The Henderson cook book

A delicious dish for summer luncheons is stuffed tomatoes. Remove the pulp with a sharp knife from as many tomatoes as will be needed. Mince either one cup of cold meat, ham, veal, or chicken with 14 of bread crumbs, and 1 cup of mushrooms previously cooked, if the canned variety is not used. Season with salt, onion juice and paprika. Add melted butter and the tomato pulp. Fill the tomato cups and bake 20 minutes. Garnish with parsley. These may be served on toast. BAKED TOMATOES. Put a layer of sliced ripe tomatoes, a layer of bread crumbs, bits of butter, pepper and salt, and so on until pan is filled, having bread crumbs for last layer. Sugar to taste. Put bits of butter all over top, and bake until brown. Send to table hot. FRIED EGG-PLANT. Pare the egg-plant and cut in very thin slices. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper, pile them up evenly and put a weight on the top to press out the juice. Let stand half an hour. Beat an egg and add a tablespoonful of boiling water, dip each slice first in this and then in bread crumbs. Fry in very hot lard until a nice brown on both sides. Drain on brown paper and serve. TO STUFF AND BAKE EGG-PLANT. Boil it for half an hour, then cut in halves, scoop out the fleshy part, chop finely, mix with half its bulk of bread crumbs ; butter, salt and pepper. Replace the mixture in the shell and bake the whole three-quarters of an hour. Serve plain or with brown gravy. A little cheese grated over this is very nice; also add cold chopped meat, if liked, to the egg-plant. SPINACH. Spinach must be washed more than most vegetables to be free from grit. Cover with cold water until half hour before dinner. Then drain and throw into boiling salt water and boil for 30 minutes. Take up in strainer and serve on hot toast with poached egg on top of spinach and melted butter, salt and pepper, or with hot cream sauce. Some prefer with sliced hard boiled eggs cut on spinach instead of poached. GREEN PEAS. Shell peas and cover with fresh water until time to cook. Drop in boiling water and when done, take up in strainer and season with butter, salt and pepper. Or serve with cream sauce in timbales. FRIED PEPPERS. Wash green sweet peppers and cut them in fourths lengthwise. Remove the stem parts and the seeds. Fry them in 1 tablespoonful of olive oil for each 4 or 5 peppers, over a moderate fire, so that they will brown a little in about twenty minutes to half an hour. Turn them once, to fry both sides, and serve them neatly arranged around a mound of steamed rice or on a hot platter. STUFFED BAKED PEPPERS. Allow 1 cup of cooked meat, 14 CUP °£ canned tomatoes or 1 small tomato, 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter and ^ cup of cooked rice. Put all together in a saucepan. Chop fine one slice of onion and add with salt and pepper to season to the mixture. Cook until well blended and stuff the peppers. Top each pepper with its cover and bake 15 or 20 minutes in a very hot oven. A bread tin is best to use for baking, as the high sides keep the peppers in a standing position. CREAMED POTATOES. To 3 cups diced boiled potatoes add 1 pint cream sauce (see sauces), more seasoning if necessary, and simmer 10 minutes. Or season cold sliced potatoes, cover with milk and stew till milk is reduced one-half, then add a little butter.