Put into the chafing-dish a cupful of canned tomatoes, and cook until they begin to soften; then season with one tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Add two beaten eggs, and stir constantly until they begin to thicken. Then extinguish the flame, and the heat of the dish will be sufficient to complete the cooking. Stir constantly until they are of the consistency of scrambled eggs. Serve at once, or they will separate.
TOMATOES AND RICE
Put into a chafing-dish a half cupful of tomatoes; add a bay-leaf, a few drops of onion-juice, pepper and salt to taste. Let them cook until tender, then remove the bay-leaf and stir in as much boiled rice as can be well coated and moistened with the tomatoes. Serve with cracker biscuits.
CREAMED DISHES
(EGGS, CHICKEN, OR VEAL)
Use the double pan with water. Make a white sauce by putting in the chafing-dish one tablespoonful of butter; let it bubble, then stir in one tablespoonful of flour; let it cook a few minutes, but not brown; then add a cupful of milk slowly, stirring all the time until it is a little thickened. Season with pepper and salt. Lay in carefully thick slices of hard-boiled egg. As soon as they are heated, place them on slices of toast softened with hot water, and pour the thickened sauce over them. For chicken or meat, season the sauce with a few drops of onion-juice, a little chopped celery if convenient, salt, pepper, and paprica. Have the chicken in good-sized pieces, or meat in thin slices, and leave them in the sauce only long enough to become well heated; canned chicken or turkey may be used. Any kind of meat can be minced and used in this way, in which case the sauce should be made with half milk and half stock. If stock is not at hand extract of beef (one teaspoonful to a cupful of boiling water) may be substituted. With chicken or oysters, the yolk of an egg is added just before it is removed, which makes it “à la poulette.”
DISHES À LA NEWBURG
These are favorite chafing-dish preparations, and may be made of lobster, crabs, shrimps, soft-shelled clams, chicken, or cold boiled halibut. Lobster: Take the meat of one boiled lobster, put it in a chafing-dish with a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne or of paprica. Stir lightly with a fork for three minutes, or until the lobster is well heated; then add a wineglassful of sherry or of Madeira, cook for another three minutes, and then add the beaten yolks of three eggs, diluted with a half pint of cream. Stir the mixture constantly for a minute, or just long enough to set the egg. If cooked too long it will curdle; serve at once. Prepare the dishes à la Newburg with a double pan. For soft-shell clams use only the soft half of the clam. For chicken use the white meat cut into inch squares. For halibut leave the pieces large, and break them as little as possible.
TERRAPIN
The prepared terrapin which comes in cans is the best for the chafing-dish, and needs only to be heated and seasoned to taste.