The Golden Age Cook Book

CARROT SOUP

Take half a dozen small French carrots, wash and scrape them, put in a saucepan with boiling water and cook until tender, remove from the fire, mix with milk and press through a sieve. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan and rub into it a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, add a few grains of cayenne pepper, and stir in a little at a time the carrot purée until smooth like cream, add a few slices of cooked celery root (celeriac), and salt to taste, and pour into the purée. A tablespoonful of sherry, if liked, may be added. Serve with fried croutons.

CELERIAC SOUP

Wash, peel and slice three celery roots, put them in a saucepan, cover with boiling water, cook until tender, and mash them through a purée sieve with the water in which they were boiled. Melt a good heaping tablespoonful of butter, stir into it a small tablespoonful of flour, and add to it the celery purée, season with a little cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Add three-quarters of a cup of macaroni previously boiled in water. As soon as it comes to a boil remove from the fire and add as much boiling milk as will make it the proper consistency. Beat two egg yolks with half a cup of cream and stir in quickly just before pouring the soup into the tureen. Care must be taken to do this off the fire, as celery soup is liable to curdle.

MOCK CLAM SOUP

Soak a pint of marrowfat beans over night in water enough to cover them. In the morning drain, and put them on the fire with a small onion and a gallon of cold water, boil until tender and strain. Add to the stock a little summer savory, two ounces of butter and a cup of cream or rich milk, season with salt and pepper. When the soup comes to a boil, cut two slices of toast into dice, and four hard-boiled eggs in slices, put in the tureen and pour the soup over them and serve.

CORN AND TOMATO SOUP

Grate the corn from six ears of sweet corn. Put the cobs into a quart and a pint of water and cook until all the sweetness is extracted – about half an hour. Remove the cobs and add a pint of tomatoes after they are skinned and sliced, a small onion cut in slices, a French carrot cut in dice, a quarter of a green pepper chopped fine, and the grated corn. Let it cook slowly until all are tender. Stir in two good tablespoonfuls of butter, salt and pepper to taste, pour into the tureen and serve.

SOUP CRÉCY

Take three large carrots, wash and scrape and cut them into slices, put them in a saucepan with half an onion, a stick of celery, and a bay leaf, more than cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Remove from the fire, take out the bay leaf and rub the vegetables through a sieve with the water they were boiled in. Put back in the saucepan. Rub a generous tablespoonful of butter with half a tablespoonful of flour, and stir into the purée, add to it a cup and a half of boiling milk, stir until thick, add pepper and salt to taste. Take from the fire, and stir into it one egg yolk beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream. Serve at once.

CURRY SOUP

Prepare for cooking two small white onions, two French carrots and half a turnip cut in slices, and cook slowly in a pint of boiling water until they fall to pieces, cook with them until tender a celeriac root, remove from the other vegetables and put one side. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan, and stir in a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, an even dessertspoonful of curry powder, mix well together and then add a pint of milk. Strain the vegetables through a fine sieve, but do not press them, and add the stock therefrom to the milk, etc., in the saucepan, and salt to taste. Beat half a cup of cream with two egg yolks until light, remove the soup from the fire, mix a little of it with the eggs and cream, turn it back into the saucepan, stir well together and pour at once into the tureen in which you have already placed the celeriac cut in slices. If liked, two tablespoonfuls of Madeira may be added just before the soup is turned into the tureen. Serve with croutons.

MOCK FISH SOUP

It is better to prepare the balls for this soup first, as follows: Put in a saucepan a tablespoonful of white flour and two tablespoonfuls of Groult's potato flour, stir together and add a tablespoonful of butter and a cup of milk, mix all together and place on the stove where it is not very hot. Stir constantly until it is smooth and no longer sticks to the pan, remove from the fire, let it cool, and beat in two eggs, one at a time, season with a dash of cayenne, a few grains of powdered mace, a few drops of onion juice, a little salt and half a teaspoonful of sugar. These balls must be seasoned very delicately. Cook and drain as the spinach balls are done, using a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon. Put to one side while the soup is being made. For the soup take three French carrots, half a parsnip, half a white onion and a little green pepper chopped fine, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Melt a generous tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, and when it bubbles stir into it a small tablespoonful of flour, then add three cups of milk and let it come to a boil. When the vegetables are tender stir them into the thickened milk with the water they were boiled in, together with half a teaspoonful of sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Then put the balls in and let the soup come to a boil, add a teaspoonful of finely minced parsley and remove from the fire. Have one egg yolk beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream and stir in carefully so as not to break the balls just before turning the soup into the tureen.

