Reform Cookery Book Part 24

Plasmon Vegetable Soup.

Two carrots, 2 turnips, 1 leek, 1 onion, 1-1/2 oz. b.u.t.ter, 1 teaspoonful celery seed, 2 lumps sugar, 1 bay leaf, 1 pint Plasmon white stock, 1 oz.

flour, 1 gill milk, salt and pepper. Shred vegetables into thin strips.

Melt b.u.t.ter, and add Plasmon stock while boiling. Cook till vegetables tender. Blend flour and milk smoothly, and add gradually, also seasoning.

Boil a few minutes longer. For

Plasmon Stock,

put 1 oz. Plasmon in saucepan, and add gradually half a pint lukewarm water, stirring continuously. Place over the fire, and boil for two minutes. When cold, this should be a thin, semi-transparent jelly.

Cream of Barley Soup.

Prepare a white or clear stock (p. 11), or make a hasty stock by boiling some lentils, split-peas, or haricots with a good quant.i.ty of chopped onion till of the strength required. Failing any of these, a spoonful or two of vegetable extract will do very well. Bring to boil, and season to taste.

In a basin smooth some of Robinson's Patent Barley to a cream with cold water or milk, allowing one tablespoonful to the pint. Pour on to this the boiling stock, stirring all the time. Return to saucepan, boil up, and allow to simmer for at least ten minutes. More milk may be added if desired, and this soup can be varied and enriched by the addition of the yolks of one or two eggs. These should be well beaten up and put in tureen before dis.h.i.+ng. I may say here that the Patent Barley is must useful for thickening any kind of soup, stock, or gravy.

SAVOURIES.

Nut Soufflee.

A teacup each of grated walnuts, brown bread crumbs, and milk, a beaten egg, pepper and salt. Mix well, grease a tin mould, pour in mixture, and steam for an hour. Serve with Tomato Sauce. When cold, it can be cut in slices, rolled in egg and bread crumbs, and fried a nice brown.

NOTE.--The above can be varied by using a different kind of nuts or Mapleton's Nut-meat Preparation, and by the addition of a little grated onion, minced parsley, and one or two teaspoonfuls Vegetable Extract.

Savoury Nut Omelette.

A large cup of grated walnuts or Brazil nuts, a cup of brown bread crumbs, pepper and salt to taste, a little grated onion, 2 teaspoonfuls finely chopped parsley; also 2 eggs well beaten, and a cup of milk. Mix all the ingredients together. Have ready an omelette pan with a good layer of hot fat or b.u.t.ter. Pour in the mixture, slowly brown on one side, cut in 4 or 6 pieces when they will be easily turned, then brown on the other side. Serve hot, with brown sauce, vegetables and potatoes in the usual way. A still simpler way is to bake in shallow baking tin in brisk oven 30 to 40 minutes.

Use plenty of fat.

NOTE.--The above can be very easily prepared by using Mapleton's Nut-meat Preparation instead of the grated nuts. Walnut or brown Almond meal would be especially suitable.

Sea Pie.

Cook together a variety of tender spring vegetables--carrots, turnips, cabbage, pens, French beans, &c. First brown some onions with "Nuttene,"

add water with some vegetable extract--"Marmite" or "Carnos"--also some ketchup and seasoning. When boiling, add the carrots and turnips--not too small--then a fair-sized cabbage cut in four pieces, the peas sh.e.l.led, or French beans cut lengthwise. The carrots and turnips should be cooking for some time before the cabbage, &c., is put in. See that there is plenty of liquid to cover, and put on the following paste:--Take four heaped tablespoonfuls self-raising flour, a piece of "Nuttene" or b.u.t.ter the size of a small egg. Rub in very lightly with the tips of the fingers, add pinch pepper and salt, and mix to a soft dough with a little water. Flour well and roll out lightly to not quite the size of round stewpan to leave room for swelling. Make a hole in centre, add quickly to contents of pan while fast stewing, keep lid very close, and cook for 3/4 of an hour. Serve very hot. Sea Pie may also be made with mushrooms stewed till tender, with teaspoonful "Extract" and tablespoonsful ketchup. Have plenty of liquid.

NOTE.--The above is exceedingly good, very simple to prepare, and may be varied in innumerable ways. For those who prefer to dispense with chemical raising materials, I may say that the paste is very good made with ordinary flour, or with a mixture of wholemeal and flour. An egg _may_ be beaten and mixed in, but it rises very well without. The same paste can be put over any stew--German Lentil, Haricot Bean, &c.--great care being taken that there is plenty of liquid.

Scotch Oatmeal Pudding.

