The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

OYSTER SOUP

Scald one quart of oysters in their own liquor. Skim out the oysters, and set aside. Add one cupful of cream to the liquor, and three cupfuls of milk. Thicken with one tablespoonful of butter and one of flour, blended and rubbed smooth with a little cold milk. Stir while cooking. Add the oysters, season to taste, and pour, boiling hot, over the yolks of four eggs, well-beaten.

CREOLE OYSTER GUMBO

Fry a sliced Spanish onion brown in olive-oil, add a tablespoonful of flour, a chopped sweet pepper, and a pint of okra. Simmer for fifteen minutes, add one hundred oysters, with their liquor, and a tablespoonful of filè powder. Cook until the oysters ruffle, and serve with boiled rice. The Gumbo filè powder comes in bottles, and is sold by all first-class grocers.

OYSTER AND VEAL SOUP

Reheat two quarts of veal stock, season with salt, pepper, and celery salt, and add one quart of oysters, with their liquor. Cook until the edges of the oysters curl, and thicken with one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, cooked while stirring with a cupful of milk. Season with minced parsley, and serve with crackers.

SOUTHERN OYSTER SOUP

Drain the liquor from fifty oysters, add to it two cupfuls of cold water, and bring to the boil. Season with salt, pepper, and butter, and add two cupfuls of milk. Thicken with one tablespoonful of cornstarch, rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, stir while cooking, add the oysters, cook until the edges ruffle, and serve immediately.

SALMON SOUP

Simmer for fifteen minutes in boiling water either a pound can of salmon or a pound of the fresh fish. Rub through a sieve, and set aside. Bring to the boil two cupfuls each of milk and veal stock, thicken with one tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, stir while cooking, season with salt and pepper, add the salmon, reheat, and serve.

SPANISH SALMON SOUP

Cook together a quart of stock, a sliced onion, and half a can of salmon. Rub through a sieve, add a quart of boiling milk, season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and celery salt, thicken with butter and flour, and serve with whipped cream.

SHRIMP SOUP

Chop fine two carrots and an onion. Fry brown in butter, with a tablespoonful of sugar, then add a quart of water, a sprig of thyme, two bay-leaves, four cloves, and two cans of shrimps. Simmer until the carrot and onions are soft. Rub through a sieve, reheat, add half a glassful of white wine, and serve with croutons.

FRENCH CREAM OF SHRIMPS

Chop fine two cans of shrimps, fry in butter, add a slice of stale bread, three anchovies, half a cupful of boiled rice, a sliced onion, and two quarts of veal stock. Simmer for two hours, rub through a sieve, season with salt and pepper, add a tablespoonful of sherry and serve hot.

SCALLOP STEW

Parboil one quart of scallops. Boil one quart of milk, season with butter, pepper, and salt, add the parboiled scallops, and one-half cupful of cracker crumbs. Reheat and serve.

HOFFMAN HOUSE CLAM CHOWDER

Chop fine one dozen large clams, one quart of tomatoes, and six large potatoes. Add one quart of milk, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and the juice of the clams. Cook for forty-five minutes and add six crackers pounded fine. Season with pepper and serve.

CREOLE CORN CHOWDER

Fry brown in butter four large onions. Add five tomatoes, two sweet green peppers shredded, and two cupfuls of corn cut from the cob, or its equivalent of canned corn. Add boiling water to cover, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, and cook until the vegetables are done.

FRUIT SOUPS

CHERRY SOUP

Stone four cupfuls of sour cherries. Cover with a quart of cold water and bring to the boil. Add half a cupful of sugar, and when the cherries are soft, rub through a colander and return to the fire. Thicken with one tablespoonful of arrowroot, rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Bring to the boil once more, while stirring and when sufficiently thick take from the fire. Add the juice of half a lemon and serve very cold in sherbet cups with cracked ice.

CURRANT SOUP

Prepare according to directions given for Cherry Soup using currants instead of cherries.

GOOSEBERRY SOUP

Prepare according to directions for Cherry Soup, using gooseberries instead of cherries.

PRUNE SOUP

Soak one-half cupful of sago for an hour in cold water to cover. Add one quart of cold water and cook in a double boiler until transparent. Cook together, in water sufficient to cover, one cupful of soaked prunes, one-half cupful of soaked raisins, and one-half cupful of sugar. When the sago is clear, add the cooked fruit, and one-half cupful of currant-juice. Serve hot with croutons.

