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Chafing Dish Cookery

The dainty little apparatus known as the American chafing dish has recently been introduced into this country, and it bids fair to become as popular here as in the land of its birth. It consists, essentially, of a stand and a lamp, over which is placed, first, a water-pan, and next, over this, a cooking-pan. By placing the water-pan, with a little water in it, under the cooking-pan, and regulating the flame, cooked food can be kept hot for hours without becoming dry, so that it is a valuable adjunct to the sick room. By removing the water-pan, and placing the cooking-pan alone over the flame, one has an appliance by means of which all kinds of dainty dishes can be easily and quickly prepared from meat, fish, game, eggs, cheese, fruit, or almost any other kind of food. Our illustration shows one of the many patterns of chafing dish imported by the Household Supply and Atmospheric Churn Co., Ltd., 119, New Bond Street, London, W.

The chafing dish was originally the hobby of the wealthy classes in the United States, but as its merits and utility became known it rapidly made its way into all grades of society. It is as useful on the breakfast-table as at luncheon or supper time, as all sorts of savoury dishes can be prepared on the table itself, and served hot and fresh. It is as well to stand the chafing dish upon a metal tray, in case of accidents to the table-cloth, and all the ingredients required should be placed ready to hand. We give a number of recipes as specimens of the dishes that can be easily prepared with the aid of this elegant little utensil, and many others will doubtless suggest themselves to the reader. 1. Cheese Fondu.--Take a table-spoonful of butter, half a pint of milk, half a pint of bread-crumbs, one pint of grated cheese, a tea-spoonful of dry mustard, a pinch of cayenne, and two eggs. Put the butter in the chafing dish; when melted add the milk, bread-crumbs,. cheese, and mustard, and season with the cayenne. Stir constantly, and add, just before serving, the two eggs, lightly beaten. 2. Chicken, Creamed.--Take two cupfuls of cold chicken cut into small pieces, one cup of chicken broth, one cup of milk or cream, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one table-spoonful of flour, and seasoning of salt and pepper. Cook the butter and flour together in the chafing dish, add the broth and milk, and stir until smooth; put in the chicken, salt and pepper, and cook three minutes longer. 3. Chicken Croquettes.--Take four cupfuls of cold minced chicken, one cup of bread-crumbs, and three eggs. Beat the eggs, and roll, with the chicken, bread-crumbs, seasoning, and a little butter, into pear-shaped balls. Dip into beaten eggs and bread-crumbs. Put into chafing dish and fry a nice brown. 4. Chicken, Curried.--Take four table-spoonfuls of butter, two cups of rich milk, two table-spoonfuls of flour, two cups of chicken meat, one table-spoonful of curry powder, two hard-boiled eggs, a tea-spoonful of onion juice, salt and pepper to taste. Melt the butter, add the flour and curry powder mixed, the onion juice and milk. Cook five minutes, add the chicken, eggs, and seasoning, and cook until hot. 5. Chicken Fillets with Almond Sauce.--Melt two table-spoonfuls of butter, and saute two chicken fillets until a light brown colour. When done, draw to one side of the pan, and add to butter in the pan two table-spoonfuls of flour; then pour on one cup each of cream and stock (as for a white sauce). When thick, add one-half cup of shredded almonds and season with salt and cayenne. 6. Chicken Livers with Madeira Sauce.--Two table-spoonfuls of butter, six livers, one-half tea-spoonful of onion juice, one cup of chicken stock, one-half cup of Madeira, six stoned olives, one tea-spoonful of salt, one-half tea-spoonful of paprika, one-half cup of fried croutons. Melt the butter, add the livers, which have been dredged with flour, cook five minutes, add the onion juice and chicken stock, cook five minutes more, add remaining ingredients and serve. Half a cup of chopped celery is an improvement to this dish. 7. Chicken Terrapin.