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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)




This recipe is very nice made of rye flour.


CREAM FRITTERS.

One cup of cream, five eggs--the whites only, two full cups prepared
flour, one saltspoonful of nutmeg, a pinch of salt. Stir the whites
into the cream in turn with the flour, put in nutmeg and salt, beat
all up hard for two minutes. The batter should be rather thick. Fry in
plenty of hot, sweet lard, a spoonful of batter for each fritter.
Drain, and serve upon a hot, clean napkin. Eat with jelly sauce. Pull,
not cut, them open. Very nice.


CURRANT FRITTERS.

Two cupfuls dry, fine bread crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of prepared
flour, two cups of milk, one-half pound currants, washed and well
dried, five eggs whipped very light, one-half cup powdered sugar, one
tablespoonful butter, one-half teaspoonful mixed cinnamon and nutmeg.
Boil the milk and pour over the bread. Mix and put in the butter. Let
it get cold. Beat in next the yolks and sugar, the seasoning, flour
and stiff whites; finally, the currants dredged whitely with flour.
The batter should be thick. Drop in great spoonfuls into the hot lard
and fry. Drain them and send hot to table. Eat with a mixture of wine
and powdered sugar.


WHEAT FRITTERS.

Three eggs, one and a half cups of milk, three teaspoonfuls baking
powder, salt, and flour enough to make quite stiff, thicker than
batter cakes. Drop into hot lard and fry like doughnuts.

_A Good Sauce for the Above._--One cup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of
butter, one teaspoonful of flour beaten together; half a cup boiling
water; flavor with extract lemon and boil until clear. Or serve with
maple syrup.


APPLE FRITTERS.

Make a batter in the proportion of one cup sweet milk to two cups
flour, a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, two eggs beaten
separately, one tablespoonful of sugar and a saltspoon of salt; heat
the milk a little more than milk-warm, add it slowly to the beaten
yolks and sugar; then add flour and whites of the eggs; stir all
together and throw in thin slices of good sour apples, dipping the
batter up over them; drop into boiling hot lard in large spoonfuls
with pieces of apple in each, and fry to a light brown. Serve with
maple syrup, or a nice syrup made with clarified sugar.

Bananas, peaches, sliced oranges and other fruits can be used in the
same batter.


PINEAPPLE FRITTERS.

Make a batter as for apple fritters; then pare one large pineapple,
cut it in slices a quarter of an inch thick, cut the slices in halves,
dip them into the batter and fry them, and serve them as above.


PEACH FRITTERS.

Peel the peaches, split each in two and take out the stones; dust a
little powdered sugar over them; dip each piece in the batter and fry
in hot fat. A sauce to be served with them may be made as follows: Put
an ounce of butter in a saucepan and whisk it to a cream; add four
ounces of sugar gradually. Beat the yolks of two eggs; add to them a
dash of nutmeg and a gill each of cold water and rum; stir this into
the luke-warm batter and allow it to heat gradually. Stir constantly
until of a smooth, creamy consistency, and serve. The batter is made
as follows: Beat the yolks of three eggs; add to them a gill of milk,
or half of a cupful, a saltspoonful of salt, four ounces of flour;
mix. If old flour is used a little more milk may be found necessary.


GOLDEN-BALL FRITTERS.

Put into a stewpan a pint of water, a piece of butter as large as an
egg and a tablespoonful of sugar. When it boils stir into it one pint
of sifted flour, stirring briskly and thoroughly. Remove from the
fire, and when nearly cooled beat into it six eggs, each one beaten
separately and added one at a time, beating the batter between each.
Drop the stiff dough into boiling lard by teaspoonfuls. Eat with
syrup, or melted sugar and butter flavored.

Stirring the boiling lard around and around, so that it whirls when
you drop in the fritters, causes them to assume a round shape like
balls.


CANNELONS, OR FRIED PUFFS.

Half a pound of puff paste, apricot or any kind of preserve that may
be preferred, hot lard.

