SALADS
Of the many articles used for salad, lettuce is preëminently first in favor. It is the king of salads; and, whatever else is used, lettuce usually forms part of the dish to make it complete. A plain lettuce is always acceptable and can be served in several forms. Combined with one or more articles equally common, a number of bouquet salads can easily be made, giving dishes attractive both in taste and color. The bouquet salads should be placed on flat dishes in order to show the arrangement, color, and variety of articles used.
A variety in salads is desirable; and, as they can be eaten every day, a little change in the combinations will give variety.
The use of nasturtium blossoms is recommended. They are not only beautiful to look at and decorative, but have a piquant flavor. Combinations of green such as are obtained by lettuce and watercress are pleasing.
In the illustrations a number of combinations are given which will suggest others.
NO. 89. PLAIN LETTUCE SALAD.
No. 1. Plain lettuce salad. The lettuce here is arranged to resemble a cabbage. For this a head of cabbage lettuce is used. The leaves are taken apart, carefully washed and dried, and the stalks flattened by cutting a little slice off the bottom to make them stand upright. They are then put together again in the natural form, but more spread open, and placed on a round platter. Just before serving a French dressing is poured over them with a spoon, to have each leaf moistened, care being taken not to disarrange the leaves.
NO. 90. HEART OF CABBAGE LETTUCE.
No. 2. Lettuce hearts. Divest a head of Boston cabbage lettuce of the outer leaves down to the hard head. With a sharp knife cut the head into quarters and arrange them on a dish with the stalk ends toward the center. Sprinkle over them, or not, a little celery cut into small dice. If celery is used, place a little in the center of the dish and between the quarters. At the moment of serving pour French dressing, using a spoon, into the lettuce hearts, moistening them well.
The outside leaves taken from the head can be broken into small pieces or cut into ribbons and used as shown in other illustrations.
NO. 91. BOUQUET SALAD—LETTUCE AND WATERCRESS OR NASTURTIUMS.
No. 3. Bouquet salad. Break crisp lettuce leaves into pieces, arrange them on a flat dish, and place in the center a bunch of watercress or of nasturtium blossoms. Just before serving moisten the lettuce with French dressing, and the watercress also if it is used.
NO. 92. BOUQUET SALAD. SHREDDED LETTUCE AND HARD-BOILED EGGS.
No. 4. Bouquet salad. Place a number of crisp lettuce leaves together, and with a sharp knife cut them across into strips about a quarter of an inch wide. Pile the ribbons in the center of the dish and place slices of hard-boiled eggs around them. Moisten with French dressing at the moment of serving.
NO. 93. BOUQUET SALAD. LETTUCE. TOMATOES. EGGS.
NO. 94. BOUQUET SALAD. ARRANGED IN FIVE LINES OF
COLOR. RADISHES, CUT TO RESEMBLE ROSES, IN CENTER ON A LAYER OF CELERY
CUT INTO SMALL DICE. AROUND THE CELERY A RING OF WATERCRESS. BOILED
BEETS CUT INTO STRIPS AROUND THE WATERCRESS. LETTUCE CUT INTO RIBBONS
AROUND THE BEETS. THE WHOLE MOISTENED WITH FRENCH DRESSING.
No. 5. Bouquet salad. Use a good head of cabbage lettuce. Arrange the white leaves, in a bunch resembling the natural head, in the center of a flat dish. Garnish with slices of tomato and hard-boiled eggs. Just before serving cover the whole with plain French dressing. Use a spoon and pour the dressing on carefully so that all the parts will be moistened without being disarranged.
Mayonnaise may be used on the eggs and tomato if preferred, in which case the dressing should be put on the eggs in the cups under the yolks.
NO. 95. BOUQUET SALAD. A MOUND OF CELERY, CUT INTO
DICE, IN THE CENTER. RADISHES, CUT TO RESEMBLE ROSES, PLACED AROUND
THE CELERY AND ONE ON TOP. WATERCRESS AROUND THE WHOLE. ALL MOISTENED
WITH FRENCH DRESSING.
NO. 96. BOUQUET SALAD. PILE OF CUT BEETS IN THE CENTER.
SURROUNDED BY ALTERNATE PILES OF CELERY AND WATERCRESS. A RADISH ON
EACH PILE OF CELERY. ALL MOISTENED WITH FRENCH DRESSING.
