The Golden Age Cook Book

GREEN CORN CAKES

One quart of grated corn, one teacup of butter melted, four tablespoonfuls of flour, two eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake as griddle cakes and serve at once. These cakes are very good made of canned corn. Pound the corn in a mortar and press through a sieve.

CORN PUDDING

Four large ears of corn grated, or a can of corn prepared as for corn cakes, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of flour, one teaspoonful of sugar, one whole egg and one yolk. Melt the butter and stir into the corn, beat the eggs and add with one pint of milk, the sugar and flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a shallow dish in a moderate oven from twenty minutes to half an hour. If it bakes too long, it becomes watery.

MOCK OYSTERS OF GREEN CORN

A pint of grated corn, a cup of flour, one egg, two ounces of butter, three tablespoonfuls of milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and drop from a spoon in oblong cakes – to look as much like oysters as possible – into hot butter, fry brown on both sides. Serve on a platter and garnish with parsley. These may also be made of canned corn by pressing it through a colander with a potato masher to separate the hulls from it.

CORN BOILED ON THE COB

Husk the corn and remove the silk, put in a kettle, and cover with boiling water. If the corn is young, it will cook in from five to ten minutes, as it is only necessary to set the milk. It should be served at once in a folded napkin.

CURRY OF CORN

A can of corn, one good tart cooking apple, one tomato, a teaspoonful of finely chopped green pepper, a teaspoonful of grated onion, a teaspoonful of curry powder, a tablespoonful of chopped Brazil or English walnuts, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Put the butter in a spider, when it bubbles add the apple cut in dice and onion, fry brown, then stir in the curry powder, the chopped pepper and tomato and nuts, let all simmer together for a few minutes, then add the corn, and cook gently for twenty minutes. If it is too thick a little water must be added. Serve in a shallow vegetable dish or on a platter. Fresh corn may be used. Boil and then cut from the cob, cook the cobs in the water the corn was boiled in long enough to extract all the good from them, and use this broth for the curry.

CROQUETTES OF SALSIFY AND CELERIAC

Two roots of salsify and one large celeriac. Wash and scrape them well. Cut in pieces and cover with vinegar and water and let them stand one hour – this will prevent them from turning dark. Pour off the vinegar and water and nearly cover them with boiling water, cook until very tender, mash fine and smooth, season with pepper and salt, and a few drops of onion juice, put in a saucepan over the fire, and add a tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of milk, and just before removing from the fire add a tablespoonful of cream and one egg, stir well, turn out into a bowl and set aside to cool. When cold make into croquettes, dip in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in a basket in boiling oil.

INDIAN CURRY OF VEGETABLES

Equal quantities of cauliflower and potatoes, raw. The cauliflower cut into flowerettes and the potatoes into dice. Put them into a spider with a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a rounded teaspoonful of curry powder, and let them simmer for a few minutes without taking color. Then add two tablespoonfuls of tomatoes, an even teaspoonful of grated onion and one of chopped green pepper, fill up the spider with boiling water, and set it back on the stove where it will stew gently until the vegetables are tender and the water has been reduced to one-third the quantity. It should be as thick as ordinary gravy; if not, add a scant teaspoonful of flour. Just before it is done stir in a heaping tablespoonful of butter. Turn it into a shallow vegetable dish and serve very hot. The spider should be kept covered while the curry is cooking. It is very good without the green pepper. This may be warmed over, and is better the second day than the first.

KOHLRABI

Peel them, cut in slices and pour on just enough boiling water to cook them. Cook until tender. When nearly done add salt. Make a cream sauce, season with white pepper, salt and a little grated nutmeg, if liked, toss them in this sauce, let it boil up once and serve very hot.

