Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book Part 3

Roses are prettiest, but any flower which has a firm, stiff stem, capable of holding the blossom upright will do. Press the stems down through the leaves and put in sufficient green to vary prettily. The outer leaves of the cabbage, the only ones to be seen when the flowers are in, form a charming background, far prettier than any basket.

Roses are best for all seasons, but autumn offers some charming variations. The brilliant scarlet berries of the mountain ash or red thorn mingled with the deep, rich green of feathery asparagus, make a delicious color symphony most appropriate to the season.

G. L. COLBRON.

CREAM SLAW.

Chop a crisp head of cabbage fine, place in the individual dishes in which it is to be served; fill a cup with white sugar, moisten it with vinegar, add a cup of sour cream beaten until smooth, mix thoroughly, pour over the cabbage and serve at once.

CABBAGE A LA HOLLAND.

The following is a favorite dish in Holland:--Put together in a saucepan, either porcelain or a perfect granite one, a small head of red cabbage shredded, four tart apples peeled and sliced, one large tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter or of drippings, a teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, and a little sprinkling of cheese or nutmeg; stew over a slow fire at least three hours. Mix together one tablespoonful of vinegar, a little flour and one tablespoonful of currant jelly, just before taking from the fire add this mixture to the cabbage, boil up once or twice and serve.

RED CABBAGE PICKLE.

This is an improvement on saur kraut. Slice a large red cabbage in fine shreds, place on a large platter and sprinkle well with salt; allow it to stand three days and then drain. Heat enough vinegar to cover it nicely, and put in one ounce of whole spices, pepper, cloves, allspice and mace. Put the cabbage into a stone jar, pour the boiling vinegar upon it, cover and let stand three days.

CABBAGE PUDDING.

Chop up small, enough white cabbage to fill a large baking pan when done. Put it in a pot of boiling water that has been salted, let it boil until tender, then drain thoroughly in a colander. In two quarts of the cabbage stir half a pound of b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper to taste, one pint of sweet cream and four eggs beaten separately. Add also, a pinch of cayenne pepper; put in a pan and bake for half an hour.

PURITAN CABBAGE.

Take half of a small very solid head of white cabbage, cut into eighths, from top to stem, without cutting quite through the stem so that it does not fall into pieces; cover with cold water for one hour; then immerse it in a porcelain kettle of rapidly boiling water, into which has been dropped a teaspoonful of salt and soda the size of a pea. Cover the vessel well and continue boiling for five minutes; drain, cover again with fresh boiling water and let boil for eight or ten minutes longer.

Take out of water, draining, flat side down, on a hot platter for a moment. Then turn right side up, allowing the slices to spread apart a little, and drop slowly over it the following sauce: One tablespoon b.u.t.ter and two tablespoons sweet cream, melted together. Select and have ready to use at once, eighteen or twenty plump, good sized oysters, dried on a towel. Take a double-wire gridiron and b.u.t.ter it well; spread the oysters carefully on one side of the gridiron and fold the other side down over them. Have a clear fire and broil them quickly, first one side, then the other, turning iron but once. Dot them over the hot cabbage, giving all a faint dust of curry powder and two or three dashes of white pepper. This is a most dainty and delicious dish.

CHICAGO RECORD.

CABBAGE SALAD.

This salad requires about a pint and a half of chopped cabbage. The cabbage should have the loose leaves removed, the stem cut out, and then be laid in cold water twelve hours. Chop rather fine, pour over and mix with it a boiled dressing. Heat three-quarters of a cup of milk and beat two egg yolks with a fork. Mix with the egg a half-teaspoonful of mustard, one half-teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of granulated gelatine that has been softened in a little cold water, a teaspoonful of sugar and a few grains of cayenne. Cook a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and flour together and add half a cup of vinegar. Now cook the milk and egg mixture together like a soft custard and combine with the other part.

This dressing, if sealed tight, will keep a long time. When the cabbage and dressing are mixed, fill little individual molds and set away to cool. After-dinner coffee cups, wet in cold water, make good molds. Bits of red beet or half an olive put in the bottom of the mold before the cabbage is put in will make a pretty garnish when the salad is turned out.

CHICAGO RECORD.

SOUR CABBAGE.

Beat one half-cupful of sour cream until smooth, add three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and one beaten egg, pour over chopped cabbage raw or boiled, and mix thoroughly. Serve on lettuce.

STUFFED CABBAGE.