RAISIN AND SAGO SOUP

Simmer until transparent, in four cupfuls of water, two tablespoonfuls of well-washed pearl sago, adding a pinch of salt, and two inches of stick cinnamon. When the sago is done, take out the cinnamon, add one-half cupful of seeded and chopped raisins, and sugar to taste. Just before serving, add one cupful of orange-juice.

RASPBERRY AND CURRANT SOUP

Bring to the boil two cupfuls each of raspberry- and currant-juice. Sweeten to taste, thicken with three teaspoonfuls of arrowroot rubbed smooth in a little cold water, add one teaspoonful of sherry, and cool.

STRAWBERRY SOUP

Boil in six cupfuls of water one-half cupful of sago and one-half cupful of currant-juice. When the sago is transparent, add two cupfuls of strawberries and sugar to taste. Simmer for fifteen minutes, and serve cold.

MUTTON SOUPS

ASPARAGUS SOUP

Add to six cupfuls of mutton stock one cupful of cooked asparagus tips and half a cupful of parboiled sweet green peppers cut in shreds. Thicken with egg yolks and cream, if desired.

BAKED MUTTON SOUP

Arrange in an earthen jar half a dozen cold boiled potatoes, a sliced onion, a sliced turnip, three sliced tomatoes, a grated carrot, a cupful of green peas, and a cupful of cold boiled rice. Add two tablespoonfuls of butter, season with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs, and cover with cold mutton broth. Cover the jar tightly, and bake for two hours in a slow oven.

CLEAR MUTTON BROTH

Cut into bits one pound of lean mutton and break the bones. Cover with four cupfuls of cold water, and bring slowly to the boil. Add a large onion cut fine, and simmer until the meat is in rags. Strain, cool quickly, and when cold remove the fat. Return to the fire, season with salt, pepper, and curry powder, and add two tablespoonfuls of well-washed rice. Simmer until the rice is done and serve with croutons.

LAMB SOUP

Cut the breast of lamb into small pieces, and fry brown with an onion in butter. Dredge with flour and curry powder, add three quarts of boiling mutton broth, and half a cupful of raw ham chopped fine. Simmer until the meat falls from the bone. Take out the bones, and strain the soup, pressing the meat through a coarse sieve. Reheat, and thicken with the yolks of three eggs, beaten smooth with half a cupful of cream. Serve with dice of fried or toasted bread.

MUTTON AND CARROT SOUP

Cover the bones of cold roast mutton with two quarts of cold water. Add an onion which has been sliced and fried brown in butter, a potato and a turnip, and six medium-sized carrots cut fine. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, remove the bones, and strain through a sieve. Reheat, season, and thicken with one tablespoonful of flour and one of butter. Rub smooth with a little of the soup. Just before serving, add a cupful of hot cream.

NOODLE AND TOMATO SOUP

Cook a can of tomatoes for an hour in three quarts of mutton stock. Strain, reheat, season to taste, and cook a handful of noodles in the soup until tender. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

QUICK MUTTON SOUP

Chop together a pound of lean mutton and a small turnip, a carrot, a stalk of celery, and an onion. Cover with six cupfuls of cold water, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer forty-five minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and minced parsley, and serve with croutons.

VEAL SOUPS

AUSTRIAN VEAL SOUP

Reheat two quarts of veal stock and add one cupful each of cooked green peas and diced carrots. Thicken with butter and flour according to directions previously given.

CHIFFONADE SOUP

Chop fine two heads of lettuce, and fry brown in butter with a sliced onion. Season with salt and pepper, add six cupfuls of veal stock and one and one-half cupfuls each of peas, string beans, and asparagus tips. Simmer for forty minutes, and serve with croutons.

GREEN-PEA SOUP WITH RICE

Boil three pints of green peas with a carrot and an onion in two quarts of veal stock. Remove the onion and carrot and strain the soup through a fine sieve. Reheat, skim, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, add two cupfuls of boiled rice, and two teaspoonfuls of butter. Bring to the boil and serve.

ITALIAN VEAL SOUP

Cover a large knuckle of veal with three quarts of cold water, and simmer for three hours, skimming often. Strain, add a bay-leaf, a carrot, an onion, a turnip, a blade of mace, two cloves, a stalk of celery, and a small bunch of parsley. Boil for an hour, strain, and cool. When it has jellied, measure the jelly, and reheat with an equal amount of cream. Serve with dice of fried bread.

QUICK TOMATO SOUP

Add two cupfuls of stewed tomato to four cupfuls of veal stock. Strain, season to taste, and thicken with one tablespoonful each of butter and flour blended and cooked until thick in a little cold stock.