One lb. oatmeal, 1/4 lb. onions, 1/2 lb. vegetable suet or 1/4 lb. each of suet and pine kernels; pepper and salt. Run the pine kernels through nut-mill, and put with suet in frying-pan. When hot, add the onions finely chopped, and after these have cooked for a few minutes add the oatmeal, which should be crisp and not too fine. Cook all for some time, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Wring a pudding cloth out of boiling water, flour well, and put the oatmeal, &c., in, and tie up at each end in the form of a roll, leaving a little room to swell. Plunge in fast-boiling water, and boil for 3 to 4 hours. Turn out of cloth carefully so as not to break.

It may be served as it is, but is much nicer if put in a baking tin, basted with hot fat, and baked till brown and crisp. Serve with brown sauce or nut gravy.

This may be divided into a number of small puddings. These are particularly good if allowed to cool, and then brushed over with a little white of egg before being toasted.

Hasty Oatmeal Pudding.

Make some vegetable fat very hot. Add a little onion, grated or very finely chopped, and stir till nearly cooked. Allow a teacupful oatmeal to each tablespoonful of fat, and stir in along with a little salt and pepper. Cook over very moderate heat till crisp and brown all over, turning about almost constantly as it is very ready to burn. Shredded Wheat Biscuit crumbs, Granose Flakes, or Kornules may be used in place of the oatmeal. Less fat will be required.

Walnut Mince.

Six ozs. grated nuts, 4 ozs. breadcrumbs, 1 oz. Nut b.u.t.ter. Make fat hot in saucepan, add nuts, and stir till lightly browned, taking great care not to burn. Add breadcrumbs and seasoning to taste--large spoonful grated onion, pinch herbs, &c.--also ketchup or vegetable extract--"Carnos" or "Marmite"--with boiling water to make up 2 gills--rather less if a dry consistency is preferred. Simmer slowly for 15 minutes. Serve with sippets of toast or fried bread. Brazil, peccan, or hazel nuts may be used instead of walnuts.

Savoury Lentil Pie.

With the help of the above mince quite a number of delicious savouries can be contrived with but little extra trouble. The following pie will be found delicious:--Wash well 8 ozs. red lentils, and put on to cook with 2 ozs.

each of chopped or flaked carrot, turnip, and onion, 1 oz. b.u.t.ter, pinch herbs, ditto curry powder, teaspoonful sugar, and usual seasonings. Cover with just as little water as will cook the lentils without burning, and simmer or steam closely covered for about half-an-hour till lentils a thick puree. Some ketchup, "Extract," or tomato is an improvement; add nut mince prepared as above, mix well and simmer a few minutes longer. It should be of the consistency of a thick mush. Put in pie-dish, and set aside to cool.

Cover with

Batter Paste

made with 6 ozs. self-raising flour, 2 eggs, 1-1/2 gills milk, 3 ozs.

b.u.t.ter or vegetable fat. Rub the b.u.t.ter into the flour, and make into stiff batter, with the eggs well beaten, and the milk. Pour over contents of pie-dish and bake till well risen and a nice brown in fairly brisk oven.

Nutton Pie.

One-and-half lbs. "Nutton," [Footnote: A very fine Nut Meat, put up by R.

Winter, City Arcades, Birmingham.] cut in dice, 1/2 lb. tomatoes, 1/4 lb.

cooked macaroni, 1-1/2 lbs. cooked potatoes, sliced. Dust with pepper and salt, pour in stock to within 1/2 inch of top; cover with good whole-meal crust, made with Winter's cooking "Nutbut"; bake.

Nutton Chops.

One lb. No. 1 "Nutton," minced through a food chopper, 3/4 lb. zweiback bread crumbs, 2 ozs. macaroni, cooked and finely chopped, pepper and salt to taste. Mix with egg and form into chops; use a piece of uncooked macaroni for the bone; brush with egg and bread crumbs and bake, or fry, with nutbut--this quant.i.ty should make 8 chops.

Nutton Meat for Mock Sausage Rolls.

One lb. No. 8 "Nutton," put through a food chopper, 1/2 Spanish onion boiled and finely chopped, 2 teacupsful zweiback bread crumbs, a little sage, salt to taste. Have quant.i.ty required of puff pastry, roll out and divide into squares, putting a little sausage meat in the centre, wet the edges and fold over. Place in a hot oven and bake 10 minutes to 1/4 hour.

Stewed Onions.

Select about a dozen good hard onions, as nearly of a size as possible, and weighing 6 or 8 to the lb. Make 2 ozs. or so vegetable fat--"Nutter" is very good--smoking hot in large stewpan, add the onions, and stir about till nicely browned all over; be careful not to burn; if fat not all absorbed pour it away. Cover with boiling water, add seasoning, pinch herbs, &c., cover and stew gently till cooked--about an hour. There should be a rich brown gravy, so that this makes a most appetising dish to serve with a dry savoury.