NO. 97. BOUQUET SALAD. HARD-BOILED EGGS ON A BED OF
MAYONNAISE. CIRCLE OF CUT BEETS AROUND THE MAYONNAISE. LETTUCE CUT
INTO RIBBONS AROUND THE BEETS.
NO. 98. SALAD OF ASPARAGUS TIPS. A PILE OF BOILED ASPARAGUS TIPS SURROUNDED
BY A WREATH OF WHITE LETTUCE LEAVES AND RADISHES
CUT TO RESEMBLE ROSES, PLACED ALTERNATELY. ALL
MOISTENED WITH FRENCH DRESSING.
NO. 99. SALAD OF ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS, LETTUCE, AND PEAS,
WITH MAYONNAISE.
Illustrations Nos. [94], [95], [96], [97]. Bouquet salads arranged as explained in legends under the illustrations.
No. 10. Daisy salad. Select tender green leaves of lettuce. Cut the stalks so that the leaves will lie straight and keep in place. Put a spoonful of mayonnaise in each leaf, then arrange on each one in rosette form the white of a hard-boiled egg cut lengthwise into strips, and place a whole yolk in the center.
No. 11. Salad of asparagus tips. See illustration [No. 98].
No. 12. Salad of artichoke bottoms. Take artichoke bottoms as they come from the can. Rinse them off with cold water. Spread each one with mayonnaise and pile on it as many vegetables as it will hold. Use green peas, string beans, flowerets of cauliflower, or any mixture of vegetables that may be convenient. Place a little mayonnaise on top of the vegetables, and place the artichoke cups on leaves of lettuce arranged around a bed of mayonnaise. Or a glass or cup filled with mayonnaise can be placed in the center of the dish and the individual portions arranged around it.
No. 13. Vegetable salad. Mix together equal portions of cold boiled string beans, cut in half-inch lengths, and lima beans. Pile them on a flat dish with a surrounding border of lettuce leaves. Pour over them slowly plenty of French dressing.
This is a good hot-weather salad to serve with cold meats on hot days when hot dishes are not acceptable.
No. 14. Macedoine of vegetables. Boil small portions of as many different kinds of vegetables as convenient, and keep them in separate dishes. When they are cold, and shortly before serving, moisten them with French dressing. Just before serving mix them together, adding some mayonnaise.
Peas, string beans, lima beans, flageolets, carrots, cut into dice, and beets cut into dice, make a good combination.
No. 15. Aspic of vegetables en bellevue. Fill individual timbale molds with any or with different kinds of vegetables, then turn in enough aspic (see page [125]) to cover them, and place them in the ice-box to set.
Use these forms on cold fish or meat dishes with mayonnaise under them. They require a dressing, but if it were mixed with the vegetables it would cloud the jelly.
No. 16. Cucumber and tomato salad. Peel the tomatoes, cut them in two, and cover each piece with mayonnaise. Place them on one side of a vegetable-dish, and on the other side place sliced cucumbers moistened with French dressing. Separate the two with crisp leaves of lettuce.
No. 17. Tomato and green pepper salad. Cut peeled tomatoes into slices three eighths of an inch thick. Cover them with a thick layer of chopped green peppers. Place them in the center of the dish with a border of crisp lettuce leaves. Moisten the whole with French dressing.
NO. 100. TURNIP CUPS HOLDING CELERY MIXED WITH MAYONNAISE.
No. 18. Turnip cups with celery. Select turnips of uniform size and not too large. Cut off the tops to give a flat surface for the bottom of the cups. Cut a slice about two inches thick from each turnip. With a fluted knife pare the outside into rounding shape, then with a potato-scoop take out the centers and form a cup.
Leave the cups in water until ready to use; they will keep twenty-four hours or more in this way. Chop some parsley very fine and spread it on a board. Moisten the edges of the cups and press them on the parsley. This will give a green edge around the tops. Fill the cups with celery mayonnaise, or with any vegetable salad.
NO. 101. CELERY AND APPLE WITH CREAM MAYONNAISE.
No. 19. Celery and apple salad. Cut a bunch of crisp white celery into small bits, add a chopped green pepper and a teaspoonful of chopped pimento. Mix it with mayonnaise. Cut into dice one quarter as much apple as you have of celery. Just before serving mix it with the celery, and the whole with whipped cream.
Pile the salad in a mound on a flat dish and garnish it with lettuce or other leaves and radishes. For one bunch of celery there will be needed two apples and a half pint of cream.