SOUP À LA DUCHESSE

Fry in butter two slices of carrot and two slices of onion. Add two blades of mace, and four cupfuls of veal stock. Simmer half an hour, strain, and add two cupfuls of boiling milk. Thicken with one tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, blended and cooked until thick with a little of the soup, season with salt and pepper, add one-half cupful of grated cheese, reheat, and serve with croutons.

SPRING SOUP

Cook in veal stock four young carrots, four young turnips, and two leeks cut fine. Add sufficient veal stock to make the desired quantity of soup, and one cupful of fresh green peas. Boil for fifteen minutes, season to taste, and serve.

VEAL BROTH

Break up three pounds of the neck of veal, cover with three quarts of cold water, add an onion and a turnip cut fine, and a small bunch of parsley. Simmer for three hours, take out the bones, and press the rest through a sieve. Cool, skim, and reheat. Add one cupful of washed rice, and simmer until the rice is done. Serve with croutons.

VEGETABLE SOUP

Put a knuckle of veal into four quarts of water, with a tablespoonful of salt and a pod of red pepper. Simmer for three hours, skimming as needed. Add one cupful of cabbage cut fine, two cupfuls of diced potatoes, a minced carrot, three large onions, and a head of celery cut fine. Simmer until the vegetables are done.

MISCELLANEOUS SOUPS

I

Cut up three pounds of the shin of beef, and break the bones. Cover with three quarts of cold water, add half a pound of lean ham, a turnip, an onion, a carrot, a quarter of a cabbage, and three stalks of celery, all cut fine. Simmer until the meat falls from the bones, skimming when necessary. Strain, cool, skim, reheat, and serve with dice of fried bread.

II

Put into a soup-kettle the bones and trimmings of a cold roast turkey, with a quarter of a pound of lean ham. Cover with cold water. Add a chopped onion, a stalk of celery, a tablespoonful of powdered sweet herbs, and pepper and salt to season. Simmer until the meat is in rags, strain, reheat, add half a can of corn, and a little of the turkey stuffing.

III

Take the bone of a rib roast of beef, the trimmings of beef steak, and the bones and trimmings of a cold turkey or chicken. Cover with four quarts of cold water, add two carrots, three turnips, and an onion, all cut fine, six cloves, and pepper and salt to season. Simmer for four hours, take out the bones, rub through a coarse sieve, cool, skim, and reheat. Thicken with one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, blended together and rubbed smooth with a little of the soup, season to taste, and serve with croutons.

IV

Break up a knuckle of veal, add a pound of lean ham cut fine, and a tablespoonful of powdered sweet herbs. Cover with cold water, simmer for five hours, cool, skim, reheat, season, and strain. Add a pinch of ground mace, and one-quarter of a pound of broken vermicelli, which has been cooked until tender in salted water. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

V

Break up a beef marrow bone, and cover with cold water. Add half a carrot, two stalks of celery, and an onion, all chopped fine. Simmer until the vegetables are very soft, take out the bone, cool, skim, rub through a sieve, and reheat. Add one cupful of cold mashed potato, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, a tablespoonful of butter, a pinch of soda, and one teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a cupful of cold water. Cook and stir until it thickens, and serve immediately with croutons.

VI

Chop fine two pounds of lean beef, cover with cold water, simmer until tender, cool, skim, and reheat. Add one cupful of sherry, two tablespoonfuls of made mustard, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, and a grating of nutmeg. Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of butter, blended with one tablespoonful of flour, and rubbed smooth with a little of the soup. Stir while cooking. Add one cupful of boiling cream, season to taste, and serve.

FIFTY WAYS TO COOK SHELL-FISH

CLAMS

CLAMS À LA MARQUISE

Cook a quart of opened clams with a cupful of white stock, a tablespoonful of butter, and pepper and mace to season. Skim out, drain, and slice the clams. In another saucepan blend together a teaspoonful each of butter and flour, add one cupful of the liquid, cook and stir for five minutes. Thicken with the yolks of two eggs, add the clams, and reheat. Fill small individual dishes with the mixture, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake until brown. Sprinkle with lemon-juice just before serving.

CLAMS IN THE CHAFING-DISH

Put a tablespoonful of butter in the blazer and when it froths add a green pepper and a very small onion, both chopped fine. Cook for five minutes. Add one-half cupful of clam-juice and season with red pepper. Add one cupful of clams finely chopped or one small can of minced clams, cook five minutes longer, and pour over hot buttered toast.

CLAM COCKTAIL

Put a dozen small clams into a cold bowl and pour over them a teaspoonful each of Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, lemon-juice, tomato catsup, and horseradish. Add a little salt, and a few drops of tabasco sauce. Serve very cold in small glasses.

