The Cook County cook book

ENGLISH PEA PORRIDGE.— 1 pt. split peas, 3 qts. water, 6 leeks or 2 good sized onions, 1 stalk of celery or teaspoon celery seed, 2 ounces bread, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 pt. mashed potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 saltspoon pepper. Wash and soak the peas over night. Cut the onions or leeks in slices; cut the celery into pieces; put them with the butter into a frying pan; stir constantly until a golden brown; throw them into a soup kettle, and add all ingredients, except the potatoes. The peas of course must be drained. Cook slowly 1 hr. If peas are not perfectly tender at the end of time, simmer gently a little longer. Press the whole through a sieve; return to the kettle, add the potatoes and when boiling season, strain and serve. This porridge should be quite thick, almost as thick as breakfast oatmeal. If it has the slightest inclination to settle, it is too thin; add a tablespoon of butter and 1 of flour rubbed to a smooth paste, bring the porridge to boiling point and serve. — Mrs. C. E. Clarkson, Willimette, 111. RICE. — Wash a cup of rice in 2 waters, then drop it slowly into 2 qts. of salted boiling water. The water should be at a galloping boil. Do not stir the rice once during the 20 minutes in which it must cook steadily. At the end of that time test a grain to see if it is tender, turn the rice into a colander; shake this hard, that the air may reach all the kernels and set in the oven 5 minutes before dishing. Each grain should stand separate from the rest. This is the South Carolinian way of cooking rice, and the only right way. — Mrs. Jane Evers, Winnetka, 111. RICE JELLY. — Mix enough water with a tablespoon of rice flour to make a thin paste, and then add 1 coffee cup of boiling water. Sweeten to taste, and boil until the rice is transparent. If it is made for a child or invalid suffering from intestinal trouble, I boil with it a stick of cinnamon; if for a fever patient add, when done, several drops of lemon juice. Wet a mould with cold water, pour in the jelly and when cold serve with milk and sugar. — Mrs. Waldon Emmery, Glencoe, 111. RYE GRUEL.— To 1 pt. of milk and 1 qt. of hot water, add 1 tablespoon of rye meal, 1 tablespoon of rice flour and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Boil together 8 or 10 minutes, add salt, strain and flavor with nutmeg. — Mabel Sturtevant, 105 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. RYE MUSH. — This is a tasty cereal. Add 1 level teaspoon of salt to 1 qt. of water, bring to boiling point, sprinkle in carefully ^ pt. rye meal, stirring constantly. Cover the saucepan, pushing it back on the stove, and cook slowly 1 hr. This should be the consistency of oatmeal breakfast porridge. If rye flour is substituted for rye meal, the mixture will be pasty. Rye Mush is sometimes served with molasses. — Mrs. Chas. Eggleston, Wheeling, 111. SAGO GRUEL. — Stand 1 ounce of sago in a pt. of water on the back of the stove for 2 hrs. to soften. Boil for ^ hr., stirring often. Sweeten and flavor to taste, add 1 wineglass of sherry wine and flavor with ginger, lemon juice or nutmeg to taste. — Mrs. Ella Fairchild, Palatine, 111.