A NORWEGIAN SWEET SOUP

Put a quarter of a cup of rice into three cups of boiling water with a small stick of cinnamon, and let it boil nearly an hour. About fifteen minutes before it is done add half a cup of raisins stoned. Beat two egg yolks with a heaping tablespoonful of sugar until white and creamy, then stir into them about half a cup of sweet cider, remove the soup from the fire, add a little of it to the eggs and cider, stir well, and mix all together rapidly and serve at once. Two tablespoonfuls of good sherry improves it.

ONION SOUP

Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a spider, when it bubbles add four large onions, washed, skinned and cut in slices, let them simmer without browning about half an hour, then stir in a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour. When it thickens pour in gradually a pint and a half of boiling milk, season with salt and pepper to taste, press through a purée sieve, and return to the fire. While it is getting hot, beat together two egg yolks and half a cup of cream, remove from the stove and stir the eggs and cream into it rapidly, pour at once into the tureen and serve.

SOUP OF GREEN PEAS. – No. 1

Take from a pint of green peas two heaping tablespoonfuls and set aside. Put the rest in a saucepan with half a white onion, in boiling water. Cover tightly, letting them cook until quite tender, then mash through a purée sieve with the water in which they were boiled and using a little more to take out all that is good of the peas through the sieve. Put back on the stove, rub a good heaping tablespoonful of butter with a small tablespoonful of flour and add to the purée of peas. Have a heaping tablespoonful of turnips and two of carrots cut into dice and cooked in as little water as possible, and the two tablespoonfuls of peas cooked until tender, add to the soup with half a teaspoonful of sugar and pepper and salt to taste. Let all this cook together while enough milk to make the soup the proper consistency is coming to a boil. Mix together, add a teaspoonful of finely minced parsley, pour into the tureen and serve.

SOUP OF GREEN PEAS. – No. 2

Put one quart of green peas over the fire in three quarts of boiling water with three French carrots, a small turnip cut into dice and a small white onion chopped. Cover tightly and let the vegetables cook until tender. Rub two ounces of butter with a small tablespoonful of flour, add a little of the soup to this to thin it and then stir all together, add an even tablespoonful of finely minced parsley, an even teaspoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste; let it come to a boil and then serve.

POTATO SOUP

Take four large potatoes, peel and boil them tender in water, mash very fine with a small tablespoonful of butter, add as much boiling milk as will make it the right consistency. Boil in as little water as possible one tablespoonful of turnips and two of carrots cut into dice; when tender turn all into the soup, add a little cayenne and salt to taste. Just before serving beat a quarter of a cup of cream with one egg yolk, remove the soup from the fire and stir the two together as in other cream soups, and serve at once with fried croutons.

PURÉE OF VEGETABLES

Cut fine three onions, one turnip, two French carrots and four potatoes, put in a saucepan with four tablespoonfuls of butter and a little parsley; let them cook about ten minutes, then add a tablespoonful of flour. Stir well and add two quarts of boiling milk, season with salt and pepper and a tiny bit of sugar, and when it boils take out the parsley, press the soup through a sieve and serve with croutons of fried bread.

PURÉE OF TURNIPS

Peel and slice some young turnips, add an onion and carrot sliced, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Mash them in the water and press through a fine sieve. To a pint of the purée have a pint of boiling milk. Return the purée to the fire, and stir into it a large heaping tablespoonful of butter and a small pinch of mace. Take the milk from the stove and stir briskly into it two egg yolks beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream, then remove the purée from the stove and stir the eggs and milk into it, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

VEGETABLE SOUP

One cup and a half of green peas, three small French carrots, and a small cauliflower cut into flowerettes, one pint of milk, half a cup of cream, a good half tablespoonful of flour, one tablespoonful of butter, and the yolks of two eggs. Wash and scrape the carrots, cut in thin slices and boil each vegetable by itself in as little water as possible. When the carrots and peas are done put them together in a saucepan with the water in which they were cooked, add the milk, put the saucepan on the fire and let it come to a boil, rub the butter and flour together, mix with a little milk and stir into the vegetables. Drain the water well from the flowerettes, and just before serving put them in the tureen. Beat the yolks of eggs and the cream together in a bowl, remove the soup from the fire, add a little of it to the eggs and cream, then turn them into the soup, stir well and pour it into the tureen.

