=CHEESE STRAWS=

Mix with one cupful of flour one half cupful of grated Parmesan cheese, a dash of cayenne, one half teaspoonful of salt, and the yolk of one egg; then add enough water to make a paste sufficiently consistent to roll. Place it on a board and roll to one quarter inch thickness. Cut it into narrow strips and roll so each piece will be the size and length of a lead pencil. Place them in a baking-tin and press each end on the pan so they will not contract. Bake to a light brown in a moderate oven.

Serve with salad. These straws will keep for several days, and should be heated just before serving.

=CHEESE STRAWS No. 2=

Take bits of puff paste; roll them to one half inch thickness; cut them into strips one inch wide and three inches long; sprinkle them with grated cheese and bake; or, the pastry may be rolled to one quarter inch thickness; then spread with cheese, doubled over, and then cut into strips, leaving the cheese between two layers of paste.

=CHEESE PATTIES=

Make some small round croustades as directed (page 82). Dip them in b.u.t.ter and toast them in the oven to a delicate color. Fill the centers with a mixture of two ounces of grated cheese, one half tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful of milk, a little salt and pepper. Place the croustades again in the oven to melt the cheese. Serve very hot.

=COTTAGE CHEESE=

Place a panful of milk which has soured enough to become thick, or clabbered, over a pan of hot water. Let it heat slowly until the whey has separated from the curd; do not let it boil, or the curd will become tough; then strain it through a cloth and press out all the whey; stir into the curd enough b.u.t.ter, cream, and salt to make it a little moist and of good flavor. Work it well with a spoon until it becomes fine grained and consistent, then mold it into b.a.l.l.s of any size desired.

=FONDUE=

See page 335.

CHAPTER XVII

SALADS

[Sidenote: Drying the salad.]

Nearly all the meats, vegetables, and fruits may be served as salads. The essential thing is to have the salad fresh and cold; and if green, to have the leaves crisp and dry. If any water is left on leaves, the dressing will not adhere to them, but will run to the bottom of the dish, and both the salad and the dressing will be poor. All greens should be carefully washed in cold water to free them from dust and insects, and to make them crisp. After they have stood fifteen to twenty minutes in cold or ice water, free them from moisture by swinging them in a wire basket, or dry, without bruising, each leaf carefully with a napkin. The dressing is added only at the moment of serving, as the salad wilts if allowed to stand after the dressing is added. The green salads are the most simple of any, and are especially worthy the little care required to make them perfect.

[Sidenote: Cutting the meat.]

Meat of any kind used for salads should be cut into dice, but not smaller than one half inch, or it will seem like hash. It should be marinated before being mixed with the other parts of the salad. Meat mixtures are usually piled in cone-shape on a dish, the Mayonnaise then spread over it, and garnished with lettuce, capers, hard-boiled eggs, gherkins, etc.

[Sidenote: Marinating.]

TO MARINATE.--Take one part of oil and three of vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste; stir them into the meat, and let it stand a couple of hours; drain off any of the marinade which has not been absorbed, before combining the meat with the other parts of the salad. Use only enough marinade to season the meat.

French dressing is used with green vegetable salads, and either Mayonnaise or French dressing with potato and tomato salads.

[Sidenote: Fish salads.]

Lettuce, water-cress, fetticus, sorrel, or other leaf salads are better with French dressing. A boiled fish can be served whole as a salad for suppers or luncheons, or in hot weather as a fish course for dinner. It may be covered, all but the head and tail, with a thick coating of green or red jelly Mayonnaise (see page 290), and elaborately decorated with capers, olives, gherkins, hard-boiled eggs, and lettuce.

Salmon, blue fish, ba.s.s, or any firm fish, serves this purpose.

Fish may also be cut into cutlets of equal size and shape, and covered with jelly Mayonnaise garnished in the same way.

Nasturtium blossoms make a good garnish, and also add a good flavor to green salads.

=MAYONNAISE=

The receipts for Mayonnaise are given on pages 288-290. White Mayonnaise, instead of that having the color of the eggs, is the fancy of to-day. The yolks will whiten by being stirred before the oil is added, and lemon-juice, used instead of vinegar, also serves to whiten the dressing; so it is not always necessary to add whipped cream, although the cream gives a very delicate and delicious Mayonnaise. The jelly Mayonnaise is used for molded salads, and will be found very good, as well as useful, for the cla.s.s of salads served at suppers, etc.

=FRENCH DRESSING=

This dressing is the most simple, and the best one to use with green salads for dinner. The proportions are one tablespoonful of vinegar to three of oil, one half teaspoonful of salt, and one quarter teaspoonful of pepper. Mix the salt and pepper with the oil; then stir in slowly the vinegar, and it will become white and a little thickened, like an emulsion. Some like a dash of paprica or red pepper. When intended for lettuce salad it is much improved by using a little tarragon vinegar with the wine vinegar. More oil may be used if preferred, but the mixture should be so blended as to taste of neither the oil nor the vinegar.

=LETTUCE SALAD=

Use only the tender leaves. Let them stand half an hour in cold water to become crisp. Rub the inside of the salad bowl lightly with an onion.

Wipe the lettuce leaves perfectly dry without bruising them, and arrange them in the bowl in circles, the heart leaves in the center. Sprinkle over them a teaspoonful of mixed tarragon, parsley, and chives, chopped fine; pour over the French dressing, and toss them lightly together.

French lettuce salads always have chopped herbs mixed with them, and they are a great improvement to the salad. If all of them are not at hand, any one of them may be used alone. The salad should be put together only just before being served, or its crispness will be lost.

Nasturtium blossoms, small radishes cut into flowers, or a few white chicory leaves may be used with plain lettuce salad.

=WATER-CRESS AND APPLES=

Prepare the water-cress the same as lettuce, letting it become crisp in cold water, then drying it thoroughly. Mix it with French dressing. A few thin slices of sour apple with water-cress makes a good salad to serve with ducks.

A chopped hard-boiled egg sprinkled over the top of water-cress is a good garnish, and improves the salad.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SALAD OF WATER-CRESS GARNISHED WITH RADISHES CUT TO RESEMBLE ROSES.]

=CELERY SALAD=

Wash and sc.r.a.pe the tender stalks of celery, cut them into one quarter inch pieces, or into straws two inches long, or cut them in pieces one and a half inches long, and slice them in small strips nearly to the end; place them in ice-water for a few minutes to curl them. Mix the celery with either French or Mayonnaise dressing, and garnish with lettuce leaves or celery tops.

=CUc.u.mBER AND TOMATO SALAD=

Slice cuc.u.mbers and tomatoes into pieces of equal thickness, and lay them alternately around a bunch of white lettuce leaves. Pa.s.s separately either a French or Mayonnaise dressing, or both.

=CUc.u.mBER SALAD TO SERVE WITH FISH=

Peel the cuc.u.mbers, and place them in cold water to become crisp. Do not use salt in the water, as is sometimes recommended, as it wilts and makes them indigestible. Cut the cuc.u.mbers in two lengthwise, and lay them, with the flat side down, on the dish on which they are to be served. Slice them without destroying their shape, and pour on them a French dressing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CUc.u.mBERS CUT IN HALVES LENGTHWISE AND THEN SLICED TO SERVE WITH FISH.]