The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

STUFFED CUCUMBERS

Peel and split large cucumbers lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp and fill with a stuffing made of cooked chicken chopped fine and mixed with soft crumbs seasoned nicely and moistened with a beaten egg or a little stock. Sprinkle with crumbs and put into a baking-pan with stock half an inch thick. Bake until the cucumbers are tender, basting frequently, and adding more stock if required. Thicken the gravy with a teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold water and pour around the cucumbers when serving.

BROILED EGGPLANT

Peel and cut into thin slices and soak for an hour in cold salted water. Drain and dry thoroughly. Soak for half an hour in a marinade of olive-oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Add a little lemon-juice to the marinade if desired. Broil and serve with Maître d’Hôtel Sauce. The slices may be dipped in egg and crumbs before broiling.

BAKED EGGPLANT

Parboil, cut off the top, and scoop out the pulp. Mash the pulp and cook it in butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Take from the fire, add the beaten yolk of an egg and enough bread crumbs to make a smooth paste. Mix thoroughly, refill the shell, and bake, basting with melted butter. A slice of onion, finely chopped, may be fried with the pulp. The egg may be omitted and the stuffing moistened with stock. Baste with stock when baking.

BAKED EGGPLANT WITH CHEESE

Cover two eggplants with boiling water and let stand for ten minutes. Drain, peel, slice thin, cut each slice in four, season with salt and pepper, and fry. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add one cupful of milk and half a cupful of stock, and cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt and cayenne. Put the fried eggplant into a buttered baking-dish in layers, covering each layer with grated cheese and sauce. Have cheese on top. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for twenty minutes.

FRIED EGGPLANT

Peel and slice an eggplant and soak over night in cold salted water. Drain and cover with cold water for half an hour. Wipe dry, dip in seasoned flour, or in flour, beaten egg, and crumbs. Fry in deep fat. Grated cheese may be mixed with the crumbs. Serve with White, Cream, Tomato, or Caper Sauce.

EGGPLANT FRITTERS

Peel, slice, cover with cold water, boil until soft, and drain; or, put into boiling salted and acidulated water. Mash smooth, add salt and pepper to season, two eggs well-beaten, and enough flour to make a thick batter. Fry by spoonfuls in deep fat.

ESCALLOPED EGGPLANT

Boil a large eggplant until tender, peel and mash. Season with butter, pepper, and salt. Add two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine and half an onion grated. Add two tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, put into a buttered baking-dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake brown.

STUFFED EGGPLANT

Parboil a large eggplant for ten minutes, then plunge into salted ice-water and let stand for an hour. Make a forcemeat of half a cupful of minced boiled ham, a cupful and a half of bread crumbs, one egg well-beaten, and enough cream to make a smooth paste. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and onion. Split the eggplant lengthwise, scrape out the pulp, and mix with the stuffing. Fill the shells, tie together, and put into a dripping-pan with a cupful of stock. Cover and bake for half an hour, remove the string, and serve.

EGGPLANT À LA CRÉOLE

Peel a young eggplant, cut it into dice, and simmer for ten or fifteen minutes in half a cupful of boiling water. Drain and press out the liquid. Chop fine two onions, fry in butter, add the eggplant, salt and pepper to season, and one tablespoonful each of minced parsley and vinegar. Add also two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter. Put into a baking-dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for twenty-five minutes.

BOILED HOMINY

Soak a cupful of hominy for three hours in warm water, drain, and cook in fresh boiling water until tender, adding a pinch of salt. Drain and reheat for fifteen minutes with a pint of milk, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for fifteen minutes, add a tablespoonful of butter, and serve.

CURRIED LENTILS

Chop fine three large onions, two green peppers, and a clove of garlic. Brown half a pound of washed lentils in butter, add the chopped mixture and cold salted water to cover. Boil until tender. Drain, add two sliced onions fried brown, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and a teaspoonful of curry powder. Serve with a border of boiled rice.

BUTTERED MACARONI

Boil a pound of macaroni until tender, drain, and put into a deep baking-dish. Spread over it half a cupful of butter broken into bits, and one-quarter of a pound of cheese, grated. Season with salt, and pepper, mix thoroughly, and bake, or serve without baking.

MACARONI AU GRATIN

Butter a deep baking-dish and fill with cooked macaroni, sprinkling each layer with grated cheese, and seasoning with pepper and dots of butter. Cover the top with cheese (Parmesan, which may be mixed with Swiss), dot with butter, and bake brown. Serve in the same dish. Milk or cream to cover may be poured over before baking.