TOMATO SOUP

Put a generous tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, when it is hot add half an onion chopped fine, let it stew gently for a few minutes, then add a pint of canned tomatoes, cook half an hour. Rub a heaping tablespoonful of flour and one of butter smoothly together and stir into the tomatoes. Have ready a pint of boiling milk, pour the tomatoes into a purée sieve with the boiling milk and rub through the sieve. Season with salt and pepper and a very little sugar. Return to the fire, make it hot, but be careful not to let it boil, as it will curdle. Serve at once with croutons.

BARLEY SOUP

Put a quarter of a cup of well washed barley with a bay leaf and a small blade of mace into a pint and a half of cold water, boil slowly for three hours. Take out the bay leaf and mace and add a small onion cut fine, two French carrots cut in dice, and cook until tender, then add a pint of milk, a good heaping tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, let it come to a boil, remove from the fire and stir into it one egg yolk beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream.

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH MOCK MEAT BALLS

Soak over night a pint of black beans in a quart of water. In the morning drain, and cover with fresh water, set the saucepan on the stove; when the water comes to a boil drain it off and add a quart of fresh water. Cut fine an onion, and with a few slices of carrot and turnip and green pepper fry in a heaping tablespoonful of butter, add to the beans with a bay leaf half a dozen peppercorns, two cloves, cook until tender, press through a sieve, return to the fire, and if it is too thick add more water. Have a hard boiled egg and half a lemon cut into dice, and meat balls made from recipe given for mock meat the size of hickory nuts and boiled in water as other balls are cooked. Drop the balls into the soup, and when hot pour the soup over the lemon and egg in the tureen and serve.

Entrées

EGG BORDER WITH RICE AND CURRY SAUCE

Stir four eggs together, add three-quarters of a cup of rich milk, a few drops of onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste; beat a little. Have a border mould well buttered and sprinkled with finely minced parsley, pour the mixture into it, set in a pan of boiling water in the oven, cover and let it cook until firm – from five to ten minutes. Have ready some rice boiled twenty minutes in plenty of salted water and well drained, and a cream sauce into which a slightly heaping teaspoonful of curry powder has been stirred. Turn the egg border out on a hot platter, fill the center with rice, pour some of the sauce over it, and the rest around the border. Garnish with parsley and serve at once.

RICE BORDER WITH VEGETABLES OR HARD BOILED EGGS IN CREAM SAUCE

Three-quarters of a cup of Carolina rice, picked over carefully and washed. Boil fifteen minutes in salted water. Drain off the water and have one pint and a half of boiling milk in a double boiler, stir the rice into this and cook until all the milk is absorbed, then add a tablespoonful of butter. Butter a border mould well, turn the rice into it, pressing it down so that the form will be perfect, put in the plate heater for five minutes, turn out on a platter and serve with vegetables or hard boiled eggs in a cream sauce.

A BORDER TIMBALE OF MOCK CHICKEN

Take three-quarters of a cup of rich milk, put half of it into a saucepan with an ounce and a half of butter, let it come to a boil, and then stir into it an ounce and a half of dried and sifted bread crumbs and a good half tablespoonful of flour. Stir constantly until it no longer sticks to the pan, remove from the fire and let it cool. When cold add two heaping tablespoonfuls of finely chopped walnuts, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, one teaspoonful of onion juice, one even teaspoonful of sugar, a saltspoonful of mace, two eggs unbeaten – one at a time – and the rest of the milk, salt and pepper to taste. Beat hard. Butter well a border mould, and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs, turn the timbale mixture into it, set the mould in a pan of boiling water, cover to keep from browning, and bake from ten to fifteen minutes.