Cannelons, which are made of puff paste rolled very thin, with jam
enclosed, and cut out in long, narrow rolls or puffs, make a very
pretty and elegant dish. Make some good puff paste, roll it out very
thin, and cut it into pieces of an equal size, about two inches wide
and eight inches long; place upon each piece a spoonful of jam, wet
the edges with the white of egg and fold the paste over _twice_;
slightly press the edges together, that the jam may not escape in the
frying, and when all are prepared, fry them in boiling lard until of a
nice brown, letting them remain by the side of the fire after they are
colored, that the paste may be thoroughly done. Drain them before the
fire, dish on a d'oyley, sprinkle over them sifted sugar and serve.
These cannelons are very delicious made with fresh instead of
preserved fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries or currants; they
should be laid in the paste, plenty of pounded sugar sprinkled over
and folded and fried in the same manner as stated above.


GERMAN FRITTERS.

Take slices of stale bread cut in rounds or stale cake; fry them in
hot lard, like crullers, to a _light_ brown. Dip each slice when fried
in boiling milk, to remove the grease; drain quickly, dust with
powdered sugar or spread with preserves. Pile on a hot plate and
serve. Sweet wine sauce poured over them is very nice.


HOMINY FRITTERS.

Take one pint of hot boiled hominy, two eggs, half a teaspoonful of
salt and a tablespoonful of flour; thin it a little with cold milk;
when cold add a teaspoonful of baking powder, mix thoroughly, drop
tablespoonfuls of it into hot fat and fry to a delicate brown.


PARSNIP FRITTERS.

Take three or four good-sized parsnips. Boil them until tender. Mash
and season with a little butter, a pinch of salt and a slight
sprinkling of pepper. Have ready a plate with some sifted flour on it.
Drop a tablespoonful of the parsnip in the flour and roll it about
until well coated and formed into a ball. When you have a sufficient
number ready, drop them into boiling drippings or lard, as you would a
fritter; fry a delicate brown and serve hot. Do not put them in a
covered dish, for that would steam them and deprive them of their
crispness, which is one of their great charms.

These are also very good fried in a frying pan with a small quantity
of lard and butter mixed, turning them over so as to fry both sides
brown.


GREEN CORN FRITTERS.

One pint of grated, young and tender, green corn, three eggs, two
tablespoonfuls of milk or cream, one tablespoonful of melted butter,
if milk is used, a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the eggs well, add the
corn by degrees, also the milk and butter; thicken with just enough
flour to hold them together, adding a teaspoonful of baking powder to
the flour. Have ready a kettle of hot lard, drop the corn from the
spoon into the fat and fry a light brown. They are also nice fried in
butter and lard mixed, the same as fried eggs.


CREAM SHORT-CAKE.

Sift one quart of fine white flour, rub into it three tablespoonfuls
of cold butter, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of white sugar.
Add a beaten egg to a cup of sour cream, turn it into the other
ingredients, dissolve a teaspoonful of soda in a spoonful of water,
mix all together, handling as little as possible; roll lightly into
two round sheets, place on pie-tins and bake from twenty to
twenty-five minutes in a quick oven.

This crust is delicious for fruit short-cake.


STRAWBERRY SHORT-CAKE.

Make a rule of baking powder biscuit, with the exception of a little
more shortening; divide the dough in half; lay one-half on the molding
board (half the dough makes one short-cake), divide this half again,
and roll each piece large enough to cover a biscuit-tin, or a large
sized pie-tin; spread soft butter over the lower one and place the
other on top of that; proceed with the other lump of dough the same,
by cutting it in halves, and putting on another tin. Set them in the
oven; when sufficiently baked take them out, separate each one by
running a large knife through where the cold soft butter was spread.
Then butter plentifully each crust, lay the bottom of each on earthen
platters or dining-plates; cover thickly with a quart of strawberries
that have been previously prepared with sugar, lay the top crusts on
the fruit. If there is any juice left pour it around the cake. This
makes a delicious short-cake.

