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Most for Your Money

COOKBOOK

by Cora, Rose and Bob Brown

MOST FOR
YOUR MONEY
COOKBOOK

By Cora, Rose and Bob Brown

These famous culinary Browns have literally
eaten their way around the world. They have
lived and cooked in Spain, France, Germany,
Hungary, Russia, China, Japan. They have
discovered the secret of excellent food, which
does not lie in elaborate or expensive dishes^
but in making the most of your market — >
and your budget. In this new book the au-
thors of The Wine Cook Book, The
Country Cook Book and Ten Thousand
Snacks tell you how to make inexpensive
materials into delicious dishes, all kinds of
new tricks to lend glamour to conventional
meals. Many of the recipes which are prized
possessions of the Browns have never ap-
peared in a cookbook before.

MODERN AGE BOOKS. Inc.

155 East 44th Street New York

50c

MOST FOR YOUR MONEY COOKBOOK

COOK BOOKS by
CORA, ROSE and BOB BROWN

MOST FOR YOUR MONEY COOK BOOK

10,000 SNACKS

THE COUNTRY COOK BOOK

THE WINE COOK BOOK

THE EUROPEAN COOK BOOK

COOKBOOK

CORA, ROSE and BOB BROWN

WITH DECORATIONS BY

Julian Brazelton

MODERN AGE BOOKS, inc. NEW YORK

PUBLISHED BY MODERN AGE BOOKS, INC.

[ BMG . UOP WA 1 8 ]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may he repro-
duced in any form without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine
or newspaper.

Composed and printed in the United States of America by Union Labor

AT THE RUMFORD PRESS, CONCORD, ^fEW HAMPSHIRE

Typography by Robert Josephy

CONTENTS

STRETCHING THE FOOD DOLLAR 3

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS 9

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS Tj

QUEER FISH 4O

FISH IN EVERY FASHION 43

SEASON it! 53

SNACKS 58

SAVORY SPREADS 63

SWELL PICKINGS 66

GOOD GRAVIES 83

RIGHT DOWN TO THE SQUEAL 86

WATCH YOUR WEIGHT ! 93

DISHES FOR KNIFE, FORK AND SPOON 96

MULLIGANS, SLUMGULLIONS AND BURGOOS IO4

BARBECUING INDOORS AND OUT IO7

MARKETING II 5

POLENTA 118

HOT stuff! 122

SANDWICHES THAT SATISFY I32

DAMN THAT DELICATESSEN HABIT ! I38

RABBIT FOOD I42

EAT YOUR spinach! I52

HANDY HINTS 1 59

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART I70

FRUITY DESSERTS 180

21 WAYS TO EAT I ORANGE 1 87

SWEETS 193

frozen desserts 2o4

rich man, poor man 209

"we dine for the poor." 213

MOST FOR YOUR MONEY COOKBOOK

FOREWORD

Stretching the Food Dollar

{Skip this if you're hungry; the real recipes begin in the next chapter)

Since a third of the average family income goes for food, that's a
logical front on which to combat the high cost of living. But it*s
ridiculous even to consider reducing or unbalancing the diet by
skimping or cutting it, especially the vitamins and calories. It
should, instead, be expanded to include everything our bodies need
all the way from the high chair to the coffin. And this can be done
without enlarging the food budget, which in most cases can't take
it anyway. For true cooking economy doesn't mean being tight or
following the fallacious old Scotch maxim " Cook less and the family
will eat less," but in learning the fullest use of all available foods
and methods of getting the most out of them. Thrifty Europeans,
who, as a rule, live better than we do on less, claim that we throw
away more than we eat, and that comes too close to the truth to be
any comfort to our intelligence. But even if we won't stop wasting
and listening to the siren call of radio experts who sell us foodless
food, blown up bran at half a dollar a pound and readymixed
gingerbread that costs more to make than the finished cake would
be at an honest baker's, we certainly can stretch the food dollar by
countless culinary tricks, all of which are appetizing, healthful
and interesting.

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

For instance, few cooks know the advantage of snow as an
ingredient, yet a cup of freshly fallen snow actually takes the
place of two eggs in making a pudding light and toothsome. Like-
wise, snow saves on milk in mixing Snow Waffles and Pancakes
which have a finer texture because of the chemicals released in
melting — some say it's the ammonia.

And anybody with access to a sunny window can cook jam and
preserves at no cost, by using the sun's heat for fuel. Also, a cost-
less, fireless cooker supplements the stove for dishes requiring long
cooking.

In lavish pioneer days our ancestors naturally went for the prime
cuts, tenderloin and chops, and threw away the equally valuable
giblets, kidneys, hearts and tidbits, all of which are quite as good
for us as the calves' liver which doctors discovered a few years
back and which, as a result of their prescribing it for anemia and
such, shot up in price from ten to seventy cents a pound. The same
thing happened with the sweetbreads butchers used to throw
away because it was so hard to give them away. As for liver, lambs'
liver still sells for 30^ a pound and is just as succulent as calves'
at more than twice the price — we honestly prefer it, and get added
satisfaction out of the saving. But calves' hearts, all meat and no
waste and even tastier than the liver when well cooked, are still a
drug on the butcher's block. For a dime we buy two of them,
weighing well over a pound, and make them into ritzy dishes we
wouldn't be ashamed to set before Oscar of the Waldorf. As a
matter of fact, he'd probably prefer our Braised Hearts to Capon
a la Financiered for chefs know what's what and their favorite
food is raw hamburger — Beef Tartar, the fresh uncooked meat
that can't be faked by cooking it "high" with onions.

The insular English who never knew our abundance have always
enjoyed frugal meat dishes such as "Bubble and Squeak" and
"Toad in the Hole," while the epicurean French go for a dish
of lungs, which we throw away. Kidneys, which we also neglect,
are almost as much of a fetish with Englishmen as calves' liver
with us, and when Englishmen travel — those who can afford

STRETCHING THE FOOD DOLLAR

to — they have frozen kidneys shipped out to them even in
Egypt.

We throw away chicken feet, while in Europe they're made into
the very best Strassburg aspic we ever tasted. No other aspic is a
scratch on it, even though it may cost ten times as much. Likewise
blood sausage is popular abroad, while here they say pig*s blood is
used chiefly to adulterate milk chocolate. And few of us believe
what good Jewish cooks know, that chicken fat spread on bread is
even tastier than butter. Pig*s feet we eat, but the cheaper and
tastier French dish of "sheep's trotters" is still to be discovered.
When common food prejudices are overcome, as they were recently
in Iowa when roast crow went on the menu after "Make him eat
crow" had been an insult for centuries, we increase our scope
enormously. The "pickled green plums" our fathers turned up
their noses at are now indispensable olives, shipped fresh, too,
from California and pickled at home at a fraction of the bottled
cost. And ever so much livelier. The wings of a skate, which we
throw away, mean "rai au beurre noir" to Parisians and Londoners
who are delighted to get them at a dollar a plate. While eels, of
course, anywhere but here, sell for prohibitive prices, especially
when smoked, in Dutch style.

Honey, which needn't cost more per pound than plain sugar if
bought at the source in family quantities, serves as a cheaper
sweetener because you're likely to use less, or maybe because it's
sweeter, and there's the added value of the flavor given to many
cereals and desserts. The honey-handlers advise us to use less of
it and get the full flavor by "drizzling" from a spoon instead of
just pouring. This more appetizing method makes the honey jug
do double duty for the same cost and can be extended to any
syrup. Once you've drizzled you'll never go back to pouring.

As for cereals, wheat frumenty and cornmeal mush stretch the
breakfast dollar like rubber. In the wheatless and meatless days
of the war, books came out with 1 50 different ways to cook corn,
cheapest of our grains, and as a change, especially with new top-o'-
the-table griddles and ovens, we can be our own hot biscuit bakers
and put the saving on in the form of butter and maple syrup.

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

A few grains of buttered popcorn in a cream soup make it a
different dish and the possibilities of a-dime-a-pound peanuts
are practically unexplored. (One book contains 105 recipes for
making fine peanut dishes.) And if you live where pecans are cheap,
get a copy of 800 Proved Pecan Recipes. Lentils and Jerusalem
artichokes are neglected but economical. Grade A buttermilk at
}4 the price of Grade B fresh milk in many places is a whole-
some substitute. Canned ripe pineapple is a better buy than fresh.
Potatoes baked in their jackets are more nourishing than boiled
(the roasted skin is the best part, once you learn to like it). The
new spaghetti squash makes a big platter of vegetable spaghetti
for half price and furnishes table talk for a week; even its tender
seeds are more than edible. There's a free clamjuice cocktail in the
juice of every half dozen clams, and besides, this juice and the soft
parts of clams serve as oyster sauce at 50% discount, and many
like it better. But mussels, tender and more digestible than clams,
are disdained. Frogs and crayfish are used chiefly in Creole and
French-influenced sections. Broiled salt codfish with garlic is a
gourmetic delight. Evaporated milk is just as good as cream in
some recipes, or in coffee — we know a woman's bowling team that
voted 90% for this preference. By crushing a clove of garlic you
release more flavor than by using two or three uncrushed. Inex-
pensive Chinese soy sauce is the basis of most expensive bottled
sauces. You can make your own anchovy essence for next to
nothing, have green garnishings, bean sprouts and such growing
without earth in a kitchen pan all winter. By saving celery leaves
and drying them youVe got something better than celery salt, and
half the value of watermelon is thrown away in the rind, a cinch
to pickle — and do they like it! Same goes for orange and lemon
skins to be kept for drinks and seasoning; kumquat skins actually
are finer than the fruit. You can double the bulk of a fine butter
to go with seafood by using cast off crayfish, crab and lobster shells.

But by now you should be convinced, so let's to recipes, with
one last word of explanation:

Since this book aims to give the tastiest and most nourishing
dishes at the lowest cost, the recipes are arranged under each
heading according to their value in economy and quality combined.

STRETCHING THE FOOD DOLLAR

Thus the first recipes in each division are the best all around bar-
gains, the most for your money, and the last ones, while just
as acceptable and practical, will cost more, take more time and
trouble, but may better please some individual tastes. In this way
there should be enough variety to go around.

The Authors

I. Substantial Soup.

In former days splendid vegetable soups, enriched by ten-cent
beef bones — with plenty of meat left on them — simmered for
hours on the back of coal ranges while washing, ironing and baking
were going on. And were they good! Whole meals in themselves
which built the sinew of our nation. Those were the days, too,
when frugal housewives kept an iron "stock pot'* constantly stew-
ing, into which they tossed all meat and poultry trimmings, ham
bones and left-overs, to provide a continual supply of strong meat
broth for soups and gravies.

With the change from coal to gas and electricity in the kitchen,
and with soup meat now as dear as beefsteaks used to be, these
old-time comforts are in the luxury class today. In the modern
American home, soup seldom appears at a simple family dinner,
but is reserved for special occasions and then often only a little bit
is served for show alone. The canned soup manufacturers are the

lO MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

ones who now fatten on our soup needs, although some of them
furnish us with fine quality and fair value.

In Europe, however, the soup pot still bubbles, especially in
France, in spite of the fact that most cooking over there is done on
small fires of charcoal, or with faggots brought on the back from the
roadside. But instead of abandoning their soups, they have in-
vented a whole flock of delicious meatless varieties, mostly made
out of things we throw away. These form the basis of the evening
meal of the proletarian or petit bourgeois French family, and in
smaller towns and villages the workman or peasant takes his steam-
ing bowl and crusty honest hearth bread to the front stoop, where
he consumes them at leisure, enjoying the air and conversation with
passers-by at the same time.

And here let us note that all soup tastes better out of a thick
generous bowl which has been well heated in advance. The flavor
will not escape, as it does from the large surface of a soup plate,
and the last spoonful is as hot and good as the first.

Many of the recipes which follow were gathered in a thrifty little
town, on the Riviera, and some of them cost nothing at all beyond
the trouble of putting them together, for they are made of the
liquids in which vegetables have been cooked for a former meal.
These liquids, rich in salts and vitamins, the French cook calls
bouillons^ just as she does the broth in which meat has been boiled.
And she doesn't waste a drop, for any vegetable pot liquor that
doesn't go into the soup is used to thin the next meat gravy or
furnish a sauce for some other vegetable. In making the gravy for a
roast, for instance, the French housewife doesn't just reach for the
teakettle or carelessly throw in some cold water, but tilts up the
saucepan in which potatoes, peas, celery, or some other vegetable
may be cooking, and adds to her roasting pan contents some of the
well-flavored and nourishing vegetable juices.

