CHAPTER IV.

MISCELLANEOUS DISHES.

IRISH STEW.

Let a quart of water come to a boil; add 10 to 12 pearl onions, two bay leaves, a teaspoonful of salt and a few whole black peppers or the skin of green peppers. When the onions are nearly done, add six small potatoes, let all simmer slowly until the potatoes are tender; then blend a spoonful of flour with some butter or oil, add the broth gradually. Cut five Saxon Sool eggs into halves, mix with the butter sauce and let stand in a warm place for ten minutes or until the eggs are warmed through. Then add the cooked vegetables and plenty of chopped parsley. Serve on a large platter. A tablespoonful of horseradish or French mustard added to the butter sauce gives it a pleasant flavor. In place of the butter sauce, the broth may be thickened with a little corn starch dissolved in water and two tablespoonfuls of thick cream used in place of butter. The above quantity is sufficient for a family of three. The most suitable cooked vegetable served with this dish is string beans. People who have to live on an economical plan can add one cup of hot milk to the broth and prepare more sauce. In this way the protein in the milk can serve as a substitute for two eggs. If bread is desired, serve it at the end of the meal. Toast is preferable.

Do not keep a tight cover on a dish, jar or bottle which contains raw or cooked food, unless the air within is sterile. Allow cooked food to stand open until it is cool, then put the cover over two-thirds of its opening or cover with a cheese-cloth or colander.

DUMPLINGS WITH POTATOES AND PRUNES.

Steam the potatoes. Prepare some nutritious dumplings from flour or bread with eggs. Heat some butter or oil, add finely chopped onions, fry until brown, remove from the fire and add two tablespoonfuls of syrup and some lemon juice or vinegar. Pour the potatoes and dumplings on a dish, mix with stewed cold or warm prunes, pour the syrup sauce over it, and serve. The syrup sauce can be thickened with flour and strengthened with the water in which the dumplings have been cooked; the prune juice can be added in place of the syrup. Good during summer. Dried pears or string beans may be substituted for the prunes, or a lettuce or string bean salad served with it. Macaroni or noodles may be used in place of dumplings. Growing children or those who work hard, not finding this meal satisfying, may drink some milk or eat nuts at the end of the meal.

LIMA BEANS WITH CARROTS AND POTATOES.

Soak one pound of lima beans in rain or soft water over night, cook for half an hour, add salt, and then add five good sized carrots cut to the size of the beans. Cook both for half an hour, then add four or five potatoes and cook all together until done. Thicken the broth with corn starch, add chopped parsley and butter. A tablespoonful of vinegar and sugar may be added to the sauce if the flavor is desired. The carrots may be cooked by themselves; when done, add the water to the beans and potatoes, pour a little diluted vinegar over the carrots, let stand 20 minutes, drain off the vinegar and add the carrots to the beans and potatoes. This is preferable for people who dislike the sweet taste of the carrots. Bread is not needed at this meal, as potatoes and carrots furnish sufficient carbohydrates. If bread is desired, it should be eaten in place of dessert with a little unsweetened black coffee or malt coffee.

SMALL WHITE OR BROWN BEANS WITH CARROTS AND POTATOES.

Prepare as above. Time for cooking depends on the quality. Do not add the carrots until the beans are nearly done.

The recipes for mixed boiled dinners consisting of legumes, carrots and potatoes are more wholesome and nutritious than a meal consisting of potatoes and vegetables each cooked in water and served with yeast bread, sweets, or rich soft nitrogenous foods.

PEAS WITH CARROTS AND POTATOES.

Prepare the same as the foregoing. Young green peas or string beans may be used in place of dried peas. This furnishes an excellent combination during the summer for those who prefer cooked food.

GREEN PEAS WITH DUMPLINGS.

Prepare a flour dough for dumplings. Boil them in salted water or in the liquid of the peas. If the peas are desired in soup form, boil the dumplings in the soup and omit thickening. Use one-third to one-fifth of a cup of dried peas for each person, according to size, age and occupation of the individual. This makes a perfect meal for dinner. The peas and dumplings furnish sufficient protein and starch; the fat can be added to the dough of the dumplings.

SUCCOTASH.

Cook lima beans until tender, add one cup of corn (canned or scraped from the cob) to two cups of lima beans. Let both come to a boil, thicken with a little corn starch which has been dissolved in cold water, season with celery salt or pepper and serve. Do not serve yeast bread or potatoes at this meal. Thoroughly toasted bread, green leaf salad and tomato puree are good additions.

LENTILS WITH ONIONS.

Soak a cup of lentils in soft water. Cook or stew in a double boiler, when nearly done add ten to twelve onions and salt. Let simmer slowly, when done thicken with a little corn starch, add a piece of butter and serve with tomato puree or with a salad of green leaves and raw tomatoes.

Green peas are richer in minerals than yellow peas, beans or lentils, the protein being in the form of legumin and easier to digest. They are very purifying.

