds; a small pointed knife will be needed for
the walnuts.