Soyer's standard cookery

Macaroni or spaghetti should be boiled in the same way as rice, namely thrown into boiling salted water, and should never, under any circumstances, be soaked or placed in cold water previously. They should be tested occasionally with a fork, and when tender, a teacupful of cold water should be thrown into the pan to stop the boiling; the pan should then be lifted from the fire, the macaroni or spaghetti drained of all liquid, and returned to the hot dry pan, and kept hot until wanted. Boiling takes from twenty to thirty minutes. The following dishes can be made of either preparation: Boiled Macaroni. Three-quarters cup of macaroni broken in inch pieces, half cup of cream, two quarts of boiling water, one tablespoonful of salt. Cook macaroni in boiling salted water twenty minutes or until soft, drain in strainer, pour over it cold water to prevent pieces from adhering; add cream, re-heat, and season with salt. Macaroni with White Sauce. Three-quarters cup of macaroni broken in inch pieces, two quarts of boiling water, one tablespoonful of salt, one and a half cups of white sauce. Cook as for boiled macaroni and re-heat in white sauce. To MAKE WHITE SAUCE. — Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add two tablespoonfuls flour with one-half teaspoonful of salt, and pour on slowly one and one-half cups of scalded milk. Baked Macaroni. Put macaroni with white sauce in buttered baking-dish, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown. Baked Macaroni with Cheese. Put a layer of boiled macaroni in buttered baking-dish, sprinkle with grated cheese; repeat until dish is nearly full; pour over white sauce, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown. Macaroni with Tomato Sauce. Re-heat boiled macaroni in one and one-half cups of tomato sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese, and serve; or prepare as baked macaroni, using tomato in place of white sauce. Macaroni a 1'Italienne. Three-quarters cup of macaroni, two quarts of boiling salted water, one-half onion, two cloves, one and a half cups tomato sauce, one-half cup grated cheese, two tablespoonfuls of wine, one-half tablespoonful of butter. Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, with butter, and onion stuck with cloves; drain, remove, re-heat in tomato sauce, add cheese and wine. Macaroni Italian Style. (Another Method.) One cup of macaroni, two tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, one and a half cups of scalded milk, two-thirds cup of grated cheese, salt and paprika, one-quarter cup of finely-chopped cold boiled ham. Break macaroni in one-inch pieces and cook in boiling salted water, drain, and re-heat in sauce made of butter, flour and milk, to which is added cheese. As soon as cheese is melted, season with salt and paprika, and turn on to a serving dish. Sprinkle with ham and garnish with parsley. Pontifical Macaroni. Take half a pound of any kind of macaroni or spaghetti and boil for fifteen minutes. After draining, line a well-buttered mold with macaroni and fill in the center with a mixture of sliced chicken and ham, chopped liver, small button mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs sliced, breadcrumbs previously moistened with a little milk, herbs and seasoning to taste. Pour over the whole a cupful of good chicken broth, and bake for threequarters of an hour. Turn out on a dish and serve with any sauce that is liked.