Various - "Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 101. October 10, 1891"

Bayard Veiller - "The Thirteenth Chair"

American Anti Slavery Society - "The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims"

H. W. Phillips - "Fables For The Times"

Donald Finkel, 79, Poet of Free-Ranging Styles, Is Dead
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Book Review: The Dream by Gurbaksh Chahal
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Book Review: The Dream by Gurbaksh Chahal
Donald Finkel, a noted American poet whose work teemed with curious juxtapositions, which in their unorthodoxy helped illuminate the function of poetry itself, died on Nov. 15 at his home in St. Louis. He was 79. The cause was complications of Alzheimers

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The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) written by Mrs. F.L. Gillette

M >> Mrs. F.L. Gillette >> The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)




Omelets are called by the name of what is added to give them flavor,
as minced ham, salmon, onions, oysters, etc., beaten up in the eggs in
due quantity, which gives as many different kind of omelets.

They are also served over many kinds of thick sauces or purees, such
as tomato, spinach, endive, lettuce, celery, etc.

If vegetables are to be added, they should be already cooked, seasoned
and hot; place in the centre of the omelet, just before turning; so
with mushroom, shrimps, or any cooked ingredients. All omelets should
be served the moment they are done, as they harden by standing, and
care taken that they do not _cook too much_.

Sweet omelets are generally used for breakfast or plain desserts.


PLAIN OMELET.

Put a smooth, clean, iron frying pan on the fire to heat; meanwhile,
beat four eggs very light, the whites to a stiff froth and the yolks
to a thick batter. Add to the yolks four tablespoonfuls of milk,
pepper and salt; and, lastly, stir in the whites lightly. Put a piece
of butter nearly half the size of an egg into the heated pan; turn it
so that it will moisten the entire bottom, taking care that it does
not scorch. Just as it begins to boil, pour in the eggs. Hold the
frying pan handle in your left hand, and, as the eggs whiten,
carefully, with a spoon, draw up lightly from the bottom, letting the
raw part run out on the pan, till all be equally cooked; shake with
your left hand, till the omelet be free from the pan, then turn with a
spoon one half of the omelet over the other; let it remain a moment,
but continue shaking, lest it adhere; toss to a warm platter held in
the right hand, or lift with a flat, broad shovel; the omelet will be
firm around the edge, but creamy and light inside.


MEAT OR FISH OMELETS.

Take cold meat, fish, game or poultry of any kind; remove all skin,
sinew, etc., and either cut it small or pound it to a paste in a
mortar, together with a proper proportion of spices and salt; then
either toss it in a buttered frying pan over a clear fire till it
begins to brown and pour beaten eggs upon it, or beat it up with the
eggs, or spread it upon them after they have begun to set in the pan.
In any case serve hot, with or without a sauce, but garnish with crisp
herbs in branches, pickles, or sliced lemon. The right proportion is
one tablespoonful of meat to four eggs. A little milk, gravy, water,
or white wine, may be advantageously added to the eggs while they are
being beaten.

Potted meats make admirable omelets in the above manner.


VEGETABLE OMELET.

Make a puree by mashing up ready-dressed vegetables, together with a
little milk, cream or gravy and some seasoning. The most suitable
vegetables are cucumbers, artichokes, onions, sorrel, green peas,
tomatoes, lentils, mushrooms, asparagus tops, potatoes, truffles or
turnips. Prepare some eggs by beating them very light. Pour them into
a nice hot frying pan, containing a spoonful of butter; spread the
puree upon the upper side; and when perfectly hot, turn or fold the
omelet together and serve. Or cold vegetables may be merely chopped
small, then tossed in a little butter, and some beaten and seasoned
eggs poured over.


OMELET OF HERBS.

