The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

BOILED WHITEFISH

Boil a large whitefish in salted and acidulated water, adding a bunch of parsley and a sliced onion to the water. Drain, and serve with any preferred sauce.

FRIED WHITEFISH

Clean and trim the fish and cut into convenient pieces for serving. Dip in seasoned flour and sauté in hot lard in a frying-pan.

BAKED WHITEFISH

Clean and split a large fish, remove the bone, and put in a buttered baking-pan skin side down. Season with salt, cayenne, and lemon-juice, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake. Serve with any preferred sauce.

STUFFED WHITEFISH WITH OYSTER SAUCE

Make a stuffing of two cupfuls of bread crumbs, half a cupful of chopped salt pork fried crisp, a chopped hard-boiled egg, half a cupful of vinegar, and salt, pepper, butter, sage, and mustard to season. Stuff the fish, place in a pie-tin, put into a steamer and steam until done. Pour over a Cream Sauce to which cooked oysters and a little lemon-juice and minced parsley have been added.

PLANKED WHITEFISH

Butter a fish-plank and tack a large cleaned and split whitefish on it, skin side down. Rub with butter, season with salt and pepper, and cook in the oven or under a gas flame. Put a border of mashed potato mixed with the beaten white of egg around the fish, using a pastry tube and forcing bag. Put into the oven for a few minutes to brown the potato, and serve with a garnish of lemon and parsley.

JELLIED WHITEFISH

Boil two pounds of whitefish in salted and acidulated water, with four bay-leaves, a tablespoonful of pepper-corns, and half a dozen cloves. Take out the fish, strain the liquid, and reduce by rapid boiling to a quantity barely sufficient to cover the fish. Add the juice of a lemon and two ounces of dissolved gelatine. Flake the fish with a fork, removing all skin, fat, and bone, mix with the liquid, pour into a fish-mould, wet with cold water, and put on ice until firm. Serve cold with Mayonnaise or Tartar Sauce.

BAKED FISH

Prepare a Cream Sauce, seasoning with grated onion, minced parsley, and powdered mace. Take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Put a layer of cold, cooked, flaked and seasoned fish, into a buttered baking-dish, spread with the sauce, and repeat until the dish is full, having sauce on top. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. This may be baked in individual dishes if desired.

BOUILLABAISSE

Cut into pieces and remove the bones from three pounds of fish, add six shrimps or one lobster or two crabs, cooked, and cut into large pieces; add one-half pint of olive-oil; fry lightly, and add one lemon and two tomatoes, one onion, and one carrot, all sliced, one pinch of saffron – as much as lies on a ten-cent piece, – a bay-leaf, and some parsley. A bean of garlic is used, unless the casserole is rubbed with it before cooking. Stir for ten minutes, add one cupful of stock and one wineglassful of white wine or cider. Cook for fifteen minutes longer, pour out into a bowl, place slices of toast in the casserole, and cover with the fish and vegetables, allowing the sauce sufficient time to soak into the toast, and adding salt and pepper to taste.

FISH CHOPS

Mix cold cooked fish with a little very thick Cream Sauce, and season with lemon-juice and minced parsley. Shape into chops, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Stick a small piece of macaroni in the small end of each chop to represent the bone. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

FISH À LA CRÉOLE

Chop an onion and a clove of garlic and fry in lard. Add three tablespoonfuls of flour, cook and stir until brown, and add one can of strained tomatoes. Have the fish cut into convenient pieces for serving, dredge with seasoned flour, and sauté in butter until brown. Pour the sauce over, simmer until done, and serve.

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY WAYS TO COOK MEAT AND POULTRY

BEEF

BROILED SIRLOIN STEAK

Have the steak cut thick and trim off the tough end. Broil carefully on a buttered gridiron, dot with butter, and serve.

BEEFSTEAK WITH FRENCH-FRIED ONIONS

Slice the onions thin, season with salt and pepper, and dredge thoroughly with flour. Put into a frying-basket and plunge into deep fat. Fry brown and crisp, drain, and serve with broiled steak.

STEAK BORDELAISE

Select a thick steak and broil carefully on a buttered gridiron. Chop a peeled clove of garlic very fine, or grate it. It cannot be too fine. Mix with three times the quantity of parsley finely minced and made to a smooth paste with melted butter. Spread over the steak and put in the oven for two minutes before serving.

BEEFSTEAK WITH OYSTER BLANQUETTE

Heat one quart of oysters with their own liquor, skim, and cook until the edges of the oysters curl. Thicken with flour cooked in butter, pour over a broiled steak, and serve very hot.