GREEN PEA — CELERY — CARROT SOUP

Strain the liquids in which green peas, celery and carrots have
been boiled. Put the green pea liquor in a saucepan and add celery
liquor until its taste is clearly discernible. Then add carrot liquor
until the flavor of the mixture is slightly sweet, remembering that

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS II

carrots contain a large percentage of sugar and too much will make
the soup unpalatable for some people. When the combination pleases
your taste, add salt if necessary, a dash of cayenne, and heat to
boiling. Cut stale slices of bread into cubes, fry brown in butter or
bacon fat, lay in bottom of soup tureen or individual bowls and
pour the soup over them. A few leftover peas, dropped in, add appe-
tizing color.

Three vegetables always make a better soup than two, but just
carrots and peas will do, with the addition of a little celery salt.

STRING BEAN AND POTATO SOUP

In 1 tablespoons butter slowly cook a minced onion, but do not
let it color. When tender add a tomato, either fresh or canned, and
stir until it thickens. Then add the liquor in which about a pound of
green beans have been boiled, and the water from 4-5 potatoes
with a little of the potato, well mashed. Season with salt and pepper
and pass all through a sieve. Reheat and serve.

The water in which almost any green vegetable has been boiled
may be used in this manner. Exceptions are the waters from bitter
greens, egg plant and artichokes. {See page 12.)

ASPARAGUS AND RICE SOUP

Heat water in which asparagus has been boiled. Add ]>4 cup boiled
rice. Or add 4 tablespoons uncooked rice, well-washed, and cook
rapidly 20 minutes. Season, and add a tablespoon lemon juice or a
few drops vinegar. Beat yolk of an egg or two in the bottom of a
soup tureen, put in a tablespoon butter, and slowly stir the hot soup
into this to make a frothing, appetizing dish.

POTATO — CELERIAC — ONION SOUP

Water from boiled potatoes, celeriac (celery root), and onions.
Mix to your liking, being careful not to put in too much onion water.
Throw in any left-over vegetables — beans, peas, cabbage, and
tomato will make this soup all the richer. Heat to boiling, press all
through a sieve. Cut 2-3 slices of bacon into tiny squares (kitchen
shears are handy for this) and fry crisp; scatter on top of soup when

12 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

served. Save bacon grease for other frying. A teaspoon of minced
parsley or other herb helps both appearance and taste.

The above recipes suggest a few of the dozens of combinations
which can be made. The only vegetable broths we never save are
from artichokes and eggplant, and from certain bitter greens like
dandelion. Of course the vegetables must have been carefully
cooked if the cooking water is to be good in soup. (See recipes for
vegetables.) For instance, onions should always be parboiled, the
first water thrown away and only the second water saved. And one
must be especially careful in preparing cabbage; only the liquid
from young cabbage is fit to be mixed with delicate vegetables, and
the cabbage must be cut into quarters or eighths and dropped into
rapidly boiling water; it should be cooked only 15-20 minutes, un-
covered; boiled in this manner the broth alone, stirred well with a
little butter and seasonings, is delicious and has a flavor that sug-
gests delicate chicken broth.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS SOUP

Cook a quart of Brussels sprouts in salted boiling water, leaving
the cover off the saucepan so they will retain their bright color.
Save the cooking water. After serving them as a vegetable, heat any
left-over sprouts in 2 tablespoons of butter, shaking the pan;
sprinkle them with flour, have the water in which they were cooked
boiling hot, throw them into it, cook 5 minutes, then press all
through a sieve. Bring to boiling point again and pour over 2 egg
yolks beaten with yi cup milk. Serve at once.

Onions, potatoes and leeks combine well with Brussels sprouts;
and a soup made in the proportion of 2 sliced onions, 4 diced po-
tatoes, 2 chopped leeks and 2 cups of Brussels sprouts is a common
family dish in Belgium. When all are tender the soup is pressed
through a sieve, seasoned, and sprinkled with minced parsley.

VEGETABLE CREAM SOUPS

Any vegetable bouillon is quickly made into cream soup by blend-
ing 2 tablespoons of flour in 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and then
slowly stirring in 2 cups of fresh milk, or evaporated milk thinned

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS I3

with water; cook slowly, stirring constantly, until thick. Add 2 cups
of vegetable bouillon and a little of the vegetable, and season with
salt and pepper. Stir and cook until well mixed. Serve boiling hot.
This is a good way to use up the small quantities of liquids from
canned vegetables.

PEA POD SOUP
Wash young, tender peas before shelling, and put the pods in
boiling water with a sprig of parsley, several lettuce leaves and a
sliced onion. Cook uncovered until tender and press through a sieve.
Season with salt, pepper and a very little sugar. Add any left-over
peas after straining, and heat to boiling.

FRENCH PEASANT SOUP

I ONION, CHOPPED 2 TURNIPS, CHOPPED

I LEEK, CHOPPED ^ SMALL CABBAGE, CHOPPED

I SLICE SALT PORK, CUBED 12 STRING BEANS, SLICED

1 TABLESPOON FAT 3 POTATOES, SLICED THIN

2 CARROTS, CHOPPED 2 QUARTS BOILING WATER

I GARLIC CLOVE, CRUSHED

Slowly fry onion, leek and pork in fat, but do not brown; add
carrots, turnips, cabbage and beans and slowly fry, turning occa-
sionally with a wooden spoon. Then add boiling water, potatoes and
garlic and bring to boiling point. Cook 4 hours over lowest heat or
in a fireless cooker. Eat without straining.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

3 TABLESPOONS BUTTER I CLOVE

I LARGE ONION, CHOPPED I SPRIG CELERY LEAVES

1 POUND JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES 2 SPRIGS PARSLEY

2 LARGE POTATOES 2 EGG YOLKS

2 QUARTS BOILING WATER 2 TABLESPOONS MILK, OR WATER .

Slowly fry onion in butter, but do not let it color. Add peeled and
chopped artichokes, and the potato, peeled and quartered; slowly
fry for a moment only. Then add water, and the clove, parsley and
celery tied together with a thread so they may be easily removed
at the end. Cook until vegetables are soft, remove the celery, pars-
ley and clove, and press vegetables and liquor through a fine sieve.

14 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Reheat, but do not let boil. Beat egg yolk with milk and add
slowly, stirring soup all the time. More butter may be added if you
like. Pour over cubes of fried bread, or add a little left-over rice
during cooking.

CELERIAC SOUP

Peel and cut up 3 good-sized celeriacs, parboil, drain and finish
cooking over slow fire in two tablespoons butter, but do not let it
brown. Add yi the quantity of cut-up raw potatoes and lyi quarts
of boiling water and 3 beef or chicken cubes. Simmer until tender,
press all through a sieve and simmer again until sufficiently thick.

ROUMANIAN CREAM OF POTATO SOUP

3 TABLESPOONS BUTTER OR FAT 2 TEASPOONS SALT

3 LARGE ONIONS, CHOPPED 8 PEPPERCORNS

1 GREEN PEPPER, CHOPPED 3 LARGE POTATOES, DRIED
I/^ QUARTS BOILING WATER I >^ CUPS EVAPORATED MILK

I TABLESPOON MINCED PARSLEY

Slowly cook onion in butter, add green pepper and cook until
tender without browning. Add boiling water, seasonings and po-
tatoes. Cook until soft and press all through sieve. Reheat to boil-
ing point, beating in the milk. Sprinkle in the parsley and serve.

TOMATO TAPIOCA SOUP

3 TOMATOES I ONION, SLICED

yi BAY LEAF 1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

SMALL SPRIG THYME (OR CELERY) I QUART BOILING WATER

2 TABLESPOONS MINUTE TAPIOCA SALT AND PEPPER

Cook tomatoes with bay leaf, thyme and onion until onion is
tender and tomatoes are thick — about 30 minutes. Press through
a sieve. Drop tapioca into salted boiling water and cook 5 minutes,
or until clear. Add tomato mixture and cook and stir until well
mixed, then stir in butter, add pepper, and serve. If the tomatoes
are too acid yi teaspoon sugar will remedy that.

ECONOMY SOUP
Boil a minced onion in i>^ quarts stock or water, with a cup
of bread crumbs. Press all through a sieve. Bring to boiling point

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS I5

and season. Remove from fire and stir in 2 egg yolks beaten with a
couple of tablespoons milk. Sprinkle grated cheese over each plate
after serving.

OYSTER PLANT SOUP (i)

10 SMALL OYSTER PLANT ROOTS I TEASPOON SALT

I TABLESPOON FLOUR X TEASPOON WHITE PEPPER

3 TABLESPOONS VINEGAR 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

3 CUPS MILK, SCALDED 2 EGG YOLKS, BEATEN

OYSTER CRACKERS

Scrape roots, cut in ^-inch slices and drop into 3 cups of cold
water, mixed with vinegar and flour to prevent roots from discolor-
ing. Let lie 15 minutes; drain, put into enamelled sauce pan, cover
with fresh water and cook until soft. Strain and press through a
sieve. Add milk and seasonings. Stir while keeping at boiling tem-
perature, but do not boil. Add egg yolks, stir until yolks are well
incorporated, taking care that they do not curdle. Eat with oyster
crackers.

SALSIFY (OYSTER PLANT) SOUP (2)

Scrape i bunch of salsify, slice and throw slices for a few minutes
into water acidulated with a tablespoon of vinegar. Drain and cook
in boiling salted water until tender. Stir in i can evaporated milk,
add white pepper and i teaspoon paprika, lay two tablespoons
butter on top, and continue to stir until butter melts. When boiling
hot it is ready to eat and tastes like oyster stew. It will be richer,
however, if poured over two egg yolks which have been beaten with
a tablespoon of cold water.

CARROT SOUP

6 LARGE CARROTS ^ CUP CREAM

1 ONION, CHOPPED (OR EVAPORATED MILK)

2 CELERY STALKS, SLICED 5^ TEASPOON SUGAR

4 TABLESPOONS BUTTER SALT AND PEPPER

I QUART CHICKEN OR VEAL BROTH 2 CUPS COOKED NOODLES

(or BROTH MADE WITH CHICKEN

cubes)

l6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Scrape carrots, quarter them and cut out the pale centers; dice
the rest and cook with onion and celery in butter until they begin
to color. Add broth and simmer until tender. Strain and press
through a fine sieve. Put back over flame and stir until well incor-
porated. Add sugar, cream, salt, pepper and the noodles, which
have been kept hot.

If you hke raw carrots you might munch one with this.

ONION SOUPS

Basic Onion Soup is very simply made:

Slice onions thin, saute golden brown in butter, pour hot water
on, using ^ more than the quantity of soup you want. Cook until
tender. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, lay slices of
toasted French bread or rolls on bottom of tureen and pour soup
over them. Have a saucer of grated cheese handy for sprinkling on.
Good imported Gruyere is best for this.

Or fill the soup plates, float toast on, cover it with cheese and
brown quickly under grill.

Some recipes call for cloves, mace, parsley, and a poached egg in
each bowl. Others are thickened with cream and meat broth, spiced
with vinegar and garlic. None are quick soups.

There are two colors of Onion Soup, white and brown:

WHITE ONION SOUP

yi POUND SWEET BUTTER PEPPER

y2 POUND ONIONS, DICED SALT

I CUP BREAD CRUMBS NUTMEG

I QUART MILK 4 TABLESPOONS GRATED CHEESE
I PINT VEAL OR CHICKEN BROTH, OR
WATER

Saute onions in butter for i hour, without browning, then add
bread crumbs, milk and broth; cook 45 minutes more and put ev-
erything through a fine sieve. Heat, season and stir in grated cheese.

BROWN ONION SOUP

Made same as White Onion Soup, except onions are browned
with diced bacon and cooked a little longer before straining.

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS I7

Cream of Onion Soup is made with white sauce and the water in
which cauliflower or celery has been boiled, or you might like a can
of creamed vegetable soup instead. The sauted onions are cooked
in this; cream or evaporated milk and seasonings are added at the
end and cheesed toasts floated in.

Fried croutons give zest to any onion soup, and the simpler the
soup is made the better it is. You can get cozy brown bean pots at
the five-and-ten from which to sup this soup piping hot in true tra-
dition. The imported ones, costing a dime in France, are a dollar
here in the specialty shops.

YANKEE ONION SOUP

3 ONIONS, SLICED THIN PAPRIKA

X CUP BUTTER 3 CUPS HOT WATER

I TABLESPOON FLOUR 2 BOUILLON CUBES

SALT TOASTS

% CUP GRATED CHEESE, SHARP AMERICAN

Brown onions in butter, add flour, salt and pepper, simmer and
stir for 2 minutes before adding bouillon cubes dissolved in the hot
water. Simmer over slow flame for 30 minutes, stir once in a while,
float toasts on, cover with grated cheese, which rapidly melts into
luscious loops. Serves three.

