Part 3

Fried eggplant cut in Julienne shape Green peppers sauté in butter Fresh tomatoes sauté

Arrange the vegetables around the suprême on platter by keeping them each separately and serve sauce apart.

FONDU AU FROMAGE À L’ALEXANDER

Melt two tablespoonsful of butter and work with three spoonsful of flour into light brown color; add one pint of milk, let it boil for five minutes, constantly stirring; incorporate ½ pound of grated Swiss cheese or domestic Roquefort, a little salt and paprika, and bind with six yolks of eggs; let cool down.

This preparation cut and roll into sticks of ¾ inches diameter by 1½ inches long, pass through flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs, and fry crisp in hot fat pan.

Serve in napkin with fried parsley.

POACHED EGGS EN CROUSTADE À L’ALEXANDER

Work into a dough ½ pound of flour, one tablespoonful of butter, two whole eggs and a little salt; cut this pie-crust dough into tartlette forms, say 3 inches in diameter, place in molds and bake in moderate oven.

Melt two tablespoonsful of fresh butter, add 12 finely chopped shallots, ¼ pound of finely chopped fresh mushrooms, pepper, salt, and let it simmer, by constantly stirring, until it is thoroughly cooked, and finish with chopped parsley; mix well into this two tablespoonsful of demi-glacé. Cover the bottom of tartlettes with a layer of this preparation, place a freshly poached egg on top, cover with thick cream sauce, spray with grated Parmesan cheese, a dash of melted butter, and bake in moderate oven for about five minutes.

Dish up on napkin with crisp fried parsley.

ROMAINE SALAD À L’ALEXANDER

Decorate half a head of Romaine with sliced grapefruit, sliced orange and white grapes split and seeded, or large black cherries.

Prepare dressing as follows: Incorporate into French dressing finely chopped chives, French mustard and teaspoonful of red currant jelly; mix well and use as dressing for above salad.

ROGNONS DE VEAU À L’ALEXANDER

Take six fresh veal kidneys, remove skin and fat, and cut to very small cubes, adding ½ pound of very fine chopped fresh mushrooms, and put aside.

Melt two tablespoonsful of butter with twelve finely chopped shallots and brown to a nice golden color. Add the kidneys and mushrooms and let it simmer for about eight minutes, taking good care not to let it cook too much, preventing the kidneys from getting hard; incorporate into this appareil one pint of demi-glacé, one cup of bread crumbs (for thickening) chopped parsley, pepper and salt, and let it cool down.

Cut round canapes of bread 3 inches in diameter, and ½ inch thick, and fry in butter to crusts, and drain; then cover the crusts with this preparation to a half ball shape, pass through beaten egg, spray with a mixture of bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese and dash of melted butter on top and bake in moderate oven for about ten minutes.

Dish up on napkin with fried parsley, and serve with demi-glacé sauce separate.

STRAWBERRY TARTLETS ALEXANDER

Work into a dough ½ pound of flour, ¼ pound sugar, 1 tablespoonful of butter, 2 whole eggs, and a little salt.

Cut the dough to oval or round tartlet forms, have them baked in moderate oven, and after they are cooled down fill out the bottom of the tartlets with custard (Crème Patissière). Cover the cream entirely with a layer of selected fresh whole strawberries, and apply, with a decorating brush, lightly diluted red currant jelly; spray the top with finely chopped pistachio nuts.

BAKED OYSTERS ALEXANDER

Open six large oysters, keep in deep half shell, place in roasting pan and cover with Sauce Alexander as follows:

{ two tablespoonsful of Chili sauce { one tablespoonful of horseradish sauce Mix: { one tablespoonful of French mustard { one dash of Worcestershire Sauce { finely chopped chives, salt and pepper

Take good care the oysters are entirely covered by the sauce, then spray with bread crumbs, and have them baked for about eight minutes.

ÉMINCE OF CHICKEN À L’ALEXANDER

Select a choice five-pound fowl, have it boiled, cut into flakes and put aside.

Brown in saucepan ¼ pound of butter and two tablespoonsful of flour to a nice yellow color, add to this one quart of chicken broth and let it boil for a few minutes, keeping on stirring it; beat into this sauce six yolks of eggs and the juice of two lemons, working it all the time, but taking good care not to let it boil any more; pass it through a fine sieve and keep it hot in Bain-Marie.