Parsley, thyme and sweet marjoram mixed gives the famous _omelette aux
fines herbes_ so popular at every wayside inn in the most remote
corner of sunny France. An omelet "jardiniere" is two tablespoonfuls
of mixed parsley, onion, chives, shallots and a few leaves each of
sorrel and chevril, minced fine and stirred into the beaten eggs
before cooking. It will take a little more butter to fry it than a
plain one.


CHEESE OMELET.

Beat up three eggs, and add to them a tablespoonful of milk and a
tablespoonful of grated cheese; add a little more cheese before
folding; turn it out on a hot dish; grate a little cheese over it
before serving.


ASPARAGUS OMELET.

Boil with a little salt, and until about half cooked, eight or ten
stalks of asparagus, and cut the eatable part into rather small
pieces; beat the egg and mix the asparagus with them. Make the omelet
as above directed. Omelet with parsley is made by adding a little
chopped parsley.


TOMATO OMELET. No. 1.

Peel a couple of tomatoes, which split into four pieces; remove the
seeds and cut them into small dice; then fry them with a little butter
until nearly done, adding salt and pepper. Beat the eggs and mix the
tomatoes with them, and make the omelet as usual. Or stew a few
tomatoes in the usual way and spread over before folding.


TOMATO OMELET. No. 2.

Cut in slices and place in a stewpan six peeled tomatoes; add a
tablespoonful of cold water, a little pepper and salt. When they begin
to simmer, break in six eggs, stir well, stirring one way, until the
eggs are cooked, but not too hard. Serve warm.


RICE OMELET.

Take a cup of cold boiled rice, turn over it a cupful of warm milk,
add a tablespoonful of butter melted, a level teaspoonful of salt, a
dash of pepper; mix well, then add three well-beaten eggs. Put a
tablespoonful of butter in a hot frying pan, and when it begins to
boil pour in the omelet and set the pan in a hot oven. As soon as it
is cooked through, fold it double, turn it out on a hot dish, and
serve at once. Very good.


HAM OMELET.

Cut raw ham into dice, fry with butter and when cooked enough, turn
the beaten egg over it and cook as a plain omelet.

If boiled ham is used, mince it and mix with the egg after they are
beaten. Bacon may be used instead of raw ham.


CHICKEN OMELET.

Mince rather fine one cupful of cooked chicken, warm in a teacupful of
cream or rich milk a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper; thicken
with a large tablespoonful of flour. Make a plain omelet, then add
this mixture just before turning it over. This is much better than the
dry minced chicken. Tongue is equally good.


MUSHROOM OMELET.

Clean a cupful of large button mushrooms, canned ones may be used; cut
them into bits. Put into a stewpan an ounce of butter and let it melt;
add the mushrooms, a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper
and half a cupful of cream or milk. Stir in a teaspoonful of flour,
dissolved in a little milk or water to thicken, if needed. Boil ten
minutes, and set aside until the omelet is ready.

Make a plain omelet the usual way, and just before doubling it, turn
the mushrooms over the centre and serve hot.


OYSTER OMELET.

Parboil a dozen oysters in their own liquor, skim them out and let
them cool; add them to the beaten eggs, either whole or minced. Cook
the same as a plain omelet.

Thicken the liquid with butter rolled in flour; season with salt,
cayenne pepper and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Chop up the
oysters and add to the sauce. Put a few spoonfuls in the centre of the
omelet before folding; when dished, pour the remainder of the sauce
around it.


FISH OMELET.

Make a plain omelet, and when ready to fold, spread over it fish
prepared as follows: Add to a cupful of any kind of cold fish, broken
fine, cream enough to moisten it, seasoned with a tablespoonful of
butter; then pepper and salt to taste. Warm together.


ONION OMELET.

Make a plain omelet, and when ready to turn spread over it a
teaspoonful each of chopped onion and minced parsley; then fold, or,
if preferred, mix the minces into the eggs before cooking.


JELLY OMELET.

Make a plain omelet, and just before folding together, spread with
some kind of jelly. Turn out on a warm platter. Dust it with powdered
sugar.