FRENCH ONION SOUP
(SouPE A l'Oignon)

9 WHITE ONIONS, IN SLICES FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

I TABLESPOON CHICKEN FAT SALT

I TABLESPOON FLOUR )4. CUP CREAM

BEEF BROTH (OR EVAPORATED MILk)

I SUGAR CUBE THIN TOi^ST

GRATED GRUYERE CHEESE

Stew onions in chicken fat in covered pan until light golden.
Stir in flour, stew some more, add beef broth, stir again and cook
till tender, using more beef broth and the sugar, pepper and salt.
When done, skim off fat, whip in cream, heat, put toast in bowls,
cover with cheese, pour the soup on, and dig in.

1 8 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

SPANISH GARLIC SOUP

yi CUP OLIVE OIL 3 PINTS BOILING WATER

lO GARLIC CLOVES (4 CRUSHED, 3 SLICES BREAD

6 minced) 3 HARD-COOKED EGGS, SLICED

Slowly fry garlic in oil until brown, but not burned. Add a little
water and cook until tender. Mash and add boiling water, stirring
well. Season to taste. Cook lo minutes. Heat oil in frying pan until
it smokes. Cool a little and fry bread in it. Place bread in a soup
dish. Pour soup over bread and put slices of hard-cooked eggs on
top.

(From the Browns' European Cook Book for American Homes)

WATER CRESS SOUP

I BUNCH OF WATERCRESS 2 POTATOES, PEELED AND DICED

I ONION, SLICED THIN I QUART SALTED BOILING WATER

1 TABLESPOONS OIL OR BUTTER X TEASPOON SUGAR

CAYENNE

Use only leaves and tender stem ends of cress, saving out a few
leaves for the finished dish; chop, and start simmering with the
onion in the oil, cook for 5 minutes, then add potatoes and continue
to cook, but do not let them color. Add boiling water and simmer
until potatoes are soft, about half an hour. Pass all through a fine
sieve; season with sugar and cayenne; heat to boiling, stirring con-
stantly. Serve at once with two or three fresh cress leaves in each
plate. If desired, the soup may be further thickened with a table-
spoon of flour stirred smooth in a little milk or cold water.

BORSCHT

The low-down on borscht is that it's any beef or beefless soup,
with beets, cabbage, carrots and potatoes, eaten hot or cold, with
or without sour cream. But borscht is made differently in every
section of that broad beet belt stretching all the way through Rus-
sia, Poland and adjoining territories, so there's not much good in
giving just a recipe or two to stand for all the hundreds of varieties.
Besides, most borscht takes hours to prepare, so the practical
thing to do when you get a yen for it is to slip into the handiest

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS

Russian restaurant, where you can get a whole kettle full, with sour
cream.

When borscht is made of fermented beet juice, it takes a lot of
beating, just as German sauerbraten does when done in beer vine-
gar, but who's got time to fix either of these today? We only wish
we knew of a good canned beet soup to recommend. A Russian
friend of ours, Anna Sherover, makes a famous ]4. hour soup, and
it's the best borscht in uptown New York, anyway on the West side.

ANNA SHEROVER'S BORSCHT

4 MEDIUM SIZED BEETS, PEELED 3 TABLESPOONS SUGAR

I ONION, GRATED ON MEDIUM GRATER SALT AND PEPPER TO FANCY

JUICE OF 2 LEMONS 1 EGGS

I PINT SOUR CREAM

Put beets and onion in 2-quart sauce pan and boil 20 minutes.
Add lemon juice, sugar and seasonings; and boil 5 more minutes.
Beat eggs with cream; stir in slowly. Take off fire and allow to chill.
Makes 6-8 portions.

(From the Browns' lofioo Snacks)

POLISH KRAUT BORSCHT

y^ BEET JUICE

SUGAR

}4 SAUERKRAUT JUICE

HEAT

CREAM OF SAUERKRAUT

I SLICE ONION

1 OUNCES FLOUR

6 I-INCH LENGTHS CELERY

2 CUPS MILK

I BAY LEAF

2 CUPS FRESH SAUERKRAUT

1 OUNCES BUTTER

% TEASPOON SALT

I QUART WHITE STOCK

CAYENNE

Cook onion, celery and bay leaf 5 minutes in butter; mix flour in
a little water and stir in with stock and milk. When soup boils, put
in sauerkraut and cook another 5 minutes, season, strain, put }4 of
the sauerkraut back into the soup, and toss in some croutons, or
toasted bits of seeded rolls.

20 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

CORIANDER AND BREAD SOUP
SoPA DE Pan Con Caldo de Culantro

2 TABLESPOONS CORIANDER SEED I QUART SEASONED BROTH

2 SLICES STALE WHITE BREAD I PAIR LAMb's KIDNEYS

i tablespoon butter i pair sheep's brains (or }4 calf*s

brain)

Shake coriander seed in a dry pan over fire until toasted, but not
too brown. Pound in a mortar. Cut bread in small cubes and fry in
butter until brown. Place bread and coriander in the broth and boil
over a hot fire. Blanch brains and clean; return to water to boil lo
minutes. Parboil kidneys 5 minutes in a little water; skim and add
this water to the soup. Cut kidneys into narrow thin slices. Season
brains and kidneys and roll in fine bread crumbs. Take soup from
fire and lay brains and kidneys on top. If either brains or kidneys
are unobtainable, beat an egg slightly with a tablespoon of cold
water, salt and pepper, as for omelet, spread thin over bottom of an
oiled pan which is not too hot. When it coagulates, cut in strips and
drop into the soup.

This Mexican caldo is a spicy marvel well worth the trouble, time,
kidneys, coriander and brains that go into it.

CARAWAY SEED SOUP

(KiJMMEL SuPPE)

I CARROT DICED 3 TABLESPOONS FAT

I YOUNG TURNIP, DICED I TABLESPOON FLOUR

I ONION, SLICED 2 TABLESPOONS CARAWAY SEED

3 CUPS BEEF BROTH SALT AND PEPPER

CROUTONS

Cook carrot, turnip and onion in beef broth until tender. Strain
and press through sieve. Heat fat (chicken fat is best), add flour and
caraway seed, stir, and let slowly color golden. Add sieved liquid
slowly, stirring until smooth. Simmer }4 hour. Strain through
cheese cloth and serve hot, with croutons.

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS 21

BROWN EGG SOUP

yi POUND BUTTER SALT AND PEPPER

3 TABLESPOONS FLOUR ^ TEASPOON NUTMEG

I QUART BEEF BROTH 3 EGGS

I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

Melt butter; add flour and slowly color light brown, stirring
constantly to prevent burning. Have broth boiling hot. Slightly
cool butter and flour and add. Stir and cook 8 minutes. Season.
Beat eggs slightly with 3 tablespoons cold water. Pour very slowly
into boiling soup while stirring rapidly. Cook for only a moment
until eggs are well incorporated. Take up, add parsley at the finish.

Curdled Egg Soup may be made without browning. Just mix
flour, water, and eggs together, with a little salt and pepper, the
batter being poured into the boiling broth and cooked 5 minutes, and
y2 the quantity of butter added last.

QUICK CONFETTI SOUP

I PACKAGE CARUSO SOUP MIXTURE 1 QUARTS BOILING WATER

Pour contents of package into boiling water and let it boil on
slow fire until tender, then salt and put in i ounce of butter.

This quick soup mixture consists of the following i6 vegetable
and egg products — celery, potato, carrot, onion, pimiento, green
pepper flakes, tomato, rice, yellow and green split peas, egg alpha-
bets, decorated rings, shells, small beads, bridge flakes and midget
elbows.

Gay in color and fancy as a carnival, the fluttering bits of paste
and vegetables make the boiling pot look like a shower of confetti
or a whirling kaleidoscope. It*s fun to watch it cooking and the soup
is really good, especially if you add a little browned bacon, some
chicken or beef bouillon cubes, and small hot peppers. This soup is
put up in a cellophane bag that sells for a dime or so and serves 8.

ALPHABET SOUP

Egg Noodle Alphabet Soup is made in a few minutes by adding
the little A-B-C's to any good canned consomme or quick soup of
bouillon cubes.

22 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Alphabets also come handy on anniversaries, to spell out names,
ages and greetings on cakes. Cook them in syrup and then set them
like type in the frosting.

FARINA SOUP

X POUND BUTTER >^ TEASPOON NUTMEG

y^ POUND FARINA SALT AND PEPPER

3 PINTS BOILING WATER OR STOCK WHIPPED CREAM

Melt butter, stir in farina and slowly simmer, stirring constantly
until light brown. Add to boiling water, stirring until thickened;
add seasonings and cook i hour in double boiler.

Snack with whipped cream slathered on top, or still better, sour
cream.

JENNY LIND'S SOUP

3 QUARTS MEAT BROTH >^ TEASPOON SUGAR

3 OUNCES SAGO SALT

4 EGG YOLKS PEPPER
]/2 CUP EVAPORATED MILK NUTMEG

Heat broth, add sago and boil slowly 20 minutes. Beat yolks, stir
in milk. Remove from fire, skim, stir yolks in rapidly, season, and
eat at once.

BUTTERMILK SOUP (i)

I QUART BUTTERMILK SALT

^ CUP SEEDED RAISINS GRATING OF NUTMEG

^ TABLESPOONS SUGAR LEMON PEEL

% CUP WASHED RICE

Bring buttermilk with raisins and seasonings to the boiling point;
scatter in the rice, cover closely and boil slowly until rice is soft.
Taste, adding more seasonings if necessary.

Buttermilk should sell for less than half the price of fresh milk.
Although in some places milk trusts hold up the price of buttermilk,
independent dealers sell it for as little as 4^ a quart, which makes
the above soup one of the cheapest and most nutritious we know,
besides being a novel change from the usual run of soups.

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS 2^

BUTTERMILK SOUP (2)

1}4 PINTS BUTTERMILK I SLICE LEMON

^ PINT SWEET MILK SALT

}4 CUP FLOUR SUGAR

)4 TEASPOON CINNAMON 2 EGG YOLKS, BEATEN

^2 TEASPOON ANISEED ZWEIBACH, OR CROUTONS

Mix flour with some of the milk until it's free from lumps. Mix
buttermilk and sweet milk together and bring to a boiling point.
Stir in flour and let cook, stirring constantly. Add cinnamon, ani-
seed (tied in a cloth), lemon, salt and sugar to taste. When smooth,
simmer 5-8 minutes. Take out aniseed. Remove from fire, add
egg yolks and stir. Pour over croutons, zwiebach, or pulled and
toasted bread.

Buckwheat meal, or sago, are also used to thicken this soup, in
which case it should be allowed to cook in double boiler }^ hour.
Sago must be soaked in cold water J/2 hour before using.

Caraway seed can be substituted for aniseed, depending on taste.

SCOTCH BROTH

Take carrots, turnips, leeks, onions and any other fresh vege-
tables in season. Chop them up very, very fine. Put a piece of
butter in a pan and throw the vegetables in to cook. Add stock to
quantity required and when boiling toss in some pearl barley. This
soup should be made fairly thick and eaten very hot.

LEEK SOUP

Thoroughly wash 4 leeks; pare 4 potatoes. Cut both into small
dice, cover with a quart of cold water and cook until very tender,
adding 2 tablespoons butter during cooking. Press through a sieve,
return to the pan and add i teaspoon butter kneaded with i teaspoon
flour. Stir until soup boils. Pour over bits of fried bread. If only the
white of the leeks is used the soup will have a better color. If you
wish to use the solid portion of the green leek tops, the potatoes and
leeks may be cooked separately and the potatoes passed through
the sieve. The leeks, cooked very soft, added with their liquid
afterward, will float as clear white and green bits in the soup.

24 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PUMPKIN SOUP

Pare a slice of pumpkin and cut roughly into i>^-inch cubes.
Scrape and cut up a large carrot. The quantity of both vegetables
together should measure about a quart. Barely cover with salted
cold water and gently cook until very tender. Press with the liquid
through a sieve. Put back in saucepan and heat, seasoning with
pepper, a bit of mace or a dash of grated nutmeg, and a tablespoon
of onion juice. Heat 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, stir into it
1^2 tablespoons of flour until smooth, and stir rapidly into the
pumpkin while it is heating; continue to stii until it boils and
thickens slightly. Dilute to thick soup consistency with boiling
water in which a chicken cube has been dissolved, or with hot milk.
Simmer lo minutes, stirring frequently. You may like a teaspoon
of sugar added.

