The Rural cook book

Baked Beans and Tomato Sauce. — Prepare the beans as for ordinary baking, by soaking and parboiling; then put in a crock, with the pork, and add the sauce, which should be prepared while the beans are cooking. Some cooks merely use the juice from a can of tomatoes; we prefer to use some of the solid part, too. Stew slowly, put through a sieve to make it smooth, and flavor with salt, pepper, a small pinch of clove, a little mustard, and, if desired, a shred of onion. Do not thicken; pour this over the beans, cover and bake. Add a little water from time to time if the beans seem to be becoming too dry. A little sugar may be added to the sauce if the family taste approves. String Beans and Bacon. — Cut one or two slices of tender mild-cured bacon in tiny cubes and cook to a delicate brown in the frying pan. Add a pint of hot cooked and drained string beans and a few drops of onion juice. Shake the frying pan thoroughly. Add salt and pepper as needed and turn into a hot dish. Peas may be served in the same way. Lyonnaise Beets.— Two cupfuls of boiled beets cut into half-inch dice, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoon of chopped parsley, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, half the quantity of pepper. Put all of the ingredients except the beets into a double boiler. When well heated add the beets, stir for a few minutes that they may absorb the dressing and serve very hot Baked Summer Cabbage. — Cut into quarters and boil tender in salt and water two medium-sized heads of cabbage, drain and chop. Arrange an inch layer in the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle with black pepper, then crumb in a layer of stale bread. Drop small bits of butter over the bread crumbs. Repeat the process until the dish is nearly full, bread coming on top. Then pour over the whole one pint of rich milk or thin cream, and bake until nicely browned. Baked Cabbage With Cheese.— Boil a firm white cabbage for 15 minutes in salted water, then change the water for more that is boiling, and boil until tender. Drain and when cool chop fine. Butter a baking dish, and lay in the chopped cabbage. Put one tablespoonful of butter m a frying pan ; when it bubbles stir in one tablespoonful of flour, one-half pint of stock, same of boiling water; stir until smooth. Then season with a saltspoonful salt, half as much pepper, four tablespoonfuls grated cheese. Pour over the cabbage, sprinkle cracker crumbs over the top, dot with bits of butter and bake in a quick oven 10 minutes. Browned Cabbage. — One small cabbage, one tablespoonful of butter, half a cupful of milk, two eggs and bread crumbs. Cut the cabbage into small pieces and remove the hard center. Wash the pieces in cold water; then pour boiling water over them and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain off the hot water and put the cabbage in boiling salted water to cook until tender. When it is done pour off the water, pressing down hard on the cabbage, to be sure that all the water has been drained away. Chop as fine as possible, beat up the eggs, add the milk and stir all the ingredients and seasoning with the cabbage. Put the whole into a buttered baking dish and bake for one hour in a moderate oven. Red Cabbage, German Style. — Slice red cabbage thin, cover with cold water, and let soak 20 minutes; then drain. Put one quart in a stew pan with two tablespoon fuls of butter, one-half teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of finely chopped onion and a few gratings each of nutmeg and cayenne. Cover, and cook until the cabbage is tender; then add two tablespoontuls of vinegar and one-half tablespoonful of sugar, and cook five minutes.