BREAD OMELET. No. 1.

Break four eggs into a basin and carefully remove the treadles; have
ready a tablespoonful of grated and sifted bread; soak it in either
milk, water, cream, white wine, gravy, lemon juice, brandy or rum,
according as the omelet is intended to be sweet or savory. Well beat
the eggs together with a little nutmeg, pepper and salt; add the
bread, and, beating constantly (or the omelet will be crumbly), get
ready a frying pan, buttered and made thoroughly hot; put in the
omelet; do it on one side only; turn it upon a dish, and fold it
double to prevent the steam from condensing. Stale sponge-cake, grated
biscuit, or pound cake, may replace the bread for a sweet omelet, when
pounded loaf sugar should be sifted over it, and the dish decorated
with lumps of currant jelly. This makes a nice dessert.


BREAD OMELET. No. 2.

Let one teacupful of milk come to a boil, pour it over one teacupful
of bread crumbs and let it stand a few minutes. Break six eggs into a
bowl, stir (not beat) till well mixed; then add the milk and bread,
season with pepper and salt, mix all well together and turn into a hot
frying pan, containing a large spoonful of butter boiling hot. Fry the
omelet slowly, and when brown on the bottom cut in squares and turn
again, fry to a delicate brown and serve hot.

Cracker omelet may be made by substituting three or four rolled
crackers in place of bread.


BAKED OMELET.

Beat the whites and yolks of four or six eggs separately; add to the
yolks a small cup of milk, a tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch, a
teaspoonful of baking powder, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and,
lastly, the stiff-beaten whites. Bake in a well-buttered pie-tin or
plate about half an hour in a steady oven. It should be served the
moment it is taken from the oven, as it is liable to fall.


OMELET SOUFFLE.

Break six eggs into separate cups; beat four of the yolks, mix with
them one teaspoonful of flour, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar,
very little salt. Flavor with extract lemon or any other of the
flavors that may be preferred. Whisk the whites of six eggs to a firm
froth; mix them lightly with the yolks; pour the mixture into a
greased pan or dish; bake in a quick oven. When well-risen and lightly
browned on the top, it is done; roll out in warm dish, sift pulverized
sugar over, and send to table.


RUM OMELET.

Put a small quantity of lard into the pan; let it simmer a few minutes
and remove it; wipe the pan dry with a towel, and put in a little
fresh lard in which the omelet may be fried. Care should be taken that
the lard does not burn, which would spoil the color of the omelet.
Break three eggs separately; put them into a bowl and whisk them
thoroughly with a fork. The longer they are beaten, the lighter will
the omelet be. Beat up a teaspoonful of milk with the eggs and
continue to beat until the last moment before pouring into the pan,
which should be over a hot fire. As soon as the omelet sets, remove
the pan from the hottest part of the fire. Slip a knife under it to
prevent sticking to the pan. When the centre is almost firm, slant the
pan, work the omelet in shape to fold easily find neatly, and when
slightly browned, hold a platter against the edge of the pan and
deftly turn it out on to the hot dish. Dust a liberal quantity of
powdered sugar over it, and singe the sugar into neat stripes with a
hot iron rod, heated in the coals; pour a glass of warm Jamaica rum
around it, and when it is placed on the table set fire to the rum.
With a tablespoon dash the burning rum over the omelet, put out the
fire and serve. Salt _mixed_ with the eggs prevents them from rising,
and when it is so used the omelet will look flabby, yet without salt
it will taste insipid.

Add a little salt to it just before folding it and turning out on the
dish.

_"The Cook."_




SANDWICHES.


HAM SANDWICHES.

Make a dressing of half a cup of butter, one tablespoonful of mixed
mustard, one of salad oil, a little red or white pepper, a pinch of
salt and the yolk of an egg; rub the butter to a cream, add the other
ingredients and mix thoroughly; then stir in as much chopped ham as
will make it consistent and spread between thin slices of bread. Omit
salad oil and substitute melted butter if preferred.