BEEFSTEAK WITH FRIED BANANAS

Broil the steak and put on the serving-platter. Dot with butter, sprinkle with minced parsley, and surround with bananas cut into quarters lengthwise and fried in butter. The bananas may be baked in the oven, basting with butter and sugar.

FRIED HAMBURG STEAK

Season chopped raw beef with grated onion, salt, minced sweet pepper and minced parsley. Mix with raw egg to bind and shape into flat cakes. Roll in crumbs, sauté in butter or drippings, and serve with Tomato Sauce.

SPANISH STEAK

Chop two large onions fine and fry brown in butter. Fry a flank steak in the same fat, seasoning with pepper only. Take up, put into a buttered baking-pan or casserole, sprinkle with salt, spread with onion, pour over a can of tomatoes, and add a green pepper seeded and shredded. Cover tightly and cook slowly for an hour or more. Thicken the remaining liquid with browned flour to make a gravy.

STEWED STEAK WITH OYSTERS

Have two pounds of rump steak cut into small squares. Fry brown in butter, take up the meat, and cook a tablespoonful of flour in the fat remaining in the pan. Add a cupful of water or stock and the liquor drained from one pint of oysters. Cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly, and put the steak into the sauce. Cover and cook until the steak is tender, then add a pint of oysters and cook until the edges curl. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, and serve.

BRAISED FLANK STEAK

Pound a large flank steak flat. Make a dressing of seasoned crumbs and chopped salt pork or suet, moistening with melted butter or beaten egg. Spread on the steak, roll up, and tie in shape. Cut fine a carrot, a turnip, an onion, and a small bunch of parsley. Spread the roll of meat thickly with butter, season with pepper and salt and pour over and cook slowly in a very hot oven. Rub the vegetables through a sieve, skim off the fat, and make gravy, adding more stock or water if required.

STUFFED FLANK STEAK

Pound a large flank steak flat. Make a stuffing of equal parts of sausage meat and bread crumbs, seasoning with minced onion and thyme. Roll up, tie into shape, brown in hot fat, cover with stock or water, and let simmer for two hours. Skim and strain the gravy, thicken with flour browned in butter or in a little of the fat, season with mushroom catsup, and pour over the meat or serve separately.

STUFFED PRESSED STEAK

Pound a large round steak flat and tender. Spread with highly seasoned stuffing, roll into shape, and sew tightly in cheese-cloth. Boil for three hours, in salted water, take out and press under a heavy weight until cold. Take off the cloth, cut in thin slices, and serve with horseradish or made mustard.

ROAST BEEF

Have a rib roast of beef cut standing – that is, with the bones left in. Put into a hot oven without seasoning and when the outside is seared enough to prevent the escape of the juices, reduce the heat and cook slowly until done, basting frequently with the dripping. During the last half hour of cooking, dredge with salt, pepper, and flour. Skim the drippings and thicken for gravy, adding more liquid if required.

POT ROAST

Put a round of beef into a deep pot, add a small onion sliced, and a cupful of boiling water. Cover and cook slowly, allowing ten minutes to the pound. Take up the meat, rub with butter, dredge with flour, and brown it in a hot oven. Strain the gravy left in the pan, season with salt, pepper, and mushroom catsup, and thicken with flour browned in butter. Pour over the meat and serve.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF BEEF À L’ESPAGNOLE

Cook together a can of tomatoes, a chopped onion, half a dozen sweet green peppers, seeded and cut into rings, and a tablespoonful of butter. Simmer for an hour. Reheat in the sauce thin slices of rare roast beef and thicken with one or two beaten eggs.

CANNELON OF BEEF

Chop fine two cupfuls of cold roast beef, season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and moisten with beaten egg. Roll rich pie-crust into an oblong shape, spread with the meat, roll up, fasten the ends by pinching the pastry, rub with butter, and bake brown. Serve either hot or cold.

MACARONIED BEEF

Break macaroni into short lengths and cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, mix with Tomato Sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Reheat slices of rare roast beef in a little stock, season to taste, pour the macaroni over, and serve.

BEEF OLIVES

Cut rare roast beef into thin slices and wrap each one around a thin slice of bacon. Fasten with toothpicks, and reheat in beef-gravy or stock. If stock is used, thicken it with browned flour, and season to taste.

RAGOUT OF BEEF

Put into a stewpan a pound of rare roast beef sliced thin, add three onions sliced, and salt and pepper to season. Cover with boiling water and simmer until the meat is very tender. Add half a cupful of tomatoes, half a cupful of chopped mushrooms, and a few capers. Thicken with flour rubbed smooth in a little cold stock or water, season with curry powder, stir and simmer ten minutes longer. Serve in a casserole.

