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 class 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.

CELERY SALAD

Wash and scrape 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.

CUCUMBER AND TOMATO SALAD

Slice cucumbers and tomatoes into pieces of equal thickness, and lay them alternately around a bunch of white lettuce leaves. Pass separately either a French or Mayonnaise dressing, or both.

CUCUMBER SALAD TO SERVE WITH FISH

Peel the cucumbers, 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 cucumbers 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.

STRING-BEAN SALAD

Cut each bean in four strips lengthwise; lay them evenly together and boil in salted water until tender. Remove them carefully and drain. When they are cold and ready to serve, pile them on a flat dish, trim the ends even, and pour over them slowly a French dressing. Garnish with parsley, white chicory leaves or nasturtium leaves.

BEAN SALADS

Boiled navy beans, flageolets, or Lima beans may be mixed with French or Mayonnaise dressing, and garnished with hard-boiled eggs and parsley.

CAULIFLOWER SALAD

Break the vegetable into flowerets; season with salt, pepper, and a little vinegar and oil. Pile them in a pyramid on a dish, and pour over them a white Mayonnaise. Arrange around the base a border of carrots or beets, cut into dice or fancy shapes, to give a line of color. Place a floweret of cauliflower on the top of the pyramid.

MACÉDOINE SALAD

This salad is composed of a mixture of vegetables. The vegetables are boiled separately; the large ones are then cut into dice of equal size. The salad is more attractive when the vegetables are cut with fancy cutters or with a small potato-scoop. Peas, flageolets, string beans, flowerets of cauliflower, beets, celery roots, asparagus points, carrots, and turnips—all, or as many as convenient, may be used. Mix them lightly with French dressing or with Mayonnaise. If the latter, marinate them first. Be careful not to break the vegetables when mixing them. Arrange lettuce leaves like a cup, and place the macÉdoine in the center.

POTATO SALAD

Boil the potatoes with the skins on; when cold remove the skins and cut them into slices three eighths inch thick, or into dice three quarters inch thick, or cut the potatoes into balls with a scoop; sprinkle them with a little grated onion and parsley, chopped very fine. Turn over them a French dressing. They will absorb a great deal. Toss them lightly together, but do not break the potatoes, which are very tender. A Mayonnaise dressing is also very good with marinated potatoes. A mixture of beets and potatoes with Mayonnaise is also used. Garnish with lettuce, chopped yolk of hard-boiled egg and capers. In boiling potatoes for salad, do not steam them after they are boiled, as they should not be mealy. New or German potatoes are best for salad.

COLD SLAW

Shred a firm cabbage very fine. Mix it with a French dressing, using an extra quantity of salt, or put into a bowl the yolks of three eggs, one half cupful of vinegar (if it is very strong dilute it with water), one tablespoonful of butter, one half teaspoonful each of mustard and pepper, and one teaspoonful each of sugar and salt. Beat them together, place the bowl in a pan of boiling water, and stir until it becomes a little thickened. Pour this while hot over the cabbage, and set it away to cool.

HOT SLAW

Place shredded cabbage in a saucepan with enough salted boiling water to cover it. Boil it until tender, but not so long as to lose shape; turn it onto a sieve and drain it well in a warm place. Pour over the drained cabbage a hot BÉarnaise sauce.

Cabbage salads are good to serve with fried oysters, meat fritters, or chops.

The boiled cabbage, cold, may be used with French dressing.

TOMATO SALADS

To remove the skins from tomatoes, place them in a wire-basket, and plunge them into boiling water for a minute. This is better than letting them soak in the water, which softens them if left too long.

No. 1.

Select tomatoes of the same size and shape; peel, and place them on ice until ready to use; then cut each one in two and place on each piece a teaspoonful of Mayonnaise. Dress them on a bed of lettuce leaves; or, slice the tomatoes without breaking their form, place each one on a leaf of lettuce, cover the tomato with Mayonnaise, and sprinkle over a little parsley chopped fine; or scoop out a little of the center from the stem end and fill it with dressing.

An attractive salad is made of the small yellow tomatoes which resemble plums. Remove the skin carefully; let them get thoroughly cold; then pile them on a dish the same as fruit, garnish with leaves of lettuce, and pour over them a French dressing.

No. 2. STUFFED TOMATOES

Select round tomatoes of equal size; peel and scoop from the stem end a part of the center. Place them on ice until ready to serve; then fill them with celery cut fine and mixed with Mayonnaise. Let it rise above the top of the tomato. Put a little Mayonnaise on small lettuce leaves, and place a stuffed tomato on the dressing in the center of each leaf. Arrange them in a circle on a flat dish. Tomatoes may be stuffed in the same way with chopped veal, celery and veal or chicken, celery and sweetbreads, or chopped hard-boiled eggs and shredded lettuce.

