Twentieth century home cook book

SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTERS. Wash and scrape thoroughly, and throw into a pan of cold water. Cut into pieces half an inch long, boil until tender, then pour off the water, season with pepper and salt, a lump of butter, and enough cream to almost cover them ; thicken gravy with very little flour. This dish is nice served on toast. FRIED OYSTER PLANT. Parboil the plant, scrape off the outside, cut in slices, dip in egg, roll in bread crumbs, and fry in hot lard. MACARONI AS A VEGETABLE. Throw into plentj' of water one-half pounJ of macaroni, simmer until tender, being careful that the pieces are not broken ; drain off all the water. Take the yolks of five and the whites of two eggs, half a pint of cream, white meat and ham chopped very fine, three spoonfuls of grated cheese ; season with salt and pepper, heat and stir constantly. Mix with the macaroni, put into a buttered mould and steam one hour. TRUFFLES. TrufHes should be well brushed and cleansed ; they belong to the family of the mushrooms and are used principally as a condiment for fish, game, beef, etc. When truffles are well cleansed and brushed they may be sliced thin, put in a baking dish and seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, parsley, garlic and a little mace. Bake nicely, and serve while hot with lemon juice. EGG PLANT. Pare and slice them ; put in salted water, where it should remain long enough to extract all bitterness ; then wipe each piece dr}', and dip first in beaten egg, then in fine cracker crumbs ; sprinkle over each piece very little pepper, and fry in hot fat. Serve while hot. You must not remove them from the water until ready to cook, as the air will turn them black. TO BAKE EGG PLANT. The egg plant should be well parboiled ; remove the meat carefully, and mix it with butter, pepper, salt and bread crumbs ; then put this mixture into the hulls ; place in an oven and bake. MUSHROOMS. Mushrooms are very rare in this country. It is very important to be able to distinguish those which are wholesome from the poisonous ones. The gills of the mushroom are of a pinky red, changing to hver coior ; the flesh is white, the stem white, solid and cylindrical. In order to test mushrooms, sprinkle salt on the gills, if they turn yellow they are poisonous ; if they turn black they are good. STEWED MUSHROOMS. Put them in a saucepan, season nicely with pepper and salt, add a spoonful of butter, and a spoonful or two of gravy from roast meat, or the same quantity of good rich cream ; shake them about over the fire, and as soon as they boil will be done. BROILED MUSHROOMS. Take the large flat mushrooms, and with a knife remove as much of the outside skin as you can without breaking the mushrooms ; then lay them on a double-wire broiler, well greased to prevent them from sticking ; place them on the fire and broil, first on one side and then the other ; a few minutes will broil them ; when they steam out sprinkle them with pepper and salt ; lay them on a very hot dish and pour melted butter liberally over them. They are nice served on buttered toast in the same way. MACARONI WITH MUSHROOMS. Take one pound of macaroni, break into small pieces and let it cook until tender ; drop in with it a little salt. Put one-half cup of mushrooms (dried) to soak in a little water. When done, drain, then fry two or three slices of bacon, cut some onion fine and put with the gravy, and let it come to a light brown ; remove from the fire and put in three small spoonfuls of chopped tomatoes, also the mushrooms, put on the stove and cook slowly twenty minutes. Grate some cheese on a platter, then put a layer of macaroni, then a layer mushrooms ; alternate until ingredients are all used. Serve hot. MUSHROOMS, AU GRATIN.