Sauce. – Put in a spider a good heaping tablespoonful of butter, let it brown, add a thick slice of onion cut in small pieces and a heaping tablespoonful of flour, stir constantly until it is a very dark rich brown, being careful not to let it burn, then add a quarter of a pound of fresh mushrooms, skinned and stemmed and cut into dice, let them cook a few minutes, then add a stock made from their stems and skins. Have a celery root that has been pared and cut into dice and cooked until tender in very little water with a bay leaf and two cloves, remove the cloves and bay leaf and turn the rest into the sauce, season with pepper and salt. Turn the timbale out on a platter, fill the center with the sauce, garnish and serve. A few truffles are a great addition. The timbale may also be served with an olive sauce.

A MOULD OF SPAGHETTINA

Put three-quarters of a cup of spaghettina, broken in small pieces, into a quart of boiling water with an even tablespoonful of salt. Boil half an hour. Drain the water off and add a cup of milk to the spaghettina, and cook nearly half an hour, until the milk is almost all absorbed. Then make a cream sauce as follows: One cup of milk in a saucepan, rub butter the size of an egg into a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, adding a little of the warm milk, then stir into the milk on the fire, season with salt and pepper, add two even tablespoonfuls of grated cheese – the American Edam cheese is nice for this – and when the sauce is thick turn the spaghettina into it, let it come to a boil, turn out on a dish, and when cool add one egg beaten light. Butter a border mould which holds a little more than a pint, sprinkle it with bread crumbs, turn the mixture into it and set the mould into a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven twenty-five minutes. Have a pint of nicely stewed tomatoes seasoned to taste and thickened with bread crumbs and a good tablespoonful of butter. Turn the spaghettina mould out on a platter, fill the center with the stewed tomatoes, garnish with parsley and serve. It makes a very pretty dish and is an excellent pièce de resistance for dinner or luncheon.

SPINACH BORDER MOULD

Prepare the spinach as in recipe for spinach pudding, butter a border mould, dust it with bread crumbs, and press the spinach mixture into it, put the mould into a pan of hot water in the oven, cover it to prevent browning, and bake about twenty minutes.

A FILLING FOR THE CENTER OF MOULD OF SPINACH

Break two eggs in a bowl, add a little salt and four tablespoonfuls of cream and beat them slightly. Turn into a buttered tin cup and stand in a saucepan with a little boiling water in it on the stove, cover and cook until stiff – about three or four minutes – remove from the fire, turn out of the mould and cut in half-inch slices and then into stars or any fancy-shape preferred, or into dice. Make a cream sauce, turn the spinach mould out on a platter, put a little of the sauce in the center, then some of the egg stars, then the rest of the sauce, and finish with the egg stars.

MOCK COD FISH BALLS

Six medium sized potatoes, washed, peeled and boiled for ten minutes in salted water. Drain and grate them while hot and stir in two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter; mix thoroughly. Season with salt, cayenne pepper to taste, and add a teaspoonful of grated onion and a saltspoonful of mace. Beat two egg yolks light and stir well into it with two heaping tablespoonfuls of cracker crumbs. Fry brown in small balls in boiling fat without crowding them in the basket, drain on kitchen paper and serve very hot on a platter, garnish with parsley.

MOCK FISH BALLS IN CURRY OR CREAM SAUCE

Five ounces of plain boiled potatoes put through a patent vegetable strainer or mashed very fine. Add three ounces of butter and a slightly heaping tablespoonful of Groult's potato flour, two eggs slightly beaten and stirred in – a little at a time – a few drops of onion juice and salt and pepper to taste. Have a saucepan of boiling salted water over the fire, dip a tablespoon in cold water and then into the mixture and take out in oblong balls as nicely and uniformly shaped as possible, and drop them carefully into the boiling water, which must not boil too violently as the mixture is tender and would cook to pieces. Put them in without crowding and let them cook three minutes, taking them out one after another as they are done. Put in a colander to drain while preparing the curry sauce. Melt in a saucepan a heaping tablespoonful of butter and add to it a heaping teaspoonful of flour, an even teaspoonful of curry powder, stir well and add milk until of the consistency of cream sauce. Put the balls into the sauce and let it come to a boil, remove from the fire, and add a tablespoonful of good Madeira. Serve on a platter, garnish with parsley and serve. The curry powder and wine may be omitted if not liked, and the balls served in plain cream sauce.

