Take one small onion and half a green pepper, chop them fine and cook until tender in a tablespoon of butter. Cut six tomatoes in half, sprinkle with a little sugar, season on both sides with salt, pepper and a little flour, and put them into the pan with skin-side down to cook partially, then turn them once; they must cook over a slow fire. Then sprinkle one tablespoon of chopped parsley over them, pour in one cup of thick cream and when this has become thoroughly hot, and has been combined with the other ingredients, the tomatoes are ready to serve. They have not been disturbed since the first turning and have retained their shape. Half a tomato is placed on a slice of toast, with sufficient gravy to moisten. At the season of the year, when tomatoes are hard and firm, they may be peeled before cooking. Later they will likely fall to pieces unless the skin is left on. This is one method of cooking tomatoes in which they lose the sharp acid taste, disagreeable to so many persons.
Cut two cups of cold potatoes into cubes; mix well with two cups of cream sauce, adding more seasoning if necessary; pour into a baking dish; cover with one cup of bread crumbs and dot with small pieces of butter and bake for about half an hour.
For this dish use sweet apples, and steam in a closely covered iron pot for three-quarters of an hour. Quarter and core five apples without paring. Put into the pot and melt beef drippings; when hot, lay a layer of apples in, skin down, sprinkle with brown sugar, and when nearly done, turn and brown; place on a platter and sprinkle with sugar.
When ready to make the pie, mix as much fruit in a bowl as required, sweeten, stirring the sugar through the berries and currants lightly with a spoon. Dust in a little flour and stir it through the fruit. Cut one of the pieces of pastry in halves, dust the pastry-board with flour and roll the lump of pastry out very thin, cover the pie-plate, a big deep one, with the pastry, trim off the edges with a knife, cutting from you. Fill the dish with the fruit, dust the surface well with flour. Roll out the other piece for the top crust, fold it over the rolling pin, cut a few gashes in it for a steam vent. Carefully put on the top crust, trim it well about the edge of the pie-plate. Press it closely together with the end of your thumb or with a pastry knife and stand the pie in a moderate oven and bake till the surface is a delicate brown. Then remove the pie and let it stand until it is cool. The top crust may be made lattice fashion by cutting the pastry in strips, but it will not be as good as between two closed crusts.
To one quart of milk add one-half cup of farina, salt, and a small piece of butter. Boil in a double boiler until thick. Beat the yolks of four eggs with four tablespoons of white sugar, and add this just before taking off the fire. Stir it thoroughly, but do not let it boil any more. Flavor with vanilla. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth with pulverized sugar. After the eggs have been whipped, butter a pudding dish, put in part of the custard, in which you have mixed the whites (If you have any extra whites of eggs beat and use them also), then a layer of stewed or canned peaches; cover with the remaining custard and bake. Eat with rum sauce.
After baking; some flour to a pale fawn color pass it through a sieve or strainer to remove its gritty particles. Break half a pound of macaroni into short pieces, boil them in salted water until fairly tender, then drain. In a little butter in a saucepan brown a level tablespoon of very finely chopped onion, then add three or four sliced tomatoes, a half teaspoon of powdered mixed herbs, a little nutmeg, salt and pepper. When the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp add one pint of milk and allow it to come to the boiling point before mixing with it two tablespoons of the browned flour moistened with water. Stir and boil till smooth, press the whole through a strainer and return to the saucepan. When boiling, add the macaroni and a few minutes later stir in two tablespoons of grated or finely chopped cheese. It may be served at once, but is vastly improved by keeping the pan for half an hour by the side of the fire in an outer vessel of water. Or the macaroni may be turned into a casserole and finished off in the oven. For a meat meal the onions may be browned in sweet drippings or olive oil and soup stock substituted for the milk.
Pare, quarter, core and slice four medium-sized apples. Melt one-quarter cup of butter and pour it with the juice of half a lemon over one cup of bread crumbs. Mix one-half teaspoon of cinnamon, grated rind of one- half lemon and one-quarter cup of sugar together. Butter a baking dish; put in alternate layers of apple and bread crumbs, sprinkling the apples with the sugar mixture, and making the last layer of crumbs. Pour one-quarter cup of boiling water on before adding the last layer of crumbs; cover and bake for thirty minutes or until the apples are soft; then uncover and brown the crumbs. Serve with cream or with soft custard or lemon sauce. If desired for a meat meal, substitute chicken-fat for butter and use lemon sauce.
Take one pound of raw beef, cut off fat and stringy pieces, chop extremely fine, season with salt and pepper, grate in part of an onion or fry with onions. Make into round cakes a little less than one-half inch thick. Heat pan blue hot, grease lightly; add cakes, count sixty, then turn them and cook on the other side until brown. When well browned they are done if liked rare. Cook ten minutes if liked well done.
Scald brains with boiling hot water to cleanse thoroughly. Boil until tender, in fresh cold salt water, being careful to remove from water while it is yet firm. Slice lengthwise and lay in dish. Pour over one-half cup of vinegar, which has been sweetened with a pinch of sugar to remove sharp taste, pinch of salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley and serve cold. Can also be served with mayonnaise.
Melt two ounces of butter in a stew-pan; fry in the buttery finely minced onion. When this is of a nice golden color stir into it a quarter of a pound of well-boiled rice. Work it well with a fork and then pour all into a buttered pie dish. Dredge over with a good coating of grated cheese, sprinkle the surface with melted butter and bake until nicely browned.