MARROWFAT BEANS BAKED

Pick over carefully and wash one quart of beans, soak in water over night. In the morning drain, add fresh cold water and bring to a boil, drain again, and turn them into a four-quart stone jar, put in a generous cup of butter, two large tablespoonfuls of Porto Rico molasses, two tablespoonfuls of salt, less than a teaspoonful of pepper, and fill the jar with boiling water. Put in the oven, covering the jar with a tin cover. It must be cooked in a slow oven eight or nine hours – the water ought to last until the beans are perfectly cooked, and when done a good gravy left, about a third of the depth of the beans in the jar. Beans cooked in this way are very nutritious and easily digested. Keep them covered for two or three hours while cooking. Serve with Chili sauce.

BAYO OR MEXICAN BEANS. – No. 1

Put one cup of Bayo or Mexican red beans to soak over night, in the morning drain off the water and put them in a saucepan with plenty of fresh water, let them cook for two hours, drain again, and add to them three fresh tomatoes, skinned and cut small, or a cup of canned tomatoes, and half an onion cut as small as the beans, then cover with boiling water and cook for one hour. Then stir in a very generous tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

MEXICAN BEANS. – No. 2

Soak over night a pint of beans and boil as in recipe No. 1 until soft. Then melt a tablespoonful of butter in a spider; when it bubbles put in a small onion chopped very fine, and fry a delicate brown. Drain the beans and turn them into the spider, add a cup of boiling water and stir until the water becomes thick like cream.

EMPARADAS (a Mexican Recipe)

Take some beans cooked as in Mexican Beans No. 1 and mash them to a paste. Then roll out some puff paste very thin – about the sixth of an inch – cut this into rounds with a large patty cutter, put a spoonful of the bean purée on the half of each round, wet the edges of the pastry, cover, press the edges together, making a half moon, brush them over with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven, or they may be fried in boiling oil or fat until a delicate brown.

FRIJOLES FRITOS

A pint of beans cooked as in recipe for Bayo or Mexican Beans No. 1. Rub them smooth in a mortar, put them into a spider with a quarter of a cup of butter and fry for a few minutes, then add half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, mix thoroughly and serve hot.

BROILED MUSHROOMS

Select large flap mushrooms for broiling. Wash, skin and stem them, lay them on a dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour a little olive oil over each mushroom, let them stand one hour. Broil on a gridiron over a nice clear fire. Place on a dish and serve with the following sauce: Prepare the stock as before by boiling the stems and skins in water and then straining. Mince two or three mushrooms fine, add to the stock, with a teaspoonful of minced parsley, a few drops of onion juice, a small lump of butter, cook for fifteen minutes, then add a cupful of cream, an even teaspoonful of flour wet with some of the cream and rubbed smooth. Let it all cook together for three minutes, then add the beaten yolk of an egg, stir well, remove from the fire at once and serve.

MUSHROOMS ON TOAST

Half a pound of mushrooms, wash, stem and skin as before. Cut into dice, put in a saucepan with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of butter and a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley and one clove, tied together in a thin muslin bag. Set the saucepan on the fire and stew gently until nearly dry, then add water almost to cover them, salt and pepper to taste, and let them cook fifteen minutes. Take out the bag of onion, etc., and thicken with one egg yolk well beaten, and a small cupful of cream. Have some slices of toast on a platter, buttered and moistened with a little hot milk, pour the mushrooms over them, garnish with parsley and serve hot.

MUSHROOMS STEWED IN A CREAM SAUCE

Make a pint of cream sauce, prepare half a pound of mushrooms as in the preceding recipe, cut into dice, and stew in the sauce until very tender. Have the toast prepared as above and pour the mushrooms over it. Garnish with parsley and serve at once. They may be served in pastry shells as an entrée, if preferred.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS. – No. 1

Wash, skin and stem half a pound of mushrooms, chop very fine, add two even teaspoonfuls of finely minced parsley, a few drops of lemon juice, the same of onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan and cook all together in this until the mushrooms are tender, then add a cupful of stale bread crumbs and one egg yolk, stir well and remove from the fire. Have half a dozen perfectly ripe tomatoes, washed and wiped, cut a slice from the top of each, take out the core and seeds, and fill with the mushroom stuffing. Bake in a moderate oven until done. The skins should be removed in the usual way before stuffing.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS. – No. 2

Wash and wipe the tomatoes, but do not remove the skins. Cut in half, take out the core and a few of the seeds. Fill with the same forcemeat as in the preceding recipe and cover the top with it, place in a pan with a little water to keep from burning, bake in a moderate oven until soft, remove carefully from the pan, place on a platter, garnish with parsley and serve.