GREEN SPLIT PEA SOUP

2 CUPS SPLIT PEAS I CUP TOMATOES

1 QUARTS COLD WATER 1 TEASPOONS SALT

I SLICE BACON, DICED 4 PEPPERCORNS

I MEDIUM ONION, SLICED 4 ALLSPICE

I GARLIC CLOVE, SLICED I CHILI PEPPER

HERB BOUQUET

Soak peas in i quart of water overnight. Fry bacon crisp but not
too brown, then very slowly fry garlic and onion until golden, add
tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally until tomatoes thicken
and adding i teaspoon salt. The success of this soup depends on
care and attention during this preliminary stage. Meanwhile add the
second quart of water to the peas and bring to boiling point. Stir in
the simmered mixture, add peppercorns, allspice, chili (split and
seeds removed), and the herb bouquet, which in this case should
consist of a sprig of celery and parsley, either dried or fresh, a bay
leaf, and a tiny bit of thyme, if you wish. Stir well together, cover
close, and simmer about i}4 hours, stirring occasionally to make
sure it does not stick to bottom of pan. Length of cooking time
varies, since some peas are older and harder than others. As soon as
peas are very soft run all through a coarse sieve, season with salt,

SUBSTANTIAL SOUPS

and return to saucepan to cook 10 minutes, stirring several times
until of good texture. If you think the soup will be too thin, throw in
a slice of stale bread 15 minutes before straining; if too thick, add
boiling vegetable bouillon, that is, the water in which potatoes, or
any green vegetables are cooking. Or vegetable bouillon may be used
from the beginning in place of some of the water. Stir vigorously
before serving, since no flour or other artificial thickening holds the
soup together. With bread and butter this is a full nourishing meal
and anything which follows it may be regarded as so much decora-
tion.

DRIED LIMA BEAN SOUP

Make like Green Pea Soup, but substitute for the bacon a slice
of salt pork cut % inch thick. Limas cook more quickly than navies
and the flavor is much finer.

NAVY BEAN SOUP
Make like Dried Lima Bean Soup.

BREAD AND CHEESE SOUP

2-3 ONIONS, MINCED
3 TABLESPOONS BUTTER
I QUART BOILING WATER
1 TABLESPOONS FLOUR
SALT AND PEPPER

I GRATED NUTMEG

I SMALL GARLIC CLOVE, GRATED

I BAY LEAF

THINLY SLICED BREAD

GRATED STALE CHEESE

Slowly fry onions in butter, but do not let them brown. Add flour
and very slowly allow it to color with the onions, stirring all the
time. When golden, add boiling water, seasonings, garlic and bay
leaf, and simmer 15 minutes. Arrange a layer of bread slices in
bottom of a fireproof dish. The bread should not be too fresh, and
a long French loaf is best, but any white bread will do. Sprinkle
thickly with grated cheese, then a layer of bread and one of cheese,
and a third layer if your dish is deep and narrow. Pour the hot soup
over, sprinkle top with cheese again and brown in oven or under
grill. This is a substantial French dish but a starchy one and should
be followed by green vegetables or salad, or you might like to eat
these right with the soup, to make a well-balanced meal.

26 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

CHESTNUT SOUP

y2 POUND CHESTNUTS SALT AND PEPPER

I QUART WATER SMALL SQUARES OF BREAD

I SPRIG CELERY LEAVES BUTTER

Peel chestnuts by cutting a gash in each shell, then throw the
nuts into boiling water. Let boil a few minutes, take out, and when
cool enough to handle, both the shell and peel can easily be removed
with the help of a knife. Cook the peeled nuts in water with celery
sprig and seasonings until they are tender enough to press with their
cooking water through a coarse sieve. Return to saucepan, heat and
stir, thinning with a little boiling milk. Fry the bread squares crisp
and light brown in butter, lay in bottom of a hot soup tureen and
pour soup over.

Dried chestnuts, already hulled and peeled, may often be bought
in Italian groceries at a lower price than fresh ones. They must be
put into lukewarm water to soak overnight, and then require longer
cooking time.

0 II

Shellfish^ Stews
and Chowders

MUSSELS

Oysters and scallops, so plentiful not long ago that they were
ladled out by the quart and the gallon, are now nearly prohibitive
by the piece and the pound. The lobsters, with which our wickedly
exploited sea bottoms once swarmed, are charged for by the price
makers, who prefer the present shortage, as if those ugly horny
crustaceans were angels from heaven. And they are rapidly growing
scarcer, for unscrupulous bootleggers catch and market under-
ground the undersized ones, disregarding laws which aim at con-
servation.

It has not been so easy to restrict prices and keep down the supply
of clams, however, since anyone living along certain sections of our
coast can dig in unguarded mud flats for them, or let down a hand
dredge from a row boat and bring up a rich haul. Although in city
markets the price of Little Necks and Cherry Stones, delivered in
the half shell on cracked ice, rivals that of expensive oysters, other
varieties just as delicious to cook remain within reach. Pushcarts
can still handle them. Steamers and some of the hard shells are of-
fered for bait and chumming to amateur fishermen at two dollars
or less a bushel, and are even included in the trip price on the pop-

28 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

ular deep sea fishing boats which furnish a day's sport to a fisher-
man for two bucks, giving him the chance to reimburse himself
with at least two dollars worth of the fish he has hooked.

For some reason great beds of sea mussels lie untouched and un-
marketed all along the shores of both our oceans. They are the
cheapest of seafood and as delicious as any, in their way as distinc-
tive for cooking as oysters, and much more digestible than clams.
Billions of them, hundreds of millions of pounds, are consumed on
the other side, where they appear on menus, especially in France,
done in dozens of delightful ways.

Yet in America they are for sale only in Paddy's and Tony's
markets where Latins and Holland Dutchmen eagerly hunt them
down. Their freshness is judged like that of other shellfish, that is,
the shells must be tightly closed by the living membranes of the
creature within. They must look clean and wholesome and smell of
the sea. If you are gathering them yourself, make sure the water
they live in is unpolluted with city sewage, and do not take them
from copper bound wrecks or off the piling of wharfs. In other words,
be as careful about the place they are taken from as you would be if
digging clams.

Let them lie in fresh water to discharge any sand, then wash and
scrub the shells. Pull off the hanging tendrils before cooking and
discard the very visible little black beards before eating.

STEAMED MUSSELS

(i) -Steam and serve like clams, with a cup of the broth beside
each plate and a dish of melted butter in which to dip each mussel.
Or, (2) simmer a chopped onion, with perhaps a bit of garlic, in
Yi tablespoons of oil or butter, but do not let it color; add a
cut-up tomato, and simmer; add an herb bouquet (see recipe under
Season It!) and i}4 cups boiling water and simmer until well
blended. Pour the mussels into the pan, cover closely, and steam
until they open; continue to steam for 5 minutes longer; take mus-
sels from shells, place in a hot dish and pour liquid over.

The broth may be used at one meal for soup, like clam broth,
and the steamed mussels may appear at another, reheated in a

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS 29

cream sauce made with half milk, or cream, and half mussel liquor.
They may also be fixed h la Newburg, or be done into fritters, or
croquettes. Cold, they make a very good salad: Drain well, mix with
thinly sliced celery, and then with mayonnaise or salad dressing,
and serve on lettuce leaves.

PICKLED MUSSELS

Take steamed mussels from shells, lay them in a dish with a
chopped onion, a chopped carrot, a bit of garlic, half a dozen pep-
percorns, salt, a dash of cayenne and a clove or two. Pour over
them a very little olive oil, and shake the dish until all are well
settled together. Then cover with a mixture of half vinegar and half
mussel broth. Let stand 3-4 hours. Serve in the mussel shells, one
or two pickled mussels in each half shell, scattering over them a
little of the onion and carrot drained out of the pickling liquor.

BAKED MUSSELS

Steam the mussels, leave each one lying on a half shell. Mix into
a lump of butter all the minced parsley and chives it will take.
Spread a teaspoonful of the mixture on each mussel and place in
oven or under grill until sputtering hot. A layer of coarse salt in
the bottom of the pan, to imbed the shells, will keep them steady
and level so that the butter does not spill while heating, and will
hold the heat when they are brought to the table in the pan.

FRIED MUSSELS

Drain and dry steamed mussels; discard beards; season with pep-
per and a very little salt. Roll in egg and then in crumbs, and
quickly brown in fat. Serve with quartered lemon.

MUSSEL CHOWDER

Steam mussels and proceed as with clam chowder, using the
mussel broth for cooking the chowder and adding the mussels at
the end.

30 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

CLAMS

Soft clams not only have a thinner shell than hard ones, but have
a larger proportion of soft meat inside of them. The tough muscle
called the "neck" of both hard-shell, Little Necks and soft-shell
steamers is really a foot by which the creatures propel themselves,
and since the shells open to extend this foot they often close
abruptly, especially when the clams are alarmed by diggers, and
thus take in considerable sand. So they should be allowed to lie in
cold water for several hours to give them a chance to expel not only
sand but any other extraneous matter they may have picked up.
They will make more of an effort to do this if some cornmeal is
sprinkled into the water for them to eat.

CLAM CHOWDER

1 QUART CLAMS, EITHER HARD OR SOFT 6 ALLSPICE

2 SLICES SALT PORK 3 CLOVES

2 ONIONS, DICED 6 PEPPERCORNS

3-4 POTATOES, DICED 4 PILOT CRACKERS

I PINT MILK (optional)

Let clams lie in cold water, wash well and scrub shells with a
brush; place them in a kettle with i cups cold water and put over
heat until shells open. Drain, strain liquid through cloth, and take
meats from shells, remove any tough ends of necks, lay hard parts
on a board and chop fine with a sharp knife. Dice pork and fry,
strain out pork and slowly fry onions in fat until golden. Barely
cover potatoes with boiling water and cook for 5 minutes and drain.
Place pork in bottom of a kettle, and lay in alternate layers of po-
tatoes, onions, crumbled crackers, and chopped hard parts of clams.
Tie spices together in a bit of cloth so they may be removed at the
finish. Cover with strained clam juice and simmer until potatoes
are done. Add soft parts of clams and cook 3 minutes.

There are several schools of chowder makers from as many parts
of New England, where Indian squaws first taught pioneer house-
wives to make this dish. Some add heated milk just before putting
in the soft parts of the clams, some thicken at the end with flour
rubbed into butter and omit the pilot crackers, and some use a can

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS 3 1

of tomatoes in building up the chowder pot. These variations make
pleasant changes which keep clam chowders acceptable throughout
their long season, usually extending the year round.

CREAM OF QUAHOG SOUP

20 HARD-SHELL CLAMS MINCED PARSLEY

1 ONION, SMALL I PINCH SUGAR
y^ CUP CLAM JUICE SALT AND PEPPER

2 CUPS MILK I TABLESPOON BUTTER

I TABLESPOON FLOUR

Open and chop clams fine with very sharp knife. Put in double
boiler with minced onion and clam juice. Cook a few minutes over
direct heat. Add milk and sugar, salt and pepper, and return to low
heat in double boiler. Thicken with butter and flour blended, and
cook 3-4 minutes. Strain. When hot, serve with small rounds of
toast and minced parsley in each cup.

Quahog is the Indian name adopted in New England for round
hard clams. Little Necks are small quahogs.

QUAHOGS STEWED

Open on grill or in oven, pour liquor out of shells, take out clams
and let boil in own liquor. Season with pepper only, add butter and
serve on toast.

BAKED CLAMS

Arrange clams on the half shell on a bed of salt in a shallow baking
pan. Cut thin slices of bacon in two and lay a strip across each
clam. Over that put chopped chives, a little paprika and bits of
butter. Cook in a hot oven five or six minutes and serve immedi-
ately.

CAPE COD CLAM CAKES OR FRITTERS

2 CUPS CLAMS iy2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

2 CUPS FLOUR 2 EGGS, BEATEN LIGHTLY

MILK

Chop clams. Make batter with other ingredients, sifting flour and
baking powder together and adding to eggs and milk. Stir in clams.

32 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

For cakes, make batter thin and drop by spoonfuls on greased grid-
dle and brown on both sides. For fritters, do not use so much milk;
drop from spoon into hot deep fat and drain on paper.

CLAM-POTATO FRITTERS

I DOZEN CLAMS, CHOPPED I TABLESPOON CLAM JUICE

yi CUP MASHED POTATOES I TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

I EGG, WELL BEATEN SALT AND PEPPER

FLOUR

Discard hard parts of clams and chop soft parts; mix with po-
tatoes, egg beaten very light, and clam juice. Season with pepper
and a very little salt. Sift baking powder with ^ cup of flour and
add, with additional flour, to make a stiflF batter. Drop by spoonfuls
into deep hot fat and fry a delicate brown.