JELLIED TONGUE

Boil a beef tongue very slowly in water to cover. Let cool in the liquid, drain, skin, and cut into thin slices. Dissolve a package of gelatine in one cupful of water. Heat thoroughly two cupfuls of the cooking liquid, one cupful of stock, and three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Add two teaspoonfuls of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of beef extract, and the dissolved gelatine. If there is not enough liquid to cover the tongue, add boiling water to make the necessary quantity. Strain through cheese-cloth. Wet a mould in cold water, pour in a layer of the jelly, and when set, add a layer of the tongue. Repeat until the mould is full. At serving time turn out and garnish with parsley.

STEWED TONGUE WITH RAISINS

Boil a tongue in water to cover until it is so tender that a straw will pierce it. Let cool in the water in which it was boiled, drain, and remove the skin. The next day reheat the cooking liquid and let it simmer for three hours with half a cupful of stoned raisins, and the juice and grated peel of a lemon. Half an hour before serving thicken the gravy with browned flour and simmer the tongue in it until serving time. Pour boiling water over half a cupful of raisins and when they have swelled, drain and add to the gravy. Pour the gravy over the tongue and serve. If the sauce is too sour, add a little sugar. This is a German recipe and well worth trying.

BEEF TONGUE À L’ITALIENNE

Cut a cold boiled tongue into strips. Chop fine three onions, fry in butter, dredge with flour, add two teaspoonfuls of lemon-juice and a cupful of mushrooms. Pour into a baking-dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve with spinach or spaghetti.

SPANISH STEW

Use a pound and a half of the ribs of beef. Put into a saucepan with two quarts of cold water, bring to the boil, and cook for two hours. Add a can of tomatoes, three large onions chopped fine, half a dozen cloves, a pinch each of sage and celery seed, one-fourth of the peel of an orange, two bay-leaves, a pod of red pepper, and two cupfuls of boiling water. Cook for half an hour, strain, skim, and thicken the gravy, season to taste, pour over the meat, and serve.

BEEF STEW WITH TOMATOES

Use three pounds of the round of beef and cut into small slices. Cover with a can of tomatoes, add a chopped onion, and salt, pepper, and powdered cloves to season. Cook slowly covered until the meat is done, add a little mushroom catsup, and serve.

BEEF STEW WITH DUMPLINGS

Have three or four pounds of the neck of beef cut into convenient pieces. Cover with cold water and add three each of carrots and onions, sliced thin. Season with salt and pepper and minced parsley, cover, and cook until the meat is nearly done. Sift two cupfuls of flour with two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and a pinch of salt. Add an egg well-beaten in enough milk to make a stiff batter. Steam the dumplings in buttered patty pans in a steamer over boiling water. Take out the meat and dumplings, thicken the gravy with flour browned in butter, pour over, and serve.

TRIPE IN CASSEROLE

Cut a pound and a half of tripe into squares and put into a casserole. Slice an onion and a carrot and fry in butter. Put into the casserole with a clove, a bay-leaf, a sprig of thyme, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, two cupfuls of stock, and half a wineglassful of white wine. Cover and cook slowly until very tender. Serve in the casserole.

BRAISED BEEF

Use a solid piece from the round or shoulder and have it larded with thin strips of salt pork. Slice an onion, a turnip, and a carrot. Lay the meat upon the vegetables, add four cupfuls of boiling water, cover the pan, and put into a hot oven. Allow twenty-five minutes to the pound and when half done season with salt and pepper. Baste frequently, and when the meat is done, add enough water or stock to make the required quantity of gravy. Thicken with browned flour, season to taste, pour over the meat, and serve. Beef ribs may be used.

BREADED LIVER

Have fresh beef liver cut into thin slices, cover with boiling water, and let stand for ten minutes. Fry slices of bacon crisp and drain. Season the bacon fat with black and red pepper, dip the liver into it, then into bread crumbs, and fry in the bacon fat. Garnish the liver with the fried bacon, and sprigs of parsley. Add to the fat in the pan one tablespoonful of vinegar and two of tomato catsup. Pour over the meat and serve.

LIVER ROLLS

Have fresh beef liver cut into thin slices. Cover with boiling water, drain, wipe dry, remove the skin, and season with salt and pepper. Put a thin slice of salt pork or bacon on each slice of liver, roll up and fasten with a string. Brown in hot fat, dredge with flour, cover with boiling water or stock, and cook for half an hour. Take off the strings, season to taste, and serve, thickening the gravy more if required.

ROASTED BEEF HEART

Stuff the heart with highly seasoned crumbs, mixing with a beaten egg to bind. Season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and roast covered for an hour and a half, basting frequently with melted butter and water.

