Part 9
Her receipt for boiling potatoes was very simple. She washed them well and peeled off a strip about a quarter of an inch wide lengthwise round each potato, placed them in an old iron pot, covered them with fresh rain-water (cold), and added a teaspoonful of salt. She allowed them to boil fifteen minutes, and then poured out a quart of the hot water and added a quart dipperful of cold water. When the edge of the peel began to curl up, she pronounced them done, and removed them from the pot, covered the bottom of a baking-tin with them, placed them in the oven with a towel over them for fifteen minutes, with the oven-door open. They were splendid.
The roast rump of salt beef was a new dish to me, but it was very good. It had stood in water twenty-four hours to extract the salt from it. It was a little dry and a trifle too well done.
My salad was composed of a few dandelions that had grown in a shady spot, a few inch dock-leaves, the tip-ends of the milk-weed, and a few wild chives, with bacon dressing; but I had no vinegar. As a substitute I gathered a handful of sheep sorrel, chopped it up fine, and sprinkled it over the salad.
On my departure the _judge_ addressed me as Mr. Weedeater, and requested me to make his cabin my home whenever I was in Minnesota.
=Cabbage.=—Never buy overgrown cabbages. They may appear very pleasing to the eye, but they are apt to be too coarse and too full of fibres to make a palatable dish. Do not trim off the outer leaves until the day they are wanted. It is a good plan to purchase a few dozen heads of cabbage with the stalks on, and hang them up in the cellar, heads down; then cut them down when wanted. Cut the heads into quarters; trim off all wilted leaves; cover them with cold water; add a handful of salt, and let them stand an hour before boiling. This process thoroughly cleanses them from insects, etc., that may be concealed between the leaves. When ready to boil cover them with boiling water; add a pea of soda, a little salt, and boil till tender. The old-fashioned way of boiling cabbage and other vegetables for a boiled dinner with the joint is not to be recommended for families outside of the farm, as it makes altogether too hearty a meal for those taking but little exercise.
=Boiled Asparagus.=—If the cut end of asparagus is brown and dry and the heads bent on one side, the asparagus is stale. It may be kept a day or two with the stalks in cold water, but it is much better fresh. Scrape off the white skin from the lower end, and cut the stalks of equal length; let them lie in cold water until it is time to cook them; tie the asparagus in small bundles, put them into a pot with plenty of water, and a handful of salt. When the asparagus is sufficiently cooked serve it on toast with drawn butter or with cream dressing, sauce vinaigrette, etc.
=Boiled Artichokes.=—Soak the artichokes and wash them in several waters; cut the stalks even; trim away the lower leaves, and the ends of the others; boil in salted water with the tops downwards, and let them remain until the leaves can be easily drawn out. Before serving remove the choke and send to table with melted butter.
=Jerusalem Artichokes.=—Peel the artichokes and throw each root into cold water and vinegar immediately, to preserve the color. Put them into boiling water, with a little salt, until sufficiently tender for a fork to pass through them easily; then pile them on a dish, and serve as hot as possible with melted butter or white sauce poured over. Soyer shaped them like a pear, then stewed them gently in three pints of water with two or three onions thinly sliced, one ounce of salt, and one ounce of butter. He then placed a border of mashed potatoes round a dish, stuck the artichokes in it points upwards, poured over them either white sauce or melted butter, and put a fine Brussels sprout between each. It made a pretty, inviting dish. Time to boil, about twenty minutes. They should be tried with a fork frequently after a quarter of an hour, as they will become black and tasteless if allowed to remain on the fire longer than necessary.
=Brussels Sprouts.=—Pick, trim, and wash a number of sprouts; put them into plenty of fast-boiling water. The sudden immersion of the vegetables will check the boiling for some little time, but they must be brought to a boil as quickly as possible, that they may not lose their green color. Add a tablespoonful of salt and a pea of soda, and boil very fast for fifteen minutes. Lose no time in draining them when sufficiently done; and serve plain, or with a little white sauce over the top.
=Green Peas.=—To have green peas in perfection, care should be taken to obtain them young, freshly-gathered, and freshly-shelled. The condition of the peas may be known from the appearance of the shells. When the peas are young the shells are green, when newly-gathered they are crisp, when old they look yellow, and when plump the peas are fine and large. If peas are shelled some hours before they are cooked they lose greatly in flavor.
=Bottled Green Peas.=—Shell the peas; put them into dry, wide-mouthed bottles, and shake them together so that they may lie in as little space as possible; cork the bottles closely, and seal the corks; bury the bottles in dry earth in the cellar, and take them up as they are wanted. They will keep three or four months.