Cut into flakes and sauté in butter ½ pound of fresh mushrooms, then take ¼ pound flaked boiled Virginia ham, one bunch of finely chopped Tarragon and mix this with the chicken flakes in the thoroughly heated sauce; season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste and serve in chafing dish; place on freshly made toast or hot buckwheat cakes.

XXVI

_Stewart Edward White_

MULLIGAN

This is a camp dish to be cooked over an open fire. I guarantee nothing on a stove. I know nothing of stoves, and have a dark suspicion of them. To make it: Place in a kettle half full of cold water either (a) fish cut in chunks, (b) a couple of dozen clams, or (c) a half dozen chunks of venison about the size of a tennis ball, depending on whether you want a Fish Mulligan, a Clam Mulligan, or a Game Mulligan. Also depending on what you have. Also a half dozen peeled potatoes and three large onions. Salt and pepper, bring slowly to a boil. Add a handful of cubes of salt pork or bacon. Simmer slowly until the potatoes disintegrate. If you have the remains of a can of corn or a little residue of cold rice or anything of like nature, drop them in. Next put in all the stale bread or hard tack the traffic will bear. Dissolve a tablespoonful of flour in a little warm water, and stir that in for thickening. Cook slowly until you can’t stand it any longer, and fly to it.

XXVII

_Oliver Herford_

FRIED ELDERBERRY BLOSSOMS

This sounds like a joke but it is a perfectly serious dish—I made its acquaintance at the table of a little inn in South Baden, on the shores of Lake Constance.

First you must wait until the elderberry bushes are in full bloom. Then you gather a good sized bunch of them—and cut off each blossom just below the point where the little stems join the main stalk.

These you dip into a light egg batter such as is used to make apple fritters (lighter, perhaps), taking care to cover both the flower and as much of the little stalks as possible. They should be served like fritters as soon as made.

XXVIII

_Reed Smoot_

PEACH COBBLER

One of my favorite dishes is peach cobbler. I am told that it originated in the south, but its fame has spread far beyond the limits of the Mason and Dixon line. It is made in this way:

Line a baking dish or pan, about three and one-half inches deep, with a rich pastry. _There must be no break in the pastry._ Then fill the dish to the brim with peaches—ripe, luscious ones, that have been pared and broken—not cut—in half. Sugar generously, and leave in about six or eight of the peach pits—they give a certain flavor that only peach pits may impart.

Cover the peaches with an _unbroken_ upper crust of pastry; seal it tightly along the sides, so that none of the juices or aromas may escape. Bake in a slow oven until nearly brown—then sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, that will give a certain professional luster to the dish. After that finish the browning process.

A cobbler containing a quart of peaches should bake for about one hour.

EDITOR’S NOTE:—Senator Smoot is not alone in his partiality toward peach cobbler. Back in the days before Volstead, famous cobblers were produced just as above with the addition of brandy, say a cup to a quart of peaches—but that, of course, was a long time ago.

XXIX

_Ray Long_

SHAD ROE

Dip the roe well in melted butter or bacon fat, place under hot broiler flame, cooking for five minutes on each side. Then place in a greased baking dish, season with salt, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Dot over with a little more butter, or bacon fat, add a small quantity of hot water, cover closely and bake in an oven until tender—about fifteen minutes. This may be garnished with crisp bacon which should be cooked separately.

_Dessert_

Slice fresh pineapple, cover with sugar, and put on ice for several hours. Serve with lemon water ice.

XXX

_Kenneth C. Beaton_

(“K. C. B.”)

LOBSTER

Get a couple of lobsters. Split and cleaned. And put in a pan. And dot each piece. With bits of butter. And put the pan. In a very hot oven. And broil ten minutes. And after that. Lift meat from shell. Onto heated plates. And serve with sauce. Made in a bowl. With a bit of mustard. Stirred in water. And a pinch of salt. And of paprika. Just a dash. And a scant teaspoon. Of Walnut catsup. And a tablespoon. Of Worcestershire sauce. And mix them all. With half a cup. Of melted butter. That’s just been heated. And not boiled. And serve it all. With a mess of potatoes. Baked or boiled. And boy, oh, boy! There is a dish. Fit for the gods! I thank you.