BEEF KIDNEY SAUTÉ

Chop an onion fine and fry brown in butter. Add a kidney which has been soaked for five minutes in boiling salted water and cut into squares. Cook for five minutes, sprinkle with flour, add a little stock, cook until the sauce is thick, and serve immediately, sprinkling with minced parsley.

STEWED BEEF KIDNEY

Cut the kidney into thin slices, season highly with pepper and salt, and brown in hot fat. Dredge with flour, add a little boiling stock or water, and when the sauce is smooth and thick, heat the kidneys in it. Season with minced parsley and serve.

BEEF À LA NEWPORT

Cut fine one cupful of dried beef and heat thoroughly with one cupful of canned tomatoes. Season with pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped onion. Add half a cupful of grated cheese and three well-beaten eggs. Stir constantly until thick and smooth and serve on buttered toast.

DUTCH BEEF LOAF

Run twice through the meat-chopper a pound and a half of the round of beef and a quarter of a pound of fresh pork. Add half a cupful of stale bread crumbs soaked in stock or milk, half a cupful of canned tomatoes, and celery salt, minced parsley, salt, red pepper, and grated onion to season. Mix thoroughly, shape into a loaf, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with crumbs, and bake, basting with melted butter and stock. Serve with Tomato Sauce.

SPICED BEEF LOAF

Chop fine three pounds of beef and half a pound of suet. Add two eggs well-beaten, four tablespoonfuls of cream, a tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of summer savory, a teaspoonful of salt, and a little red pepper. Add enough bread crumbs to make a stiff mixture. Shape into a loaf, rub with butter, dredge with flour, and bake, basting frequently. Cook for two hours or less and serve either hot or cold.

CANNELON OF BEEF

Chop very fine two pounds of the round of beef. Season with grated onion, lemon-peel, nutmeg, minced parsley, salt, pepper, melted butter, and a pinch of powdered sweet herbs. Mix with a beaten egg and shape into a loaf. Dredge with flour, roll in buttered paper, and bake for half an hour, basting with melted butter and the drippings. Remove the paper and serve with Tomato Sauce.

FRICADELLES

Chop fine a pound of beef and a pound of sausage meat. Add a cupful of bread crumbs, two eggs well-beaten, two onions, finely chopped, and salt, pepper, and thyme to season. Mix thoroughly, shape into small flat cakes, sauté in hot fat, and serve with Tomato Sauce.

SPICED ROUND OF BEEF

Put into a buttered saucepan six pounds of the round of beef, two cupfuls of canned tomatoes, three sliced onions, half a dozen cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a pod of red pepper. Cover the meat with thin slices of salt pork and pour over half a cupful of vinegar and one cupful of water. Cover and cook in a moderate oven for five hours, seasoning with salt when half done. Take up the meat, strain and skim the cooking liquid, and thicken with flour browned in a little of the fat.

BEEF À LA MODE

Have four pounds of the round of beef thickly larded. Brown in butter and season with pepper. Add two bay-leaves, two cloves of garlic, two shallots, three onions, and a calf’s foot, split and cut into four pieces. Cover and cook slowly for two hours. Add two or three carrots cut into small pieces, and cook for an hour and a half longer. Ten minutes before serving, add two tablespoonfuls of claret. Arrange on a platter with the carrots around it and serve the gravy with it.

CREOLE HOT POT

Put two pounds of beef ribs into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of drippings or butter. Add two chopped onions, a chopped clove of garlic, half a dozen seeded and shredded green peppers, pepper and salt to season, a pinch of thyme, a tablespoonful of vinegar, a dozen raisins, a dozen olives, and a can of tomatoes. Cover and cook until the meat falls from the bones. Take out the bones, thicken with flour browned in butter, and serve on buttered toast.

BEEF PIE

Cut cold cooked beef into dice and reheat in gravy or in Brown Sauce. Season with grated onion, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire and add a few diced carrots. Line a buttered baking-dish with biscuit crust, put in the meat, cover with crust, gash, brush with beaten egg, and bake until thoroughly done. Serve very hot in the same dish.

CREAMED BEEF PIE

Reheat cold cooked chopped beef in a Cream Sauce, seasoning with chopped onion and minced parsley. Put into a baking-dish, cover with boiled rice or mashed potato, and bake. Serve very hot in the same dish.

GERMAN BEEF BALLS

Chop very fine cold cooked beef. Season with salt, cayenne, minced parsley, and grated onion. Add one-fourth the quantity of bread crumbs and enough beaten egg to bind. Shape into balls or small flat cakes, dredge with flour, and fry brown.