=Boiled Turnips.=—Turnips should only be served whole when they are very young, and then they should be covered with white sauce. When they have reached any size they should be mashed. Pare the turnips, and wash them; if very young a little of the green top may be left on; if very large they should be divided into halves or even quarters; throw them into slightly-salted water, and let them boil gently till tender; drain and serve them.
=Carrots.=—This vegetable is almost invariably sent to table with boiled beef. When the carrots are young they should be washed and brushed, not scraped, before cooking—and old carrots also are better prepared in this way—then rubbed with a clean coarse cloth after boiling. Young carrots require an hour for cooking, and fully-grown ones from one hour and a half to two hours. The red is the best part. In order to ascertain if the root is sufficiently cooked, stick a fork into it. When they feel soft they are ready for serving.
=Boiled Celery.=—Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, with a little salt in it. Wash the celery carefully; cut off the outer leaves, make the stalks even, and lay them in small bunches; throw these into the water, and let them boil gently until tender, leaving the saucepan uncovered. When done, drain, and place them on a piece of toast which has been dipped in the liquid; pour over them a little good melted butter, and serve.
=Boiled Spinach.=—Take two pailfuls of spinach, young and freshly-gathered. Pick away the stalks, wash the leaves in several waters, lift them out with the hands that the sand or grit may remain at the bottom, and drain them on a sieve. Put them into a saucepan with as much boiling water slightly salted as will keep them from burning, and let them boil until tender. Take the spinach up, drain it, and press it well; chop it small, and put it into a clean saucepan with a little pepper and salt and a slice of fresh butter; stir it well for five minutes. Serve with the yolk of hard-boiled egg.
=Onion.=—This vegetable may be regarded either as a condiment or as an article of real nourishment. By boiling it is deprived of much of its pungent volatile oil, and becomes agreeable, mild, and nutritious. There is no vegetable about which there is so much diversity of opinion as there is about the onion, some persons liking a little of it in every dish, and others objecting to it entirely. Generally speaking, however, a slight flavoring of onion is an improvement to the majority of made dishes, but it should not be too strong. The smell which arises from the esculent during cooking and the unpleasant odor it imparts to the breath of those who partake of it are the principal objections which are urged against it. The latter may be partially remedied by eating a little raw parsley before and after it. When onions are used for stuffing, the unpleasant properties belonging to them would be considerably lessened if a lemon, freed from the outer rind but covered as thickly as possible with the white skin, were put in the midst of them, and thrown away when the dish is ready for the table. Onions may be rendered much milder if two or three waters are used in boiling them. Spanish onions are not so strong as the English, and are generally considered superior in flavor. The largest are the best.
=Boiled Beets.=—Wash, but do not cut them, as it would destroy their sweetness; put them on to boil in a sufficiency of water, and let them boil from two to three hours, or until they are perfectly tender; then take them up, peel and slice them, and pour vinegar or melted butter over them. The root is excellent as a salad, and as a garnish for other salads it is desirable on account of the brightness of its color.
=Boiled Corn.=—Strip the ears, pick off the silk, and put them in a pot of water with a little salt; boil half an hour. When done, cut off the corn from the cob and season it with butter, pepper, and more salt if necessary, or serve on the ear.
=Oyster-Plant.=—Scrape the roots lightly; either cut them into three-inch lengths, or leave them whole, and throw them into water with a little lemon till wanted; put them into boiling salt and water, and keep them boiling quickly till tender; drain them, arrange on toast upon a hot dish, and pour over them good melted butter, white sauce, or sauce maître d’hôtel.
=Boiled Cauliflower.=—Cut the stalk close to the bottom, and pare away the tops of the leaves, leaving a circle of shortened leafstalks all round. Put the cauliflower head downwards into a little vinegar and water for a quarter of an hour. Put it into a pan of boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt in it. Some persons prefer milk and water. Remove the scum carefully as it rises or the cauliflower will be discolored. Boil till tender. This may be ascertained by taking a little piece of the stalk between the finger and thumb, and if it yields easily to pressure it is ready. Drain, and serve. Put a lump of butter the size of an egg into a saucepan with a cupful of cold water; add gradually a teaspoonful of flour, mix smoothly, boil, and strain over the vegetable.
