MAYONNAISE DRESSING.
One-half teaspoonful of mustard, one-half teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper; then add two raw egg yolks, beat well and stir in a teaspoonful of strong vinegar; add very carefully, drop by drop, a scant three-quarters of a cup of best olive oil, and as it thickens half a teaspoonful of vinegar. This recipe never fails, if the directions are carefully followed. The eggs and oil should be kept in the refrigerator and be ice cold. Lemon juice may be used, instead of vinegar, if preferred.
CREAM SALAD DRESSING.
One-quarter of a cup of strong cider vinegar, one cup and a quarter of water, one-half cup of butter, one teaspoonful of mustard, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful, slightly heaping, of corn starch, one teaspoonful of sugar, a dash of cayenne pepper and the yolks of four eggs. Put the vinegar and water in a saucepan and when it boils add the butter. Beat the yolks of eggs and the other ingredients together with an egg-beater, making it quite foamy and light; pour the boiling vinegar and water upon this mixture, which will partially thicken. The bowl in which it is mixed should be placed in a pan of hot water on the stove, beating it all the time with the egg-beater. Just before it reaches the boiling point remove and turn it out into a cold bowl, beating hard for a few minutes. When perfectly cold pour it into a glass jar, fasten down the top and keep in refrigerator.
FRENCH DRESSING.
One tablespoonful of vinegar, three tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a saltspoonful of salt and one of white pepper, and a few drops of any good sauce. Lettuce should be well washed in very cold water, leaf by leaf, and drained in a basket, which comes for the purpose, then placed on the ice, and at serving time put into the salad bowl. Lettuce should never be cut with a knife, but torn with a fork and spoon, and it should not be allowed to stand after the dressing is poured over it.
TOMATO ICE SALAD.
Put a quart can of tomatoes in a saucepan over the fire with half an onion, a slice of green pepper, if convenient, three cloves, two bay leaves, a sprig of parsley, a teaspoonful of sugar, and pepper and salt to taste. Cook until the onion is tender—about ten minutes—remove from the fire, press through a sieve fine enough to retain the seeds. When cold freeze as water-ice and mould—a melon mould is very pretty for it—pack in salt and ice in the usual way; turn it out in a nest of crisp young lettuce and serve with a mayonnaise dressing in a sauceboat.
[2]TOMATO JELLY.
One can of tomatoes put on to heat in a granite or porcelain-lined saucepan with a large slice of onion, one clove, two bay leaves, a teaspoonful of chopped green pepper, salt to taste and a little sugar. Soak half a box of gelatine in a little water for half an hour, and after the tomatoes have simmered fifteen minutes let them come to a boil and pour over the gelatine to dissolve it; strain through a very fine sieve into a bowl, let it get perfectly cold, and when it begins to thicken stir well and turn into an earthenware mould. It looks prettier in a round one. Set on ice. Serve the jelly on a round dish in a bed of fresh, crisp young lettuce leaves, and place a spoonful of tender, finely-cut celery in each leaf, and pour mayonnaise around it. The jelly is better made the day before it is needed.
SPAGHETTINA AND CELERY SALAD.
Take some cold boiled spaghettina, chop—not too fine—and cover with a French dressing, and let it stand on the ice until serving time. Have an equal quantity of fresh, crisp celery cut fine, mix with the spaghettina, cover with a mayonnaise dressing and garnish with tender lettuce leaves.
SALAD OF FAIRY RINGS AND PUFF BALL MUSHROOMS.
Have both very fresh; cook the fairy rings until tender, set aside to get cold, then put on the ice. Take an equal quantity of puff ball raw, chop fine, mix with the rings, turn into a nest of tender young lettuce, cover with a mayonnaise dressing and serve.
SALAD OF FRESH FRUIT.
Peel and cut into dice enough fruit, peaches, tart plums, orange and banana to fill a cup and a cupful of crisp celery cut fine; have both ice cold; at serving time mix and cover with a cream dressing and garnish with celery tops.
[3]CUCUMBER JELLY.
Half a box of gelatine soaked for an hour in half a cup of cold water. Remove the seeds from a small green pepper, peel and cut into slices two large, fine, fresh cucumbers, or three small ones and a small white onion. Put in a saucepan, add a bay leaf and a bouquet of parsley, cover with boiling water and cook until tender; remove the parsley and bay leaf, add a saltspoonful of sugar, salt to taste—more than a teaspoonful will be required—and press through a fine sieve. There should be, when strained, two cups and a half. Pour it over the soaked gelatine—if it is not hot enough to dissolve the gelatine place the saucepan over the fire for a moment—then run it through the same sieve again; set aside in a bowl to cool. When perfectly cold and beginning to congeal, stir it well and pour into a pretty, round mould; set it on ice until ready to serve. Turn it out on a plate and arrange fresh, crisp, young lettuce leaves around it, into each of which put a spoonful of mayonnaise or cream dressing.
WALNUT AND CELERY SALAD.