STEWED SOFT CLAMS

I LARGE ONION, CHOPPED

3 DOZEN CLAMS

1 TABLESPOONS FAT

SALT

yi GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED

PAPRIKA

1 CELERY STALKS, SLICED

JUICE ^ LEMON

I CARROT, CHOPPED

I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

TOAST

Fry onion golden in i tablespoon fat, add garlic clove, cook 2
minutes, then add carrot and celery, a very little salt and a pinch of
paprika; simmer in own juices until soft. Wash, scrub and open
clams, keeping the soft parts whole and discarding the hard parts;
gently heat them with i tablespoon of fat for 5 minutes, add clam
juice and the sieved vegetables, a little white wine if you have it,
or several tablespoons boiling water and the lemon juice. Shake the
pan and let boil i minute. Add parsley and serve on toast.

CLAM PIE

I QUART CLAMS ^ CUP MILK

^ POUND SALT PORK 1 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

SALT AND PEPPER 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

Wash, scrub, open and chop clams. Dice pork and fry until light
brown; add clams and juice and simmer i hours. Drain out clams

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS ;^^

and reduce liquid to i/^ cups. Add milk, knead flour and butter to-
gether and drop in bits, stirring all the time until smooth and thick.
Make a biscuit dough as follows;

3 CUPS FLOUR 2 TABLESPOONS BAKING POWDER

2 TABLESPOONS SHORTENING I TEASPOON SALT

WATER

Mix and sift dry ingredients, work in shortening, and mix in
enough to make a soft dough. Roll out a little more than half of it
^2 inch thick, and line a round pan. Put in clams with 3-4 table-
spoons of their gravy. Roll out rest of dough for a cover, pierce it to
let out steam, brush the edge of under crust with water, cover and
pinch edges together. Bake in hot oven, with pie, at first, on bottom
rack, then move to center of oven and finish to a nice brown. Serve
with the rest of the gravy heated, in a boat.

SCALLOPED CLAMS OR OYSTERS

I PINT OYSTERS OR SHELLED CLAMS I GENEROUS CUP CRUMBS

I CUP HOT MILK SALT

^ CUP BUTTER, MELTED I TEASPOON PEPPER

Drain oysters or clams, bring liquor to boiling point and add
milk. Mix sifted crumbs and butter with a fork. Butter a baking
dish, spread a thin layer of crumbs in it, add a layer of oysters,
season, cover with crumbs, pour over some of the hot liquid, and
repeat until all are used, having crumbs on top. Dot with more
butter and bake 35-45 minutes in moderate oven.

CLAM SOUP SUPREME

I 7-OUNCE CAN PIONEER MINCED ^2 CUP AVOCADO

SEA CLAMS I CAN CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

SEASON TO TASTE

Drain juice from clams and add to cream of tomato soup to which
has been added like quantity milk or water. Bring just to boiling
point and add Pioneer Minced Sea Clams, or other canned clams,
although we consider Pioneer the best buy. Just before serving add
finely diced avocado.

34 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

MINCED CLAM CHOWDER

2 7-OUNCE FLAT CANS PIONEER I TABLESPOON ONION, MINCED
MINCED SEA CLAMS I TABLESPOON BUTTER

I TABLESPOON SALT PORK OR BACON, 2 CUPS MILK

MINCED 6 ROLLED CRACKERS

I CUP POTATOES, SLICED THIN I TEASPOON SALT
y^ TEASPOON PEPPER

Fry pork until brown. Add potatoes and onion, and just enough
water to cover. When potatoes are tender, add milk, crackers, but-
ter, salt and pepper, and when this is hot, add clams and cook 5
minutes longer.

Feeds 4.

MINCED CLAM AND CORN CHOWDER

3 cups thin cream sauce made ^ cup canned corn (creamed
with: style)

3 tablespoons butter salt and pepper

3 tablespoons flour i 7-ounce flat can pioneer

3 cups milk minced sea clams

CLAM JUICE CHOPPED PARSLEY

Make thin cream sauce, adding juice from the can of minced
clams. Add corn and heat; then add clams and parsley. Flavor with
salt and pepper and heat all thoroughly. Do not cook the clams.
This recipe serves 6 people or 4 hungry ones! Serve with toasted
croutons. Sprinkle the croutons with grated cheese and toast.

HALIFAX OYSTER STEW

We learned to make this Nova Scotian cream stew in Halifax
from oyster bargemen who rake in those prime Prince Edward
Island oysters for the owners and still manage to get some for them-
selves. They're big, tangy, firm, fat oysters, and some of the sea-
food specialists used half cream and half milk for their stew, while
others put }i cream to ^ milk and got a good balance. This far-
north method differs from the usual stew in first cooking the oys-
ters in a little of their own liquor, with salt and a few grains of
cayenne. You heat the cream and milk together just under the

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS 35

boiling point, but first heat the oysters by themselves until their
edges begin to curl (60 seconds boiling will do that). Then dump
the creamy mixture in, with a tablespoon of butter, plenty of
paprika (or fresh ground black pepper) and maybe some celery salt.
Stir lightly so the delicate bivalves won*t get bruised. Let the stew
heat almost to boiling and then eat it right out of the pan, if you*re
by yourself, and crunch with it just one grandpa pilot cracker in
full harmony. Evaporated milk will serve in place of the cream, but
the stew won*t be as fine in flavor.

At times shrimp are very reasonably priced. Local seasons are
short, but with modern methods of refrigeration they may be
shipped considerable distances and remain perfectly wholesome.
Like all other sea foods, however, they are dangerous when not ab-
solutely fresh and should never be purchased if they have begun to
take on a pinkish hue.

TOASTED SHRIMP

Wash shrimp very carefully and let lie for 15 minutes in plenty
of fresh water, for sand to fall out. Thoroughly dry in a folded towel,
sprinkle with salt and cayenne. Heat oil to the depth of yi inch in
thick frying pan; when near to smoking drop in the shrimp, reduce
heat somewhat and fry brown, first on one side and then on the
other. They are very quickly done and should be taken up before
the meat begins to shrink inside the shells. Eat at once, from hot
plates, each person shelling his own and using his fingers freely, for
the elegance lies in the flavor and not in table manners. Shrimps
are so engrossing that no other food is served with them, but a
nourishing salad may follow. The oil in which they cooked should
be saved to impart a delicious flavor in frying other fish.

BOILED SHRIMP

Wash well, letting them lie for a time in deep fresh water, so any
sand will fall out. Then cook like crabs for only 10 minutes. Cool in
the liquid, drain and shell them. They are now ready to be eaten
cold with mayonnaise, or to be made into any one of the dozens of
dishes which have been devised for them.

;^6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

BAKED SHRIMP

Make a thickish white sauce, arrange a layer of boiled, shelled
and seasoned shrimp in a greased baking dish, then a layer of sauce,
and repeat until all shrimp are used; finishing with a layer of sauce.
Sprinkle with crumbs, lightly dust with grated cheese, dot with
butter and brown in the oven.

SHRIMP IN TOMATO SAUCE

Make tomato sauce thus: Fry a small chopped onion in i table-
spoon oil or butter, add a little minced garlic, then two large to-
matoes, a bit of bay leaf, celery leaves or minced celery salt, and a
good dash of cayenne. Simmer until thick, stirring frequently. Add
a dozen large boiled and shelled shrimp, or more small ones. Heat
for lo minutes and serve. The seeds may be strained out of the
tomato sauce before adding shrimp, but this is not necessary. This
dish is very good if sprinkled with crumbs, dotted with butter, and
browned in the oven.

JAMBALAYA

2 DOZEN SHRIMP I TOMATO

I ONION, MINCED I QUART BOILING WATER

I TABLESPOON BUTTER I CELERY SPRIG

>^ GARLIC CLOVE SALT AND CAYENNE

}4 CUP UNCOOKED RICE

Prepare shrimp according to recipe for Boiled Shrimp. Fry onion
very slowly in butter until golden, add garlic, but do not let it
brown; add tomato and simmer until thick. Add water, celery sprig,
and seasonings; when boiling rapidly, add the shrimp. When boil-
ing fast again, slowly add the rice, which has been washed through
many waters, and stir all together. Cover closely and cook 30-45
minutes, stirring occasionally at first with a wooden spoon, but not
touching it after the rice grains have swollen. When thick, lower
heat so bottom does not scorch and finish over an asbestos ring or a
kettle of boiling water.

Crabs caught in traps near shore, or fished for at resorts with a
bit of salt pork tied to the end of a piece of string, are not so good

as those brought in from the deep sea fishing grounds. But, as a
matter of fact, there is not much of a market for any of them, for the
public prefers tinned crabmeat. Luscious big chunks of giant crab,
put up by unexploited labor, come to us from the Soviet Union's
clean northern waters of Kamchatka. But more frequently encoun-
tered are those picked out by patient Japanese hands at nearly
nothing a day, which cost more at that, after freight and import
duty are added, than live crabs that have not only the advantage of
being fresh but of carrying on their backs their own dainty shells
to serve them in. They are a bit tedious to prepare and that's the
only reason they remain cheap, but the trouble is well worth while,
since they are of finer flavor even than lobster.

BOILED CRABS

Into 2 quarts of boiling water throw half a dozen celery sprigs,
half a dozen sprigs of parsley, a dozen allspice, a dozen peppercorns
and a sliced onion. Cover and boil rapidly for 10-15 minutes. Then
drop in a dozen well-washed crabs, or less if large. Clamp on the
cover and cook exactly 10 minutes. Drain, and cool. Take oflF the
loose shell or apron which lies underneath, remove the side "fin-
gers," br ak open, and pick out white meat from body and claws.
Everything is edible except the spongy gills and the stone bag in
the head. The coral, if any, is good too. The meat is now ready for
cocktails or salads, for creaming, scalloping, or for devilled crabs.

DEVILLED CRABS

Mix equal portions of melted butter and flour. Add milk until a
thick, soft paste is made. Add a dash of paprika and a few drops of
Worcestershire. Cook the mixture over a slow flame for 20-30 min-
utes. Add crabmeat. Fill crab shells with generous portions. Cover
the top with buttered bread crumbs, and place under a low flame
for about 3 minutes, or until the crumbs are browned. Remove to
plates, placing a sprig of parsley on top of each. This recipe is often
enriched by a hard-cooked egg or two, whites chopped and yolks
pressed through a sieve to make the sauce yellow. A tablespoon or
so of onion juice and a dash of nutmeg are good additional season-
ings.

38 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

STUFFED CRABS

To each cup of crab meat add Vi cup fine bread crumbs, and yi
cup strained cooked tomatoes. If too dry add a little of the liquid
in which crabs cooked. Season with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon
of onion juice. Stir in two tablespoons melted butter. Fill the crab
shells, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, brown in the oven
and eat hot.

CRAB CROQUETTES

Shred two cups of crab meat. Add Vt. cup evaporated milk, and
enough bread crumbs to make very stiff. Stir in i egg, well beaten,
season, heat for a moment and cool. Shape into croquettes, dip in
egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat, or pat out into cakes and pan
fry.

CRABMEAT IN TOMATO SHELLS

Peel tomatoes, hollow them out, and fill cavities with crabmeat
mixed with salad dressing or mayonnaise; set each on a lettuce leaf.
Or, hollow out tomatoes to thin shells; cook what has been taken
out until it*s thick, strain, add crabmeat, season with salt and
pepper, and a little catsup; fill shells with mixture, sprinkle with
crumbs, dot with butter and bake.

Soft-shell crabs only remain in that state two or three days,
from the time they shed their old shell until the new one has
hardened. Because of the shortness of the time and the necessity
for quick handling, they are always a luxury, unless you can catch
them yourself.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS, FRIED

Clean thoroughly a half dozen soft-shell crabs, brush them
lightly with olive oil, season with i teaspoon pepper and i table-
spoon salt, dip lightly in flour, then in beaten egg and lastly in
sifted cracker crumbs. Fry a delicate brown in plenty of oil or fat,
turning once. Set on a whole slice of toast, garnish with fried pars-
ley and eat with Tartar sauce.

SHELLFISH, STEWS AND CHOWDERS 39

SOFT-SHELL CRABS, BROILED

Clean six crabs, salt and pepper generously, brush lightly with
oil, and dust lightly with sifted flour. Put under broiler, giving
about 7 minutes to each side. Lay on hot buttered toast. Have
ready 3 tablespoons butter mixed well with 2 teaspoons minced
parsley and i tablespoon lemon juice. Spread this over crabs and
glaze lightly under broiler. Serve hot.