=Boiled Horse Radish.=—Cut each root into pieces two inches in length, and each piece into quarters; boil in water containing a little salt and one tablespoonful of vinegar. When tender drain, place the strips on a napkin, and send to table with drawn butter. This vegetable is seldom used except as a condiment or sauce ingredient. Although ignored in any other form, it is one of the most nutritious and healthful of all vegetables. It makes an excellent dish when used in equal portions with any vegetables handled in making fritters.
=Stewed Cucumber.=—Peel and quarter two cucumbers lengthwise; put them in a saucepan, add one teaspoonful of salt and one dozen whole peppers. When tender take them out; place them on toast, the edges of which have been dipped in water used in stewing. Pour drawn butter over them, well seasoned with cayenne pepper, and serve.
=Stewed Dandelion.=—The first mention of this dish will perhaps inspire most American people with aversion, but I can honestly advise them to try it. It is an inexpensive dish, and easily obtained; for fresh growths after showery weather may be had throughout the year. Gather a quantity of fresh dandelion; pick off all the withered tips and hard parts; shred them into strips, and wash them free from grit; put the dandelion into a stew-pan with a strip of bacon, and add one tablespoonful of vinegar; cover it with a small quantity of boiling water, and stew until tender. Mash with a wooden spoon; stir in a lump of butter; flavor with pepper and salt, and serve like spinach. The dish may be garnished in a variety of ways, either with hard-boiled eggs, sippets of fried bread, or slices of boiled carrot cut into shapes. It is usually served with white meats, as veal, sweet-breads, etc., but it is excellent as a garnish for poached eggs.
=The following weeds= are all good greens if properly treated: the milk-weed, the different docks, fat hen, ox-tongue, jack-by-the-hedge, sea-holly (a substitute for asparagus), sea beet, shepherd’s purse, sow thistle, hawk-weed, stinging nettle, willow herb, pile-wort, Solomon’s seal, lamb’s quarter, and a number of other weeds common to this country, and known only to a few. Once known they would be much sought after.
_TABLE ETIQUETTE._
The following article from _Harper’s Bazaar_ is so appropriate under this head that we take the liberty of inserting it entire:
“TABLE ETIQUETTE.—There are a few points of table etiquette not directly connected with the giving and receiving of dinners and teas, but which are of the first importance, as they concern individual behavior. We would be inclined to think every one acquainted with them, and allusion to them a matter of supererogation on our part, if it were not that we see them so frequently violated. Those of our readers who are, or who have always been, familiar with them will perhaps pardon our speaking of them for the sake of those who are not.
“We do not expect to see these gaucheries in the best society; but there are many people perfectly well fitted for the best society but for ignorance concerning these things, which, although trifles in themselves, are of such infinite importance on the whole. For instance, where all the requirements are not fully known, if a general cessation of conversation should suddenly supervene upon the serving of the soup, would there be silence in the place? Not at all; the gap would be filled with a continuous bubbling sound from the mouth of some one or other unlucky wight whose mother never taught him to take soup properly, and who is possibly disturbing and disgusting all those that do better, and who know how easily the trouble might be avoided. Soup is to be taken from the side of the spoon, not from the tip, and it is not to be sucked in, but the spoon being slightly tilted, it is rather poured into the mouth than otherwise, the slightest silent inhalation being sufficient for the rest.
“Another generally neglected obligation is that of spreading butter on one’s bread as it lies in one’s plate, or but slightly lifted at one end from the plate; it is very frequently buttered in the air, bitten in gouges, and still held in the face and eyes of the table with the marks of the teeth on it. This is certainly not altogether pleasant, and it is better to cut it a bit at a time, after buttering it, and put piece by piece in the mouth with one’s finger and thumb.
“Let us mention a few things concerning the eating of which there is sometimes doubt. A cream cake, and anything of similar nature, should be eaten with knife and fork—never bitten. Asparagus—which should always be served on bread or toast, so as to absorb superfluous moisture—may be taken from the finger and thumb; if it is fit to be set before you, the whole of it may be eaten. Peas and beans, as we all know, require the fork only. Potatoes, if mashed, should be eaten with the fork. Green corn should be eaten from the cob; but it must be held with a single hand, and not after the fashion of the alderman’s wife at the lord mayor’s dinner. French artichokes are to be eaten with the fingers, slightly pulled apart at the top and one of the leaves pulled out with finger and thumb; the fleshy end of this leaf is then dipped in the salad dressing served with it, and only that atom of a paler color at the bottom of the leaf is taken as it peels off between the lips, when the dry portion is to be laid back in the plate. It is always served as a separate course by itself; a pretty hand looks very pretty indeed when fingering a French artichoke. Celery, cresses, radishes, and all that sort of thing are, of course, to be eaten from the fingers; the salt should be laid upon one’s plate, not upon the cloth. Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of the knife; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps one to master a refractory morsel.