No. 3. TOMATOES AND EGGS

Prepare the tomatoes as above; partly fill them with Mayonnaise, and press into each one the half of a hard-boiled egg, letting the rounded top rise a little above the tomato. Serve on lettuce as above.

No. 4. MOLDED TOMATOES

Select small round tomatoes. Stuff them in any way directed above, but do not let the filling project beyond the opening. Place individual molds on ice. Small cups will do; pour in one eighth of an inch of clear aspic or chicken aspic (see page 323); when it has set, place in each one a tomato, the whole side down; add enough jelly to fix the tomato without floating it. When that has set, add enough more to entirely cover it (see Fancy Molding, page 323). Turn each molded tomato onto the plate on which it is to be served, and arrange around it a wreath of shredded lettuce. Pass Mayonnaise dressing separately.

No. 5. TOMATO JELLY

• ½ can or 2 cupfuls of tomatoes.
• 3 cloves.
• 1 bay-leaf.
• 1 slice of onion.
• ½ teaspoonful of thyme.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 teaspoonful of sugar.
• ¼ teaspoonful of pepper.
• ¼ box or ½ ounce of Cooper’s gelatine, soaked in ½ cupful of water.

Boil together the tomatoes, spices, and onion until the tomato is soft; then add the soaked gelatine, and stir until the gelatine is dissolved; then strain and pour it into a border or ring-shaped mold to set. Serve with the center of the jelly-ring filled with celery cut into pieces, into straws, or curled, and mixed with Mayonnaise. Form outside the ring a wreath of shredded lettuce.

This jelly may also be molded in a solid piece and surrounded by the celery. (See illustration opposite page 384.)

CELERY AND WALNUT SALAD

Mix with the celery, cut into small pieces, one third the quantity of English walnut meats broken in two, and enough Mayonnaise to well moisten it. Garnish with lettuce.

SWEETBREADS WITH CELERY

Cut cold cooked sweetbreads into dice and mix with an equal quantity of celery. Cover with Mayonnaise and garnish with lettuce.

EGG SALAD No. 1

Cut hard-boiled eggs (see page 262) into thick slices or into quarters. Use a sharp knife so the cuts will be clean. Arrange each portion on a leaf of lettuce partly covered with Mayonnaise, and arrange the lettuce in a circle on a flat dish, the stem of the leaf toward the center of the dish. Place a bunch of nasturtium flowers or a bunch of white chicory leaves in the middle. (See illustration.)

No. 2

Cut hard-boiled eggs in two, making the cut one third from the pointed end. Remove the yolks without breaking the whites; mash them and mix with chicken, chopped fine, and enough Mayonnaise to bind them. Fill the large half of the egg with the mixture, rounding it on top like a whole yolk. Invert the small pieces of white. Cut the pointed ends of both pieces flat, and stick them together with raw white of egg. Place the vase-shaped eggs on a flat dish, and fill the spaces with shredded lettuce. Pass Mayonnaise, as that put in the yolks will not be sufficient. (See illustration.)

ORANGE SALAD

Use for this salad sour oranges; if these cannot be obtained, strain over sweet oranges after they are sliced a little lemon-juice. Cut the oranges in thick slices, remove the seeds carefully, arrange them in rows, and turn over them a dressing made of one tablespoonful of lemon-juice to three of oil, with salt, and cayenne, or paprica to taste. Serve with game.

Grape fruit may be used the same way, and walnut meats used with either.

CHICKEN SALAD

Cut cold cooked chicken into dice one half inch square, or into pieces of any shape, but not too small. Use only the white meat, if very particular as to appearance, but the dark meat is also good. Veal is sometimes substituted for chicken. Wash and scrape the tender stalks of celery. Cut them into small pieces, and dry them well. Use two thirds as much celery as chicken. Marinate the chicken as directed at the head of chapter. Keep it in a cold place until ready to serve; then mix with it the celery, and add lightly a little Mayonnaise. Place the mixture in a bowl, smooth the top, leaving it high in the center; cover it with Mayonnaise. Garnish with hard-boiled eggs, the whites and yolks chopped separately; also with sliced pickle, stoned olives, capers, lettuce-leaves, celery-tops, etc. Arrange any or all of these in as fanciful design as desired. Shredded lettuce may be used instead of celery if more convenient.

