Cut off the faded outside leaves and hard part of the stalk, and wash the vegetable well. Cook in boiling salted water. Drain, chop very fine and proceed as with spinach in the foregoing recipe.
For shortening; use drippings and mix with goose, duck or chicken fat. In the fall and winter, when poultry is plentiful and fat, save all drippings of poultry fat for pie-crust. If you have neither, use rendered beef fat. Take one-half cup of shortening, one and one-half cups of flour. Sifted pastry flour is best. If you have none at hand take two tablespoons of flour off each cup after sifting; add a pinch of salt. With two knives cut the fat into the sifted flour until the shortening is in pieces as small as peas. Then pour in six or eight tablespoons of cold water; in summer use ice-water; work with the knife until well mixed (never use the hand). Flour a board or marble slab, roll the dough out thin, sprinkle with a little flour and put dabs of soft drippings here and there, fold the dough over and roll out thin again and spread with fat and sprinkle with flour, repeat this and then roll out not too thin and line a pie-plate with this dough. Always cut dough for lower crust a little larger than the upper dough and do not stretch the dough when lining pie-pan or plate. If fruit is to be used for the filling, brush over top of the dough with white of egg slightly beaten, or sprinkle with one tablespoon of bread crumbs to prevent the dough from becoming soggy. Put in the filling, brush over the edge of pastry with cold water, lay the second round of paste loosely over the filling; press the edges together lightly, and trim, if needed. Cut several slits in the top crust or prick it with a fork before putting it in place. Bake from thirty-five to forty-five minutes until crust is a nice brown. A gas stove is more satisfactory for baking pies than a coal stove as pies require the greatest heat at the bottom. The recipe given above makes two crusts. Bake pies having a cooked filling in a quick oven and those with an uncooked filling in a moderate oven. Let pies cool upon plates on which they were made because slipping them onto cold plates develops moisture which always destroys the crispness of the lower crust.
Take one pint of milk, two cups of sugar, one large tablespoon of flour rubbed smooth in cold milk, two eggs beaten light, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, and one quart of sweet cream, well beaten. Heat the milk in a double boiler, and when it is at boiling point add the flour, eggs and one cup of sugar. Cook about twenty minutes, stirring very often. Let the mixture get cold, then add the remaining sugar and the vanilla and cream, and freeze. A more novel flavoring is made with a mixture of vanilla, lemon and almond extracts. The quantities given in this recipe make about two quarts of ice cream.
Boil and slice the salsify as in preceding recipe. Butter a baking dish; fill it by adding alternate layers of salsify and small bits of cheese. Season with salt, pepper and butter. Pour over it a sufficient quantity of milk or cream to moisten thoroughly. Bake one-half hour. Bread crumbs may be added if desired.
Chop the drained turnips into rather large pieces. Return to the stew-pan, and for one and one-half pints of turnips add one teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of pepper, one tablespoon of butter, and four tablespoons of water. Cook over a very hot fire until the turnips have absorbed all the seasonings. Serve at once. Or the salt, pepper, butter, and one tablespoon of flour may be added to the hashed turnips; then the stew-pan may be placed over the hot fire and shaken frequently to toss up the turnips. When the turnips have been cooking five minutes in this manner add one-half pint of meat stock or of milk and cook ten minutes. When meat or soup stock is used substitute drippings for the butter in the above recipe.
Brown three tablespoons of flour with one tablespoon of sweet drippings, add a small onion finely chopped, then cover the spider and let the onion steam for a little while; do this over a low heat so there will be no danger of the union getting too brown; add vinegar and soup stock and two tablespoons of sugar. Let this boil until the sauce is of the right consistency. Serve with spaetzlen made according to the foregoing recipe, using water in place of the milk to form the dough. Pour the sauce over the spaetzlen before serving. By adding more sugar the sauce may be made sweet sour.
To make éclairs spread the batter, prepared as in foregoing recipe, in long ovals and when done cover with plain or chocolate frosting, as follows: Boil one cup of brown sugar with one-half cup of molasses, one tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of flour. Boil for one-half hour, then stir in one-fourth pound of grated chocolate wet in one-fourth cup of sweet milk and boil until it hardens on the spoon. Flavor with vanilla. Spread this upon the éclairs.
Take a sole or fillets of any delicate fish. Lay on a fireproof dish, sprinkle with white pepper, salt and a little shalot, cover with claret or white wine, and let it cook in the oven till done. Draw off the liquor in a saucepan and let it boil up. Have ready the yolks of three eggs, well stirred (not beaten), the juice of a lemon, and two ounces of butter. Put all together in a bowl. Little by little add the hot sauce, stirring all the time. Pour it over the fish, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve very hot. A few mushrooms are a palatable addition to this dish.
Make the dough just as you would in the above recipe, adding a tablespoon of butter, and after they have risen steam instead of baking them. If you have no steamer improvise one in this way: Put on a kettle of boiling water, set a colander on top of the kettle and lay in your dumplings, but do not crowd them; cover with a close-fitting lid and put a weight on top of it to keep in the steam, when done they will be as large again as when first put in. Take up one at first to try whether it is done by tearing open with two forks. If you have more than enough for your family, bake a pan of biscuits out of the remaining dough. Serve dumplings hot with prune sauce.
Cream four tablespoons of butter with one and one-half cups of sugar, beat in separately two whole eggs, add one cup of milk alternately with two cups of flour in which has been sifted two teaspoons of baking-powder, beat all thoroughly. This recipe will make two layer-cakes which may be spread with any of the cake fillings or icings. To make small cakes omit one of the egg-whites, fill well-buttered gem pans a little more than half full, and bake in a moderately hot oven until a delicate brown. The white reserved may be beaten to a stiff froth and then gradually stir in four tablespoons of powdered sugar and the juice of half a lemon. When the cakes are cool, spread with the icing and decorate with raisins, nut meats, one on top of each or sprinkle with candied caraway seeds.
