Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve on b.u.t.tered toast.

=VENISON=

Venison is prepared and cooked the same as mutton. The roasting pieces are the saddle, and haunch or leg. It should be cooked underdone, allowing ten minutes to the pound. Serve with it currant jelly sauce and salad.

=VENISON STEAK=

A venison steak is cooked in the same manner as a beefsteak. A little melted currant jelly is served on the same dish, or as a sauce (see page 287).[199-*]

FOOTNOTES:

[199-*] The steak should be moistened with the sauce so it will have a glazed appearance.

CHAPTER VI

VEGETABLES

[Sidenote: General Directions.]

The simplest way of cooking vegetables is usually the best; but all kinds need seasoning or to be served with a sauce.

They should be cooked only until tender. The time depends upon their freshness. The same vegetable sometimes takes twice the time to cook when wilted. They should be well washed in cold water to remove all dust and insects, and if wilted, should stand some time in it to refresh them. Green vegetables are put into salted boiling water, and cooked rapidly in an uncovered saucepan. This will preserve their color. Overcooking destroys both their color and appearance.

When done they should be removed from the water at once and be well drained before the seasoning is added.

[Sidenote: Serving.]

One vegetable only besides potato is served with a meat course, but cauliflower, stuffed tomatoes, asparagus, green corn, egg-plant, artichokes, or mushrooms may be served as a separate course.

[Sidenote: Canned Vegetables]

When using canned vegetables, turn them onto a sieve or colander, and let water from the faucet run over them in order to remove the taste of the can which they sometimes have.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VEGETABLE CUTTERS.

1. Plane for cutting Saratoga Potatoes.

2. Potato Press for making potato rice.

3. Fluted knives for potato straws or fluted slices, and for potato curls.

4. Potato scoops for cutting b.a.l.l.s.]

=BOILED POTATOES=

Wash the potatoes well; take off only a thin paring, and drop them at once into cold water to prevent their discoloring. Have them of uniform size, or cut the larger ones into pieces the size of the small ones, so they will all be cooked at the same time, for after a potato is cooked it rapidly absorbs water and becomes soggy. If the potatoes are old or withered, put them on to cook in cold water; if fresh and firm, put them into boiling salted water, and boil slowly about thirty minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork. Then at once drain off every drop of water; shake them in the pot a moment to expose all sides to the air; sprinkle with a little salt; cover the pot with a double cloth, and place it on the back of the range for a few minutes to evaporate all the moisture. If treated in this way the potatoes will be dry and mealy.

Violent boiling is likely to break the outside surface and make them ragged in appearance.

New potatoes are boiled with the skins on.

=MASHED POTATOES=

After the potatoes are boiled and dried as directed above, mash them at once over the fire and in the same pot in which they were boiled, so that they will lose no heat. Season them with salt, b.u.t.ter, and cream or milk; heat the milk and b.u.t.ter together; add them slowly, and beat the potatoes well with a fork or an egg-beater until they are very light and white. Turn them into a hot dish. Do not smooth the top.

=POTATO CAKES=

Mashed potato left over may be used for cakes. Add an egg to a cupful and a half of potato and beat them well together until light; form it into cakes or b.a.l.l.s; roll them in flour and saute in b.u.t.ter, or spread the mixture in a layer one inch thick; cut it into strips or squares and saute; or put it into a well-b.u.t.tered border mold; cover with greased paper, and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven. Let it stand in the mold for ten minutes; then turn onto a dish, and fill the center with any mince or with creamed fish. Mashed potato without egg will not hold its form when molded.

=POTATO RICE=

Press well-seasoned mashed potatoes through a colander or a potato press onto the center of a dish, leaving the little flakes lightly piled up.

Serve chops or minced meat around the mound of potato.

=POTATO SOUFFLe=

To two cupfuls of smooth, well-seasoned, and quite moist mashed potatoes add the yolks of two eggs. When a little cooled stir in lightly the whites of two eggs beaten very stiff. Put the whole into a pudding-dish, and brown it in a quick oven.

=POTATO ROSES=

To two cupfuls of well-seasoned mashed potatoes, add the yolks of two eggs and white of one, and beat them well together. Place it in a pastry bag with a tube having a star-shaped opening (see ill.u.s.tration), and press it through. As the potato comes from the tube, guide it in a circle, winding it around until it comes to a point. The little piles of potato will resemble roses. Touch them lightly with a brush dipped in egg, and place a bit of b.u.t.ter on each one. Put them in the oven a moment to brown slightly. The edges touched by the egg will take a deeper color. Potato roses make a good garnish for meat dishes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POTATO ROSES. (SEE PAGE 202.)]

=POTATO CROQUETTES=

To two cupfuls of well-seasoned mashed potatoes add the beaten yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, one and a half tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter (if none has been used in seasoning), a dash of cayenne and nutmeg; stir over the fire until the potato leaves the sides of the pan. When cold, form it into small croquettes, roll them in egg and bread-crumbs and fry them in hot fat to an amber color. Serve on a napkin (see frying croquettes, page 294). The croquette mixture may be made into b.a.l.l.s enclosing minced meat. When used in this way serve with it a white sauce.

=POTATO b.a.l.l.s=

With a potato scoop (see ill.u.s.tration) cut b.a.l.l.s out of peeled raw potatoes, and drop them in cold water for half an hour. Put them into salted boiling water and boil for fifteen minutes, or until tender; drain off the water; cover with a cloth and let stand on the back of the range until dry. Serve them on a napkin, or pour over them white sauce, and sprinkle with parsley, or use them as a garnish. The pieces of potato left from cutting the b.a.l.l.s can be boiled and mashed, so there is no waste.

=POTATO OMELET=

Cut cold boiled potatoes into dice a quarter of an inch square; mix them with enough white sauce to well moisten them.

Place a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan; when the b.u.t.ter is hot, put in the potatoes and saute them until browned on the bottom, loosen them from the pan, and turn them like an omelet onto a flat dish; or this preparation may be put in a baking-dish, sprinkled with crumbs and grated cheese, then put in the oven to brown, and served in the same dish.