ESCALLOPED TOMATOES

Strain from a quart can of tomatoes one cupful of water. Put a layer of the tomatoes in a baking dish, season with salt, pepper and a little sugar, cover with a layer of bread crumbs, dot freely with bits of butter, then put another layer of tomatoes, and lastly a layer of bread crumbs, with bits of butter, and sprinkle with a dessertspoonful of sugar. Bake forty-five minutes, and serve in the dish in which it is baked.

TOMATOES WITH EGG

Drain the water from a can of tomatoes, press them through a colander, put into a saucepan over the fire, season with salt and pepper, a little sugar, if acid, and a few drops of onion juice. Let them cook a little, and just before serving add the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, stir well until it thickens, and remove immediately from the fire or it will curdle.

FRENCH CARROTS IN BROWN SAUCE

Select the smallest French carrots, wash and scrape them and boil until tender in as little water as possible. When done drain from the water, using it to make the sauce. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a spider, when hot stir in a tablespoonful of flour, stir until a dark brown, add gradually the water the carrots were boiled in, season with salt and pepper, simmer until thick and smooth, add the carrots, and when hot serve.

FRENCH CARROTS AND PEAS

Take a pint of young peas and two bunches of French carrots, cut in slices or fancy shapes (stars or clover leaves), cook each vegetable by itself in as little water as will cook them. When they are both tender put them together into a saucepan, add a heaping tablespoonful of butter and half a tablespoonful of flour rubbed together, and if there is not enough water left, add enough to make a gravy. Canned instead of fresh peas may be used; drain the water from the peas and stew the carrots in it, and follow the recipe as above.

SPINACH PUDDING

Make a sauce of one ounce and a half of butter, one ounce of flour, a scant half cup of rich milk, half a teaspoonful of sugar, a grating of nutmeg, if liked, and salt and pepper to taste. When this comes to a boil, add an even cupful of spinach that has been cooked and finely chopped, and from which the water has been well pressed out. Remove from the stove, and stir into it two beaten eggs. Grease a mould, sprinkle it with dried and sifted bread crumbs, turn the pudding into this, set the mould in a pan of hot water, put in the oven, cover it to prevent browning and bake nearly three-quarters of an hour. Turn out on a platter, have ready a cream sauce to pour around the pudding, garnish with hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters lengthwise, and parsley. If any is left over, cut in slices, and warm over in a cream sauce and serve for luncheon. It will keep for days.

SPINACH BALLS

Put a slightly heaping tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of cream, and half a teaspoonful of sugar into a saucepan on the stove, mix well, and when it boils add a heaping tablespoonful of flour – as much as will stay on the spoon – let it come to a boil, and then add three-quarters of a cup of cooked and finely chopped spinach, beat well and remove from the fire. When cold add two eggs, one at a time, season with salt and pepper to taste and half a saltspoonful of powdered mace. Have a saucepan of boiling water, slightly salted, on the stove; dip a tablespoon in cold water, and then take up enough of the spinach mixture to make an oblong cake, in shape like an egg cut in half lengthwise, then dip the spoon in the boiling water and let the cake float off. Use all the mixture in this way. The balls will cook in four or five minutes, and they must not boil too fast or they will break. Let them drain in a colander while making a cream sauce, and when the sauce is made put the balls into it and let them come to a boil, turn out on a platter and garnish with parsley.

TOMATOES AND MUSHROOMS

Put on a pint of tomatoes in a saucepan and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes until nearly all the water has evaporated, season with salt and pepper, add a generous tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of bread crumbs and half a pint of fresh mushrooms chopped fine. Cook until the mushrooms are tender. Have some bread cut in nice slices toasted and slightly moistened with warm milk. Pour the tomatoes and mushrooms over it and serve very hot.

