VEGETABLES.
1453. Banana Fritters à la Whittemore.
—Neatly peel six fine, sound, not too ripe yellow bananas, cut each one in halves, crosswise, place them on a dish. Have a well-prepared batter as for [No. 1190]; gently and carefully roll them in the batter one by one, so as to keep them in their original form. Place them in very hot fat, and fry for ten minutes. Lift them up with a skimmer, thoroughly drain. Dress them on a hot dish with a folded napkin, and serve.
1454. Banana fried à la John Claflin.
—Select six very firm, sound, red bananas; carefully peel them, cut each one into halves lengthwise, place them on a dish, one beside another, sprinkle two tablespoonfuls of flour over, gently and carefully roll them in the flour without disturbing their shapes.
Have two gills of sweet olive-oil in a sautoire on the hot range, and when very hot, with the medium of a flat spoon transfer the half bananas gently into the very hot oil, and fry them for five minutes on one side, then turn them over and fry for five minutes on the other side. Gently lift them up with a skimmer one by one, carefully dress them on a hot dish with a folded napkin, and send to the table.
1455. Fried Bananas à la Juarez.
—Have six firm, sound, not too ripe bananas; neatly peel them, and proceed to fry them in exactly the same manner as above ([No. 1454]), but using the same quantity of clarified butter instead of sweet-oil.
1456. How to Blanch Macaroni and Spaghetti.
—Have a pan on the fire with plenty of water, with two tablespoonfuls of salt; and thoroughly boiling, gently slide in three-quarters of a pound of fine Italian macaroni without breaking it. Should any stick out of the pan, gently press it down when the water boils again so as to have it as long as possible. Boil it for seventeen minutes. Remove from the fire, drain well, lightly refresh it in cold water, drain again, and then it will be ready for use whenever desired. Spaghetti is blanched the same way.
1457. Macaroni à la Crême.
—Take the above quantity of blanched macaroni, place it in a sautoire on the fire, with three ounces of butter, tossing well until it has thoroughly absorbed the butter; then add five heaped tablespoonfuls of grated Swiss cheese, season with a tablespoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of white pepper, and the third of a saltspoonful of grated nutmeg, and pour in a gill of hot Béchamel sauce ([No. 154]). Toss all well together, while thoroughly heating for five minutes. No spoon or fork should be used for mixing, as it only needs tossing. Place it in a hot hollow dish or tureen, and send it to the table.
1458. Timbale de Macaroni à la Napolitaine.
—Instead of preparing three-quarters of a pound of macaroni as in [No. 954], prepare only half a pound. Have a nice round timbale about six to seven inches in diameter, lightly butter the interior. Cut one good-sized sound truffle with a tube one inch in diameter, cut also a small piece of cooked smoked beef tongue, of the red part, with the same tube, then cut both into very thin even slices. Place one slice of truffle at the bottom of the timbale right in the centre, then place four pieces of tongue at equal distances around the slice of truffle. Arrange macaroni all around each piece of tongue, beginning at the side of the truffle and ending at the other side. Have four pieces of truffle cut in diamond-shape; place one piece at each section of the macaroni, then arrange a large macaroni completely around the design, as close as possible, and continue the same until the mold is completely covered all around, and then lay in the ice-box until further action. Place the remaining macaroni in a saucepan with two ounces of good butter, tossing well while heating for five minutes, season with a tablespoonful of salt and a third of a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, adding five heaped tablespoonfuls of grated Swiss cheese and a gill of tomato sauce; ([No. 205]) toss well again, to mix well together. Cut the remainder of the tongue and truffles into thin slices, and add them to the macaroni; gently toss again for two minutes; take from off the fire, and let cool off for fifteen minutes. Take the decorated mold from the ice-box, and then carefully fill it with the above preparation, being very careful not to disturb the design. Place the timbale into a large saucepan, fill the pan with water, up to half the height of the timbale, then place it in a moderate oven to cook for one hour and a half. Remove from out the oven, take the timbale out of the water. Have a hot serving-dish, then carefully turn the timbale over the dish, lift up the mold, pour half a gill of hot tomato sauce around the dish, and send to the table.
1459. Timbale of Spaghetti à la Levantinese.
—Prepare half a pound of spaghetti exactly the same as for [No. 1456]. Have a piece of cooked smoked beef tongue, red part; cut off a very thin slice, two and a half inches in length by two in width, and with a pointed sharp knife cut out of it a shield, then cut a cross out right in the centre of the shield, one inch in length by one in width. Have the white of a cooked egg, cut out of it a thin slice, then cut into a cross, to fit the one cut out of the centre of the shield. Take a round timbale mold, from six to seven inches in diameter, place the shield at the bottom of the mold right in the centre, carefully lay the egg cross right in the centre of the shield, gently pressing it down. Have one cooked string bean about two inches long, cut it in half, then place one piece at each side of the shield, beginning at the end, going up to half the height of the shield. Split twelve cooked peas into halves, arrange six pieces alongside of each string bean, so as to represent olive branches, then arrange the spaghetti all around the mold, the same as for the macaroni, and proceed exactly the same with the rest, and send to the table.
1460. Teltauer Rubchens à la H. A. Ceasar.
—Procure half a quart of fine, sound rubchens (turnips), scrape, pare, and wash them well. Have a saucepan on the fire, with plenty of cold water and a heaped tablespoonful of salt, add the rubchens, and as soon as it comes to a boil, drain the water out, add now to the rubchens a heaped tablespoonful of good butter, a teaspoonful of powdered sugar, and a teaspoonful of salt; pour in half a gill of white broth ([No. 99]) or consommé, tightly cover the pan, and let slowly cook for one hour, gently tossing them once in a while. Have in a saucepan on the range one tablespoonful of good butter and four tablespoonfuls of flour. Mix well together with the wooden spatula for five minutes without browning, then gradually add one pint of hot milk, continually mixing while adding it. Season with a teaspoonful of salt, a very little grated nutmeg, and let thoroughly cook for ten minutes. Remove it from the fire, strain it through a fine sieve into the pan with the rubchens, add then half a tablespoonful of good butter, briskly shuffle the pan while cooking for three minutes longer, so as to have them well mixed together; pour it into a hot vegetable dish, and serve.
1461. Teltauer Rubchens à la Schlissinger.
—Prepare half a quart of rubchens in the same manner as in [No. 1460], and after they have been cooked for one hour place them in a sautoire with one ounce of good butter, toss them gently until they obtain a light brown color, which will take about eight minutes; add then a teaspoonful of very finely chopped fresh parsley, gently toss them once more, transfer them into a hot vegetable dish, and send to the table.
1462. Teltauer Rubchens à la Musser.
—Have half a quart of fine, sound rubchens (turnips) prepared as in [No. 1460], and then proceed with the whole operation exactly the same, only substituting one pint of hot demi-glace sauce ([No. 185]) for the cream, serving the same.