The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

CREAMED ASPARAGUS

Boil the tender parts of asparagus until tender, drain, and chop. Reheat in a Cream Sauce to which a bit of baking-soda has been added. Season with salt and pepper and cool. Stir into it three eggs well-beaten with two tablespoonfuls of cream. Pour into a buttered baking-dish and bake covered for twenty minutes.

ESCALLOPED ASPARAGUS

Wash and cut up a bunch of asparagus, discarding the tough ends. Boil in salted water until tender, and drain. Boil three eggs hard, throw into cold water, remove the shells and, chop fine. Butter a shallow baking-dish, put in a layer of asparagus, cover with chopped eggs, sprinkle with grated cheese, and repeat until the dish is full, having asparagus on top. Pour over two cupfuls of Drawn-Butter or Cream Sauce, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, sprinkle with grated cheese, and bake until brown.

BOILED STRING-BEANS

Cut off the ends, remove the strings, and cut into two or three pieces. Wash in cold water, drain, and boil until tender in salted water. Drain, and serve with melted butter. A bit of bacon or ham, for flavor, may be boiled with the beans.

STRING-BEANS WITH CREAM

String the beans and boil until tender in as little water as possible. Without draining, add half a cupful of cream, a tablespoonful of butter, and pepper and salt to season.

STRING-BEANS WITH SOUR SAUCE

Remove the strings from a quart of beans, cut in pieces, boil with a pinch of soda until tender, and drain. Add a tablespoonful of butter blended with a teaspoonful of flour, a tablespoonful of vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for five minutes, while stirring add in a well-beaten egg, and serve immediately.

STRING-BEANS EN SALADE

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled String-Beans, changing the water once, and add a tablespoonful of butter after changing. Drain and pour over a French dressing to which a little chopped onion has been added. Serve hot. The onion may be omitted.

STRING-BEANS À LA BRETONNE

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled String-Beans. Cut two small onions into thin slices, fry golden brown in butter, dredge with flour, and add a little white stock. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, and seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the cooked beans to the sauce with a crushed bean of garlic, cook for ten minutes, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve. The garlic and parsley may be omitted and one chopped onion used.

STRING-BEANS À LA PROVENÇALE

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled String-Beans and drain. Slice an onion, fry golden brown in oil with minced parsley, thyme, chives, and a bay-leaf. Remove the bay-leaf, add a little vinegar, pour over the beans, reheat, and serve. The juice of a lemon may be used instead of vinegar.

STEWED LIMA BEANS

Cover a pint of lima beans with a quart of boiling water and cook for thirty minutes. Drain off half the water, add a tablespoonful of chopped salt pork and a little grated onion and minced parsley. Add a pinch of salt and a cupful of hot milk and stew until the beans are tender. Thicken with flour cooked in butter and rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

LIMA BEANS WITH ONIONS

Soak a pint of dried beans overnight, drain, and boil until tender in fresh water to cover. Drain and keep warm. Parboil and chop three small onions, fry in butter, and reheat the beans with the onions. Moisten with brown gravy or thickened stock.

LIMA BEANS À LA PHILADELPHIA

Prepare a pint of beans according to directions given for Stewed Beans and reheat in Cream Sauce, seasoning with salt, pepper, and a little grated onion. Take from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a little cream. Serve very hot.

BOILED BLACK BEANS

Soak the beans in cold water for three hours, rinse thoroughly, and boil for three hours, or more if necessary. Fry three thin slices of bacon and add to it a little stock. Season with Chutney, mushroom catsup, and anchovy essence. Reheat the drained beans in the sauce.

FRIJOLES MEXICANA

Pick over and wash one pound of small red Mexican beans, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, and add a pinch of soda. Cook for five minutes, drain and rinse, then cover with cold water, and cook slowly until soft. Melt two or three tablespoonfuls each of drippings and butter. When sizzling hot drop in two or three cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed. Keep stirring until well browned, then add two or three chopped and seeded green peppers and a large onion, sliced. Stir until cooked, then add a few tablespoonfuls of the boiled beans, mashing a few of them to form a thickening gravy. Add the rest of the beans with a portion of the liquor in which they were cooked, and three or four tomatoes, peeled and cut up. Simmer for an hour. When ready to serve, grate one-half pound of Mexican or Parmesan cheese and stir into the beans. Serve very hot.