CRAB SOUP

I QUART MILK I TABLESPOON FLOUR

1 CAN CHATKA CRABMEAT, FLAKED I TEASPOON ANGOSTURA BITTERS

2 HARD-COOKED EGGS (oPTIONAL)
GRATED PEEL OF I LEMON ^ CUP CREAM

I TABLESPOON BUTTER SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

SHERRY

Mash eggs to paste with fork, add butter, flour, lemon peel and a
dash of pepper. Heat milk just below boiling point and pour grad-
ually on the paste. Add crabmeat and put over low fire. Simmer 5
minutes, add cream and bring to boiling point, but do not boil.
At last minute add salt, Angostura, and sherry to taste, heating the
whole soup so it will be piping hot. Do not boil after adding sherry.

Serves four generously.

This is a good soup, but it can scarcely compare with the succu-
lent She-Crab Soup of Charleston, South Carolina, which is en-
riched by the roe.

i^^^

III

^eer Fish

DEVILFISH OR OCTOPUS

Undoubtedly the devilish appearance of this creature is against
it, but the octopus is no more rapacious than dozens of innocent
looking members of the finny tribe who live by preying upon their
fellow fish. Mediterranean peoples share none of our romantic
concern over the character of the octopus, but make many regular
dishes out of its tentacles. Its popularity increases as one travels
eastward; devilfish is the daily fare of Greeks, Turks, and the
coast-dwelling nations of Western Asia.

Select a smallish one, since the bigger the octopus the tougher it
is, an old specimen requiring 5 hours to cook. Have fish dealer re-
move eyes and mouth, wash well, and let lie under dripping fresh
water for at least an hour. Then beat well with a meat mallet or
heavy wooden ladle, just as you would a tough beefsteak. Cut the
tentacles in ^-inch slices. Blanch in boiling water until skin loosens,
drain, take off skin, and wipe with a cloth. Fry a minced onion in
oil over low heat, add the fish, stir and cook very gently; add a
chopped tomato, stir and cook a few minutes, then pour in 2
quarts hot water, cover and cook slowly for half an hour, add an
herb bouquet, salt, pepper, and a medium onion pierced with 2
cloves. Cook gently for an hour, take out onion and bouquet,
increase heat, and add 2 cups well-washed rice. Keep boiling rap-
idly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until rice is swollen;
then reduce heat to prevent burning, and finish cooking rice until
tender. This serves a big family, and the meat resembles lobster.

QUEER FISH 4I

The French, after preliminaries as above, marinate the blanched
and skinned slices for 4-5 hours with herbs and X cup brandy or
other strong spirits, then simmer in sour white wine with onion,
tomato and garlic, serving the fish in its own gravy. And in Mar-
seilles this is an epicurean delight.

SQUID

Amateur deep-sea fishermen are invariably surprised to hear that
the squid they use for bait are very good eating. Along the New
England coast the lights of small boats twinkle over the water every
calm night, jigging for these little creatures which come in swarms
toward a lantern, to be impaled on jigger poles bristling with hooks.
Fishing trawlers use up the bulk of this catch, for bigger fish
cannot resist them. But small quantities find their way to the fish
stands and are consumed by immigrants from the Mediterranean
who know many swell ways of preparing them for the table. They
are most entertaining when stuffed, for their hollow bodies are
natural pockets for tasty dressings.

Choose medium-sized squid and have the dealer clean them of
their center cartilage, and the ink sack, out of which Spaniards
make a black sauce that can be appreciated only after a little
education. (They call this dish "squid cooked in its own ink.")
Wash them thoroughly, cut off tentacles and keep them separate
while you lay the bodies out to dry on a cloth. Then finely mince
the tentacles; gently fry a minced onion in oil, add the minced
tentacles and 1-2 chopped tomatoes, a chopped garlic clove, sea-
sonings, and herbs. Stir and simmer. Add suflicient bread, which
has been soaked in milk and squeezed dry, a teaspoon of minced
parsley, and a beaten egg. Mix well and stuff the squid pockets ^
full, closing the open ends and tying each with thread. Heat a
tablespoon of oil in a pan, or better, an earthen casserole, lay in
squid side by side, and gently cook while you make a sauce by
frying a second minced onion and garlic clove, then adding a
tablespoon of flour, i}4 cups water, juice of a lemon, a bay leaf
and seasonings. Cook sauce for a few minutes, pour over the squid
and simmer gently until done. They may be covered with oiled
crumbs and finished by browning in oven or under grill.

42 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

JELLIED CONGER EEL

2 POUNDS CONGER EEL 4 CLOVES

6 PEPPERCORNS HERB BOUQUET

SALT 1 TABLESPOONS LEMON JUICE

I ONION I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

Have eel skinned and cut into i}4 inch slices. Cover with 3 pints
cold water, add salt, peppercorns, the onions pierced with the
cloves, herbs and lemon juice. Simmer until tender. Drain fish,
lay pieces in a wetted mold, sprinkling parsley between layers.
Strain cooking liquor through cloth and reduce to i pint by boil-
ing. Pour over fish, cool, and then chill until jellied. Unmold on a
platter and surround with cucumber or vegetable salad.

Conger eel and skate are invariably thrown away by Americans
who go deep sea fishing — just another example of prejudice
founded on nothing more than the looks of these two fantastic
fish. They can be had for the asking along our seashores, and sell
for a song at the pushcart markets. The conger is so esteemed down
the West Coast of South America, however, that infinite pains are
taken to prepare it for banquets, while the skate is highly prized
in every country but our own. Both taste more like sea food than
ordinary fish, and thus will accept plenty of seasoning.

Conger may be stewed, baked, or fried.

SKATE

Stew the "wings'* or flippers in milk, with onion, herbs, and
peppercorns. Skin. Pour over sauce of butter browned in frying
pan and mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Fish in
Every Fashion

SALT CODFISH BALLS

Cut salt cod in pieces, soak an hour in lukewarm water, remove
skin and bones, shred coarsely with a fork. Put over fire in cold
water, bring to the boiling point, drain and repeat. Have ready
twice as much bulk of hot mashed potatoes seasoned with pepper
and enriched with butter or margarine (we use Nucoa). Mix
thoroughly, make into cakes, dredge with flour and fry. If you
wish to cook them in deep fat, add a well-beaten egg and form into
balls between the cupped hands. In foreign groceries codfish is cut
off the whole salted fish and sold by the pound. It is much more
economical than packaged shredded fish and, needless to say,
much more tasty. On Fridays in any foreign neighborhood, salt cod
can be purchased already soaked, ready for cooking.

SALT CODFISH FRITTERS

One half pound codfish, soaked 6 hours in cold water. Cook and
flake. Add 2 beaten eggs, }i teaspoon white pepper and fry in hot
fat until brown.

STEWED CODFISH

Soak two pounds of salt codfish in cold water for twelve hours.
Drain, place the codfish in a sauce pan, cover with cold water and

44 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

boil until the skin and bones can be removed. Put the fish back in
saucepan, cover with hot water and simmer over a slow fire until
tender. Small potatoes may be boiled with the fish or separately.
Serve them together and garnish with parsley.

STEWED SALT CODFISH WITH TOMATOES

I POUND SALT CODFISH 3 LARGE TOMATOES

I LARGE ONION I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

I CLOVE GARLIC 3^ TEASPOON SALT AND PEPPER

3 TABLESPOONS FAT }4 CUP RIPE OLIVES

2 TABLESPOONS CAPERS

Soak the codfish for 24 hours to take out the saltiness. Then re-
move the skin and bones and cut the cod into symmetrical pieces.
Dip again in fresh water and drain on a napkin, or dry 2 or 3
minutes in a hot oven. Slice the onion and garlic and saute in the
fat until tender, being careful not to burn them. In the meantime
peel and chop the tomatoes, and stew them in their own juice 10
or 15 minutes, then strain through a sieve and add; stir well and
add the parsley; salt and stir again; add pepper, the olives and
capers. Put the cod into the casserole, cover and simmer gently for
20 minutes. Serve in the casserole.

COD'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS

A cod*s tail cooks much more quickly than the thicker part
of the body. If a whole fresh fish is purchased, cut it in two close
to the vent. Slice and fry the tail, stuff and bake or boil the head
and shoulders. Be sure to take home the liver, for it is considered
a great delicacy, besides furnishing the valuable vitamin contained
in its oil. The fish dealer is playing a scurvy trick when he sells
beheaded and emptied fish, for the customer not only is being de-
prived of valuable nourishment, but has no way of determining
whether the fish is fresh. Cod's cheeks are the best part, and the
sound, or swimming bladder, is a gourmet trifle, providing it is
large enough to be worth cooking separately.

A fine cod is round and fat near the tail, the hollow behind the
head is deep, and the sides are ribbed or undulating. A fresh one is

FISH IN EVERY FASHION 45

elastic and the dent made by poking with the finger will rise at once;
and when cut, the surface takes on a bronzed appearance.

Remove the sound and save it; scrape and scrub all blood from
back bone, remove every vestige of the gills and thoroughly clean
inside of neck. All the cod family, whiting, hake, pollack and ling,
should be immersed in cold water under a dripping tap for half an
hour to firm the flesh, then they should be well dried, salted and
set aside to further harden them.

Make a tasty dressing of bread crumbs soaked in milk and
squeezed dry, melted fat, a grated onion, a tablespoon of minced
parsley, a pinch of dried herbs, minced celery or celery salt, the
chopped sound, and anything else at hand — minced clams, oys-
ters, mussels, or 2-3 minced mushrooms, either fresh or dried. Sea-
son fish with pepper and paprika, stuff and sew the opening. If the
fish is to be boiled, carefully season the water with onion, celery,
bay leaf, 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper-
corns, and boil >^ hour to extract these flavors before putting in
the fish and its liver. Lay it on a rack or wrap in cheese cloth, have
just enough water to cover it, and simmer at a low bubble, never
letting it boil fast. If it be baked, set on a rack, gash the skin in a
number of places, fill gashes with butter, fat, or bacon slivers,
brush with butter, sprinkle with crumbs, and after baking 15
minutes in a very hot oven, reduce heat to moderate. While oven
is cooling make a basting sauce with 2 cups boiling water, >i cup
bacon fat or butter, 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice, 2 table-
spoons grated onion, and Yz teaspoon minced herbs. Beat sauce to
mix, spoon half of it over the fish, being careful not to dislodge the
crumbs, and baste every 15 minutes, adding rest of sauce when
needed. Add the liver during basting, and mash some of it into the
gravy. This is a general method for boiling and baking all fish.

The dried mushrooms sold by Italian grocers are splendid to
have on hand. They are very light in weight and a few ounces last
for a long time. Two or three of them soaked in water 5-6 hours,
chopped, and used with the water in which they soaked, give a
marvelous flavor, surpassing fresh mushrooms, to a stuffing or
gravy.^

Cod^s Liver, Parboil liver and cut into very small pieces. Mix

4^ MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

with 6-12 chopped steamed clams or mussels (see recipes), or
with quartered blanched oysters, adding Yi cup of thick white
sauce, a little of the shellfish liquor and seasonings. Heap on but-
tered scallop shells or ramekins, sprinkle with buttered crumbs and
bake 10-15 minutes.

Cod's Sounds. Soak in milk mixed with water 3-4 hours. Simmer
in fresh milk and water mixture, cut into squares and eat with egg
sauce made with the cooking liquor.

COD'S HEAD SOUP

I COD*S HEAD I CUP TINNED TOMATOES

1 ONIONS, CHOPPED I BAY LEAF

2 TABLESPOONS FAT PARSLEY OR CELERY SPRIGS

I TEASPOON CHILI OR CURRY POWDER X TEASPOON THYME OR OTHER HERB
I TABLESPOON FLOUR \]/2 QUARTS COLD WATER

SALT AND PEPPER

Simmer all together until flesh falls from bones. Strain, season,
and eat with croutons.

SMELTS

There is nothing better in the low priced fish markets than these
tiny, fat, silvery fish, related to the regal salmon and having the
same firm meaty flesh and high flavor. Like the salmon they ascend
into fresh water to spawn, and of late years our inland lakes and
rivers have become permanently stocked with them. Only their
size keeps them from the popularity they deserve, and the fact
that people insist on mixing them up with their bones on the plate
instead of carefully stripping off* their fillets with knife and fork.

Prepare them by washing and scraping gently. Empty by making
a cut just behind the head, then draw, pulling off" the head and
bringing out the insides with the same motion. The smallest size
should be strung half a dozen together on wooden skewers or small
sticks, for no metal except silver should ever touch fish during the
cooking process. Then they should be lightly seasoned and barely
dusted with flour, and plunged into deep fat, drained on paper and
piled on a paper-napkin-covered hot platter. Tartar sauce, or

FISH IN EVERY FASHION 47

melted butter mixed with lemon juice are the accompaniments.
Bigger smelts may be pan-fried, or split and broiled.