HAM SANDWICHES, PLAIN.

Trim the crusts from thin slices of bread; butter them and lay between
every two some thin slices of cold boiled ham. Spread the meat with a
little mustard if liked.


CHICKEN SANDWICHES.

Mince up fine any cold boiled or roasted chicken; put it into a
saucepan with gravy, water or cream enough to soften it; add a good
piece of butter, a pinch of pepper; work it very smooth while it is
heating until it looks almost like a paste. Then spread it on a plate
to cool. Spread it between slices of buttered bread.


SARDINE SANDWICHES.

Take two boxes of sardines and throw the contents into hot water,
having first drained away all the oil. A few minutes will free the
sardines from grease. Pour away the water and dry the fish in a cloth;
then scrape away the skins and pound the sardines in a mortar till
reduced to paste; add pepper, salt and some tiny pieces of lettuce,
and spread on the sandwiches, which have been previously cut as above.
The lettuce adds very much to the flavor of the sardines.

Or chop the sardines up fine and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice
into them, and spread between buttered bread or cold biscuits.


WATER CRESS SANDWICHES.

Wash well some water cress and then dry them in a cloth, pressing out
every atom of moisture as far as possible; then mix with the cress
hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Have
a stale loaf and some fresh butter, and with a sharp knife cut as many
thin slices as will be required for two dozen sandwiches; then cut the
cress into small pieces, removing the stems; place it between each
slice of bread and butter, with a slight sprinkling of lemon juice;
press down the slices hard, and cut them sharply on a board into small
squares, leaving no crust.

_Nantasket Beach._


EGG SANDWICHES.

Hard boil some very fresh eggs and when cold cut them into moderately
thin slices and lay them between some bread and butter cut as thin as
possible; season them with pepper, salt and nutmeg. For picnic
parties, or when one is traveling, these sandwiches are far preferable
to hard-boiled eggs _au naturel_.


MUSHROOM SANDWICHES.

Mince beef tongue and boiled mushrooms together, add French mustard
and spread between buttered bread.


CHEESE SANDWICHES.

These are extremely nice and are very easily made. Take one
hard-boiled egg, a quarter of a pound of common cheese grated, half a
teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, half a teaspoonful
of mustard, one tablespoonful of melted butter, and one tablespoonful
of vinegar or cold water. Take the yolk of the egg and put it into a
small bowl and crumble it down, put into it the butter and mix it
smooth with a spoon, then add the salt, pepper, mustard and the
cheese, mixing each well. Then put in the tablespoonful of vinegar,
which will make it the proper thickness. If vinegar is not relished,
then use cold water instead. Spread this between two biscuits or
pieces of oat-cake, and you could not require a better sandwich. Some
people will prefer the sandwiches less highly seasoned. In that case,
season to taste.




BREAD.


Among all civilized people bread has become an article of food of the
first necessity; and properly so, for it constitutes of itself a
complete life sustainer, the gluten, starch and sugar which it
contains representing ozotized and hydro-carbonated nutrients, and
combining the sustaining powers of the animal and vegetable kingdoms
in one product. As there is no one article of food that enters so
largely into our daily fare as bread, so no degree of skill in
preparing other articles can compensate for lack of knowledge in the
art of making good, palatable and nutritious bread. A little earnest
attention to the subject will enable any one to comprehend the theory,
and then ordinary care in practice will make one familiar with the
process.


GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

The first thing required for making wholesome bread is the utmost
cleanliness; the next is the soundness and sweetness of all the
ingredients used for it; and, in addition to these, there must be
attention and care through the whole process.

Salt is always used in bread-making, not only on account of its
flavor, which destroys the insipid raw state of the flour, but because
it makes the dough rise better.