MACARONI WITH BROWN BUTTER

Reheat cooked and drained macaroni in melted butter, cooking until the butter browns. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, season highly with grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.

MACARONI AND OYSTERS

Arrange in alternate layers in a baking-dish cooked, broken, and drained macaroni, and oysters, seasoning with dots of butter and pepper and salt. Beat together the liquor drained from the oysters, one and one-half cupfuls of milk, and two eggs. Pour over the macaroni, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for half an hour; or, spread over the top a beaten egg mixed to a smooth paste with crumbs.

MACARONI À LA GALLI

Rub through a fine sieve a large can of tomatoes and simmer for three hours or until as thick as jelly. Chop fine half a pound of salt pork and a large onion and fry brown and crisp. Mix with the tomatoes, season with salt and cayenne, and pour over cooked macaroni. Serve with grated cheese.

BROILED MUSHROOMS

Dip cleaned and peeled mushrooms into melted butter, put on ice for fifteen minutes, and broil. Serve with melted butter and lemon-juice; or, broil, basting with bacon fat. If the mushrooms are strongly flavored they may be soaked in cold salted water for a few minutes before broiling.

MUSHROOMS BAKED WITH CHEESE

Parboil two cupfuls of cleaned and trimmed mushrooms in salted water for ten minutes. Butter a baking-dish, put in the drained mushrooms, cover with a cupful of Cream Sauce, and sprinkle thickly with grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese. Cover with buttered crumbs and bake brown.

FRIED MUSHROOMS

Peel and trim very large fresh mushrooms and fry in oil or butter seasoned with pepper and salt. Serve on small thin slices of toast and put a teaspoonful of sherry or white wine on each mushroom, or use minced parsley and lemon-juice instead of wine.

NOODLES

Beat an egg slightly, with a pinch of salt, and add enough flour to make a very stiff dough. Roll out as thin as possible and dry on a cloth. Roll up tightly and slice downward into very fine strips. Toss lightly with the fingers to separate, and spread out on the board to dry. Keep in covered jars for future use.

BAKED NOODLES

Reheat boiled and drained noodles in milk to cover. Season with melted butter, grated Parmesan cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Heat thoroughly, put into a baking-dish, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve in the same dish; or, arrange boiled and drained noodles in layers in a buttered baking-dish, seasoning each layer with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and sprinkling thickly with grated cheese. Spread fried crumbs over the top, heat thoroughly, and serve.

NOODLES AU GRATIN

Boil half a pound of noodles for ten minutes in salted water to cover. Drain, and put into a saucepan with two cupfuls of milk or stock, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to season. Simmer slowly until the liquid has all been absorbed, then add half a cupful of cream or stock, a tablespoonful of butter, and a quarter of a pound of grated Parmesan cheese. Cook slowly until the cheese is melted and put into a buttered serving-dish. Sprinkle with crumbs and grated cheese and the yolk of a hard-boiled egg pressed through a sieve. Brown in the oven and serve.

BOILED OKRA

Boil the okra in salted water until tender, drain, season with salt, pepper, and butter, and serve very hot. A little cream may be added.

OKRA SAUTÉ À LA CRÉOLE

Chop fine an onion and a green pepper and fry soft in butter. Add two tomatoes peeled and cut up, three tablespoonfuls of Spanish Sauce or stock, and pepper and chopped garlic to season. Put in the required quantity of sliced okras, cover and cook for fifteen minutes. Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve.

BOILED ONIONS

Peel the onions under water. Boil until tender in salted water to cover, changing the water once. Drain, season with butter, pepper, salt, and hot cream, or reheat in White or Cream Sauce, or a well-buttered Velouté Sauce. A bunch of parsley may be boiled with the onions, and a little of the cooking liquid may be added to the sauce.

BAKED ONIONS

Peel and fry a dozen small onions, seasoning with salt, pepper, and sugar. When brown, add stock to cover, and bake until soft in a covered pan.

FRIED SPANISH ONIONS

Peel and slice two pounds of Spanish onions and put into a frying-pan with half a cupful of butter smoking hot, a small spoonful of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Dust with cayenne and cook until tender. Serve with the gravy they yield in cooking.

CREAMED ONIONS

Peel small onions and boil until tender, changing the water several times; or, slice large onions. Mix with well-seasoned Cream Sauce and serve. Drawn-Butter Sauce may be used instead.

STUFFED ONIONS

Boil fine white onions in salted water for an hour, changing the water three times. Drain, scoop out the centre, and fill with bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, grated cheese, and catsup. Mash a little of the onion with the stuffing and moisten with cream or milk. Wrap each onion in buttered paper, twist the ends, put into a buttered pan, and bake for an hour. Remove the paper, pour over melted butter, and serve.

