Books and My Food: With Literary Quotations and Original Recipes for Every ..

THE Swiss chard makes a delicious summer green, with a more piquant flavor than spinach. Wash carefully, throw into a saucepan with the water still clinging to the leaves ; let it cook slowly till the juices are drawn out, then let it boil until tender. Drain in a colander, chop fine. Return to the fire and season. To half a peck add a large tablespoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of pepper. Two tablespoonfuls of cream may be used in place of the butter. AUGUST 1ST "Requesting a supply of a purée à la bisque aux Crevisse, the dumsy attendant who served him let fall the assiette of vermeil ciselé." — ^Thackeray. PUREE d la bisque aux Scrivisse, or, in plain English, crab soup, is made by melting in a saucepan one tablespoonful of butter; when hot add two small onions, minced, and one sweet green pepper, cut up, with the seeds left out; one large tomato, peeled and sliced thin ; season with salt and paprika. Add the meat of four boiled crabs with a very little water and stew ten minutes. Heat three cupfuls of rich milk in a separate vessel. Thicken with one tablespoonful of flour, rubbed in two of butter; add a bit of soda, season with salt and paprika ; take from the fire and stir with the crab meat. Pour over croutons and serve. AUGUST 2D "The bones of a green frog too, wondrous precious."— Middleton ("The Witch"). WASH frogs' legs in cold salted water, drain and scald, then let them simmer an hour in boiled milk. Remove from the milk when cool, take the flesh off the bones, and cut it into small pieces. Make a rich cream sauce ; add the frog meat, seasoned with salt and red pepper, and a little lemon juice. Fill patty shells with the mixture and cook in a hot oven ten minutes. AUGUST 3D "And hence this halo lives about The waiter's hands, that reach To each his perfect pint of stout, His proper chop to each." —Tennyson ("Will Waterproof"). THE chops from the leg, properly " cutlets," the best served breaded, and are prepared by trimming the cutlets, seasoning with salt and pepper, dipping in bread crumbs, then in beaten egg, again in bread crumbs, and frying them in smoking hot fat. If the chops are to be well done, ten minutes will be about the right time for frying, four to six if rare. Tomato sauce is a desirable addition, but not a necessity. AUGUST 4TH "The dear, dear muffins of home I" — ^Thackeray (" The Adventures of Philip"). MIX a quart of sifted flour with a quart of milk (warmed), in which half a cupful of butter has been melted; half a yeast cake, dissolved in a little warm water, and three well beaten eggs. Set to rise. When light bake in mufiin tins in a quick oven. AUGUST STH "The Moor leans on his cushion With the pipe between his lips, And still at frequent intervals The sweet sherbet he sips." — ^HoOD. ANY fruit juice makes good sherbet, but the juice of blackberries (Emerson's " Ethiops sweet") is particularly delicious, especially if the wild fruit can be obtained. Crush three quarts of the berries with a pint of sugar and let .them stand for a couple of hours. Add a quart of water and the juice of half a dozen lemons. Boil for twenty minutes, then strain, and after it is cool, freeze in an old-fashioned freezer, beating it well before packing. AUGUST 6th "Please not a seed-cake, but a plum-cake." — Thackeray.