TO BOIL RICE PLAIN

Wash half a cupful of rice, drain from the water, have on the fire a very large saucepan nearly full of salted boiling water. Turn the rice into this and boil hard for twenty minutes, pour all into a colander, drain well, and put the rice in a smaller saucepan on the back of the stove, where it will be kept warm, without cooking, until all the moisture has evaporated. Then serve.

CAULIFLOWER WITH DRAWN BUTTER

Select a nice white cauliflower, take off all the leaves, and cut enough of the stem off to allow it to stand well in the dish it is to be served in. Put it into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, and when it is nearly done add salt, as cooking it long with salt turns it brown. The usual time to cook a cauliflower is about twenty minutes. Try it with a fork, and if it is tender remove carefully from the water, let it drain in a colander while preparing a drawn butter. Then put into a hot vegetable dish, pour the sauce over and serve.

For the Drawn Butter. – Melt a large heaping tablespoonful of butter, and stir into it a heaping teaspoonful of flour, let them cook together without browning and add by degrees a cup of hot milk.

ESCALLOPED CAULIFLOWER

Cut a cauliflower into flowerettes, cover with boiling water into a saucepan and cook until tender, let them drain in a colander while the sauce is being prepared. Make the usual cream sauce, enough to cover the cauliflower. When the sauce is done add two heaping tablespoonfuls of American Edam or grated Parmesan cheese, put the flowerettes into a baking dish, pour the sauce over them, sprinkle the top with a little of the cheese, and stand the dish in the oven for a few minutes to brown.

ESCALLOPED SPAGHETTINA

Put a good half cupful of spaghettina, broken in bits, into a saucepan of boiling water with an even tablespoonful of salt, boil three-quarters of an hour, turn into a colander and let it drain while the sauce is being made. Prepare it exactly as for escalloped cauliflower and finish in the same way.

CHESTNUT PURÉE

Shell some large imported chestnuts and put over the fire in boiling water, let them cook for a few minutes, rub the skins off, and cover again with fresh boiling water, boil until tender. Press through a sieve, and season with butter, pepper and salt.

PURÉE OF DRIED WHITE BEANS

Pick over and wash a pint of beans and soak over night. In the morning drain off the water, put the beans into a saucepan with cold water to cover them, and cook until tender – a little more than an hour. Press through a sieve, add a generous tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, put into a saucepan, make very hot and serve.

SQUASH PUDDING

A large heaping cup of Hubbard squash, measured after it is baked and mashed smooth, a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter, melted and stirred into the squash, a heaping teaspoonful of flour mixed with four tablespoonfuls of milk and one egg beaten light, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and turn into a buttered pudding dish and bake about twenty minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is baked. If any is left over, make it up into little round cakes and brown in butter for luncheon.

SQUASH FRITTERS

A heaping cupful of Hubbard squash baked and mashed, stir into it a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, a cup of milk, salt and pepper to taste, and one egg beaten light. Mix well and bake or fry as griddle cakes.

SUMMER SQUASH

Wash and peel two large summer squash, cut in small pieces and remove the seeds, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Drain in a colander and press gently as much of the water out as possible with a potato masher, then mash through the colander into a saucepan, put it on the stove and let it cook until the squash is quite dry, taking care that it does not burn. Then add four heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, a teaspoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.

RICE CROQUETTES

Put three-quarters of a cup of milk in a saucepan over the fire, with a generous tablespoonful of butter, a heaping teaspoonful of sugar, and when it comes to a boil add a cup and a half of boiled rice, a saltspoonful of powdered cinnamon or nutmeg, if preferred, and salt to taste. Mix well, let it come to a boil and add a beaten egg, remove from the fire, turn into a plate to get cold, form into cylinders and cook in boiling fat.

FRICASSEE OF CELERIAC

Wash and peel the celery roots, cut them into dice and cook until tender in as little water as possible, and when nearly done add a little salt. Make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls of butter and one tablespoonful of flour cooked together until smooth without browning. Then add a cup of rich milk, and when this boils turn the celery dice with the water in which they were boiled into the sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper. When ready to serve beat one egg yolk with a tablespoonful of cream and stir carefully into it, remove at once from the fire, pour into a vegetable dish, sprinkle with a little parsley minced fine, and serve.

