Egg-Plant.—Take the fruit fully ripe; cut in slices not more than a quarter of an inch thick, and put it to soak in cold salted water for two hours. This removes a black, bitter property, said to be unhealthful, certainly disagreeable; then wipe the slices on a clean cloth, dip in the white of egg and fry in boiling hot butter till well browned, but be careful not to scorch them; serve hot.
Another Way.—Pare and quarter two or three egg-plants, according to the size of your family. Soak them in salt and water, as directed above, then boil till soft enough to mash like turnips. Mash them smooth, add a few bread crumbs soaked in milk, and one or two table-spoonfuls of butter, according to the quantity; a little chopped parsley, an onion boiled and mashed, and salt and pepper. Mix all thoroughly; pour into a baking-dish, cover the top with grated bread, and bake for a half-hour. Serve hot. For a fancy dish some boil the plant till soft, then cut in halves and scoop out the flesh, leaving the skin whole. Mash the inside smooth, and dress as above. Mix well, and stew half an hour, then put it back into the shell or skin; strew bread crumbs over, and brown slightly.
Cucumbers after they begin to turn yellow, and muskmelons that come on too late to ripen, may be sliced and fried like the egg-plant, and can scarcely be distinguished from it. Some think they are better.
Fricasseed Egg-plant.—Peel and slice the egg-plant; lay the slices in salt-water two hours, to remove the bitterness and the black which it would otherwise have; after soaking, drain off all the water; have enough boiling water in a clean, bright saucepan to cover the slices; throw in a table-spoonful of salt, and lay in the egg-plant; let them boil till thoroughly cooked; then drain off the water, pour in sufficient milk to cover the slices, and add two table-spoonfuls of butter, rolled in flour; let it simmer gently, shake the pan over the fire till the sauce is thick, and then stir in the beaten yelks of three eggs just before serving.
To Stew Tomatoes.—Pour boiling water over fair and fully ripe tomatoes, that you may peel them quickly; let the water remain only long enough to start the skin. When peeled, cut into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain-lined kettle, as tin or iron turns them dark and gives a bad taste. If onions are agreeable, cut one small one in with the tomatoes. Cover closely and set where they will gently simmer, but not boil hard. Stir them occasionally to prevent burning, and when they have cooked two hours add salt and pepper to suit your own taste, and to a quart of tomatoes add a table-spoonful and a half of sugar, and two and a half even spoonfuls of bread or cracker crumbs. After the crumbs are added stir often or they will stick to the bottom of the dish and soon burn. Twenty minutes before dinner beat two eggs, or if you have more than a quart of tomatoes increase the number in the proportion of two eggs to a quart; stir briskly and often after the eggs are added, and serve hot. If possible the tomatoes should be skinned and on the back part of the stove before breakfast, as the longer they simmer the better they will be. Three hours’ slow cooking at least, five is better. If prepared according to rule, they are thought very nice by tomato-lovers, and are better warmed over the second day than they were the first.
Baked Tomatoes.—Peel and slice good, firm, but ripe tomatoes; put them in a pudding-dish, season with pepper, salt, two great spoonfuls of sugar to a quart of tomatoes, and one spoonful of butter. Sprinkle some finely powdered bread crumbs over the top and bake slowly two hours.
To add two well-beaten eggs is thought by some to improve this dish.
Scalloped Tomatoes.—Peel as many large, ripe tomatoes as you wish to prepare; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick; pack in a pudding-dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, a little white sugar, and a teaspoonful of butter; then a layer of tomatoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the dish is nearly full, having tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a little sugar, and more butter; strew the top with bread crumbs, and bake, covered, half an hour; then remove the cover, and bake brown, but be careful not to scorch.
We have received from a South Carolina lady the two following receipts:—
Boiled Rice.—One pint of rice, as new as it can be had,—old rice has a dead taste,—to one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt. Boil briskly a few minutes, until the water seems absorbed; then, keeping it closely covered, set on one side of the stove, where it can be kept hot and steam itself done,—not become soft and mushy. In about half an hour it will be cooked sufficiently. Serve very hot with the meats, like potatoes. If cooked soft and watery, and stirred till gluey—as is so often done—it would not be thought eatable at the South. Never stir more than once, and then only when it first boils. Some prefer only one pint of water to one pint of rice.