The Myrtle Reed Cook Book Part 8

MILK TOAST

Lay slices of toast in cereal bowls, spread with b.u.t.ter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pour boiling milk over and serve immediately.

SOFT TOAST

Dip crisp slices of toast for a moment in boiling salted water, pour over melted b.u.t.ter, set in the oven a moment and serve with cream.

CRUSHED WHEAT WITH RAISINS

Add a handful of stoned and cleaned raisins to crushed wheat mush made according to recipe previously given, and as soon as it begins to boil. Raisins are a healthful and agreeable addition to almost any cereal.

COLD CRACKED WHEAT

Add half a teaspoonful of salt to three cupfuls of boiling water, stir in half a cupful of cracked wheat. Cook uncovered till the water has almost disappeared, then add three cupfuls of hot milk. Cover and cook until the wheat is soft, then uncover and cook until the wheat is almost dry. Stir carefully now and then while cooking. Turn into individual moulds to harden, and serve cold with sugar and cream.

SALT FISH

With very, very few exceptions, fish and meats other than salt are not suitable for breakfast. So many delicious preparations of these are possible, however, that no one need lament the restriction which general use has made. The humble and lowly codfish may be made into many a dainty tidbit,--to make no invidious distinction,--and, for some occult reason, the taste craves salt in the morning.

BROILED BLOATERS

Sc.r.a.pe and clean the fish, wipe dry and split, laying flat upon a b.u.t.tered gridiron. Broil about six minutes, turning frequently. When brown, pour over melted b.u.t.ter. Serve with lemon quarters and parsley.

YARMOUTH BLOATERS

See Potomac Herring.

CODFISH b.a.l.l.s

Cut into inch pieces a heaping cupful of salt codfish. Remove the bones, skin, and put into an earthen dish. Pour boiling water on and keep hot two hours. Pour off the water, cool, and shred the fish with the fingers. Add a heaping cupful of hot mashed potatoes. Mix a teaspoonful of flour with a heaping tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, add three tablespoonfuls of boiling water, and cook until thick. Season with salt and pepper, mix with the fish and potato, and with floured hands form into eight small flat cakes. Dredge with flour and set away to be fried the following morning.

CODFISH b.a.l.l.s--II

Two cupfuls of freshened and shredded fish, two cupfuls of sliced raw potatoes, one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, half a cupful of cream or milk, two eggs, and a sprinkle of white pepper. Put the potatoes in a pan, spread the fish on top, cover with cold water, and boil until the potatoes are done. Drain, mash together, then add the b.u.t.ter, pepper, milk, and beaten egg. Beat until very light. Shape into round b.a.l.l.s the size of small apples, dredge in flour, and fry until brown in deep fat.

CODFISH b.a.l.l.s--III

Prepare as Codfish b.a.l.l.s II, but use twice as much potato as fish.

CODFISH b.a.l.l.s a LA BURNS

Make codfish b.a.l.l.s into flat cakes and just before serving, put a poached egg on each.

PICKED-UP CODFISH

Pour boiling water on a cupful of salt codfish which has been shredded and had the bones removed. When the water cools, pour it off and cover with fresh boiling water. Drain again when the second water cools.

Blend a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter with a tablespoonful of flour, add a cupful of milk, and cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Add the codfish and a teaspoonful of finely minced parsley. Serve on toast and garnish with hard-boiled egg cut in slices. Sprinkle with black pepper.

CREAMED CODFISH

Two cupfuls of shredded codfish, three cupfuls of milk, yolk of one egg, one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, two quarts of water, pepper, and salt. Cover the fish with the water and set it over a slow fire. When it boils, drain it and cover with the milk. Bring to a boil again. Have the b.u.t.ter and flour rubbed smooth with a little cold milk and add to the boiling milk. Stir steadily till it thickens, then add the beaten yolk of the egg, and cook five minutes longer. Season with pepper. A little minced parsley may be added. Half an hour before the fish is shredded it should be put to soak in cold water, unless it is preferred very salt.

CREAMED ROAST CODFISH

Brush the salt from a whole salted cod with a stiff brush. Place in a baking-pan and put in a hot oven until brown and crisp. Take out, lay on a board, and pound with a potato-masher till thoroughly bruised and broken. Place in the baking-pan, cover with boiling water, and soak twenty minutes. Drain, place on a platter, dot with b.u.t.ter, and put back into the oven till the b.u.t.ter sizzles. Take from the oven, pour over a cupful of cream, garnish with parsley, and serve.

CODFISH a LA MODE

Pick up a cupful of salt cod very fine, and freshen it. Mix with two cupfuls of mashed potato, two cupfuls of cream or milk, and two well-beaten eggs. Add half a cupful of melted b.u.t.ter and a little black pepper. Mix thoroughly, pile roughly in an earthen baking-dish or ca.s.serole, and bake twenty-five minutes in a hot oven. If it does not brown readily, brush the top with melted b.u.t.ter for the last five minutes of cooking.

NEW ENGLAND SALT COD

Cut the fish in squares and soak over night. In the morning drain and rinse, cover with fresh boiling water, and simmer till tender. Spread on a platter and put in the oven. Make a drawn-b.u.t.ter sauce of one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and two tablespoonfuls of flour cooked till the mixture leaves the pan. Add one cupful of cold water, and stir constantly till the sauce is thick and smooth and free from lumps.

Pour over the cod and serve. Minced parsley, a squeeze of lemon-juice, or a hard-boiled egg chopped fine may be added to the sauce.

BOILED SALTED COD WITH EGG SAUCE

Chop fine a pound of salted cod that has been freshened, boiled, and cooled. Mix a heaping teaspoonful of corn-meal with one cupful of milk, and stir over the fire until it thickens, then add one cupful of mashed potatoes, two heaping tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, a teaspoonful of minced parsley, and two well-beaten eggs. Let it get very hot. Make the drawn-b.u.t.ter sauce with the egg in it, given in the recipe for New England Salt Cod, and serve with the sauce poured over.

SALTED COD WITH BROWN b.u.t.tER

Freshen the fish for twenty-four hours. Place over the fire in cold water and bring slowly to a boil. Put a little b.u.t.ter and a few sprigs of parsley in a frying-pan. Skim out the fish and put on a platter in the oven. When the b.u.t.ter is brown, pour over the fish and serve with lemon-quarters and fresh parsley.

CODFISH CUTLETS

Use the mixture for Codfish b.a.l.l.s II. Shape into cutlet form,--small tin moulds come for the purpose,--dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Stick a piece of macaroni in the small end of the cutlet, and garnish with a paper frill. Serve with lemon and parsley.