YELLOW TURNIP RAGOUT

Take one large yellow turnip, peel, wash and wipe dry, cut in oblong pieces. Brown a good lump of butter in a spider, simmer the turnip slices in this until nicely browned, taking care not to burn them. Put all into a saucepan with only water enough to cook them tender, cover tightly, when done, brown a little butter and flour together to make the gravy the proper consistency, season with pepper and salt and serve.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CHEESE

Cut six tomatoes in half, scoop out part of the inside and put this in a saucepan and cook until nearly all the water has been absorbed, then add half a teaspoonful of sugar, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, two heaping tablespoonfuls of dried bread crumbs, pepper and salt to taste, and a few drops of onion juice. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, pepper, a little sugar and grated cheese, then fill them with the dressing, dot them with tiny bits of butter and sift over them a few bread crumbs. Melt half a teaspoonful of butter in a baking pan, put the tomatoes in and bake twenty or twenty-five minutes. Take them out carefully when done, arrange on a dish, make a little gravy in the pan in which they were baked by adding a little more butter, half a cupful of milk, a heaping teaspoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a sauceboat.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Wash and peel a dozen artichokes, selecting them as nearly the same size as possible. Cover with boiling water and cook until tender, drain at once and pour over them a cream sauce, sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley over them and serve.

ASPARAGUS

Scrape and wash as much asparagus as is needed, cut the stalks the same length, tie in bunches and put over the fire in boiling water, and when nearly done add a little salt. Boil until perfectly tender, drain, put in a dish, remove the strings and serve very hot with sauce Hollandaise or a simple cream sauce.

POINTES D'ASPERGES

Cut off the tender green tips of asparagus about an inch and a half long, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Add salt just before they are done. Drain and put the points into a saucepan with butter, salt and pepper and a few spoonfuls of cream or Hollandaise sauce, mix well and do not let it cook after the sauce is added. A little nutmeg may be used if liked. Serve very hot.

PURPLE CABBAGE WITH CHESTNUTS

Shred fine as for cold slaw half a purple cabbage, put half of this into a saucepan, dot with a tablespoonful of butter, sprinkle over it a heaping tablespoonful of sugar, a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, a little salt and pepper, then the rest of the cabbage with the same quantity of butter, sugar, etc., as before, and pour over all a quarter of a cup of vinegar and a cupful of cold water. Cover tightly, let it cook slowly until done, put it where it will only simmer for two hours. If not sour enough add more vinegar. Be careful that it does not burn. Serve in a vegetable dish and garnish with large Italian chestnuts that have been boiled and blanched.

PARSNIP CROQUETTES WITH WALNUTS

Take two good-sized parsnips, peel and cook them until tender in as little water as possible. When done press the water carefully from them and mash them smooth and fine through a colander, put them back into the saucepan over the fire again, and add to them two heaping tablespoonfuls of chopped walnut meats, a good heaping tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of rich cream, stir well together and add at the last one egg well beaten. Remove from the fire and turn out on a plate to cool, then form into cylinders, dip in egg and bread crumbs and fry in boiling fat.

PARSNIPS FRIED

Boil them until tender, cut them in slices lengthwise and fry brown in a little butter.

PARSNIP FRITTERS

Wash and scrape them and cut in slices, cover them with boiling water, cook until tender, mash them through a colander, return them to the fire, add to two large parsnips, a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and one egg beaten well. Mix thoroughly, remove from the fire, and when cool make into small flat cakes and fry in a little butter. Serve hot.

TO COOK STRING BEANS

String thoroughly, cut in half, then in half lengthwise, throw into boiling water and let them come to a boil. Remove from the fire, drain, cover with cold water and let them stand in this until it is time to cook them, then drain again, cover with boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes, and when almost done add salt. When tender, drain, add a lump of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.