Fifth Day
"Grace, you and I are invited out to exercise our art to-day," said Mrs. King, one morning. "Your Aunt Carroll has sent over to say that she expects company to lunch; her cook is sick, and the other girl very busy ironing, and as it will be all she can do herself to entertain her friends and see to the table, she would like to have us get the lunch ready, with Rose and Jessie's help, and then I am to be company, and you three girls are to wait on table." "That will be glorious!" said Grace. "May I write down the recipes now?" "Yes, and Rose can copy them from your book. We will begin with" No. 46-CHOCOLATE.
Take two oz. (or two squares) of Baker's chocolate, break it into a little boiling water and stir over the fire until it becomes a smooth paste. If unsweetened chocolate is used, add eight even tablespoonfuls granulated sugar, then add, little by little, a pint of boiling water and a pint of scalded milk. Stir it thoroughly, and allow it to simmer (not boil) for ten minutes; then serve. No. 47-SARATOGA POTATOES.
Pare raw potatoes; slice them as thin as possible with a potato-cutter (when this is not at hand, they must be shaved with a knife); lay them in cold water for an hour or more, then dry them in a towel. Have melted lard at least two inches deep in a kettle; when it is hot cover the surface with the dried slices, sprinkle a little salt over them, turn them with a skimmer, and when done lay them on a doubled brown paper in the open oven. Fry them all in this way, piling them up on the paper as fast as they are taken out of the kettle.
No. 48-CHICKEN CROQUETTES. 14 oz. boiled chicken, chopped fine, one-half pint milk, a quarter of a Ib. butter, one teaspoonful salt, two even tablespoonfuls flour, a pinch of Cayenne pepper (very small). Mix the flour smooth in a little milk, put the rest of the milk to heat over a saucepan of boiling water, and when scalded pour in the flour, with the salt, pepper and butter; when like thick cream, mix thoroughly with the chicken and put it aside to become cold and stiff; then make it into twelve long shaped balls, press them perfectly smooth, roll them in beaten yolk of egg, afterward in bread crumbs; fry in lard deep enough for them to swim in.
No. 49-VEAL BALLS.
One and a half lbs. veal, chopped very fine, three oz. salt pork do., one teaspoonful summer savory, one and a half do. salt, one-half do. sage, two-thirds do pepper; mix thoroughly and make into flat balls. Let them fry slowly in lard or drippings for half an hour.
No. 50-MIXED CROQUETTES.
One chicken, two lbs. veal; boil separately, putting them on in cold water, just enough to cover them. Chop fine with one-third of a loaf bread, season with salt, pepper and a very little mace, beat three eggs light and mix with the above, together with the broth of the chicken; make up in oblong balls and fry in hot lard and butter, equal parts. "We're not going to make all these to-day, are we, Aunt Jane?" inquired Grace, at this stage of her writing. "By no means," said her aunt, "but I thought I might as well give you several croquette receipts at once. We can select from among them when we find what materials Aunt Carroll has on hand." "How can we tell whether a tablespoonful is meant to be heaping or not, mamma, if it isn't water or some such thing?" asked Amy. "Salt is always to be measured even; also soda, cream tartar and any kind of spice. Of such things as sugar or flour, it is understood that they are to be a little heapedabout as much as the depth of the spoon-bowl, unless it is expressly stated 'even." "What else are we to make for lunch, Aunt Jane?" "We must have some salad, and for that I will give you recipe" No. 51-MAYONNAISE DRESSING.
Take the yolk of one egg in a large bowl, and stir it with the right hand, pouring in with the left, not more than a teaspoonful at a time of olive oil, until you have used half a tumblerful; this will make a thick batter. Into the tumbler which contained the oil put half a wine glass of vinegar, a small half teaspoonful of mustard and an even teaspoonful salt; also a dusting of Cayenne pepper, very small; mix these thoroughly, and add slowly to the oil batter, stirring all the time. When much salad is used in a family, it is well to make double or treble this quantity, which, if closely covered and kept in a cool place, will keep for weeks.
No. 52-DRESDEN DRESSING.
Rub the yolks of three hard boiled eggs quite smooth; add halfa small onion, grated, two tablespoonfuls chopped parsley, one teaspoonful salt, one do. sugar, one small do. dry mustard; mix well, and while stirring fast add a wineglassful (or a quarter of a tumblerful) of sweet oil; when quite thick, stir in the same quantity of vinegar. This may be used for cold beef, mutton or veal. The meat should be cut into small bits and mixed with the dressing before serving. A palatable lunch-dish. "I'm sorry you haven't learned to make pastry yet," said Mrs. King, "for some kind of pudding baked in a paste, is an elegant addition to a lunch table. I think your next lesson must be on paste, and then I have some beautiful recipes for you. There is no time for jelly or blanc-mange; we must substitute some sort of meringue or custard, according to what materials we find ready." "We shall have to have somebody else's bread, shan't we?" "Yes, we must have a plate of plain bread, but we ought to have some biscuits or rolls of some kind. Rolls have to be made with yeast, and that is rather beyond our powers, but we can have popovers or soda-biscuit, or better still, Mrs. Miller's breakfast puffs." No. 53-BREAKFAST PUFFS.
Three-quarters of a pound flour, one oz. butter, one pint milk, two eggs, one-half teaspoonful salt. Beat the eggs together and stir them into the milk, pour about two-thirds of the milk on the flour, stirring gradually, that it may be perfectly smooth; melt, and add the butter, and beat very hard for three minutes, then add the remainder of the milk, pour the batter into gem-pans and bake in a very quick oven.
No. 54-GRAHAM POPOVERS.
One pint graham flour, one do. white flour, one quart milk, two even teaspoonfuls salt, three eggs. Put together exactly like breakfast puffs. "Then, of course, we must have some cake," said Aunt Jane, "and it musn't be in loaves, for they wouldn't cut nicely so soon after baking. I think Susan's cake is the nicest in the world to eat fresh, but you have made that already, so I will give you some other recipes, and we will select from them afterward."
No. 55-DROP CAKE.
Weigh one lb. flour, from which take out three even tablespoonfuls, one lb. sugar, a quarter of a pound butter, one-half pint sweet milk, two-thirds of a teaspoonful soda, two of cream tartar, or one and a half tablespoonfuls baking-powder, five eggs. Butter a drippingpan, and drop on the batter in separate spoonfuls. Bake in a quick oven.
No. 56-JELLY CAKE.
Make drop-cake batter; have ready three well buttered jelly-cake tins, spread them a quarter of an inch deep with the batter and place them in the oven; watch them closely, as they require only a few minutes to bake; have ready three pieces of brown paper on the kitchen table, on which to turn them out, upside down; wipe the pans perfectly smooth, butter and refill them, and while the second set is in the oven spread those on the table with jelly; when the second trio is ready, turn the cakes upside down on the first and proceed as before; the third trio completes the loaves.