\MIITING WITH MUSSEL SAUCE

2 POUNDS ^^'HITIN'G I BAY LEAF

I QUART MUSSELS I SPRIG THYME

SALT AND PEPPER 1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

I ONION, ^aNCED 2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

^2 GARLIC CLOVE, AHNCED I EGG YOLK

I CARROT, MINCED JUICE >^ LEMON

If whiting are large, cut into thick slices; if small, leave them whole.

Wash mussels, and let them lie in fresh water for an hour, scrub
shells and pull off tendrils. Lay in a pan with a cup of cold water,
cover closely and let steam 5-6 minutes until they open. Take
mussels from shells, discard black beards, and set aside. Strain
mussel liquor into a pan, season, add onion, garlic, carrot, herbs
and the fish; cover and simmer 8-10 minutes. Take up fish and
keep hot. Heat and stir butter and flour together for 2 minutes
over low heat, not allowing them to color. Stir in the cooking liquor
and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly; add lemon juice,
egg yolk, stir, and add mussels. Heat, but do not let it reach the
boiling point or egg will curdle. Arrange mussels and sauce around
fish, spooning some of the sauce over the top. This recipe also
serves for any lean sea fish, cod, haddock, hake, pollack, croakers,
etc.

FISH PIE
Any sort of boiled fish may be used after skin and bones have been
removed. Butter a pudding dish, put in a layer of fish, a layer of
tomatoes, well seasoned with pepper and salt, and continue alter-
nating fish and tomatoes until dish is 3:^ full. Pour over i cup of
melted butter or fat. Fill dish to top with mashed potatoes. Brush
top with melted butter. Bake in hot oven J/2 hour. Serve in baking
dish.

CANNED SALMON CHOWDER

1 CAN SALAfON 2 CELERY STALKS, CHOPPED
5 SLICES BACON ^ TEASPOON CELERY SALT
4 POTATOES, DICED SALT AND PEPPER

2 ONIONS, CHOPPED I CAN EVAPORATED .\nLK

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Break up salmon and pick out any bits of skin and bone. Line
pan with bacon slices, arrange other ingredients in alternate layers.
Dilute milk with sufficient water to cover, pour over and let simmer
until vegetables are done.

CANNED SALMON SOUFFLE
This is not technically a souffle, but it is quite as good.

1 CAN SALMON

2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER OR

MARGARINE
2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

2 cups milk

(evaporated milk thinned)
salt and pepper
3-6 soda crackers, rolled
extra butter

Drain and shred salmon, removing any skin and bones. Melt
butter, add flour, stir smooth and add milk. Stir and cook until
thick; season, and let cool several hours, until so thick it can be
cut with a knife. Mix with shredded salmon, beating thoroughly
with a fork. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs, dot with butter, and
bake in moderate oven until brown, about 30 minutes.

HERRING POTATO CAKES

2 CUPS MASHED POTATOES
I TABLESPOON BUTTER
SALT AND PEPPER
I EGG, WELL BEATEN
PARSLEY SPRIGS

i smoked herring
(red preferred)
i hard cooked egg, minced
i tablespoon minced parsley
sifted bread crumbs

Mash potatoes with butter, a little salt, pepper and part of the
beaten egg. Spread ^ inch thick on heavily floured board and cut
in rounds. Have herring already soaked in water 3 hours. Clean,
chop fine, and mix with hard cooked egg and minced parsley. Lay
some of mixture on half of each potato round, fold other half over,
lay in buttered baking pan, brush with remainder of egg, and scat-
ter crumbs over. Bake until brown. Serve garnished with parsley.

FISH IN EVERY FASHION 49

HOMEMADE PICKLED HERRING

1 DOZEN SALT HERRING 1 DOZEN PEPPERCORNS

4 ONIONS, SLICED THIN I TABLESPOON MUSTARD SEED

4 BAY LEAVES 3 SLICES LEMON

4 CLOVES I TABLESPOON SUGAR

VINEGAR

Select fish with a silvery sheen. Place in a deep bowl, cover with
plenty of water and leave 24 hours, changing water at least twice.
Then clean, saving the milt. Arrange fish in small earthenware jar
in layers, alternating with seasonings. Mash the milt to a cream
with a little vinegar; strain, add sugar, and then sufficient vinegar
to cover. The vinegar must not be too strong, and may be thinned
with water if necessary. Pour over the herring, cover the jar, and
let stand 2-4 days.

HERRING SALAD

l!he Salad The Dressing

3 HERRING (with THEIR MILTS OR I CUP MAYONNAISE
roe) ^2 CUP CREAM

2 COLD BOILED POTATOES, DICED I TABLESPOON SUGAR

2 CUPS COLD ROAST VEAL, DICED FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER

2 APPLES, DICED 1 TEASPOONS GERMAN MUSTARD
I ONION, CHOPPED FINE

3 DILL PICKLES, DICED

The Garnishing

]/2 CUP PICKLED BEETS, DICED 2 HARD-BOILED EGGS, QUARTERED

]/2 CUP WALNUTS, CHOPPED 12 BOILED SHRIMPS

I TABLESPOON VINEGAR I PICKLED BEET, SLICED

I DILL PICKLE, SLICED THIN

Soak herring and milts in cold water for 3 hours, changing the
water every 30 minutes. Remove bones and skins, cut herrings into
cubes and place in salad bowl. Press milts through sieve with i
tablespoon vinegar. Mix in the diced veal, apples, onions, pickles,
beets, walnuts and potatoes. Then drench with the rich dressing,
mixing all together well, and serve with eggs, shrimps, pickle and
beet slices in decorative design.

50 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

ROLL-MOPS

Let salt herring sweeten in milk overnight. Cut off the heads, split
them through the back, remove the bones. Chop some onions very
fine with a pinch of cloves and a pinch of mustard. Place a spoonful
of this mixture on the inner side of each half-herring and roll them
around half a dill pickle, fastening them with a toothpick used as a
skewer. Place them all in a dish and prepare a liquid of one part
water to three of vinegar. Boil and pour over the roll-mops. Add a
spoonful of oil and cover up. Let stand three days.

Like many words used by fishing folk, the name for this herring
pickle has an amusing derivation. "Roll-mops" is only a shortened
form of "roll-'em-ups.**

FISH STEAKS

The cuts or steaks of big fish are always a good buy, because
there's no waste. Tuna, swordfish, salmon and muskellunge, for
instance, when they're in season, are much better buys than the
cheapest of meats, and it's easy to fry or bake such toothsome
steaks, never forgetting to spice them well with herbs.

TUNA

A welcome change from canned salmon is canned tuna fish. It
costs more, but there is a small saving which brings the price down
a little. For every good brand of tuna floats in a fine, flavorsome
oil which serves in place of butter to spread the bread accompany-
ing a tuna salad or sandwich, so if you spread it thin enough you
may make up most of the added cost by the butter saving. But even
if you don't, a change of diet has the variety value which keeps the
stomach tuned to its work and saves doctor bills. And tuna offers
a variety in itself, since the dark meat and white meat are canned
separately, exactly as with chicken, which it resembles in taste if
not in price. Italians, who drag it up out of the Mediterranean by
the ton and buy it in fresh slices like beefsteak, call it "sea veal."
And since fresh tuna is getting more common here, we can take

FISH IN EVERY FASHION 5I

a tip from them in eating fresh tomatoes with it, the tomatoes
made pungent with plenty of minced fresh basil. This is a perfect
sequence — basil on tomatoes and tomatoes on "tunny," as the
English call it.

FISH CHOWDER

2 POUNDS COD OR SIMILAR FISH yi TABLESPOON SALT

I PINT SLICED POTATOES WHITE PEPPER

I SLICE SALT PORK 2 CUPS MILK

1 ONION, SLICED 1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

2 PARSLEY SPRIGS 2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR
2 CELERY SPRIGS 2-3 PILOT CRACKERS

Cut off fish head, split fish and remove bones. Cut up, looking
very carefully for hidden bones and making sure that all have been
removed. Lay potatoes in cold water for an hour. Dice pork and fry
until all fat is fried out; remove pork and save for other cooking.
Slowly fry onion in pork fat until golden.

Cover fish head and bones with cold water, slowly bring to boiling
point and simmer 30-40 minutes. Strain liquor through fine sieve.

Parboil potatoes 5 minutes and add seasonings, herbs, fish,
I cup milk, and the fish liquor, with enough water added to it to
make i pint. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Make a thick white
sauce with butter, flour, and remaining cup of milk. Lift out solid
portions of chowder with a skimmer, add white sauce to liquid,
simmer and stir, then pour over the chowder. Break crackers over
top, and serve at once.

FISH SOUP

Make a cooking liquor by boiling a carrot, celery stalk, and
onion, all sliced, with i parsley sprig, 2 cloves, a bit of bay leaf and
6-8 peppercorns, for half an hour, in sufficient water to immerse
the fish. Add salt, put in the fish and cook it. The flavor will be
much better than if cooked in plain water. Save the liquor to make
soup for another meal; when ready to serve, strain and reduce by

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

boiling if not strong enough. Beat up an egg yolk or two with a
tablespoon of water; slowly pour the soup over, stirring constantly.
Then serve, with several small squares of bread fried in butter or
toasted in each soup plate. A tablespoon of lemon juice or a few
drops of vinegar thrown into the soup at the last minute is an im-
provement. And if there is left-over fish it may bs cut into small
neat pieces, heated in the soup at the end, and a piece or two
included in each serving.

Season It!

We depend so much on salt and pepper for seasoning that we're
likely to overlook a whole bouquet of fine flavors that make dishes
twice as tasty at almost no cost at all. In Jewish sections you'll
find plenty of highly-flavored seeds such as poppy and dill, spices
and herbs — dill especially; in German districts there's always
caraway; and few Italians, even when crowded into slums, can get
along without a pot of basil growing on the window sill to make all
dishes, especially those made with tomato, extra snappy.

Herbs are easy to grow in a sunny window, or you can buy them
fresh in summer and dried in winter at herb stores, foreign florist
shops and sometimes on the pushcarts. Here is a list of common
ones, all of them dirt cheap compared to the flavorsome work they
do: anise, basil, caraway, celery, chives, coriander, dill, sweet
marjoram, mint, parsley, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme and water-
cress. Some of these can be bought in pots, especially in the "Little
Italys," and these can be set in saucers on the kitchen window sill

54 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

for handy picking, watered daily and turned occasionally to keep
them from growing lopsided. With plenty of sun and water they
can be kept flourishing all winter, when green things are greatly
relished.

Most herbs belong to two plant families, the carrot and the
mint. In America the large mint family supplies such favorite
herbs as spearmint, peppermint, sage and thyme. We know ordi-
nary garden mint best in mint juleps, and in mint sauce which goes
so well with Spring lamb that many butchers give a bundle of it free
with every leg. But the minced leaves should be strewn over green
peas, string beans and new potatoes as well. They set off lemonade
and nearly all tinkling summer drinks, and when the leaves are
candied there is nothing better to garnish sweet potatoes, or to
nibble after dinner in place of commercial mints. They should be
dried, too, for winter use. Try powdering a few dried leaves into a
steaming cauldron of pea soup.

All members of the mint family serve in place of spearmint, which
is the herb we call just "mint." In France, for instance, thyme is
substituted, especially in the lowlands and salt marsh country
where it grows wild and the sheep eat their weight in it. Hence
French lamb is delicately reminiscent of its pasturage, and thyme
is added to flavor the roast that's most highly prized in this section.

On the other hand, sage, a sister mint, grows wild in the highlands
and along the Mediterranean shore, just as it does in Texas — so
sage-scented lamb takes the place of thyme-flavored there.

From these two examples we see that it's safe to take our mints
as we find them, and to remember, too, that the Greek honey of
Mount Hymattus, famous for thousands of years and still imported
to our shores by fancy grocers, got its reputation from the bees
feeding on thyme flowers, just as the celebrated honey of Dalmatia
owes its reputation to sage flowers. But we can get domestic mint-
fed honey for the same price as ordinary clover honey, and it's tops!

The carrot and mint families come together in the classic herb
bouquet called bouquet garni in France and "a faggot of herbs" in
England. This consists of either parsley or chervil, to represent
the carrot family, tied in a tiny nosegay with just one leaf of bay
and a sprig of some mint, such as thyme, sage, savory or spear-

SEASON it! 55

mint. Let it be marjoram or savory for consommes, stuffings and
stews, and basil for turtle soup and ragouts.