XXXI

_John Harvey Kellogg, M. D._

MACARONI WITH CHEESE

1½ cups macaroni 1 cup Cottage Cheese 2 hard boiled eggs 2 tb. butter 2 cups milk or sufficient to cover the macaroni

Boil the macaroni in salt water until tender. Place a layer of macaroni in the bottom of a baking dish, a layer of cheese (½ C.), sliced hard boiled eggs, layer of macaroni and the cheese—bits of butter are placed between the layers and on the top, sprinkle cracker, bread or PEP crumbs over the top, moisten with cream or bits of butter; sufficient milk is poured over to just cover the macaroni and bake in rather a slow oven for about forty-five minutes.

SAVORY POTATOES

1 pint sliced potatoes ½ small onion 1 tb. butter 1 cup water 1½ teaspoon salt

Place the thin sliced potatoes in the bottom of a baking dish, slice the onion over this and add the remainder of the potatoes; pour hot water over all with butter and salt. Bake in a slow oven two hours.

XXXII

_Clare Briggs_

WAFFLES

There is a simple but effective recipe for one of the kitchen’s most wonderful products.

1¾ cups flour 3 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup milk Yolks of 2 eggs Whites of 2 eggs 1 tablespoon melted butter

Mix and sift dry ingredients; gradually add milk, then yolks of eggs, well beaten. Next the melted butter and last the whites of eggs, beaten stiff. Cook on a very hot and well-greased waffle iron and serve with maple syrup.

EDITOR’S NOTE:—President Harding favors creamed chipped beef as a dressing for waffles while Mr. Briggs is a staunch supporter of the sweet-tooth school.

For those who like the sweet stuff this variation of plain maple syrup is worth trying:

Put one half pound of strained honey in a double boiler, or a small pan placed in water. _Heat very slowly_, adding a half pint of pure maple syrup with which has been previously mixed two teaspoons of powdered cinnamon and a dash of caraway. Heat and stir until thoroughly mixed—but do not boil. Serve warm.

XXXIII

_Edward W. Bok_

ASPARAGUS

The food I like?

The dishes I really crave?

The things off which I would dine every day of my life?

I never see them. I never have them.

Why?

Because Mrs. Bok says there is not a digestible dish amongst them.

But I often think of them,—wistfully, oh, so wistfully!

Here they are:

Soft-shell crabs, done in hot olive oil; or hard-shell crabs; deviled. Lobster with mayonnaise. Filet Mignon; panned in brown butter. Veal loaf. Roast pork tenderloin. Fried eels. Sausages; never had enough; ditto scrapple! Currants with a hot roll lightly wound through them. Hot fresh doughnuts. French pancakes of a thinness like unto gauze. Strong black coffee. Chocolate meringue glacé.

But as I never had the good fortune to know the above foods at first hand, I cannot well give you the recipes for them.

Perhaps you might like to know my favorite way of serving asparagus in my home, Dutch fashion, as I remember it in my native land of The Netherlands.

The asparagus bunches are placed in a double boiler upright, the tips being above the water, and thus cooked by steam. Passed at table, with the asparagus, is hard-boiled egg, put through a ricer, a small quantity of finely ground nutmeg and a dish of hot, melted butter. It always has to be explained to guests, but once the introduction is over the convert is made!

XXXIV

_Charles Hanson Towne_

CORN PUDDING

There is no dish I like better than a Corn Pudding made just like this:

2 cups of grated corn ½ cup of milk ½ cup of cream 1 tablespoonful of flour ½ tablespoonful of salt 1 teaspoonful of sugar 1 tablespoonful of butter A pinch of baking powder

Cook for a half hour and serve immediately. It is brown on the top, and in a deep dish it is the most succulent course a man could wish for. I want others to share it with me. I wish I could give a party every night with this as the _pièce-de-résistance_!

EDITOR’S NOTE:—In speaking of the origin of this dish Mr. Towne says that it was “first made by my wonderful colored housekeeper, Hattie Jefferson.”