In mixing with milk, the milk should be boiled--not simply scalded,
but heated to boiling over hot water--then set aside to cool before
mixing. Simple heating will not prevent bread from turning sour in the
rising, while boiling will act as a preventative. So the milk should
be thoroughly scalded, and should be used when it is just blood warm.

Too small a proportion of yeast, or insufficient time allowed for the
dough to rise, will cause the bread to be heavy.

The yeast must be good and fresh if the bread is to be digestible and
nice. Stale yeast produces, instead of vinous fermentation, an
acetous fermentation, which flavors the bread and makes it
disagreeable. A poor, thin yeast produces an imperfect fermentation,
the result being a heavy, unwholesome loaf.

If either the sponge or the dough be permitted to overwork
itself--that is to say, if the mixing and kneading be neglected when
it has reached the proper point for either--sour bread will probably
be the consequence in warm weather, and bad bread in any. The goodness
will also be endangered by placing it so near a fire as to make any
part of it hot, instead of maintaining the gentle and equal degree of
heat required for its due fermentation.

Heavy bread will also most likely be the result of making the dough
very hard and letting it become quite cold, particularly in winter.

An almost certain way of spoiling dough is to leave it half made, and
to allow it to become cold before it is finished. The other most
common causes of failure are using yeast which is no longer sweet, or
which has been frozen, or has had hot liquid poured over it.

As a general rule, the oven for baking bread should be rather quick
and the heat so regulated as to penetrate the dough without hardening
the outside. The oven door should not be opened after the bread is put
in until the dough is set or has become firm, as the cool air admitted
will have an unfavorable effect upon it.

The dough should rise and the bread begin to brown after about fifteen
minutes, but only slightly. Bake from fifty to sixty minutes and have
it brown, not black or whitey brown, but brown all over when well
baked.

When the bread is baked, remove the loaves immediately from the pans
and place them where the air will circulate freely around them, and
thus carry off the gas which has been formed, but is no longer needed.

Never leave the bread in the pan or on a pin table to absorb the odor
of the wood. If you like crusts that are crisp do not cover the
loaves; but to give the soft, tender, wafer-like consistency which
many prefer, wrap them while still hot in several thicknesses of
bread-cloth. When cold put them in a stone jar, removing the cloth, as
that absorbs the moisture and gives the bread an unpleasant taste and
odor. Keep the jar well covered and carefully cleansed from crumbs and
stale pieces. Scald and dry it thoroughly every two or three days. A
yard and a half square of coarse table linen makes the best
bread-cloth. Keep in good supply; use them for no other purpose.

Some people use scalding water in making wheat bread; in that case the
flour must be scalded and allowed to cool before the yeast is
added--then proceed as above. Bread made in this manner keeps moist in
summer much longer than when made in the usual mode.

Home-made yeast is generally preferred to any other. Compressed yeast,
as now sold in most grocery stores, makes fine light, sweet bread, and
is a much quicker process, and can always be had fresh, being made
fresh every day.


WHEAT BREAD.

Sift the flour into a large bread-pan or bowl; make a hole in the
middle of it, and pour in the yeast in the ratio of half a teacupful
of yeast to two quarts of flour; stir the yeast lightly, then pour in
your "wetting," either milk or water, as you choose,--which use warm
in winter and cold in summer; if you use water as "wetting," dissolve
in it a bit of butter of the size of an egg,--if you use milk, no
butter is necessary; stir in the "wetting" very lightly, but do not
mix all the flour into it; then cover the pan with a thick blanket or
towel, and set it, in winter, in a warm place to rise,--this is called
"_putting the bread in sponge_." In summer the bread should not be wet
over night. In the morning add a teaspoonful of salt and mix all the
flour in the pan with the sponge, kneading it well; then let it stand
two hours or more until it has risen quite light; then remove the
dough to the molding-board and mold it for a long time, cutting it in
pieces and molding them together again and again, until the dough is
elastic under the pressure of your hand, using as little flour as
possible; then make it into loaves, put the loaves into baking-tins.
The loaves should come half way up the pan, and they should be allowed
to rise until the bulk is doubled. When the loaves are ready to put
into the oven, the oven should be ready to receive them. It should be
hot enough to brown a teaspoonful of flour in five minutes. The heat
should be greater at the bottom than at the top of the oven, and the
fire so arranged as to give sufficient strength of heat through the
baking without being replenished. Let them stand ten or fifteen
minutes, prick them three or four times with a fork, bake in a quick
oven from forty-five to sixty minutes.