STEWED KIDNEY BEANS

Soak a cupful of beans overnight in cold water. Drain, cover with cold water, add a chopped onion and a carrot, three or four slices of bacon, and a pinch of soda. Simmer until the beans are tender, drain, season with butter, salt, and pepper, and serve hot.

KIDNEY BEANS À LA CRÉOLE

Soak overnight a quart of kidney beans and cook until tender in boiling salted water. Drain, put a layer into a baking-dish with half a pound of bacon in one piece which has been boiled until tender and skinned, and a chopped onion. Cover with beans, season with salt and red pepper, fill the baking-dish with cold water, and bake slowly until the liquid is nearly absorbed.

BOSTON BAKED BEANS

Wash and pick over a quart of navy beans. Soak overnight in cold water to cover. In the morning drain, cover with fresh water, and heat slowly, keeping the water below the boiling point until the skins will burst when a spoonful is gently breathed upon. Drain the beans. Scald and scrape the rind of half a pound of fat salt pork, cut off one slice, and put into the bottom of the bean-pot. Fill the pot with the beans and bury the rest of the pork in it, scoring the rind deeply. Mix one teaspoonful of salt with one tablespoonful of molasses and three tablespoonfuls of sugar, add a cupful of boiling water, pour over the beans, and add more boiling water if necessary to fill the pot. Cover the bean-pot and bake in a slow oven for six or eight hours, adding boiling water as needed. During the last hour of cooking, remove the lid so that the top will be brown. A teaspoonful of mustard may be added with the other seasoning. This is the genuine Boston recipe. A sliced onion put in with the pork is considered by many to be an improvement.

BOSTON BAKED BEANS WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Prepare according to directions given for Boston Baked Beans. Chop an onion fine and cook it in a can of tomatoes for half an hour. Two hours before the beans are done, strain the tomato into the bean pot, adding a little at a time.

BEAN CROQUETTES

Boil two cupfuls of soaked beans until soft. Drain, press through a colander, season with salt and red pepper, and add one tablespoonful each of molasses, butter, and vinegar. Mix thoroughly, cool, shape into croquettes, dip in egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat, and serve with Tomato Sauce.

BOILED BEETS

Select small smooth beets and clean without cutting or scraping. Boil for an hour or two and cool. Remove the skins, cut into slices or quarters, and serve either hot or cold. Or, reheat in stock and melted butter, seasoning with salt, pepper, and vinegar. The stock may be omitted if desired and chopped onion and parsley added to the seasoning.

BUTTERED BEETS

Peel young beets, cut into dice, and cook slowly until tender in water to cover. Add a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to season, and thicken with a teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Stir while boiling.

PICKLED BEETS

Wash small beets but do not cut. Cover with boiling water and boil until tender. Drain, rinse in cold water, peel, cut into slices, sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper, cover with vinegar, and let stand for several hours before using. Serve cold.

BOILED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Wash and pick over the sprouts and boil until tender in water to which a little salt and baking-soda have been added. Drain, and reheat in melted butter with a little salt and pepper, but do not fry. Serve on buttered toast.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS SAUTÉ

Boil the cleaned sprouts for twenty minutes in salted water, drain, fry in butter, season with salt, minced parsley, and pepper, and serve. Grated nutmeg may be added.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS À LA PARMESAN

Boil the sprouts until tender in salted water and drain. Arrange in a baking-dish with alternate layers of grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter, and serve very hot.

BOILED CABBAGE

Clean and quarter a firm cabbage and cover with boiling salted water to which has been added a pinch of baking-soda. Cook for fifteen minutes, drain, rinse and cover with boiling salted water. Cook until tender and drain, pressing out all the liquid. Chop fine and season with salt, pepper, and tomato catsup. Add a cupful of stock, heat thoroughly, add a tablespoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice and serve.

FRIED CABBAGE

Chop cold boiled cabbage and drain thoroughly. Mix with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, four tablespoonfuls of cream, and pepper and salt to season. Heat in a buttered frying-pan and let stand long enough to brown slightly on the under side. Two well-beaten eggs may be added to the cabbage before heating; or, chop fine and fry brown in butter, seasoning with salt, pepper, and vinegar.

CREAMED CABBAGE

Chop or shred a cabbage fine and cover with boiling salted water to which a pinch of soda has been added. Boil until tender, drain, rinse in hot water, press out the liquid, and reheat in a Cream Sauce. Add a little grated cheese if desired.