Peaches, raspberries, blackberries and huckleberries can be
substituted for strawberries. Always send to the table with a pitcher
of sweet cream.


ORANGE SHORT-CAKE.

Peel two large oranges, chop them fine, remove the seeds, add half a
peeled lemon and one cup of sugar. Spread between the layers of
short-cake while it is hot.

[Illustration: ICING THE CAKES.]


LEMON SHORT-CAKE.

Make a rich biscuit dough, same as above recipe. While baking, take a
cup and a quarter of water, a cup and a half of sugar, and two lemons,
peel, juice and pulp, throwing away the tough part of the rind; boil
this for some little time; then stir in three crackers rolled fine;
split the short-cakes while hot, spread with butter, then with the
mixture. To be eaten warm.


HUCKLEBERRY SHORT-CAKE.

Two cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of butter, one pint of sweet milk,
one tablespoonful of salt, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder
sifted into a quart of flour, or enough to form a thick batter; add a
quart of the huckleberries; to be baked in a dripper; cut into squares
for the table and served hot with butter. Blackberries may be used the
same.


FRIED DINNER-ROLLS.

When making light raised bread, save out a piece of dough nearly the
size of a small loaf. Roll it out on the board, spread a tablespoonful
of melted butter over it. Dissolve a quarter of a teaspoonful of soda
in a tablespoonful of water and pour that also over it; work it all
well into the dough, roll it out into a sheet not quite half an inch
thick. Cut it in strips three inches long and one inch wide. Lay them
on buttered tins, cover with a cloth and set away in a cool place
until an hour before dinner time; then set them by the fire where they
will become light. While they are rising, add to a frying-pan a
tablespoonful of cold butter and one of lard; When it boils clear and
is _hot_, lay as many of the rolls in as will fry nicely. As soon as
they brown on one side turn them over and brown the other; then turn
them on the edges and brown the sides. Add fresh grease as is needed.
Eat them warm in place of bread. Nice with warm meat dinner.


NEWPORT BREAKFAST-CAKES.

Take one quart of dough from the bread at an early hour in the
morning; break three eggs, separating yolks and whites, both to be
whipped to a light froth; mix them into the dough and gradually add
two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one of sugar, one teaspoonful of
soda, and enough warm milk with it until it is a batter the
consistency of buckwheat cakes; beat it well and let it rise until
breakfast time. Have the griddle hot and nicely greased, pour on the
batter in small round cakes and bake a light brown, the same as any
griddle cake.


PUFF BALLS.

To a piece of butter as large as an egg stirred until soft; add three
well-beaten eggs, a pinch of salt and half a teacupful of sour cream.
Stir well together, then add enough flour to make a very thick batter.
Drop a spoonful of this into boiling water. Cook until the puffs rise
to the surface. Dish them hot with melted butter turned over them.
Nice accompaniment to a meat dinner as a side-dish--similar to plain
macaroni.


BREAKFAST PUFFS.

Two cups of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of
salt, one egg and flour enough to roll out like biscuit dough. Cut
into narrow strips an inch wide and three inches long, fry brown in
hot lard like doughnuts. Serve hot; excellent with coffee. Or fry in a
spider with an ounce each of lard and butter, turning and browning all
four of the sides.


ENGLISH CRUMPETS.

One quart of warm milk, half a cup of yeast, one teaspoonful of salt,
flour enough to make a stiff batter; when light, add half a cupful of
melted butter, a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little water and a
very little more flour; let it stand twenty minutes or until light.
Grease some muffin-rings, place them on a hot griddle and fill them
half full of the batter; when done on one side turn and bake the other
side. Butted them while hot; pile one on another and serve
immediately.


PLAIN CRUMPETS.