ROASTED ONIONS

Peel the onions and steam for an hour and a half. Bake, basting with drippings, and season with salt and pepper.

BOILED PARSNIPS

Boil cleaned parsnips until tender in salted water, adding a little butter if desired, drain, rub off the skins with a rough cloth, put into a hot dish, and serve with melted butter and parsley or Butter Sauce, seasoning with pepper and salt. White or Cream Sauce may be used instead.

BUTTERED PARSNIPS

Boil the parsnips until tender, scrape off the skin, and cut lengthwise in thin slices. Put into a saucepan with three or four tablespoonfuls of butter, and pepper, salt, and minced parsley to season. Shake over the fire until the mixture boils and serve with the sauce poured over. A little cream may be added to the sauce. Sprinkle the parsnips with minced parsley before serving.

CREAMED PARSNIPS

Boil parsnips in salted water until tender, drain, peel, cut into dice, and reheat, in a well-seasoned Cream Sauce. Sprinkle with minced parsley if desired, and add a little more butter.

ESCALLOPED PARSNIPS

Prepare Creamed Parsnips according to directions previously given, cutting the parsnips into dice. Put into a buttered baking-dish in layers, sprinkling each layer with chopped onion. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for half an hour.

BOILED PEAS

Shell a peck of green peas and cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, season with salt, pepper, and butter or cream, and serve immediately. A small bunch of green mint or parsley or two or three young onions or a tablespoonful of minced onion may be boiled with them. A little sugar may be added to sweeten them.

CREAMED PEAS

Boil peas until soft in water to cover, adding a pinch of salt during the last fifteen minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and butter, and reheat in Cream or White Sauce. A little sugar may be added to the seasoning. Canned peas may be used.

BUTTERED PEAS

Cook a quart of green peas in salted water, using as little as possible and adding a tablespoonful of butter. Thicken with flour cooked in butter, then add more butter, a pinch of sugar, and a little grated nutmeg.

BROILED GREEN PEPPERS

Cut six green peppers into quarters, remove the seeds, and broil over a very hot fire, until the edges curl. Spread with butter, sprinkle with salt, and serve with broiled steak.

FRIED PEPPERS

Remove the stems and seeds, cut into rings, and soak for half an hour in cold water. Drain, dry, dip in flour seasoned with salt, and fry in fat to cover.

STUFFED PEPPERS

Make a stuffing of one cupful of bread crumbs and half a cupful of chopped boiled ham or tongue or sausage, seasoning with salt, pepper, and grated onion and moistening with melted butter. Stuff green peppers which have been seeded and soaked, and put into a buttered baking-dish. Pour over a cupful of stock, cover, and bake for fifteen minutes, then uncover and brown.

STUFFED PEPPERS À LA CRÉOLE

Make a stuffing of boiled rice and canned tomatoes, seasoning with salt and grated onion. Stuff half a dozen sweet peppers, brown in oil, then put into a baking-pan and finish cooking, basting with hot water.

BOILED SWEET POTATOES

Clean thoroughly, cover with boiling water, to which a little salt may be added, boil until soft, drain, peel, and serve. They may be peeled before boiling; or, cover with hot water, boil until done, dry in the oven, and peel just before serving.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Split lengthwise and steam or boil until nearly done. Drain and put into a baking-dish, flat side down, seasoning each one with pepper, salt, and sugar. Dot with butter and bake brown, basting with butter, or wash and trim and bake in a moderate oven until soft. They may be parboiled before baking. Serve in the skins.

BROWNED SWEET POTATOES

Boil sweet potatoes until soft in salted water to cover. Drain and mash, seasoning with butter, pepper, and salt. Put into a serving-dish, dot with butter, and bake until brown.

SWEET POTATOES IN CASSEROLE

Put one-fourth of a cupful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of sugar into a casserole. When hissing hot cover with peeled sweet potatoes, cut into thin slices lengthwise. Season with salt and pepper and cover with another layer of potatoes. Moisten with boiling water, cover, and cook until nearly done then uncover, and brown. Serve in the casserole.

CANDIED SWEET POTATOES

Peel and slice lengthwise four large sweet potatoes. Put into a covered saucepan with a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to season, and enough water to moisten. Steam until tender, drain, and put into a buttered baking-dish. Pour over one cupful of New Orleans molasses and bake until the molasses candies on the potatoes. Serve in the same dish.

ESCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES

Steam them until tender, peel and slice and put into a buttered baking-dish in layers, sprinkling each layer with a tablespoonful of sugar and bits of butter. Pour over a cupful of cream or milk and brown in the oven.

ROASTED SWEET POTATOES

Peel sweet potatoes of equal size and put into the pan with a roast or fowl an hour before taking up. Split if too large. Baste with the drippings. They may be parboiled before baking.

GLAZED SWEET POTATOES

Cut cold boiled sweet potatoes into slices an inch thick and season with salt and pepper. Dip in melted butter, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for twelve or fifteen minutes. Moisten with water if necessary.

BOILED RICE

Wash one cupful of rice in several waters, rubbing well with the hands. Drain, dry on a cloth, and boil for ten minutes in two quarts of boiling salted water. Drain, nearly cover with hot milk, and cook for ten minutes, covered, in a double boiler. Remove the cover and dry, tossing with a fork to allow the steam to escape.

BUTTERED RICE

Boil a cupful of well-washed rice, according to directions previously given, adding the juice of a lemon to the water. Drain, put into a buttered baking-dish, moisten thoroughly with clarified butter, cover, and put into a moderate oven for twenty minutes; or, sauté boiled rice in butter, keeping the grains separate. A little minced onion may be fried with it.

CURRIED RICE

Boil a cupful of rice in salted water, drain, and mix with a chopped onion fried in butter and two teaspoonfuls of curry powder dissolved in a cupful of stock or gravy.

CASSEROLE OF RICE

Boil rice in chicken stock and press firmly into a mould. Turn out on a serving-dish, brush with beaten yolk of an egg, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and brown in the oven. Serve with Tomato Sauce.

RISOTTO

Chop fine a small onion and three beans of garlic. Fry in butter, add half a cupful of boiling water, a teaspoonful of beef extract, and three or four dried mushrooms, soaked and chopped. Simmer for five minutes, pour over boiled rice, and season highly with grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese. Put in the oven until the cheese has softened, and serve.

SAVORY RICE

Cook half a cupful of rice in salted water until half done and drain. Cover with rich stock and simmer until the stock is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, add three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, and serve.

RICE À LA CRÉOLE

Chop together a large onion, two seeded green peppers, and half a cupful of raw ham. Sauté in butter, then add a cupful of parboiled rice, three cupfuls of beef stock, one cupful of canned tomatoes, and a teaspoonful of salt. Cook very slowly until the rice is tender and the liquid nearly absorbed.

BOILED SALSIFY

Scrape a bunch of salsify and throw into cold acidulated water. Cut in pieces and boil until tender in salted water to cover. Drain, season with pepper, salt, and butter and, if desired, a little cream; or, serve with Maître d’Hôtel, Hollandaise, Onion, or Italian Sauce.

BAKED SALSIFY

Slice boiled salsify and put in layers in a buttered baking-dish, sprinkling each layer with crumbs and seasoning with salt, pepper, and butter. Have crumbs on top. Fill the dish with milk and bake until brown.

ESCALLOPED SALSIFY

Mash boiled salsify through a sieve, season with salt, cayenne, butter, and celery salt, and moisten with milk. Put into a buttered baking-dish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in a pan of hot water until brown; or, use sliced boiled salsify alternately with Cream or Drawn-Butter Sauce and seasoned and buttered crumbs. Have sauce on top. Cover with crumbs, wet with cream, and bake brown.

FRIED SALSIFY

Prepare according to directions given for Boiled Salsify, drain, marinate in French Dressing, and sauté in very hot fat. Serve with Maître d’Hôtel Sauce if desired; or, boil, drain, dip in egg and crumbs or seasoned flour, and fry in deep fat.

SPAGHETTI À L’AMÉRICAINE

Cook spaghetti until tender, drain, and add a can of tomato paste. Simmer for twenty minutes, season to taste, add two tablespoonfuls of butter, and serve with grated cheese.

SPAGHETTI À LA TOMASO

Fry six pork chops brown with three sliced onions, adding a little butter or oil if the chops are not fat enough to fry. Pour over two cans of tomatoes and add three whole cloves of garlic peeled and sliced, and salt and paprika to season. A seeded and chopped green pepper is an improvement. Simmer slowly until the meat is in rags, adding boiling water if required. When the sauce is thick and dark, rub through a coarse sieve, pressing through as much of the meat pulp as possible. If it is not thick enough, simmer until it reaches the consistency of thick meat gravy. This sauce will keep for a day or two. Have ready a kettle of salted water at a galloping boil. Put in a handful of imported spaghetti without breaking, coiling it into the kettle as it softens. Cook for twenty minutes, or more if necessary, stirring to keep from burning. Drain in a colander, rinse thoroughly with fresh boiling water, and spread on a platter. Add olive-oil to moisten if desired. Mix with part of the sauce and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Pass sauce and cheese with it. Fried green peppers or fresh mushrooms may be mixed with the spaghetti, or a handful of soaked dried Italian mushrooms may be cooked with the sauce.

