Cooked Vegetables in Salad.
Nearly every kind of cooked vegetables can be served in salads. They can be served separately or mixed. They must be cold and well drained before the dressing is added. Any of the dressings given, except sardine, can be used.
Dressed Celery.
Scrape and wash the celery. Let it stand in ice water twenty minutes, and shake dry. With a sharp knife, cut it in pieces about an inch long. Put in the ice chest until serving time; then moisten well with mayonnaise dressing. Arrange in the salad bowl or on a flat dish. Garnish with a border of white celery leaves or water-cresses. When served on a flat dish, points of pickled beets, arranged around the base, make an agreeable change.
Lettuce Salad.
Two small, or one large head of lettuce. Break off all the leaves carefully, wash each separately, and throw into a pan of ice water, where they should remain an hour. Put them in a wire basket or coarse towel, and shake out all the water. Either cut the leaves with a sharp knife, or tear them in large pieces. Mix the French dressing with them, and serve immediately. Beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, etc., can each be served as a salad, with French or boiled dressing. Cold potatoes, beef, mutton or lamb, cut fine, and finished with either dressing, make a good salad.
Brown Sauce.
One pound of round beef, one pound of veal cut from the lower part of the leg; eight table-spoonfuls of butter, one onion, one large slice of carrot, four cloves, a small piece of mace, five table-spoonfuls of flour, salt and pepper to taste, four quarts of stock. Cut the meat in small pieces. Rub three spoonfuls of the butter on the bottom of a large stew-pan. Put in the meat, and cook half an hour, stirring frequently. Add the vegetables, spice, a bouquet of sweet herbs and one quart of the stock. Simmer this two hours, and add the remainder of the stock. Half a dozen mushrooms will improve the flavor greatly. Put the remainder of the butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, add the flour. Stir until dark brown, and as soon as it begins to boil, add to the sauce. Simmer one hour longer. Season with salt and pepper, and strain through a fine French sieve or gravy strainer. Skim off the fat, and the sauce is ready to use. This will keep a week in winter. It is the foundation for an fine dark sauces, and will well repay for the trouble and expense of making.
White Sauce.