Mix together thoroughly while dry one quart of sifted flour, loosely
measured, two heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder and a little salt;
then add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and sweet milk enough to
make a thin dough. Bake quickly in muffin-rings or patty-pans.


PREPARED BREAD CRUMBS.

Take pieces of stale bread, break them in small bits, put them on a
baking pan and place them in a moderate oven, watching closely that
they do not scorch; then take them while hot and crisp and roll them,
crushing them. Sift them, using the fine crumbs for breading cutlets,
fish, croquettes, etc. The coarse ones may be used for puddings,
pancakes, etc.


CRACKERS.

Sift into a pint of flour a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, four
tablespoonfuls of melted butter, half a teaspoonful salt and the white
of an egg beaten and one cup of milk; mix it with more flour, enough
to make a very stiff dough, as stiff as can be rolled out; pounded and
kneaded a long time. Roll very thin like pie crust and cut out either
round or square. Bake a light brown.

Stale crackers are made crisp and better by placing them in the oven a
few moments before they are needed for the table.


FRENCH CRACKERS.

Six eggs, twelve tablespoonfuls of sweet milk, six tablespoonfuls of
butter, half a teaspoonful of soda; mold with flour, pounding and
working half an hour; roll it thin. Bake with rather quick fire.


CORN MEAL MUSH OR HASTY PUDDING.

Put two quarts of water into a clean dinner-pot or stewpan, cover it
and let it become boiling hot over the fire; then add a tablespoonful
of salt, take off the light scum from the top, have sweet, fresh
yellow or white corn meal; take a handful of the meal with the left
hand and a pudding-stick in the right, then with the stick, stir the
water around and by degrees let fall the meal; when one handful is
exhausted, refill it; continue to stir and add meal until it is as
thick as you can stir easily, or until the stick will stand in it;
stir it awhile longer; let the fire be gentle; when it is sufficiently
cooked, which will be in half an hour, it will bubble or puff up; turn
it into a deep basin. This is eaten cold or hot, with milk or with
butter and syrup or sugar, or with meat and gravy, the same as
potatoes or rice.


FRIED MUSH.

Make it like the above recipe, turn it into bread tins and when cold
slice it, dip each piece in flour and fry it in lard and butter mixed
in the frying pan, turning to brown well both sides. Must be served
hot.


GRAHAM MUSH.

Sift Graham meal slowly into boiling salted water, stirring briskly
until thick as can be stirred with one hand; serve with milk or cream
and sugar, or butter and syrup. It will be improved by removing from
the kettle to a pan, as soon as thoroughly mixed, and steaming three
or four hours. It may also be eaten cold, or sliced and fried, like
corn meal mush.


OATMEAL.

Soak one cup of oatmeal in a quart of water over night, boil half an
hour in the morning, salted to taste. It is better to cook it in a
dish set into a dish of boiling water.


RICE CROQUETTES.

Boil for thirty minutes one cup of well-washed rice in a pint of milk;
whip into the hot rice the following ingredients: Two ounces of
butter, two ounces of sugar, some salt, and when slightly cool add the
yolks of two eggs well beaten; if too stiff pour in a little more
milk; when cold, roll into small balls and dip in beaten eggs, roll in
fine cracker or bread crumbs, and fry same as doughnuts. Or they may
be fried in the frying pan, with a tablespoonful each of butter and
lard mixed, turning and frying both sides brown. Serve very hot.


HOMINY.

This form of cereal is very little known and consequently little
appreciated in most Northern households. "Big hominy" and "little
hominy," as they are called in the South, are staple dishes there and
generally take the place of oatmeal, which is apt to be too heating
for the climate. The former is called "samp" here. It must be boiled
for at least eight hours to be properly cooked, and may then be kept
on hand for two or three days and warmed over, made into croquettes or
balls, or fried in cakes. The fine hominy takes two or three hours for
proper cooking, and should be cooked in a dish set into another of
boiling water, and kept steadily boiling until thoroughly soft.


HOMINY CROQUETTES.