MIXED VEGETABLES (Leipsiger Allerlie).

Use asparagus tops, young French carrots, peas, and cauliflower. Cook each vegetable separately with salt, in as little water as possible. When done, drain the water from each and use for soup. Mix the different vegetables in one dish and pour browned butter over them. Serve with eggs. A butter sauce may be prepared from the vegetable water in place of brown butter. Bread or flour dumplings may be served with it.

CABBAGE WITH RICE. (Jewish Dish.)

Remove the outside leaves from a firm head of cabbage, cut into halves and quarters and let stand in salted water for half an hour. Then put into boiling salted water and cook for about 20 minutes. Wash a cupful of rice and add, cover and let simmer slowly until all is done. There should be plenty of water on the cabbage for the rice to swell, so that it will not become sticky. About 2 quarts for a medium sized head of cabbage. Some people prefer to cook it with a tablespoonful of sugar. When ready to serve add a piece of butter, and pour all on a large platter. Do not eat yeast bread with it. Drink fresh milk or eat walnuts at the end of the meal. If bread is desired, use toast.

CABBAGE ROLLS.

Wash some large cabbage leaves. Fill them with dough mixed with eggs. (See recipe for bread dumplings). Then tie the rolls together with a string. Steam in a shallow dish with as little water as possible. Serve with a butter or tomato sauce and hard boiled eggs. Flavor with mace.

POTATO STEW. (Poor Man’s Bill of Fare.)

Boil some steel cut oats or pearl barley as directed for gruel (See Page 53); when nearly done add some medium sized potatoes and a little more salt. When the potatoes are tender, put them into a deep bowl, strain the gruel and pour it over the potatoes. Add a piece of butter or prepare a little sauce and mix with the gruel. Flavor with chopped parsley or onion. Good additions are: black toast, bran crackers, string beans, sprouts or kale. Oranges or apples for dessert, if desired.

The amount of fat required for a meal depends much on the season of the year, the occupation and the individual peculiarities, therefore it must be left to the consideration of the housewife. All legumes (except peanuts) are poor in fat. A glass of fresh milk is a fairly good addition with mixed boiled dinners, especially for the growing child.

MACARONI WITH PEA SAUCE.

Boil macaroni in salted water until quite soft; put into a colander. Prepare a pea sauce from the water which is drained from the macaroni, add left-over pea puree or dried pea meal. Serve over the macaroni. If the flavor of onion is desired, boil one onion with the macaroni or cut up fine and fry in butter. If this meal is not sufficiently satisfying serve some grated cold Swiss cheese in addition or drink fresh milk with it. In place of the latter walnuts may be eaten at the end of the meal. If the macaroni is served with tomato instead of pea sauce, some form of the above mentioned protein foods is absolutely necessary.

MACARONI WITH BAKED CHEESE.

Boil sufficient macaroni in salted water to fill a baking dish two-thirds full, pour over it some hot milk or tomato juice and a cupful of grated cheese, add a piece of butter and bake until brown. Serve with string beans, green leaf salad or pea soup.

RICE WITH PEA OR LENTIL SAUCE.

Cook some rice in salted water. When done add a piece of butter. Serve with the above mentioned sauce. Eat nuts at the end of the meal, either alone or in combination with dried currants or raisins.

SPANISH OMELET.

In the middle of the cooking omelet put a roll of hot spinach, turn over carefully and serve on a platter with puree of tomato as a gravy.

A pinch of pepper on gravies, milk soups, or other nutritious dishes, if mixed thoroughly with the food, assists in the coagulation of soft nitrogenous foods and prevents putrefaction, but excess of it, or if sprinkled on dry food, is very harmful. Free salt and ground spices create an abnormal desire for water and food, and they injure the mucous membrane lining of the blood vessels and glandular structures, and obstruct the capillaries.

PEAS AND CHESTNUTS.

Boil blanched chestnuts until tender, then add some young peas (canned or fresh ones boiled separately), let come to a boil, season and serve with unleavened crackers or toast. For dessert use grapes, oranges or fruit gelatine.

PEA CHEESE.

Bake or steam six medium sized potatoes. Then grate or mash fine, add salt, pepper and some butter or one-half cup of hot cream and one cup of pea puree. Mix well and pour into a square dish. When cold, slice and dip into cracker crumbs and brown in the oven or fry. Serve with carrots or mushrooms and green salad. Chestnuts or walnuts are also a good addition.

PEA LOAF.

Prepare as the foregoing, pour into a baking dish and cover with grated Swiss cheese. Bake in the oven and serve with tomatoes or apple salad and green leaves. Beans and lentils may be prepared in the same manner and flavored in different ways. Parsnips may be used for bulk instead of potatoes. The latter two vegetables are preferable to bread or toast as bulk for the reason that it makes the dish too rich in certain food elements.