Use a savoy cabbage, open up the leaves and wash thoroughly in cold water, put in salted boiling water and boil five minutes, then take out without breaking, and put in cold water. Make a stuffing of sausage meat, and bread crumbs which have been moistened and squeezed. To a half pound of sausage allow one egg, two tablespoonfuls of minced onion browned in b.u.t.ter, a pinch of parsley and four tablespoonfuls of minced cooked ham. Drain, and open up the cabbage to the center, between the leaves put in a half teaspoonful of the stuffing, fold over two or three leaves, put in again and so continue until the cabbage is filled. When finished press it as firmly as the case will allow, tie up in a piece of cheese cloth and put into boiling water; boil two hours. Serve the cabbage in a deep dish and pour over a cream sauce.

TURKISH CABBAGE.

Prepare the cabbage as above for stuffing, then cut out the stalk carefully. Cut each leaf in pieces about three inches square and fold into it a forcemeat of some sort, or a highly seasoned vegetable dressing. These little rolls are arranged in layers in a saucepan and are held in place by the weight of a heavy plate; a broth is then turned over them and they are boiled half an hour over a moderate fire. Serve in a hot deep dish and pour over a good sauce made from the broth in which they were cooked.

CARROTS A LA CREME.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Take a large bunch of very small new carrots, sc.r.a.pe them, tie them loosely in a piece of coa.r.s.e muslin and put into a saucepan almost full of boiling water, to which has been added a small lump of beef drippings and two ounces of salt. In about twenty minutes they will be tender, when remove from the hot water and plunge for a moment in cold. Next melt an ounce of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan and stir into this a dessert spoonful of flour, a small quant.i.ty each of pepper, salt and cayenne, also a little nutmeg and half a teacupful of cream. Remove the carrots from the muslin, put them into the saucepan with the other ingredients and let them simmer in them for a few minutes; then serve very quickly while hot. Green peas and carrots mixed and dressed in this way make an excellent variation.

CARROTS A LA FLAMANDE.

When par-boiled and drained, put the carrots into a saucepan with a piece of b.u.t.ter, a small lump of sugar and as much water as may be necessary for sauce; add some finely minced parsley and pepper and salt to the taste. Let the carrots simmer until done (about fifteen minutes) shaking them occasionally. Beat together the yolks of two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of cream; stir this into the carrots off the fire and serve.

CARROT CROQUETTES.

Wash six small, fine-grained carrots and boil until tender. Drain and mash them. To each cupful add one-half spoonful of salt and one-fourth as much pepper, the yolks of two raw eggs, a grate of nutmeg and one level teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter. Mix thoroughly and set away until cold.

Shape into tiny croquettes, dip in slightly beaten egg, roll in fine bread crumbs and fry in smoking-hot fat.

CHICAGO RECORD.

FRIED CARROTS.

When the carrots are boiled tender, slice them lengthwise. Into a frying pan put one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, and when very hot put in the carrots; brown them lightly on both sides, sprinkle them with salt, pepper and a little sugar and garnish with parsley.

ESCALLOPED CARROTS.

Take six small fine-grained carrots and two small white onions, boil in water until tender, from forty-five to sixty minutes, just enough water to keep from burning. Do not sc.r.a.pe them, and the flavor will be retained; do not cover them and the color will be preserved. When the onions are tender remove them. When the carrots are done peel them and slice thin. Put in baking dish a layer of carrots, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dots of b.u.t.ter. Proceed in this way until you have used all the carrots. Moisten with a cup of new milk, into which a beaten egg has been carefully stirred, and a good pinch of salt. Spread over the top a layer of bread crumbs and bake until a nice brown.

CHICAGO RECORD.

PRESERVED CARROTS.

Sc.r.a.pe carrots clean, cut into small pieces and boil with sufficient cold water to cover them. Boil until tender, and put through the colander, weigh the carrots, add white sugar pound for pound and boil five minutes. Take off and cool. When cool add the juice of two lemons and the grated rind of one, two tablespoonfuls of brandy and eight or ten bitter almonds chopped fine to one pound of carrot. Stir all in well and put in jars.

CARROT SOUP.

Boil a pint of carrots with a piece of b.u.t.ter about as large as a walnut and a lump of sugar until they are tender. Press through a colander and put into a pint of boiling milk, thickened with a tablespoonful each of b.u.t.ter and flour, dilute this with soup stock or chicken broth, and just before taking up add the yolks of two eggs well beaten and two tablespoonfuls of cream.