CREAMED CLAMS

Chop fine two dozen hard clams. Make smooth in a saucepan two small spoonfuls each of butter and flour. When they cook through, add the clams and one-half cupful of the juice. Season with red pepper, simmer for ten minutes, then add the thickening and half a cupful of cream. Boil up once and serve.

CONNECTICUT CLAM PIE

Fill a buttered baking-dish with alternate layers of minced clams and thin slices of boiled potatoes, dredging each layer of clams with flour. Season with salt, pepper, grated onion, and minced parsley. When the dish is full, pour in one cupful of clam-juice, add three tablespoonfuls of strained tomato, cover with a pastry crust, and bake brown in a quick oven.

DEVILLED CLAMS

Chop fine two dozen clams, removing the hard parts. Mix with half the quantity of bread crumbs, a teaspoonful each of grated onion and parsley, and three tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Season highly with salt and pepper, and add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce. Put into buttered clam-shells, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake until brown.

ESCALLOPED CLAMS

Clean the clams, scrub thoroughly, and heat until they open. Drain carefully. Strain the juice through linen and save a cupful of it. To one pint of clams allow one cupful of clam-juice, one cupful of milk, and two cupfuls of crumbs. Arrange the clams and crumbs in alternate layers in a baking-dish, seasoning with pepper and dots of butter, and having crumbs and butter on top. Pour over the hot liquid and bake in a brisk oven.

CRABS

BAKED CRABS

Butter a baking-pan and put a layer of seasoned crab meat in the bottom. Add a layer of finely chopped cooked ham, then a layer of crumbs. Dot with butter and repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs and butter on top. Add sufficient stock to moisten, and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.

BAKED SOFT-SHELL CRABS

Clean the crabs, season with salt and pepper, dip in melted butter, and sprinkle thickly with dry bread-crumbs. Put into a dripping-pan and put into a very hot oven for five minutes. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

BROILED SOFT-SHELL CRABS

Clean carefully, dip into melted butter, season with pepper and salt, and broil. Serve on toast with melted butter and lemon-juice.

CRABS À LA CRÉOLE

Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add a clove of garlic, a sweet pepper, and a small onion chopped fine, one cupful of tomatoes, and salt and pepper to season. Cook for ten minutes, add one cupful of cooked crab meat, reheat, and serve on toast.

CRABS À LA ST. LAURENCE

To one and one-half cupfuls of minced cooked crab meat, add one cupful of white stock, one tablespoonful of sherry, one tablespoonful of grated cheese, and salt and pepper to season. Cook for ten minutes, pour over buttered toast, and sprinkle thickly with grated cheese. Put into a very hot oven until the cheese melts, and serve at once.

CRABS BAKED IN SHELLS

Chop fine two cupfuls of crab meat. Season with salt, red pepper, grated onion, mushroom catsup, lemon-juice, and a pinch of ginger. Heat with a tablespoonful of butter and half a cupful of stock until the liquid is nearly absorbed. Butter the empty shells, fill with the mixture, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

CRAB CROQUETTES

Chop fine two cupfuls of boiled crab meat. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter. Add half a cupful of cream and enough crumbs to make very stiff. Add one egg well-beaten, heat for a moment, and cool. Shape into croquettes, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

DEVILLED CRABS

Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add one cupful of cream and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, red pepper, and grated onion. Add two cupfuls of crab meat and two eggs well-beaten. Heat until it begins to thicken, then cool. Fill the crab-shells with the mixture, brush with beaten egg, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven, or omit the butter and fry in deep fat.

CRAB FARCI WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Mix one cupful of cooked crab meat with half the quantity of bread-crumbs. Moisten with well-seasoned beef stock, season with salt, pepper, mustard, and melted butter, and add one-half cupful or more of stewed and strained tomato, to which a little chopped garlic and onion have been added. Fill the crab shells, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

CRAB FRICASSEE

Prepare according to directions given for Creamed Crabs. Season with lemon-juice and add a pinch of soda dissolved in a little cream. Add the yolks of three eggs well-beaten just before serving.

FRIED SOFT-SHELL CRABS

Clean carefully, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Drain on brown paper and serve with Tartar Sauce.

STUFFED CRABS

Boil large crabs. Take out the meat and rub the shells with oil. Add to the meat one-third the quantity of grated bread-crumbs and one chopped hard-boiled egg for each crab. Season with salt, paprika, grated nutmeg, and lemon-juice, and make to a paste with melted butter or cream. Fill the shells, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

LOBSTER

BROILED LOBSTER

Split a boiled lobster lengthwise, rub the cut surface with soft butter, and broil with a slow fire.