ESCALLOPED SPAGHETTI WITH OYSTERS

Put into a buttered baking-dish in layers drained oysters and boiled spaghetti cut into small pieces. Season each layer with salt, pepper, and dots of butter. Pour over enough Cream Sauce or milk to moisten, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake until brown.

GREEK SPAGHETTI

Chop a small onion fine, fry in butter, and mix with a pound and a half of lean beef chopped fine and fried in butter, highly seasoned with black and white pepper. Fill a baking-dish with alternate layers of the meat and boiled spaghetti, seasoning each layer with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake until brown.

BOILED SPINACH

Cook a peck of well-washed spinach, uncovered, with a cupful of boiling water for ten minutes. Drain, pressing out all the liquid. Chop fine, rub through a sieve, season with salt, pepper, butter and sugar, and moisten with stock, gravy, Brown Sauce, or Cream Sauce. Garnish with hard-boiled eggs or croutons. It may be reheated without chopping and seasoned with salt, pepper, butter, and vinegar.

BUTTERED SPINACH

Cook two quarts of spinach according to directions previously given. Drain, and serve with melted butter; or, chop fine, press out all the liquid, reheat in Cream Sauce, season with a little grated nutmeg and at the last add two tablespoonfuls of butter.

BOILED SQUASH

Peel, remove the seeds, boil until tender, drain, and serve with melted butter or White Sauce; or, peel, seed, and quarter a squash, and cook in stock to cover, seasoning with salt, pepper, butter, and a little sugar. Or cook it in milk, seasoning with salt, pepper, and powdered mace.

BOILED SUMMER SQUASH

Cut into small pieces and cook for an hour in boiling water, then drain and mash, seasoning with salt, pepper, and butter. Moisten with a little cream, and serve.

CREAMED SQUASH

Steam or boil small pieces of squash, drain, and reheat in Cream Sauce.

FRIED SUMMER SQUASH

Cut the squash in slices, dredge with seasoned flour, and sauté in butter or dip in crumbs, then in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. It may be parboiled for five minutes before frying; or, prepare according to directions given for Fried Eggplant.

ROASTED SQUASH

Peel and cut into long strips. Cook in the pan with a roast, basting with the drippings.

BROILED TOMATOES

Peel and slice large tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and broil, basting with oil; or, dip in seasoned crumbs or corn-meal before broiling. Sprinkle with minced parsley if desired.

BROILED TOMATOES WITH SAUCE

Season Cream Sauce with a little mace, and salt and pepper to taste. When smooth and thick add a well-beaten egg and pour it over broiled tomatoes; or, serve broiled tomatoes with highly seasoned melted butter mixed with lemon-juice.

BAKED TOMATOES

Peel the tomatoes and put into a baking-dish. Sprinkle thickly with sugar and bake until the sugar has become a thick syrup; or, stuff tomato shells with seasoned crumbs, dot with butter, and sprinkle with sugar and bake.

BAKED TOMATOES À LA CRÉOLE

Peel and cut in two, three large tomatoes. Chop fine a green pepper and an onion and spread over the tomato. Sprinkle with salt, dot with butter, and bake, basting with the pan-gravy. Add half a cupful of cream or milk to the pan-gravy, thicken it with flour cooked in butter, and pour the sauce over the tomatoes. Serve on toast.

CREAMED BAKED TOMATOES

Make a Cream Sauce, seasoning with celery salt and onion-juice. Put a tablespoonful of the sauce into a ramekin, add a small peeled tomato, and cover with the sauce. Spread buttered crumbs over the top and bake in a pan of boiling water for half an hour. Serve in the ramekins.

CURRIED TOMATOES

Chop fine an onion and an apple and fry in butter, seasoning highly with curry powder. Moisten with stock or gravy and spread on fried or baked tomatoes.

DEVILLED TOMATOES

Mix together the mashed yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, a teaspoonful each of powdered sugar and made mustard, and a pinch each of salt and cayenne. Add three tablespoonfuls of butter and, gradually, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar or lemon-juice. Bring to the boil, add two eggs well-beaten, and cook in a double boiler until thick. Pour over fried or boiled tomatoes and serve; or serve with a Maître d’Hôtel Sauce made hot with mustard and cayenne.