TURKISH BEEF STEW

Cut cold cooked beef into dice. Brown it in butter, take from the fire, add four tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup, a chopped onion, fried, a shredded green pepper, also fried, salt and black pepper to season, and enough stock or gravy to moisten. Heat thoroughly and serve in a border of boiled rice.

MUTTON AND LAMB

BROILED LAMB CHOPS

Trim the chops, put on a hot gridiron, and broil carefully. Serve with a border of green peas, or around a mound of mashed potatoes.

LAMB CHOPS IN CASSEROLE

Chop fine an onion, a small carrot, and a turnip. Fry brown in butter and put into a casserole. Cover with six or eight chops browned in butter, add a little stock or water, season to taste, cover tightly, and cook until tender. Thicken the gravy with browned flour and serve from the casserole.

LAMB PIE

Arrange tender lamb chops in a deep baking-dish with chopped mushrooms, half a cupful of canned tomatoes, half a dozen small onions fried brown in butter, and a can of peas. Thicken a sufficient quantity of stock with browned flour, pour in, cover with a rich crust, gash the top, cover, bake for half an hour or more.

BROILED MUTTON CUTLETS WITH CARROTS

Peel new carrots, cut into small pieces, and boil until tender in salted water. Drain and fry brown in butter, sprinkling with pepper and sugar. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, reheat, and serve with a border of broiled mutton cutlets.

ROAST LAMB WITH GARLIC

Trim a leg of lamb and remove the parchment-like skin. Separate the beans from a whole clove of garlic, peel and cut each one into four pieces. Make incisions in the surface of the meat with a sharp knife, stick the bits of garlic in, season highly with pepper and salt, and put into a hot oven until brown. Cover and roast slowly until done. Make a gravy of the drippings, skimming off the fat, thickening with browned flour, and adding stock or water if necessary to make the required quantity.

BRAISED LAMB WITH CELERY

Roast a leg of lamb in a quick oven until brown. Put into a saucepan with celery and carrots cut fine, a chopped onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, and enough chicken stock to cover. Add a little butter, cover, and cook slowly until done. Serve the vegetables with the meat. Cucumbers may be used instead of the carrots and celery.

BRAISED SHOULDER OF LAMB

Take the bone from a shoulder of lamb, lard it with small strips of bacon, tie in shape, and brown in butter. Add a dozen small peeled onions, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and stock to cover. Simmer until the onions are tender. Take up the meat, remove the skin, thicken the cooking liquor with browned flour, pour over the meat, and serve with the onions as a garnish. The breast of lamb may be used.

STEWED BREAST OF LAMB

Cut a breast of lamb into convenient pieces for serving. Season with pepper and salt, and stew until tender in stock to cover. Thicken the sauce with flour browned in butter, add a wineglassful of vinegar. This may be cooked in a casserole.

FRICASSEE OF LAMB

Cut the breast of lamb into square pieces, sprinkle with salt, dredge with flour, and brown in butter. Cover with stock or water, add a sliced onion, and simmer until the bones can easily be removed. Take the lamb out, remove the bones, strain the liquid again, reheat, add one quart of shelled green peas, and simmer for fifteen minutes.

CURRIED LAMB

Cut the meat from two boiled breasts of lamb and brown in butter with a chopped onion. Add a tablespoonful of flour and two teaspoonfuls of curry powder. Mix thoroughly and add enough white stock or water to make the required quantity of sauce. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and grated lemon-peel. Cover and simmer until done. Skim off the fat. Fill a well-buttered border mould with plain boiled rice, press firmly into shape, turn out on a hot platter, pour the lamb into the centre, and serve.

INDIAN MUTTON CURRY

Fry four chopped onions in butter, add a teaspoonful of curry powder, a teaspoonful of salt, and one cupful of chopped cooked apples. Add one cupful of cream or more and a tablespoonful of flour blended smooth with a little cold water. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly. Add two pounds of the breast of mutton cut in squares and browned in butter. Simmer until the meat is done, adding more cream if required. Serve very hot.

BLANQUETTE OF MUTTON

Divide a breast of mutton between the ribs. Put into a saucepan with a head of celery cut fine, a small onion, and a bay-leaf. Cover with boiling water or stock, bring to the boiling point, and boil rapidly for five minutes. Skim and simmer slowly for an hour. Take up the meat and reduce the liquid by rapid boiling to a pint. Strain, thicken while stirring with flour browned in butter, take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs beaten smooth with a little cold water, season with salt and pepper, and pour over the meat. Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve with a border of mashed potatoes or boiled rice.