BROWN LOBSTER CURRY

Melt three tablespoonfuls of butter and fry in it two small onions chopped fine. Dredge with one tablespoonful of flour and cook until brown. Add two cupfuls of stock, salt and pepper to season, the juice of a lemon, and one tablespoonful of curry powder rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Cook until thick, add the meat of a boiled lobster, reheat, and serve with boiled rice and ice-cold bananas.

DEVILLED LOBSTER

Pick out the meat from a boiled lobster, reserving the coral, and season with salt, mustard, cayenne, and mushroom catsup. Put into a buttered saucepan and heat thoroughly, adding enough hot water to keep the mixture from burning. Rub the coral smooth with the liquor, mix with a tablespoonful of melted butter, add to the lobster, keep hot five minutes longer, and serve.

ESCALLOPED LOBSTER

Cover the bottom of a baking-dish with fine bread-crumbs. Put in a layer of lobster and season with pepper and salt. Add another layer of crumbs and repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs and butter on top. Pour over enough milk to moisten, and bake about twenty minutes.

LOBSTER À LA NEWBURG

Put into a saucepan four tablespoonfuls of butter and when it melts add the meat of two boiled lobsters coarsely cut. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, add two tablespoonfuls of sherry, and simmer for five minutes. Add the yolks of four eggs beaten smooth with one cupful of cream, cook for two minutes, and serve immediately.

LOBSTER IN CASSEROLE

Fry a chopped onion in a little butter, add one cupful each of chicken stock and strained tomato, season highly with salt and red pepper, and pour over the meat of a boiled lobster arranged in a casserole. Set into a hot oven for fifteen or twenty minutes and serve.

LOBSTER WIGGLE

Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two small spoonfuls of flour, cook and stir thoroughly. Add one cupful of cream, and salt and pepper to season. Cook until thick, add one and one-half cupfuls of boiled lobster meat, and one teaspoonful each of lemon-juice and minced parsley. When hot, add half a can of French peas, bring to the boil, and serve on toast.

OYSTERS

BAKED OYSTERS

Put into a baking-dish one-half cupful of butter and one cupful of cream. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil. Add three tablespoonfuls of sherry, one teaspoonful of anchovy paste, a dash of red pepper, and a grating of lemon-peel. Dip out one-half cupful of the mixture and set aside. Put one quart of oysters into the baking-dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, grated cheese, and dried bread-crumbs. Pour over carefully the remaining cream, sprinkle again with crumbs and cheese, and bake in a very hot oven. Serve immediately. If preferred, oysters may be baked this way in individual dishes.

BROILED OYSTERS ON TOAST

Drain three dozen large oysters, and wipe dry with a cloth. Season with salt and pepper, and fry briskly in butter for two minutes. Skim out, arrange on a buttered oyster-broiler, and broil brown on both sides. Arrange the oysters on thin slices of toast, pour over the hot butter, garnish with lemon and parsley, and serve.

CREOLE OYSTER LOAF

Cut the top from a baker’s loaf and scoop out the crumb. Toast or fry the shell and lid. Fill with fried oysters, season with tomato catsup and sliced pimolas, put on the lid, reheat, and serve very hot.

CURRIED OYSTERS

Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter and one teaspoonful of chopped onion. Fry the onion brown, add a heaping tablespoonful of flour and one teaspoonful of curry powder. Cook and stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan, add one cupful of cream, and salt and pepper to season. Stir constantly until the sauce is thick, add one quart of oysters with their liquor, and cook slowly until the edges of the oysters curl. Serve on toast.

DEVILLED OYSTERS

Parboil a pint of oysters, skim out, drain, and cool. Chop coarsely. Mix with two hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs, salt, red pepper, and lemon-juice to season, and enough cream to make the mixture a smooth paste. Fill buttered oyster-shells with this mixture, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in a hot oven until brown.

ESCALLOPED OYSTERS AND MACARONI

Break into inch pieces half a pound of macaroni. Put into salted boiling water, and boil for twenty minutes. Drain in a colander and pour fresh boiling-water through to remove superfluous starch. Butter a pudding-dish and put a layer of macaroni in the bottom. Cover with a layer of oysters, dot with butter, season with pepper and salt, and repeat until the dish is nearly full. Beat together two eggs, and one and one-half cupfuls of milk or cream. Pour over the oysters and macaroni, spread one cupful of cracker crumbs over the top, dot with butter, sprinkle with grated cheese, and bake about half an hour.