Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Arrange the sliced ham in a small baking-pan and put the hot sauce over it. Bake in the oven for ten minutes. Serve the ham in the platter around the tomatoes, and pour the gravy over it. Cold cooked veal or pork is also very good instead of ham. Tomatoes and Sweet Corn. — Select six medium-sized, firm, ripe tomatoes, slice off the stem end, scoop out the meat, and chop it fine. Take two or three roasting-ears (sweet green corn), cut off the tops of grains with a sharp knife, reverse the knife and scrape out the milky substance, put corn and tomatoes in a vessel, and cook about five minutes; season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste ; then fill well the rinds of the tomatoes with it, putting on top of each a small piece of butter ; place in a pan ; bake in a hot oven between twenty and thirty minutes. Serve hot or cold with fowl or fresh meats. Tomato Toast. — A quart of stewed ripe tomatoes rubbed through a colander, seasoned with butter, pepper, and salt, and sugar to taste. Let them simmer a few minutes. Cut slices of bread thin, brown on both sides, butter, and lay on a platter, and just before serving add a pint of good, sweet cream to the stewed tomatoes, and pour over the toast. Truffle. — The truffle is a Kind of mushroom without roots. There are three kinds — black, red, and white, and the difference arises from the different degrees of ripeness to which the truffle has attained. The black, being the ripest, are the best. They are seldom eaten alone, but are used for flavoring pies, ragouts, and sauces, for stuffing poultry, and for garnishing dishes. When good they have an agreeable aroma, and are light and elastic. They are best when fresh, and lose much of their flavor when preserved. They are in season from October to January, though bottled truffles may be bought at any time. Turnips, Boiled. — Turnips should only be served whole when they are very young, and then they should be covered with white sauce. When they have reached any size they should be mashed. Pare the turnips, and wash them; if very young a little of the green top may be left on ; if very large they should be divided into halves or even quarters. Throw them into slightly salted water, and let them boil gently till tender. Drain Turnips, Fried Turnips, Stuffed and serve them. Time to boil, old turnips, three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a half ; young turnips, fifteen to twenty-five minutes. Turnips, Fried. — Boil three or four turnips till they are three parts dressed. ‘Take them up, drain them, cut them into slices, and fry them in hot fat till, they are lightly browned and quite tender. Drain them, and serve with fried or broiled cutlets. Or peel them and cut them into very thin slices. Let them lie in cold water for an hour and drain them. Dissolve a slice of butter in a stewpan, and in this steam a table-spoonful of chopped onion for five minutes. Put in the slices of turnip, sprinkle a little pepper and salt over, and let them steam till they are soft. A spoonful or two of water may be added if there is any fear that they will burn.