To a cupful of cold boiled hominy, add a teaspoonful of melted butter,
and stir it well, adding by degrees a cupful of milk, till all is made
into a soft, light paste; add a teaspoonful of white sugar, a pinch of
salt, and one well-beaten egg. Roll it into oval balls with floured
hands, dipped in beaten egg, then rolled in cracker crumbs, and fry in
hot lard.

The hominy is best boiled the day or morning before using.


BOILED RICE.

Take half or quarter of a pound of the best quality of rice; wash it
in a strainer, and put it in a saucepan, with a quart of clean water
and a pinch of salt; let it boil slowly till the water is all
evaporated--see that it does not burn--then pour in a teacupful of new
milk; stir carefully from the bottom of the saucepan, so that the
upper grain may go under, but do not smash it; close the lid on your
saucepan carefully down, and set it on a cooler part of the fire,
where it will not boil; as soon as it has absorbed the added milk,
serve it up with fresh new milk, adding fruit and sugar for those who
like them.

Another nice way to cook rice is to take one teacupful of rice and one
quart of milk, place in a steamer, and steam from two to three hours;
when nearly done, stir in a piece of butter as large as the yolk of an
egg, and a pinch of salt. You can use sugar if you like. The
difference in the time of cooking depends on your rice--the older the
rice, the longer it takes to cook.


SAMP, OR HULLED CORN.

An old-fashioned way of preparing hulled corn was to put a peck of
old, dry, ripe corn into a pot filled with water, and with it a bag of
hardwood ashes, say a quart. After soaking a while it was boiled until
the skins or hulls came off easily. The corn was then washed in cold
water to get rid of the taste of potash, and then boiled until the
kernels were soft. Another way was to take the lye from the leaches
where potash was made, dilute it, and boil the corn in this until the
skins or hulls came off. It makes a delicious dish, eaten with milk or
cream.


CRACKED WHEAT.

Soak the wheat over night in cold water, about a quart of water to a
cup of wheat; cook it as directed for oatmeal; should be thoroughly
done. Eaten with sugar and cream.


OAT FLAKES.

This healthful oat preparation may be procured from the leading
grocers and is prepared as follows: Put into a double saucepan or
porcelain-lined pan a quart of boiling water, add a saltspoonful of
salt, and when it is boiling add, or rather stir in gradually, three
ounces of flakes. Keep stirring to prevent burning. Let it boil from
fifteen to twenty minutes and serve with cream and sugar.

Ordinarily oatmeal requires two hours' steady cooking to make it
palatable and digestible. Wheaten grits and hominy one hour, but a
half hour longer cooking will not injure them and makes them easier of
digestion. Never be afraid of cooking cereals or preparations from
cereals too long, no matter what the directions on the package may be.


STEAMED OATMEAL.

To one teacupful oatmeal add a quart of cold water, a teaspoonful of
salt; put in a steamer over a kettle of cold water, gradually heat and
steam an hour and a half after it begins to cook.


HOMINY.

Hominy is a preparation of Indian corn, broken or ground, either large
or small, and is an excellent breakfast dish in winter or summer. Wash
the hominy thoroughly in on 3 or two waters, then cover it with twice
its depth of cold water and let it come to a boil slowly. If it be the
large hominy, simmer six hours; if the small hominy, simmer two hours.
When the water evaporates add hot water; when done it may be eaten
with cream, or allowed to become cold and warmed up in the frying pan,
using a little butter to prevent burning.



TOAST.

Toast should be made of stale bread, or at least of bread that has
been baked a day. Cut smoothly in slices, not more than half an inch
thick; if the crust is baked very hard, trim the edges and brown very
evenly, but if it happens to burn, that should be scraped off. Toast
that is to be served with anything turned over it, should have the
slices first dipped quickly in a dish of hot water turned from the
boiling tea-kettle, with a little salt thrown in. Cold biscuits cut in
halves, and the under crust sliced off, then browned evenly on both
sides, make equally as good toast. The following preparations of toast
are almost all of them very nice dishes, served with a family
breakfast.