HOT SLAW

Chop half a cabbage fine, pour over a tablespoonful of melted butter, and put into the oven. Beat together one tablespoonful each of mustard and olive-oil, add one teaspoonful of sugar and one egg well-beaten with three-fourths cupful of cream. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, pour over the hot cabbage, and serve.

COLD SLAW

Shred a white cabbage fine and soak in ice-water. Make a dressing of the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, one egg well-beaten, half a cupful of olive-oil, the juice of a lemon, and mustard, salt, and pepper to taste. Drain the cabbage thoroughly, mix with the dressing, and serve very cold.

CABBAGE WITH OYSTERS

Cut in two a small cabbage. Soak in cold water for an hour, drain, and cover with boiling water to which a teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of soda have been added. Boil for five minutes, drain, rinse, cover with fresh boiling water, and boil until tender. Drain, arrange on a platter, and moisten thoroughly with cream or melted butter. Cover with broiled oysters, season with salt, pepper, and curry powder, and serve.

CABBAGE WITH SOUR CREAM

Chop fine a small head of cabbage and cook in water enough to keep from burning, seasoning with salt and pepper. Beat together two eggs, one-half cupful each of sour cream and vinegar, and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Bring to the boil, pour over the cabbage, and serve.

SMOTHERED RED CABBAGE

Shred a red cabbage and cook until tender with a sliced onion and enough butter to keep from burning. When tender season with salt, pepper, and butter, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and half a cupful of white vinegar.

STEWED RED CABBAGE

Shred a red cabbage very fine. Put into a kettle with five sour apples peeled and quartered, pepper and salt to season highly, one tablespoonful of sugar, and a pinch of powdered cloves. Add water to cover and boil until tender, adding more liquid as needed. There should not be over one cupful of water when done. Add a tablespoonful of butter, simmer for ten minutes, and serve.

RED CABBAGE À LA BABETTE

Slice a red cabbage very fine, sprinkle with salt, and add a peeled and sliced sour apple. Stew slowly with a tablespoonful of drippings, a chopped onion, and enough water to keep from burning. When tender, season with vinegar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. This is a Jewish recipe.

RED CABBAGE À LA HOLLANDAISE

Trim and shred a red cabbage and soak it in cold water for an hour. Parboil for five minutes, then drain. Fry a small chopped onion soft in butter, add the cabbage and four tart apples, peeled, cored, and chopped. Season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Add half a cupful of cream, reheat, and serve.

BOILED CARROTS

Cook peeled and sliced carrots in salted boiling water to cover. Drain and serve with melted butter.

STEWED CARROTS

Parboil a bunch of carrots, drain, and cut into dice. Put into a saucepan with two small onions chopped, pepper, salt, and minced parsley to season, and enough Drawn-Butter Sauce to moisten. Simmer half an hour and serve.

FRIED CARROTS

Clean and parboil the carrots, drain, cut into thin slices lengthwise, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

SPRING CARROTS

Trim and scrape two bunches of spring carrots. Parboil for ten minutes in salted water to cover. Drain, and rinse in cold water. Put into a deep baking-dish with two tablespoonfuls each of butter and sugar and two cupfuls of well-seasoned beef stock. Cover and cook slowly until tender. Drain, reduce the liquid by rapid boiling, pour over the carrots, and serve.

CARROTS AND PEAS

Cook separately until tender diced carrots and green peas. Drain, mix, and reheat in White, Béchamel, or Cream Sauce, or season with salt, pepper, and melted butter.

CARROT CROQUETTES

Cook until very tender enough peeled and sliced carrots to make a pint. Mash through a sieve and add the yolk of one egg well-beaten, a tablespoonful of melted butter, and pepper and salt to season highly. Cool on ice, shape into croquettes or balls, dip in egg and crumbs, and keep on ice until firm. Fry in deep fat, drain, and serve very hot.

BUTTERED CARROTS

Cook peeled and sliced carrots until tender in boiling salted water. Drain and put into a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls each of butter and sugar, for each two cupfuls of carrots. Stir constantly until covered with syrup and colored a little. Sprinkle with lemon-juice and serve immediately.

BOILED CAULIFLOWER

Wash and trim a head of cauliflower and soak it for an hour in cold salted water, head down. Rinse thoroughly, cover with boiling salted water, and boil until done. Drain, and serve with any preferred sauce.

BAKED CAULIFLOWER

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled Cauliflower. Put into a buttered baking-dish, pour over a Drawn-Butter Sauce, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and add a little grated cheese if desired. Brown in the oven and serve in the baking-dish.

