Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Potatoes, Stuffed. — Wash and dry some long, medium - sized potatoes, and bake them thirty -five minutes; then open them lengthwise and scoop them out, leaving very little of the potato inside. Butter each part and fill it with this prepared stuffing : For each potato one medium -sized tomato, one teaspoonful of chopped onion, half a teaspoonful of green pepper, one teaspoonful of butter, half a salt-spoonful of salt, quarter of a salt-spoonful of black pepper. Peel the tomatoes, remove all the seeds, and cut them in pieces. Put the butter into a small saucepan ; when melted put in the onions ; cook two minutes, then add everything to it. Cook fifteen minutes, uncovered, stirring from time to time, and remove from the fire. Have the pulp of the potatoes passed through a colander, mix it well with the cooked tomatoes, fill up each part of the potato perfectly level, so as to be able to close them. Put them back in the oven fifteen minutes and serve. Pumpkin. — Cut in slices, boil in salted water until tender, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. It can also be cut in slices and baked. Season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. See also Pies. Rhubarb, Spiced (to serve with meats). — Slice the rhubarb into inch pieces and weigh it. Put the fruit into a porcelain - lined kettle, add '/z lb. of sugar for I lb. of rhubarb, place it at the back of the range where it will be heated and the sugar be dissolved, and add a few whole cloves and some stick cinnamon. Cook slowly until it is almost as thick as jam. Turn into glasses, and, when it is cold, cover. Rhubarb, Stewed. — To i lb. of rhubarb, cut in pieces of one or two inches in length, allow *4 lb. of loaf sugar and the grated rind of one lemon. Have ready- a large tin saucepan of boiling water, throw the rhubarb in, and stir the pieces down with a wooden or silver spoon. Put the cover on, and for three or four minutes it may be left, then the cover taken off ; the rhubarb is not again left until it is done. It may be turned in the saucepan with the spoon so as not to break the rhubarb. The moment it boils it softens. In three minutes strain it off quickly, with the cover tilted on the saucepan. Let it slip from the saucepan into a pie-dish ; sprinkle the loaf sugar and grated lemon over it, and leave until cold. Rhubarb in Syrup. — Make a rich syrup of granulated sugar and a little water. Cook in it a few pieces of the yellow part of orange-peel. Cut the rhubarb in two-inch lengths and drop enough of the pieces into the syrup at one time to make a single layer. Cook them until they are clear and tender, then drain out and place them in a glass dish. Repeat until all the rhubarb is cooked. Pour the syrup that remains over the cooked fruit and serve cold. Rhubarb Tapioca. — Wash one cupful of pearl tapioca and soak it in a quart of water four hours. Butter a pudding-dish and cover Lie bottom with a thick layer of cut rhubarb. Grate a little orange-peel over it and sprinkle with sugar. Turn over this one - half of the soaked tapioca and sprinkle with tiny bits of butter. Put on another layer of rhubarb and finish with the tapioca. Bake one hour in a moderate oven. Serve warm with sweetened cream.