MILK TOAST.

Put over the fire a quart of milk, put into it a tablespoonful of cold
butter, stir a heaping teaspoonful of flour into half a gill of milk;
as soon as the milk on the fire boils, stir in the flour, add a
teaspoonful of salt; let all boil up once, remove from the fire, and
dip in this slices of toasted bread. When all are used up, pour what
is left of the scalded milk over the toast. Cover and send to the
table hot.


CREAM TOAST.

Heat a pint of milk to boiling and add a piece of butter the size of
an egg; stir a tablespoonful of flour smoothly into a cup of rich
cream, and add some of the boiling milk to this; heat it gradually and
prevent the flour from lumping; then stir into the boiling milk and
let it cook a few moments; salt to taste. After taking from the fire
stir in a beaten egg; strain the mixture on to toast lightly buttered.


AMERICAN TOAST.

To one egg thoroughly beaten, put one cup of sweet milk and a little
salt. Slice light bread and dip into the mixture, allowing each slice
to absorb some of the milk; then brown on a hot buttered griddle or
thick-bottomed frying pan; spread with butter and serve hot.


NUNS' TOAST.

Cut four or five hard-boiled eggs into slices. Put a piece of butter
half the size of an egg into a saucepan and when it begins to bubble
add a finely chopped onion. Let the onion cook a little without taking
color, then stir in a teaspoonful of flour. Add a cupful of milk and
stir until it becomes smooth; then put in the slices of eggs and let
them get hot. Pour over neatly trimmed slices of hot buttered toast.
The sauce must be seasoned to taste with pepper and salt.


CHEESE TOAST. No. 1.

Toast thin slices of bread an even, crisp brown. Place on a warm
plate, allowing one small slice to each person, and pour on enough
melted cheese to cover them. Rich new cheese is best. Serve while
warm. Many prefer a little prepared mustard spread over the toast
before putting on the cheese.


CHEESE TOAST. No. 2.

Put half an ounce of butter in a frying pan; when hot add gradually
four ounces of mild American cheese. Whisk it thoroughly until melted.
Beat together half a pint of cream and two eggs; whisk into the
cheese, add a little salt, pour over the crisp toast, and serve.

The two above recipes are usually called "Welsh Rarebit."


OYSTER TOAST.

Select the large ones, used for frying, and first dip them in beaten
egg, then in either cracker or bread crumbs and cook upon a fine wire
gridiron, over a quick fire. Toast should be made ready in advance,
and a rich cream sauce poured over the whole. After pouring on the
sauce, finely cut celery strewn over the top adds to their delicacy.

Or wash oysters in the shell and put them on hot coals, or upon the
top of a hot stove, or bake them in a hot oven; open the shells with
an oyster-knife, taking care to lose none of the liquor. Dip the toast
into hot, salted water quickly and turn out the oyster and liquor over
the toast; season with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of melted
butter over each.

Oysters steamed in the shell are equally as good.


MUSHROOMS ON TOAST.

Peel a quart of mushrooms and cut off a little of the root end. Melt
an ounce of butter in the frying pan and fry in it half a pound of raw
minced steak; add two saltspoonfuls of salt, a pinch of cayenne and a
gill of hot water; fry until the juices are extracted from the meat;
tilt the pan and squeeze the meat with the back of the spoon until
there is nothing left but dry meat, then remove it; add the mushrooms
to the liquid and if there is not enough of it, add more butter; toss
them about a moment and pour out on hot toast.

Some add a little sherry to the dish before removing from the fire.


TOMATO TOAST.

Pare and stew a quart of ripe tomatoes until smooth. Season with salt,
pepper and a tablespoonful of butter. When done, add one cup sweet
cream and a little flour. Let it scald, but not boil; remove at once.
Pour over slices of dipped toast, well buttered.