BUTTERED CAULIFLOWER

Boil two cauliflowers in salted water until tender. Drain, separate into flowerets, arrange in a serving-dish, and season with salt and pepper. Heat a cupful of butter in a frying-pan without browning, skim, and put in enough fresh crumbs to make a smooth thin paste. Spread over the cauliflower and serve.

CREAMED CAULIFLOWER

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled Cauliflower, adding a pinch of soda to the water. Cook slowly until done, drain, rinse in hot water, cut into convenient pieces for serving, pour over a Cream Sauce and serve, or break into flowerets, and reheat in Cream Sauce.

FRIED CAULIFLOWER

Clean a cauliflower and separate into flowerets. Parboil for five minutes, change the water, and cook until tender, adding a tablespoonful of salt to the water. Drain, dry, and, if desired, marinate in French dressing, dip in crumbs, then in an egg beaten with three tablespoonfuls of water, then in crumbs or batter. Fry in deep fat and serve with Tartar or Tomato Sauce.

CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS

Make a batter of a tablespoonful of melted butter, half a cupful of milk, the yolk of an egg well-beaten, salt and pepper to season, and a tablespoonful or more of flour. Separate freshly cooked cauliflower into convenient pieces. Dip in the batter and fry in deep fat.

ESCALLOPED CAULIFLOWER

Boil until tender, separate into small pieces, and pack stems downward in a buttered baking-dish, or use the cauliflower unbroken. Mix a cupful of bread-crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, enough cream or milk to moisten, pepper and salt to season, and one egg well-beaten. Spread over the cauliflower, cover, and bake for six minutes, then uncover and brown. Serve in the same dish.

CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN

Boil flowerets of cauliflower in salted water until nearly done and drain. Arrange in layers in a buttered baking-dish, with Cream Sauce between the layers and sprinkling each layer thickly with grated Parmesan cheese. When the dish is full, cover with sauce, sprinkle with cheese and crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve in the baking-dish. Or use milk, crumbs, and bits of butter between the layers instead of Cream Sauce.

CAULIFLOWER À LA PARISIENNE

Boil a large cauliflower until tender, drain, chop, and press hard into a mould. Turn out on a platter that will stand the heat of the oven. Cook together a tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add two cupfuls of stewed and strained tomatoes, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, and grated onion. Add enough cracker crumbs to make the sauce very thick. Spread over the cauliflower, put it into a hot oven for ten minutes, and serve.

BOILED CELERY

Cut cleaned and trimmed stalks of celery into short lengths and boil slowly in salted water to cover until tender. Drain and serve on slices of toast which have been dipped in the liquid. Pour over a little melted butter, season, and serve.

BRAISED CELERY

Trim bunches of celery, tie in bundles, parboil for ten minutes, drain, and cover with cold water. Let stand for ten minutes, drain, cover with white stock, and simmer for an hour. Drain, pour over Brown Sauce, and serve with a garnish of toast points or croutons.

FRIED CELERY

Parboil, drain, dry, and cool stalks of celery cut into short lengths. Dip into melted butter and fry brown, or dip into fritter batter, or in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Olive-oil or lard may be used for frying. Serve with melted butter or Brown Sauce, or with a sprinkle of grated cheese.

STEWED CELERY

Parboil eight heads of celery, drain, and finish cooking in stock to cover with a small slice of salt pork for each head of celery. Drain, skim the cooking liquid, and thicken with flour cooked in butter. Arrange the celery and pork alternately on the serving dish, pour over the sauce, and serve.

CELERY IN BROWN SAUCE

Clean and trim three heads of celery and cut into four-inch lengths. Cover with boiling water, let stand for ten minutes, drain, and rinse in cold water. Tie in bundles and put into a saucepan with three cupfuls of hot stock. Add one-fourth cupful of butter or drippings, half a carrot, half an onion, a teaspoonful of salt, and a little cayenne pepper. Cover and simmer until tender. Drain the celery, strain the liquid, skim off the fat, and thicken a cupful or more of the cooking liquid with flour browned in butter. Arrange the celery on toast, pour the sauce over, and serve.

CREAMED CELERY

Clean, trim, and cut the celery into short pieces. Boil until tender in salted water, drain, and reheat in a Cream Sauce. Diced cooked carrots may be added to Creamed Celery.

FRICASSEE OF CELERY

Clean and cut the celery into inch-lengths. Cover with cold water and soak for an hour. Drain, and cook until tender in stock to cover, with salt and paprika to season and a teaspoonful of grated onion. When tender, thicken the cooking liquid with flour browned in butter, and serve.

