Cheese Rissoles

A filling, not a finished dish — the original assumes you have already read Chicken Rissoles a few entries earlier, where rounds of pastry are folded over the filling, sealed, egged, crumbed and fried in deep fat.

• The missing quantityThe first line reads "cup grated cheese" with no number; 1 cup is the likely reading, though the numeral may simply be missing from this transcription. One cup of grated cheese to two whites gives a mixture stiff enough to hold a teaspoon's shape.
• What cheese was meant"Grated cheese" in an American book of this period usually meant a dry, sharp store cheese — a firm aged cheddar — though Parmesan would give a sharper result. A young, high-moisture cheddar will weep fat and split the pastry.
• Fold, do not deflateThe stiff whites are the only thing holding this together. Fold the flour, cheese and seasoning in with a spatula rather than beating them through, and fill and fry promptly; the mixture slackens within minutes.
• CayenneNo quantity is given; cookbooks of the period commonly called for "a few grains" of cayenne, i.e. a very small pinch for the whole batch. Cheese and cayenne appear together often in savoury dishes of this era.
• Sealing matters mostCheese expands and runs. Brush the pastry rim with water or egg white, press firmly, and crimp; any gap will empty the rissole into the fat.
• The cracker crumbsIt is unclear whether these belong to the filling or the coating: the recipe lists them among the ingredients and says to "add other ingredients," but rissoles of this type were also commonly dipped in beaten egg and rolled in fine crumbs before frying.
• FryingThe recipe gives no temperature. By modern practice, deep fat at about 375F, one to two minutes a side, until deep gold. Hotter and the pastry colours before the filling puffs; cooler and it absorbs grease. Drain on paper.
• Yield and servingThe number of rissoles depends on the size of the pastry rounds; served hot on a napkin with a green salad, or as a savoury at the end of a meal.