LOBSTER SALAD

Cut the boiled lobster into one inch pieces or larger. Marinate it, and keep in a cool place until ready to serve; then mix with it lightly a little Mayonnaise. Place it in the salad bowl; smooth the top, leaving it high in the center. Mask it with a thick covering of Mayonnaise. Sprinkle over it the powdered coral of the lobster. Place on top the heart of a head of lettuce, and around the salad a thick border of crisp lettuce-leaves, carefully selected.

Shad roe, canned salmon, or any firm white fish mixed with Mayonnaise, and garnished with lettuce, may be served as a salad.

OYSTER SALAD

Scald the oysters in their own liquor until plump and frilled. Drain, and let them get very cold and dry. If large oysters, cut each one with a silver knife into four pieces. Just before serving mix them with Mayonnaise or Tartare sauce, and serve each portion on a leaf of lettuce. Celery may be mixed with oysters, and served the same way.

BOUILLI SALAD

Cut beef that has been boiled for soup into half-inch dice. Marinate it, using a little grated onion with the marinade. Mix it lightly with some cold boiled potatoes cut into half-inch dice, and some parsley chopped fine. Pour over it a French dressing, or Mayonnaise. Garnish with hard-boiled eggs and lettuce.

RUSSIAN SALAD

Fill the outside of a double mold with clear aspic jelly (see page 321), and the center with a macÉdoine of vegetables, or with celery, or with any one vegetable. Marinate the vegetables; then mix them with Mayonnaise made with jelly instead of eggs (see page 290). Cover the top with jelly so the vegetables will be completely enclosed (see directions for double molding, page 325). Turn the form of salad on a flat dish, and garnish with shredded lettuce.

Ornament the bottom of small timbale-molds with carrot cut into fancy shape in the center, and a row of green peas around the edge. Add enough clear aspic or chicken jelly to fix them, then fill the mold with jelly; when it has hardened, scoop out carefully with a hot spoon some of the jelly from the center, and fill the space at once with a macÉdoine of vegetables mixed with jelly Mayonnaise as above. Serve each form on a leaf of lettuce. Pass Mayonnaise separately.Note.—Molds of salad in aspic may be elaborately decorated with rows of different-colored vegetables, or they may be arranged in layers like the aspic of pÂtÉ.

Individual salads, when served for suppers, buffet lunches, etc., may be placed around graduated socles in a pyramid. Decorations of capers and parsley, also of truffles and tongue, are suitable for Russian salads.

ASPIC OF PÂTÉ EN BELLEVUE

Ornament the bottom of individual timbale molds with a daisy design made of hard-boiled egg as directed, page 326; fix it with a little jelly; then add a layer of jelly one quarter inch thick, and a layer of pÂtÉ de foie gras alternately until the mold is full. Any forcemeat may be used in the same way. Turn the molds onto a flat dish and surround them with shredded lettuce, or place them on an ornamented socle. Pass Mayonnaise. (See illustration facing page 328.)

CHICKEN ASPIC WITH WALNUTS

Make a clear chicken consommÉ (see page 100). To one and one half cupfuls of the consommÉ add one half box of Cox’s gelatine soaked for one half hour in one half cupful of cold water. Ornament the bottom of a quart Charlotte mold with a daisy design with leaf, as given page 326. Add a layer of jelly one quarter inch thick, and then fill the outside of double mold with jelly. (See double molding, page 325.) Fill the center with one and a half cupfuls of celery cut rather fine, and one half cupful of English walnuts, broken to same size as the celery. Mix them with a dressing made of

• 3 tablespoonfuls of melted chicken jelly.
• 2 tablespoonfuls of oil.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 teaspoonful of vinegar.
• ½ teaspoonful of tarragon vinegar.
• ¼ teaspoonful of pepper.

Cover the top with jelly, so as to completely enclose the celery mixture. Turn it onto a flat dish, and place around it a wreath of shredded lettuce. This is a very delicious salad, and well repays the trouble of preparation.

BIRD’S-NEST SALAD

Rub a little green coloring paste into cream cheese, giving it a delicate color like birds’ eggs. Roll it into balls the size of birds’ eggs, using the back or smooth side of butter-pats.

Arrange on a flat dish some small well-crimped lettuce leaves; group them to look like nests, moisten them with French dressing, and place five of the cheese balls in each nest of leaves. The cheese balls may be varied by flecking them with black, white, or red pepper.

The nests may be made of shredded lettuce if preferred.

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