--Chop one cold roast chicken and one parboiled sweetbread moderately fine. Make one cupful of cream sauce (with one cupful of hot cream, a quarter of a cupful of butter, and two table-spoonfuls of flour. Do this in the blazer or cooking-pan, removing the water chamber. Put in the chicken and sweetbread, salt and pepper to taste, put the hot water dish under and heat eight minutes. Just before serving, add the yolks of two eggs, well beaten, and one wine-glassful of sherry. 8. Eggs, Curried.--Two table-spoonfuls of butter, two small onions (minced), two dessert-spoonfuls of curry powder, two table-spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of veal or chicken stock, two table-spoonfuls of cream, six hard-boiled eggs cut in slices. Put the butter and onions into the chafing dish, and cook until they begin to brown. Stir in the curry powder. Mix well, and add the flour, stirring quickly all the time; then add the stock or a table-spoonful of Bovril dissolved in boiling water. When the mixture has simmered for ten minutes add the cream and eggs. When hot, serve. 9. Eggs, Fricasseed.--Two table-spoonfuls of butter, one table-spoonful of flour, a sprig of parsley, half a dozen minced mushrooms, half a pint of white stock (veal or chicken), half a dozen hard-boiled eggs (sliced). Put the butter into the chafing dish. When melted add the flour (stirring constantly), parsley (cut fine), mushrooms, and stock. Simmer five minutes and add the eggs. Boil up once and serve hot. 10. Eggs, Scrambled.--Beat six eggs lightly with a fork, add one salt-spoonful of pepper, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and six table-spoonfuls of milk. Melt one table-spoonful of butter in the chafing dish, add the eggs, stirring all the while, and cook until the eggs are firm. Then serve at once on a hot dish. Eggs may be cooked in this way with mushrooms, tomatoes, oysters, anchovies, sardines, cheese, macaroni, sausages, and calf's brains. 11. Eggs, Spanish.--Cook one table-spoonful of finely-chopped onion and two table-spoonfuls of chopped pepper in two table-spoonfuls of butter for three minutes. Add three or four mushrooms broken in pieces and one cupful of tomato pulp. When this mixture is hot add four beaten eggs, three-fourths of a tea-spoonful of salt, a little cayenne, and one table-spoonful of capers. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. 12. Frankfurt Sausages in White Sauce.--Boil six sausages for fifteen minutes. Cool, remove the skins, and cut into small pieces. Melt three table-spoonfuls of butter, add three table-spoonfuls of flour, and three-fourths of a cup each of milk and cream. Add the sausages, season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, let the mixture come to boiling point, and serve. 13. Lobster, a la Newburg.--One large lobster, one table-spoonful of butter, one gill of wine, three eggs, half a pint of cream. Take the nicest part of a lobster, cut it into small slices, put in chafing dish with the butter, season well with pepper and salt, pour the wine over it, cook ten minutes; add the beaten yolks of eggs, and the cream; let all come to a boil and serve immediately. 14. Lobster, Creamed.--Melt a table-spoonful of butter in the chafing dish, stir in a table-spoonful of flour, add gradually one cupful of milk and half a cupful of cream, and to this, when smooth, add two pounds of lobster cut into small pieces, one tea-spoonful of salt and a little cayenne pepper. Stir until very hot add one tea-spoonful of lemon-juice, and serve. 15. Lobster Patties.--The tail part of two boiled lobsters cut into small pieces and seasoned well with salt and pepper and a little lemon-juice, one pint of milk, on table-spoonful of flour, one large table-spoonful of butter. In the chafing dish boil a pint of milk. Dissolve the flour in cold milk and add to the hot milk. When thick stir in gradually the butter, and allow it to become quite thick. Stir the lobster in the sauce, and when it has become hot, serve by filling the previously heated shells with the mixture. 16. Omelets.--To make a plain omelet in the chafing dish, beat four eggs in a bowl, add four table-spoonfuls of water and half a table-spoonful of butter. Melt the remainder of the butter in the chafing dish, and, when sizzling hot, turn in the eggs. As soon as the omelet begins to set, slip a knife under it and tip the pan so that the raw portion can run on to the hot pan. Continue this until the eggs are sufficiently set; season with salt and pepper; fold and serve from the chafing dish. All kinds of omelets may be made from this recipe. If parsley is to be used, mix it, chopped, with the eggs when the water and butter are added. If ham, mushrooms, etc., put in just before folding or long enough before serving the omelet to become heated through. 