XXXV

_Jerome D. Kern_

TERRAPIN

My favorite dish is Stewed Terrapin and my recipe follows:

Cut the boiled calves’ liver into moderate sized pieces and put into stew pan with sufficient fresh butter to stew it well.

In another pan make a sauce of pre-Prohibition Sherry or Madeira, flavored with the beaten yolk of one egg, powdered nutmeg and mace, a pinch of Cayenne pepper, salt to taste, enlivened with large lump of butter.

If pre-Prohibition Sherry is not available, names and addresses of seventy-one bootleggers can be supplied.

Stir sauce well, and just before it comes to a boil, take it off the fire.

Use three or four hard-boiled hens’ eggs to pinch hit for turtle’s eggs and send to the table piping hot in chafing dish.

IMPORTANT: Serve the sauce separately. The terrapin is frequently ignored by those who prefer the flavor of the sherry. I am one of them.

XXXVI

_Daniel Willard_

COTTAGE PUDDING

One tablespoon butter One cup sugar Two eggs Half cup milk One large teaspoon baking powder One and a half cups flour

Bake in a square tin and serve with strawberry sauce.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

One large tablespoon of butter beaten to a cream. Add gradually one and a half cups powdered sugar and the beaten white of one egg. Beat till very light and just before serving add one pint of strawberries which have been cut in small pieces.

XXXVII

_Houdini_

SCALLOPED MUSHROOMS AND DEVILED EGGS

_The Mushroom Dish_

Choose for this purpose fine firm ones. Pick, wash, wipe and peel—then lay them in a deep pudding dish well buttered. Season them with pepper and salt, and add a little onion. Sprinkle each layer with rolled bread crumbs, dot with small pieces of butter and proceed in this way until dish is full, having the top layer of bread crumbs. Bake in a moderate oven.

_The Eggs_

Boil the eggs hard. Remove shells and cut eggs in half, slicing a bit off the ends to make them stand upright. Extract yolks and rub them to a smooth paste with melted butter, cayenne pepper, a touch of mustard and a dash of vinegar. Fill the hollowed whites with this and send to table upon a bed of chopped lettuce or water cress, seasoned with pepper, salt, vinegar and a little sugar.

XXXVIII

_Charles P. Steinmetz_

MEAT LOAF

I have been consulted about very many things, but this is the first time I have been consulted on gastronomical matters. But I give herewith, from my camping experience, the following favorite dish of mine:

Beef, veal, and pork (sirloin steak and chops), ½ pound each. Cut off the bones and the fat from the beef and veal, leaving the fat on the pork. Then pass all three through the meat grinder, chopping fairly fine. Add two complete raw eggs and some finely sliced bacon (Beechnut bacon, cut in pieces about 1 inch square) and mix everything together thoroughly, adding the proper amount of salt and pepper and if available some celery salt. Form into the shape of a round loaf.

In a cast iron or cast aluminum frying pan (that is a pan of sufficiently heavy metal to well distribute the heat and guard against local burning) melt some butter, then put the loaf in the melted butter and cover the pan. Heat on a very low fire, turning over after some time, and continue for a long time, until very thoroughly cooked through. Add butter once or twice when absorbed. Then uncover and greatly raise the fire, turning over after a little while so as to brown both sides.

Then take out the loaf and put it on a warm platter or plate. Now pour a cup of cream or rich milk into the pan, stir until the sediment in the pan is dissolved, and heat until you get a good brown gravy. Pour this over the loaf and serve with boiled mealy potatoes. What is left over can be eaten cold, sliced and served on buttered toast.

XXXIX

_Charlie Chaplin_

STEAK AND KIDNEY PIE

This is how I do it:

Get 2 pounds lean steak 1 beef kidney 1 small onion.

Cut the steak and kidney into two inch pieces. Flour them. Add pepper and salt to taste. Line a deep pie dish with rich pie crust after having buttered dish. Put inverted egg cup in center. Fill with meat and finely chopped onion. Add water almost to top of dish. Roll pastry half inch thick and cover all. Make several small holes in pastry to permit steam to escape. Bake three hours in moderate oven. EAT.