CELERY AU GRATIN

Cut two bunches of celery into inch-lengths and cook until tender in boiling salted water. Drain, mix with Cream Sauce, cool, and add two well-beaten eggs. Pour into a buttered baking-dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for half an hour.

CELERY À L’ITALIENNE

Trim off the tops and roots from four heads of celery. Cut the stalks into short lengths, parboil, and drain. Reheat with a cupful of white stock, a tablespoonful each of butter and chopped ham, and salt and pepper to season. When tender, strain the sauce and arrange the celery on pieces of toast. Add to the sauce a tablespoonful of grated cheese and the beaten yolk of an egg. Pour the sauce over the celery and bake until brown.

BOILED CORN

Strip off all the husks, remove the silk, and boil rapidly in water to cover, adding a tablespoonful of sugar; serve immediately with butter, pepper, and salt. Butter may be added to the water instead of sugar; it whitens and enriches the corn; or, boil in salted milk, drain, and serve with melted butter.

BAKED CANNED CORN

Pour a can of corn into a buttered baking-dish, season with salt and pepper, add one cupful of boiling milk or half a cupful of cream, and dot with two tablespoonfuls of butter broken into small bits. Bake for forty-five minutes in a moderate oven, and serve in the same dish.

CREAMED CANNED CORN

Reheat a can of corn with half a cupful of Cream Sauce and serve very hot, or reheat with enough cream to moisten and season with butter, pepper, and salt.

ESCALLOPED CORN

Butter a baking-dish and put in a layer of cracker crumbs, then a layer of canned corn, seasoning with salt, pepper, and bits of butter, cover with cracker crumbs and repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs on top. Pour in enough milk to fill the dish and bake for forty-five minutes.

INDIAN CORN CAKES

Grate from the cob on a coarse grater enough corn to make two cupfuls. Add a cupful of milk, half a cupful of sifted flour, one egg well-beaten, and salt and pepper to season. Bake on a griddle and serve with fried chicken.

CREOLE CORN CHOWDER

Slice three onions and fry brown in butter. Add three peeled and sliced tomatoes, three green peppers, seeded and chopped, and the corn cut from seven cobs. Cook for an hour, adding water as needed, and season with salt, sugar, and black pepper.

KENTUCKY CORN PATTIES

Four large ears of corn grated, two eggs, one cupful of milk, and one and one-half cupfuls of flour sifted with a teaspoonful of baking-powder and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly and fry in small flat cakes.

CORN STEWED WITH CREAM

Cut the corn from half a dozen ears with a sharp knife. Reheat in a cupful of Béchamel Sauce, adding a teaspoonful of butter and enough cream to make the stew of the proper consistency. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Serve very hot.

CORN SOUFFLÉ

Score each row of kernels deeply and press out the pulp with the back of a knife, using enough corn to make one cupful of pulp. Add one cupful of cream or top milk, a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to season, and the yolks of three eggs well-beaten. Cook in a double boiler until smooth and creamy, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, cool, fold in the stiffly beaten whites of four eggs, turn into a buttered baking-dish, and bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven.

CORN PUDDING

Mix three cupfuls of milk with the corn cut from a dozen ears, and chopped fine. Add four well-beaten eggs, salt and pepper to season, and bake in a buttered baking-dish for two hours.

CORN OYSTERS

Score each row of kernels and press out the pulp from a dozen ears of corn. Season highly with salt and pepper and add four eggs beaten very light. Drop by spoonfuls on a griddle and fry carefully, turning once.

CORN FRITTERS

Mix thoroughly one egg, half a cupful of cream, one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, and two cupfuls of grated corn. Drop by spoonfuls into deep fat and fry brown.

CORN SUCCOTASH

Boil a pint of shelled lima beans for half an hour, or more, changing the water twice. Add an equal quantity of corn cut from the ear and cook until done. Season with salt, pepper, and butter, and serve. Add a little sugar and cream if desired, or moisten with Cream Sauce. The beans may be boiled with the corn-cobs, removing them when the corn is added. Twice as much corn as beans may be used.

ESCALLOPED CUCUMBERS

Peel and cut into dice six large cucumbers. Butter a baking-dish and put in a layer of the dice seasoning with grated onion and lemon-juice. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and season with paprika and celery salt. Repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs and butter on top. Cover and bake for an hour, then remove the cover, and brown. Serve with Sauce Piquante.