The book of plain cooking

Remove the core of the tomato. Then take the pulp and mix with a little very finely-minced meat — cold ham or bacon for choice — parsley and mixed herbs, pepper and salt. Replace in the skin, put on pieces of butter, and bake. It is better to select tomatoes with thick skins for stuffing. 202. A Plain Salad Long lettuce makes the best salad, for they do not retain the water as the round ones do. Strip off the outside leaves, and pull the hearts of the lettuce away with your fingers. Do not cut with a knife. Place them in a bowl of fresh cold water, throwing in a large piece of salt. Let them remain in this water till the lettuce is nice and crisp. Then thoroughly rinse, and place in a colander to drain. Carefully wipe with a clean cloth. The dressing is far better made in the salad-bowl before the salad is put in — for it mixes better than when poured over — about a teaspoonful of salt, some pepper, and a very slight pinch of mustard, a tablespoonful of vinegar, and between two and three of salad oil. Beat all well together till the ingredients are thoroughly well mixed, then gradually put the leaves in, breaking them as you do so. Thoroughly well stir, and serve at once, for a salad should be eaten as soon as made, though it does not matter how long the dressing is prepared. Chopped onion is a great improvement, also a little fresh tarragon when it can be obtained, or a few drops of tarragon vinegar. Always keep the oil in the dark and cool, and it is better not to remove the paper from the bottle. 203. Potato Salad Cold potatoes may be used up by making them into a salad — a delicious one. You mix the same ingredients as for a plain salad, with the exception that you require a little more vinegar, for the potatoes absorb more than the lettuce. Also you should add some finelyminced parsley to the dressing. Cut the potatoes into slices (not too thick), and then thoroughly mix. Potato salad needs more onion than plain salad. 204. Celery Salad It is strange how rarely one finds celery made into a salad ; it makes a most delicious one. After having well washed and dried the celery, cut it into pieces, and place in a glass dish. Make a dressing of mustard, pepper, salt, and vinegar, mix all together, and pour over the celery. 205. Cucumber Salad Be careful to cut the cucumber from the right end — the end on which the flower is. Cut off the top and rub upon the cucumber until a white froth arises, which takes away any bitterness there may be. Then cut very finely, and mix with two or three tablespoonsful of vinegar, pepper, and salt, and, if obtainable, a little chopped tarragon. 206. Watercress Salad Watercress used by itself makes a very nice salad, and is cheap when other salads are dear. Great care must be taken in the cleansing and the picking of them. When thoroughly cleansed, drain in a colander or salad basket, after which thoroughly dry in a clean dry cloth. Prepare the dressing in the salad-bowl in the following manner : About half a tea-