EDITOR’S NOTE:—Steak and kidney pie is a favorite with many beside the great film comedian. Interesting variations of Mr. Chaplin’s recipe are:

_Lamb kidney instead of the beef kidney._

_Top crust only._

_Fry the meat chunks before putting them into the pie._

XL

_Dr. Frank Crane_

ROUND STEAK

Somebody named Johnson, a name with most excellent vibrations, writes me and says that in spite of rumors he has heard, to the effect that I have a hired hand or two to write my stuff, he believes that I honestly wrote all by myself an article which appeared some time ago over my name, in which I stated I could cook round steak so that it would taste as good as fried chicken and be as tender.

“If you are not bluffing,” he says, “you could do a world of good to many housekeepers and stag clubs if you would print your recipe. The writer has worn the outer coat of enamel off his teeth in a vain attempt to make himself believe that round steak is as tender as chicken. Give us a hand, pal.”

Hence, being called, I lay my cards down, face up, on the table, to wit, namely and as follows:

Have the butcher cut you a round steak thin. A little thicker than a lead pencil. He will insist on cutting it thicker, saying it will be juicier and so on. Draw your revolver and compel him to obey you. Don’t have the steak too thick.

After cutting the steak from the piece, have him separate it into portions, each about the size of your hand. Don’t try to cook the steak all in one piece. It must be in small sections, just as fried chicken is best when each joint is cooked separately.

Have the butcher then take his sharp knife (which is much better for the purpose than any knife you have at home, because he knows the art of sharpening and you don’t), and criss-cross each piece, on both sides, don’t forget. So that each piece will be in tatters, almost ready to fall apart.

Put in the frying pan plenty of good sweet lard. Don’t use butter. It will burn. Don’t fry in deep fat, as with doughnuts, but plenty of fat, as with fried chicken.

Rub each portion of the raw steak in flour. Rub it in good. Drop into the hot skillet. Cover it with lid. Keep covered. This cooks it through and makes it tender.

Fry till a golden brown, turning once in a while. You notice the process is exactly as with fried chicken, Southern style.

After you lift out the meat, put in the flour, let it scorch a bit, then pour water and milk mixed into the hot grease and meat particles left in the skillet. Just how much, you will have to find out by experiment. Let it boil up and boil down, keep stirring, until you have gravy of the right consistency. Flavor according to taste, with salt and pepper, before cooking. If the result is not good it is because you have not followed directions.

Round steak not only is cheap, but it is all good meat, with the minimum of waste, and properly cooked it TASTES better than any part of the beef.

XLI

_Robert H. Davis_

CREAM SAUCE Á LA WORCESTERSHIRE

This incomparable concoction is to be united in the bonds of holy wedlock with a piece of fried ham, the ceremony to be solemnized on a hot rasher, hooded.

Select a thick slice of mild cured ham, fry it in its own fat in a hot skillet until both sides show a golden brown. Place in a large cooking spoon one spoonful of Worcestershire sauce, and one heaping tablespoon of rich cream. Set the cooking spoon in frying pan beside ham until Worcestershire and cream become warm, adding a few drops of ham fat while the sauce is heating. Complete the perfect union on the rasher by pouring the sauce over the ham.

Put a Mendelssohn Wedding March disc on your phonograph and conclude the honeymoon at the table.

EDITOR’S NOTE:—This sauce was created by Mr. Davis at a breakfast given at the Wyandanch Club, Long Island, by Mr. Charles R. Flint to Admiral Guy Gaunt of the British Navy and Irvin S. Cobb of the United States of America in 1915.

XLII

_John A. Dix_

FRIED TROUT

For my favorite dish—unhesitatingly—baked beans and pork, country style.

As to my favorite recipe, that requires many condiments, among others a mountain trout stream; the inspiration of the odor of the woods; the vigor of early morning and the pursuit. The requirements, just enough trout plus a few. From the pack basket take a piece of pork or bacon, fry well in a skillet over a carefully laid fire. Prepare the fish and roll well in fine bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. When the fish are done a golden brown remove from the skillet and partake in the aboriginal manner, eating from the fingers. Kings could do no more.

XLIII

_Guy Bates Post_

LAMB CURRY Á LA “OMAR, THE TENTMAKER”