“It is best to be very moderate in the beginning of a dinner, as one does not know what is to follow, and all the rest may be spoiled for one by an opposite course. We remember the case of a lady in Mexico, who, dining with the governor of the province, was served for the first course with a hash. She was somewhat surprised; but it was a very good hash, and she really made her dinner upon it. But the next course was also hash—there were seventeen courses of hash before the main dinner, of every delicious delicacy under the sun, made its appearance! Of course, a tiny morsel of each hash, for the sake of the flavoring, was all she should have taken; as it was, she sat afterwards like Tantalus.
“Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. In England they are served with their hulls on, and three or four are considered an ample quantity. But, then, in England they are many times the size of ours; there they take the big berry by the stem, dip it into powdered sugar, and eat it as we do the turnip-radish. It is not proper to drink with a spoon in the cup, nor should one, by the way, ever quite drain cup or glass. Spoons are sometimes used with puddings, but forks are the better style. A spoon should never be turned over in the mouth. Ladies have frequently an affected way of holding the knife half-way down its length, as if it were too big for their little hands, but this is as awkward a way as it is weak; the knife should be grasped freely by the handle only, the forefinger being the only one to touch the blade, and that only along the back of the blade at its root, and no further down. In sending one’s plate to be helped a second time, one should retain one’s knife and fork, for the convenience of waiter and carver. At the conclusion of a course where they have been used, knife and fork should be laid side by side on the plate—never crossed; the old custom of crossing them was in obedience to an ancient religious formula. The servant should offer everything at the left of the guest, that the guest may be at liberty to use the right hand. If one has been given a napkin ring, it is necessary to fold one’s napkin and use the ring; otherwise the napkin should be left unfolded. One’s teeth are not to be picked at table; but if it is impossible to hinder it, it should be done behind the napkin. One may pick a bone at the table, but, as with corn, only one hand is allowed to touch it; yet one can usually get enough from it with knife and fork, which is certainly the more elegant way of doing; and to take her teeth to it gives a lady the look of caring a little too much for the pleasures of the table; one is, however, on no account to suck one’s fingers after it.
“Wherever there is any doubt as to the best way to do a thing, it is wise to follow that which is the most rational, and that will almost invariably be found to be the proper etiquette. There is a reason for everything in polite usage; thus, the reason why one does not blow a thing to cool it is not only that it is an inelegant and vulgar action intrinsically, but because it may be offensive to others—cannot help being so, indeed; and it, moreover, implies haste, which, whether resulting from greediness or from a desire to get away, is equally rude and objectionable. Everything else may be as easily traced to its origin in the fit and becoming.
“If, to conclude, one seats one’s self properly at table, and takes reason into account, one will do tolerably well. One must not pull one’s chair too closely to the table, for the natural result of that is the inability to use one’s knife and fork without inconveniencing one’s neighbors; the elbows are to be held well in and close to one’s side, which cannot be done if the chair is too near the board. One must not lie or lean along the table, nor rest one’s arms upon it. Nor is one to touch any of the dishes; if a member of the family, one can exercise all the duties of hospitality through servants, and wherever there are servants, neither family nor guests are to pass or help from any dish.”
I would here disclaim against the disgusting habit of mouth-rinsing so prevalent at many dinner-parties. The bad taste of such a procedure seems to me so evident that everybody of refinement would avoid it. Yet I have repeatedly seen it resorted to in fashionable society.
_BANQUET SERVICE._
The correct or proper manner of taking care of a number of guests that have assembled before the hour of dinner or supper has always been a puzzling problem to the novice in this line of business; but a first-class caterer will always be willing to help the host out of the dilemma, provided the host does not pretend to know more about the business than the caterer. It is a very good plan to have a colored servant at the door, another to receive the coat, hat, and cane, and give a paper check therefor, and still another to usher the guests to the reception-room, where they will find the host holding court over a bowl of lemonade or a light punch. The guests are eventually summoned to the banquet-room, but just before they enter it is “in good form” to serve them with a glass of plain Vermouth, or a Vermouth cocktail, as an appetizer. White servants are particularly to be recommended for the dining-room.
They then sit down to a repast, served in the following order (assuming of course that the table is set for a banquet):