Three cupfuls of fresh, crisp celery cut fine and two cupfuls of walnuts, carefully shelled that they may be as little broken as possible. Put the walnuts in a saucepan with a small onion sliced, a bay leaf, a clove and twelve pepper corns, cover with boiling water, let them cook for ten or fifteen minutes, remove from the fire, drain and throw the nuts into cold water, remove the skins and let them get cold; then set on the ice until it is time to serve. Mix them with the celery, add mayonnaise or cream dressing, put on a dish or in a salad bowl, garnish with the tender green celery leaves and serve.
PINEAPPLE AND CELERY SALAD.
Equal parts of celery and shredded pineapple. Have the celery of the very tenderest, using only the best of the heads. Select a perfectly ripe, fresh pineapple, pare it, removing the eyes carefully, and shred the fruit with a silver fork and cut into small pieces with a silver fruit knife; put the celery, cut fine, and the shredded pineapple, each by itself on the ice, that they may be very cold. When it is time to serve the salad, mix them together, put on the salad dish, cover with mayonnaise dressing, garnish with the green celery leaves and serve at once.
FRUIT SALAD.
Equal quantities of grape fruit or oranges, bananas, apples and celery. Peel the grape fruit or oranges, carefully removing all the bitter white skin, cut the pulp, the bananas and apples into small dice and the celery fine as for other salads; put the orange and apple together; the latter will absorb the juice of the orange. Set all on ice;—these fruit salads must be ice cold. When it is time to serve, mix the fruit and celery together, put into a salad bowl, cover with the cream dressing into which has been stirred a third as much whipped cream as there is dressing, and add a little more salt to it in mixing. Serve in a bed of tender lettuce leaves.
POTATO SALAD.
Prepare equal parts of cold boiled potatoes and fresh, crisp celery, cut in small pieces which will look attractive when mixed with the dressing; cut in dice four cold, hard boiled eggs, and mix them in lightly with the potato and celery when adding the dressing. Use mayonnaise or cream dressing with this salad, garnish with dainty celery tops and serve.
SALAD OF TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CELERY.
Select nice, smooth, firm tomatoes, one for each person; blanch them in the usual way, cut a slice from the stem end and remove the core and some of the seeds; set on the ice to get cold. Prepare some celery, shredding it fine and using only the very tender part; mix it with mayonnaise dressing, stuff the tomatoes, allowing the celery to come above the top, serve each in a leaf or two of crisp lettuce and pour some mayonnaise around them. Salads should be ice cold.
CELERIAC AND LETTUCE SALAD.
Boil two or three celery roots in water with a little salt until tender; drain and let them get cold. Cut them in thin slices, make a nest of crisp lettuce and put the celery slices in the center. Serve with a French dressing.
RAW JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES AND LETTUCE SALAD.
Wash and peel the artichokes, cut in very thin slices and put into an earthen bowl with vinegar and water with a lump of ice in it. The vinegar will prevent them from turning dark. When ready to serve, place in the center of nice, fresh lettuce and serve with a French dressing.
SALAD À LA MACÉDOINE.
Take several kinds of cold boiled vegetables in equal quantities, such as green peas, string beans, flowerettes of cauliflower, asparagus points, a small potato and a French carrot cut in small dice, and a little green pepper if liked; mix together and serve in a nest of fresh, crisp lettuce with a French dressing, or mayonnaise, if preferred.
ASPARAGUS SALAD.
Select very tender asparagus, cut off all the woody part and boil until tender, set aside to get cold, and then put on ice until serving time; arrange nicely on a platter or individual plates and serve with either mayonnaise or French dressing.
CUCUMBER SALAD.
Peel and cut in very thin slices, lay in a bowl, cover with water, sprinkle a little salt over them and put a lump of ice on top, let them remain until serving time, drain off the water and serve in a glass dish with a French dressing. They should be very cold and crisp. A little green pepper, chopped very fine, is an addition; also to rub the spoon used in mixing with a clove of garlic gives a piquancy to the salad.
COLD SLAW.
Select a firm cabbage and shave very fine on a cutter that comes for this purpose. Use the cream dressing or French dressing with a little dry mustard added.
The tomatoes should be blanched in the usual way, and either sliced or cut in dice or served whole; or they may be cut in quarters, not quite separating them, and arranged in a bed of lettuce with a spoonful of mayonnaise on top of each tomato and the lettuce garnished with the same.
ENDIVE
is excellent with French dressing.
EGG SALAD.
Boil three eggs hard, cut in half lengthwise, remove the yolks and mash fine. Mix together in a saucepan the third of a teaspoonful each of dry mustard, salt and white pepper, a saltspoonful of curry powder, a few drops of onion juice, a teaspoonful of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of egg well beaten, two teaspoonfuls of olive oil and a tablespoonful of rich cream. Put the ingredients together in the order in which they are named, beat well, set the bowl over the steam of the kettle and stir constantly until thick and creamy; remove and stir in the mashed egg yolks, a little at a time, and set on the ice to get very cold. To serve, fill the whites of egg, dividing the mixture among them, put each half egg on two or three leaves of tender lettuce, with mayonnaise dressing around them.