17. Oysters, Saute.--One dozen large oysters, butter, pepper, salt. Drain the juice from the oysters thoroughly; butter the chafing dish, and when very hot place the oysters in single layers; when brown on one side turn and brown the other side; while cooking keep adding a little butter: this, with the juice of the oysters, forms a brown skin in the chafing dish; season with pepper and salt, and when browned serve the oysters and skin very hot. 18. Oysters, Scalloped.--One dozen large oysters, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one gill of cream, two table-spoonfuls of cracker dust, pepper and salt. Put the butter and cream in the chafing dish; drain the oysters and place them in layers sprinkled with cracker dust, another layer of oyster, more cracker dust, a little butter, season with pepper and salt; cook from five to ten minutes, covered. 19. Rechauffe of Fish.--Cold boiled fish (any kind). two table-spoonfuls of butter, a cup of bread-crumbs, two eggs (beaten slightly), two table-spoonfuls of milk, one tea-spoonful of anchovy paste, pepper and cayenne. Put the fish, cut fine, into the chafing dish, with butter; when melted add bread-crumbs, eggs, milk, anchovy paste, pepper and cayenne, stirring constantly; let it simmer for five minutes. 20. Rechauffe of Roast Beef.--Cold roast beef, one table-spoonful of butter, three table-spoonfuls of currant jelly, cayenne, salt, one glass of sherry of Madeira. Cut the beef in small slices half an inch thick, put the butter in the chafing dish, and when melted add the jelly, a dash of cayenne, a little salt, and the sherry or Madeira; add the beef, and serve hot. 21. Shrimps, Creamed.--Stir in the chafing dish the yolks of two eggs, one tea-spoonful of anchovy sauce, and half a breakfast-cup of cream. Put in half a pint of shrimps, boiled and shelled; let them get hot, but do not allow the eggs to curdle. Use the hot-water dish. Serve on strips of toast. 22. Sweetbreads, Creamed.--Parboil one pair of sweetbreads, melt one table-spoonful of butter with one of flour, add three-quarters of a cup of cream, and a quarter of chicken stock. When it boils add the sweetbreads, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook for ten minutes, and serve. 23. Turkey, a la Newburg.--Press the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs through a sieve. Add to them one-quarter of a cup of cream, and mix to a paste. Put one table-spoonful of butter and two of flour into the chafing dish. When melted add the egg-paste and three-quarters of a cup of cream. When smooth and thick put in one pint of cold turkey, a grating of nutmeg, one-quarter of a tea-spoonful of salt, one-quarter of paprika, and when hot and ready to serve, four table-spoonfuls of sherry or Madeira. 24. Tripe, with Cream Sauce.--Thick honeycomb tripe, two table-spoonfuls of butter, half a tea-spoonful of onion (minced fine), half a pint of cream, a table-spoonful of flour. Cut the boiled tripe into strips about one inch wide by three inches long. Put into chafing dish the butter and onions. When these are hot lay in the tripe, first dredging each slice well in flour. Cook until brown, turning often. Take it out, add to the butter in pan the cream into which has been stirred half a table-spoonful of flour. Cook, stirring all the time, until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Return the tripe to it, and serve. 25. Welsh Rarebit.--One pound of chopped American cheese, half a glass of ale, the yolk of an egg, one tea-spoonful of dry mustard, one of Worcestershire sauce and butter, a dash of red and one or two of black pepper, and perhaps a few drops of tobasco. If the cheese is fresh, salt the above. Into the chafing dish put a few small lumps of butter. After it has simmered a bit put in the cheese. Stir constantly, and gradually add the ale. When the cheese and ale are well blended stir in the above condiments prepared as follows: To the yolk of the egg, broken into a cup, add the dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce, red and black pepper and tobasco. Let it have one more heating and pour over toast.