MOCK FISH (a Norwegian dish)

Take three or four large white potatoes. Wash and peel them and boil until only half done. Grate them, and take only the part that has passed through the grater – that it may be light. Then weigh out half a pound. Beat the yolks of three eggs very light with a quarter of a cup of cream, mix with the potatoes and add three ounces of butter melted, half a teaspoonful of grated white onion, a dash of cayenne pepper, and salt to taste. Butter a mould well, sprinkle it with dried and sifted bread crumbs, put the mixture in it, and set the mould in a pan of boiling water in the oven, cover the mould and bake half an hour. Turn out carefully on a platter, pour a cream or Hollandaise sauce around it, and garnish with parsley. Serve very hot with a cucumber salad with French dressing, as a fish course.

MOCK MEAT

Put three-quarters of a cup of milk and three ounces of butter in a saucepan on the fire. When it boils stir in three ounces of dried and rolled bread crumbs and a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, and half a teaspoonful of sugar. Let it cook until it no longer adheres to the pan, then remove from the fire. When it is cool, add three eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth, then add one heaping tablespoonful of chopped walnut meats, salt and pepper to taste, and a few drops of onion juice. Make into flat cakes, a little less than half an inch thick, like sausage cakes, dip them in flour, put them into a saucepan of boiling salted water and cook for three or four minutes. Take them up, drain them from the water, dip in flour again, and brown them in hot butter in a spider. Set them one side to keep hot. In another spider make a sauce. Put in a heaping tablespoonful of flour, a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter, and a heaping tablespoonful of chopped walnut meats, let them all brown nicely together, then stir in a vegetable stock that has been strained until the gravy is as thick as cream.

SPAGHETTINA CHOPS

Spaghettina is finer than spaghetti, and for sale at Italian groceries. Half a cup of milk, half a cup of spaghettina, broken into bits, three tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, one tablespoonful of butter, half a tablespoonful of flour, and one egg. Put the spaghettina on in boiling salted water, boil for three-quarters of an hour, drain well in a colander. Make the sauce by melting the butter and stirring the flour into it until smooth, then add the cheese and milk and the spaghettina. Let it come to a boil and stir in quickly the beaten egg, let it thicken, remove at once from the fire, turn it out in a deep plate, and when cold form it into chops, dip them in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs and fry in boiling fat. They are very nice served with a tomato sauce, but good without it.

TOMATO CHOPS

Measure three-quarters of a cup of tomatoes after the water has been drained off, put in a saucepan over the fire and stir into it a cupful of mashed potatoes, a heaping tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, half a cup of grated bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly and add one egg beaten light. Remove from the fire, turn into a deep plate, let it get cold, then form in the shape of chops, dip in egg and roll in dried bread or cracker crumbs and fry a nice brown in boiling fat. Arrange on a platter and serve with tomato sauce, or place around a dish of stewed tomatoes.

SAVORY FRIED BREAD

Cut slices of stale home-made bread about half an inch thick, shape them like chops, soak the slices in a rich, well seasoned vegetable stock until nearly saturated with it – don't allow them to become too soft – then dip in beaten egg mixed with a little milk and fry in butter in a spider until a nice brown. Serve with tomato sauce, or around a dish of stewed tomatoes.

MOCK FISH CHOPS

Pare three good sized potatoes, cut fine and throw them into cold water to prevent them from turning dark. When all are cut drain them from the water and chop very fine – there must be two cupfuls. Have a cup of boiling milk in a saucepan and put the potatoes into it, cook until tender, but not soft, and be careful not to let them burn; when done add two generous heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of French carrots, previously cooked in as little water as possible, and chopped very fine, one heaping teaspoonful of green pepper, one of parsley, one heaping teaspoonful of grated onion, a heaping saltspoonful of powdered mace, a dash of cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Measure two tablespoonfuls of tomatoes – after all the water has been pressed from them – chop fine and add to it one whole egg and one egg yolk beaten light, stir this into the potato mixture while on the stove, remove at once from the fire, add two heaping tablespoonfuls of cracker crumbs rolled fine, and two tablespoonfuls of fine Madeira or sherry. Turnout to cool and then form into chops, roll in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in boiling fat. Serve with cucumber salad.