If these directions are followed, you will obtain sweet, tender and
wholesome bread. If by any mistake the dough becomes sour before you
are ready to bake it, you can rectify it by adding a little dry
super-carbonate of soda, molding the dough a long time to distribute
the soda equally throughout the mass. All bread is better, if
naturally sweet, without the soda; but _sour bread_ you should never
eat, if you desire good health.

Keep well covered in a tin box or large stone crock, which should be
wiped out every day or two, and scalded and dried thoroughly in the
sun once a week.


COMPRESSED YEAST BREAD.

Use for two loaves of bread three quarts of sifted flour, nearly a
quart of warm water, a level tablespoonful of salt and an ounce of
compressed yeast. Dissolve the yeast in a pint of lukewarm water; then
stir into it enough flour to make a thick batter. Cover the bowl
containing the batter or sponge with a thick folded cloth and set it
in a warm place to rise; if the temperature of heat is properly
attended to the sponge will be foamy and light in half an hour. Now
stir into this sponge the salt dissolved in a little warm water, add
the rest of the flour and sufficient warm water to make the dough
stiff enough to knead; then knead it from five to ten minutes, divide
it into loaves, knead again each loaf and put them into buttered
baking tins; cover them with a double thick cloth and set again in a
warm place to rise twice their height, then bake the same as any
bread. This bread has the advantage of that made of home-made yeast as
it is made inside of three hours, whereas the other requires from
twelve to fourteen hours.


HOME-MADE YEAST.

Boil six large potatoes in three pints of water. Tie a handful of hops
in a small muslin bag and boil with the potatoes; when thoroughly
cooked drain the water on enough flour to make a thin batter; set this
on the stove or range and scald it enough to cook the flour (this
makes the yeast keep longer); remove it from the fire and when cool
enough, add the potatoes mashed, also half a cup of sugar, half a
tablespoonful of ginger, two of salt and a teacupful of yeast. Let it
stand in a warm place, until it has thoroughly risen, then put it in
a large mouthed jug and cork tightly; set away in a cool place. The
jug should be scalded before putting in the yeast.

Two-thirds of a coffeecupful of this yeast will make four loaves.


UNRIVALED YEAST.

On one morning boil two ounces of the best hops in four quarts of
water half an hour; strain it, and let the liquor cool to the
consistency of new milk; then put it in an earthen bowl and add half a
cupful of salt and half a cupful of brown sugar; beat up one quart of
flour with some of the liquor; then mix all well together, and let it
stand till the third day after; then add six medium-sized potatoes,
boiled and mashed through a colander; let it stand a day, then strain
and bottle and it is fit for use. It must be stirred frequently while
it is making, and kept near a fire. One advantage of this yeast is its
spontaneous fermentation, requiring the help of no old yeast; if care
be taken to let it ferment well in the bowl, it may immediately be
corked tightly. Be careful to keep it in a cool place. Before using it
shake the bottle up well. It will keep in a cool place two months, and
is best the latter part of the time. Use about the same quantity as of
other yeast.


DRIED YEAST OR YEAST CAKES.

Make a pan of yeast the same as "Home-Made Yeast;" mix in with it corn
meal that has been sifted and dried, kneading it well until it is
thick enough to roll out, when it can be cut into cakes or crumble up.
Spread out and dry thoroughly in the shade; keep in a dry place.