The International Jewish Cook Book

Chapter 29

GREEN PEAS AND RICE

Sh.e.l.l one-half peck of green peas and wash them well; if canned peas are used pour off liquid and rinse with cold water. Heat one-fourth cup of b.u.t.ter or other fat in a spider, add one cup of rice and let simmer, stirring constantly until rice is a golden brown; add one quart of boiling water, then the drained peas and one-half teaspoon of salt, and one-half cup of granulated sugar. Place in pudding dish, set in the oven and bake until rice is tender. (Serve hot.)

GREEN PEPPERS

Sweet green peppers, within the last ten years have gained a place in cookery in this country. Their flavor is depended on for soups. They are used in stews. They are used for salad, and they are used much as a separate vegetable in dozens of different ways.

STUFFED PEPPERS

Select six tender, sweet peppers. Soak in water bread crumbs sufficient to make one pint when the water is pressed out; mix with one-fourth teaspoon basil, herbs and two teaspoons of salt, add two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter.

Cut off the stem end of each pepper; carefully remove the interior and fill the peppers with the prepared dressing. Place in a shallow baking-pan and pour around them white sauce thinned with two cups of water. Bake about one hour, basting frequently with the sauce.

PEPPERS STUFFED WITH MEAT

Cut a slice from the blossom end of each pepper, remove seeds and parboil ten minutes. Chop one onion fine and cook in fat until straw color; add one-fourth cup of cold cooked chicken or veal, and 1/4 cup of mushrooms; cook two minutes, add 1/2 cup of water and two tablespoons of bread crumbs. Cool, sprinkle peppers with salt and a pinch of red pepper. Fill with stuffing, cover with crumbs and bake ten minutes.

STUFFED PEPPERS (ARDAY-INFLUS)

Take sweet green peppers, cut off blossom end; prepare the following: To one pound of chopped meat take one egg, grate in one onion, a little salt, citric acid (size of bean dissolved in a little water), mix all together. Place this mixture in the peppers, but do not fill too full.

Set the entire top of peppers in place. Melt one tablespoon of fat in a saucepan, add sliced tomatoes, then the stuffed peppers and 1/2 cup of water; let steam 1/2 or 3/4 of an hour. Make sweet sour with a little citric acid and sugar to taste. Thicken gravy with 1/2 tablespoon of flour, browned with 1/2 tablespoon of fat.

GREEN PEPPERS STUFFED WITH VEGETABLES

Brown large white onions, add 1/2 cup of uncooked rice, a little salt, piece of citric acid (size of a bean dissolved in a little water), fill peppers, stew with tomatoes like Arday-influs. Or fill peppers with red cabbage which has been steamed with onions and fat, and add moistened rice.

PEPPERS STUFFED WITH NUTS

Another good way to stuff peppers is to parboil them and then stuff them with a forcemeat made of chopped nuts and bread crumbs moistened with salt and pepper. Bake, basting occasionally with melted b.u.t.ter for twenty minutes.

STEWED PEPPERS

Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds, stems and pith. Then cut them in neat, small pieces and throw into boiling salted water. Boil for half an hour. Drain them and then add salt to taste, one tablespoon of b.u.t.ter and four tablespoons of cream--to four peppers. Heat thoroughly and serve.

BROILED GREEN PEPPERS

Broil on all sides; place the broiled peppers in a dish of cold water so that the skin can be easily removed. When the peppers are all peeled put in a bowl or crock, add French dressing, and cover closely. These peppers will keep all winter.

RADISHES

There are many varieties of radishes, round and long, black, white, and red. The small red radish may be obtained all year. They are served uncooked, merely for a relish. The large varieties are peeled, sliced and salted for the table.

To serve the small ones for table, remove tip end of root, remove the leaves and have only a small piece of stem on radish. They may be made to look like a tulip by cutting into six equal parts from the root end, down three-quarters of the length of the radish.

BROILED MUSHROOMS

Wash the mushrooms; remove the stems and peel the caps. Place them in a broiler and broil for five minutes, with the cap side down during the first half of broiling. Serve on circular pieces of b.u.t.tered toast, sprinkling with salt and pepper and putting a small piece of b.u.t.ter on each cap.

CREAMED MUSHROOMS

First wash them thoroughly in cold water, peel them and remove the stems, then cut them in halves or quarters, according to their size.

Melt one tablespoon of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan over the fire then add the mushrooms and let them simmer slowly in the b.u.t.ter for five minutes; season them well with salt and black pepper, freshly ground. After seasoning, add a gill of cream and while it is heating sift one tablespoon of flour in a bowl, add one-half pint of milk. Stir these briskly till flour is all dissolved, then pour it gradually in the saucepan with the mushrooms and cream, stirring the whole constantly to keep it from lumping. Let it just bubble a moment, then add another tablespoon of b.u.t.ter and pour the creamed mushrooms over hot b.u.t.tered toast on a hot platter and serve.

Cooked like this mushrooms have more nutritive value than beef.

SCALLOPED MUSHROOMS

Saute mushrooms and prepare two cups of white sauce for one pound of mushrooms, add one teaspoon of onion juice. Into a well-greased baking dish place one-quarter of the mushroom, then one-quarter of the sauce, and one-quarter of the bread crumbs, continue in this way until all the sauce is used, pour one cup of cream over this and sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top. Bake fifteen minutes in a moderate oven, or until the crumbs are browned.

SAUTeD MUSHROOMS

Wash, peel caps and stems of one pound of mushrooms, drain dry between towels. Place in spider with two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and one-quarter teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook twenty minutes, tossing them. Serve on hot slices of toast.

BOILED OKRA

Wash and cut off the ends of young pods, cover with boiling salted water and cook about twenty minutes, until tender. Drain, add cream (a scant cup to a quart of okra), a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, and salt and pepper to taste. Another way of stewing is to cook it with tomatoes. To a pint of okra pods, washed and sliced, allow a dozen ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced, and one medium-sized onion. Stew slowly for an hour, adding one tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, a scant teaspoon of salt and pepper to season. No water will be required, the tomato juice sufficing. In the West Indies lemon juice and cayenne are also added to stewed okra.

BOILED ONIONS

Peel the onions and cut off the roots; drop each into cold water as soon as it is peeled. When all are ready, drain and put in a saucepan well covered with boiling water, adding a teaspoon of salt for every quart of water. Boil rapidly for ten minutes with the cover partly off; drain and return to the fire with fresh water. Simmer until tender; add pepper and b.u.t.ter and serve, or omit the b.u.t.ter and pepper and pour a cream sauce over the onions.

SPANISH ONION RAREBIT

Boil two large onions until very soft, drain, chop, and return to the saucepan with a small piece of b.u.t.ter. Add milk, salt, pepper, a dash of tabasco sauce, one teaspoon of prepared mustard; one-half cup of grated cheese. Stir until of the consistency of custard.

SCALLOPED ONIONS

Cut boiled onions into quarters; put them in a baking dish and mix well with cream sauce; cover with bread crumbs and bits of b.u.t.ter and place in the oven until the crumbs are browned.