The celery is quickly prepared by cutting the stalks into strips one quarter of an inch thick, then laying them together in a pile and cutting them all together into lengths of one quarter of an inch or less. Tart apples of good flavor should be used. Remove the seeds and ribs of the green pepper and cut it into fine bits. Pimentos are Spanish red peppers and are very mild. They come in cans and can be bought at the grocer’s.
NO. 102. INDIVIDUAL APPLE SALAD. CELERY AND APPLE MIXED WITH
CREAM MAYONNAISE, SERVED IN APPLES. GARNISHED
WITH A WHITE LETTUCE LEAF.
No. 20. Individual apple salad. Select apples that are best both in color and flavor. Take out the core carefully, using a pointed knife, and make the hollow on the stem end. An apple-corer can be used, in which case the end piece should be put back again to plug the bottom. The wall of the apple should be half an inch thick. Fill the hollowed out apple with creamed celery and apple mixture, as given on page [121], omitting the green pepper and pimento. Serve on individual plates with one white lettuce leaf at the side of each apple.
NO. 103. CABBAGE SALAD. SERVED IN CABBAGE LEAVES.
No. 21. Cabbage salad. Add to a cupful of cream the beaten yolks of two eggs, one teaspoonful of mustard, one half teaspoonful each of salt, pepper, and sugar, and half a tablespoonful of celery seeds. Put all this in a double boiler and stir until it thickens. Let it cool. When ready to serve add to the dressing a tablespoonful of vinegar and mix it with cabbage chopped fine. Serve in cabbage leaves as shown in illustration. Cold slaw may be served in the same way.
NO. 104. MASHED POTATO SALAD.
No. 22. Mashed potato salad. To a quart or a little more of mashed potatoes add three tablespoonfuls of oil, a teaspoonful each of onion juice and salt, a dash of nutmeg, one half teaspoonful of pepper, a tablespoonful of pickled beets chopped fine, a tablespoonful of cucumber pickle chopped fine, and a tablespoonful of vinegar taken from the pickled-beet jar. Beat all together until the potato is light. The beet vinegar will color it pink. If a deeper color is wanted add a little more of the red vinegar. The potato should be a moist purée. If the salad is too dry after the ingredients are in add a little soup stock or water. Shape into a mound without pressing it, and garnish it with slices of beets, pickles, and lettuce.
NO. 105. SHAD ROE SALAD.
No. 23. Shad roe salad. Wash the roe carefully and place it in salted water. The water must not boil or it will break the skin. Simmer it for twenty minutes. After cooling cut it with a sharp knife into slices quarter of an inch thick. Place the slices, overlapping, on a dish. Garnish with lettuce leaves. Pour over the roe a plentiful amount of French dressing.
NO. 106. CHICKEN SALAD.
No. 24. Chicken salad. Cut cold chicken into half-inch dice, using both white and dark meat. Moisten it with French dressing. Cut tender celery into small dice and mix it with the chicken, using two thirds as much celery as there is of chicken. Mix the whole with mayonnaise. Form it into a mound. Cover it with mayonnaise. Decorate the mound as follows:
Begin at the top and form four lines of chopped pickled beet, dividing the form into four sections. Follow the lines of beet with lines of chopped white of hard-boiled eggs. This will leave triangular spaces. Make another line of beets and fill the spaces left with the crumbed yolks of hard-boiled eggs. Outline the small triangular spaces with capers and finish the top with an olive and sprigs of parsley. Place lettuce leaves and slices of hard-boiled egg around the dish. Veal instead of chicken may be used in the same way. Lobster salad should be mixed with lettuce instead of celery.
No. 25. Chestnut salad. Mix together two cupfuls each of tart apples cut into half-inch dice, celery cut into small pieces, and boiled chestnuts cut into half-inch pieces.
Put in a double boiler:
2 tablespoonfuls of butter,
9 tablespoonfuls of vinegar,
½ teaspoonful of sugar,
1½ teaspoonfuls of mustard,
1 teaspoonful of salt,
¼ teaspoonful of pepper,
yolks of four eggs.
Beat all this well together and stir until thickened. After it has cooled and just before serving add the dressing and a cupful of whipped cream to the salad mixture.
No. 26. Fruit salads. Fruits are sometimes mixed with mayonnaise and used as a salad.
The following mixtures may be used: Pineapple, oranges, and apples. Grape-fruit, oranges, and canned pears. Pineapple and banana. Apple and grape-fruit. Garnish with lettuce leaves.