Green herbs make the best cooking bouquets and chives or tar-
ragon pinch-hit for either parsley or thyme; and it's well to remem-
ber, when using dried herbs, that a little goes a long way.

Another indispensable combination is fines herbes, which origi-
nally consisted of minced parsley and finely chopped chives. But in
trailing French chefs around the world it's undergone many a sea
change, so today the green specks that peek out at you from an
omelette aux fines herbes, or other dish with as Frenchy a name, may
be cress, basil, rosemary, thyme, savory — almost any of the herbs
that belong to the sweet carrot or parsley family. Chervil is extra
good m fines herbes because it tastes of parsley and fennel combined.
So is minced cress, watercress or peppergrass.

Fines herbes^ destined to be mixed with melted butter to make a
sauce for grilled steak, needs tarragon along with the chives, and
sometimes mushrooms. Indeed, there's no hard-and-fast rule about
any of this; so just be guided by good horse taste and whatever
seasoning there is at hand.

We'd like to do culinary justice to some of the pot-herbs —
purslane, for instance, more intimately known as pigweed, which
the French get piggish about when a double handful is tossed into
a chicken broth enriched with egg yolk, butter and cream, together
with an equal amount of sorrel, the sour grass that all Frenchmen
go for, both cooked and raw. You can bring back plenty of both
for nothing from a trip to the country.

Then there's good old burdock, a humble weed if ever there was
one, yet it offers very fine fleshy food stalks free for folks to peel
and cook like asparagus, or cut up raw into salad, which is a far
better use for this burr-breeder than just to let it grow up into burrs
that get into your socks and hair. Even the stinging nettle is an
herb which cooks into a swell mess of greens. Corn salad, too, and
its tiny twin brother peppergrass are other old-timers, but they're
staging a come-back; they're listed now in almost any seed catalog,
together with eloquent recommendations for their use in soups,
salads and such, and shouldn't be hard to find in any big market.

Chickweed, as well, is just as good food for man as for his canary.

56 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

When boiled it resembles spinach and is even tastier. Mix with
dapper young dandelion leaves, pull them to pieces, dash with salt,
pepper and lemon juice and lay them in a bed of butter on bread,
to make the tastiest Spring Tonic Sandwich.

Among the countless edible herbs we're inclined to pass up and
call "weeds,'* there's poke, stinging nettle and Jack-by-the-hedge,
so many of these roadside gypsies they'd fill a whole cookbook. So
unless you know them by sight, let's let them go, with just the
passing hint that Jack-by-the-hedge, whose alias is Sauce-alone,
is flavored like garlic, but more subtly, and pokeweed is still keeping
the share croppers alive down south. If you like, you can assuage
Spring fever of almost any dangerous degree by putting all of the
above into one combination salad, except the stinging nettle,
which has to be cooked before it loses it's prickly heat. And for
good measure, you might throw in a few sour dock leaves, plain
plantain, the tip-ends of milk weed, a bit of wild onion, some
nasturtium leaves and flowers minced together, oxtongue, lamb's
quarters, shepherd's purse — in fact any of the luscious leaves,
gummy pods and esculent roots you can gather by the basket full in
almost any vacant lot in the suburbs. When we lived just outside
of Chicago, Italians used to come out with gunny sacks to fill with
such "weeds" we hundred-percenters let go to waste. And they
carried back wild mushrooms and puflF balls, too, to make into stews
and dry for a whole winter's soup supply.

Better still, so you won't mix in some skunk cabbage by mistake,
if you have access to a bit of land, select your favorite herbs from
seeds supplied in great variety by the garden houses, plant them in
any corner of good earth and watch them thrive like the weeds they
are. Of course if you live in the city, the cops might object to your
trying to raise savory, dill, fennel and whatnot at the foot of some
Washington monument in the town park, so its safer to fetch home
a sack of black loam and start an edible window box in any sunny
room. The Department of Agriculture sponsors this practice and
recommends the following spicy little plants to be potted — mint,
cress, marjoram, basil, chives and rose geranium. Then when your
herbary gets going, you'll always \i?iVQ fines herbes on hand to make
any plain omelet fancy. If you think earthen pots look ugly, sub-

SEASON it! 57

stitute deep glass bowls — even a small terrarium or an old gold-
fish bowl holds enough earth and gives just the right hot-house
protection to supply plenty of basil and chives for a small family.
Another very common herb that's been brightening dishes for
centuries, at absolutely no cost at all, is the marigold. We think of
it chiefly as a decorative flower, yet it's one of the fullest-flavored of
culinary herbs. The petals alone are used in making the celebrated:

MARIGOLD SOUP

Boil mutton bones four or five hours, cool and remove fat, add an
onion with a couple of cloves stuck in, a turnip and two potatoes,
peeled and sliced, and boil everything until vegetables are soft.
Then remove the onion and turnip and stir in two cups of cold
boiled rice. At the finish sprinkle the top of the pot with a palmful
of marigold petals, which not only give zest to this soup but dart
away from the diner's spoon like glinting goldfish and add to the
gaiety of eating.

VI. Snacks

That socialite trio, caviar, anchovies and olives, gain admittance
to Park Avenue penthouse parties by the high prices of their pretty-
glass containers. The fact that the rich will pay up to fifteen dollars
a pound for the fanciest of caviar does not keep New York's East
Side from enjoying just as much festivity on the toothsome red
variety which comes out of an open can for thirty cents a pound.
The very same anchovies that keep company with orchids and
diamonds find their way to every Italian worker's table, but they
are bought by weight out of barrels and twenty-pound tins, at a rea-
sonable cost. These three gourmet treats can be enjoyed by all who
will take the trouble to shop for them in the groceries, delicatessen
and fancy food shops which abound in modest foreign neighbor-
hoods.

Quite a large variety of olives come in bulk. The ripe ones,
wrinkly or smooth, and nearly black, particularly those sold in
Greek stores, so rich and luscious to sink the teeth into, will make
a salad sing if a few of them are stoned, roughly cut up and thrown
in before the dressing. There are the very cheap little hard green
ones which the grocer fishes for with a strainer in their salty pickle;
every-day olives we'll call them, but tasty to nibble off their pits.
This same variety costs three or four times as much when stufl^ed
with pimiento and put up in bottles. Cut from their seeds and
chopped, they make any stuffing or gravy fancy, especially for
duck and chicken. With a little practice they may be pared off in
spirals without waste; very pretty little nicknacks to put into salad
or sauce, or to make a big show in garnishing. Each of these spirals
can be stuffed, too, with a bit of red or green pepper, with a sliver

SNACKS 59

of pickle, a dot of egg white, a quarter of an anchovy, a nut meat
with capers, or with grated cheese.

Ripe olives are not so strongly flavored when pickled as when
dried in their own oil. Ripe or green olives make an interesting
appetizer for an occasional fine meal if cooked as follows:

CREAMED RIPE OLIVES

1 TABLESPOON MINCED ONION I CUP RIPE OLIVES, CHOPPED

2 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL I TEASPOON WORCESTERSHIRE
2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR ^ TEASPOON SALT

l}4 CUPS MILK yi TEASPOON PEPPER

TOAST

Saute onion in olive oil. Add flour and season, then add milk.
Stir and simmer until sauce thickens; add olives, heat well; then
add Worcestershire and seasonings; serve on toast. Will cover 4
slices.

OLIVE RAGOUT

l}4 CUPS GREEN OLIVES 1 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL

I SMALL ONION, CHOPPED ^ CUP MADEIRA OR RAISIN WINE

}4 GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

TOAST

Pit the olives. Slowly fry onion and garlic in oil, without letting
them brown. Add olives and Madeira, cover closely and simmer.
Add parsley and serve on toast.

Queen-size green olives are cheap, too, by the pound, and are
really worth dressing up. The trick of stoning them while keeping
them whole can be learned with a little patience. But they are even
more interesting if slashed instead of stuffed, and laid in a pickle
of your own for a night and a day — weakened vinegar with spices
and herbs, peppercorns, fennel and aniseed being the favorite.
Slivers of garlic or onion may be laid in the slashes.

Thus a variety of half a dozen kinds of olives can be devised for
a party at no more than the expense of one meager bottle.

Pushcart markets in big cities have recently begun to sell Cali-
fornia olives just as they are picked from the trees, of excellent

6o MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

quality, large and fat; and since they are purchased mostly by
Italian, French and Spanish housewives who pickle them at home
with the double purpose of serving a tasty product at a low cost,
they have remained cheap. Here is the way we pickled olives in
our kitchen in Southern France:

PICKLED GREEN OLIVES

Discard all imperfect fruits and those that have begun to turn
brown. Make a strong lye solution. We used ashes of olive wood,
but commercial lye will do, in the proportion of X pound of lye to
1/4 gallons of water. Place olives in an earthen jar, pour solution
over and stir with a wooden spoon. The first day stir 4-5 times
until all the fruit falls to the bottom of the jar. In a couple of days
force a sharp nail into one of the olives to see if the fruit can be
separated from the stone, then open it and observe whether the
caustic has penetrated all the way through the fruity outside.
This depends on the strength of the lye, which is not always of
uniform quality. If not ready, dissolve a couple of tablespoons of
lye in water and add to the solution, stirring thoroughly with the
wooden spoon, so that the fresh lye will reach the bottom layer of
fruit. Leave for a day and test again. Take olives out of the solution
with a skimmer, wash in fresh water until no vestige of lye remains,
then let them soak in fresh water for 8 days or so, changing it daily.
By this time the olives should have lost their bitterness — test
this by tasting. Then make the following pickling solution:

5 QUARTS COLD WATER 3 FENNEL TOPS

I POUND KITCHEN SALT PIECE OF ORANGE PEEL

8-IO BAY LEAVES >^ TEASPOON CORIANDER SEEDS

Boil all together for 5 minutes, and let cool. When completely
cold pour over the drained olives and let stand in the crock for
^-6 days, when they will be ready to eat. They may be packed in
glass jars, filled to overflowing with the brine. Then rubbers and
tops may be put on and they will keep like any pickles. The fennel
tops, which resemble dill tops, usually may be purchased from the
same vendor who sells the olives. A tablespoon of fennel seeds
might be substituted, but will not give quite the same flavor. The

SNACKS 6l

outer husk of coriander seeds must always be removed and only
the inner grain used.

There are two kinds of anchovies, the real ones which have
reddish brown flesh, and other little fish, often called sardellen,
which are nearly as good, but do not have the anchovy color. The
big tins of them in Italian groceries are usually the true anchovies,
beheaded, emptied and put down in salt. They must be soaked 2-3
hours in fresh water, changing it several times. Then the silver
skin can be scraped a little, and the two fillets can be easily sepa-
rated down the back with the ends of the two thumbs. They should
come off the backbones neat and clean and be laid around the
edge of a plate or platter to dry, when they are ready for any
number of luxury dishes. They may be laid on fingers of toast
their own size for canapes. They may be curled around any other
tidbit, a bit of pickle, a caper, or what not; may be used to stuflF
olives, or hard-cooked eggs, or to garnish or go into a salad. Or for
future use they may be put into a jar with some olive oil until they
absorb it. But after being deprived of their salt they will only
keep a day or two, unless they are completely immersed in oil and
hermetically sealed.

Several clever cooking tricks evolve around these gustful little
fish. The Scandinavians add a savory touch to breaded veal cutlets
by laying a hatchwork of anchovy fillets across each one. Vapid
fish like the cod family are greatly improved if the flesh is gashed
in three or four places and an anchovy fillet is laid in each cut. Or
a couple of fillets may be thrown into the roasting pan, not only
for baking fish but for lamb and beef as well, to enhance both meat
and gravy. The gravy should be sieved.

Anchovies are also an important ingredient in a number of ex-
pensive commercial sauces, which are very convenient to have on
hand and are not difficult to make at home.

ANCHOVY SAUCE

yi POUND SALT ANCHOVIES I CUP VINEGAR

yi TABLESPOON FLOUR SALT

DASH CAYENNE I BAY LEAF

I INCH LEMON PEEL I PARSLEY SPRIG

I SPRIG THYME

62 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Soak anchovies 2 hours in water; dean and fillet them. Add a
cup of cold water to trimmings, bones, herbs and lemon peel,
simmer 15 minutes and strain. Blend flour smooth with a little
water and add to the strained liquid. Beat fillets, a little at a time,
to a paste, and add. Mix well, add cayenne and cook until thick
and smooth. When cold, briskly stir in the vinegar. Salt to taste,
put in a glass jar and keep tightly covered. Use a little to season
gravies and sauces.

Open-faced red caviar sandwiches or canapes, Soviet style, are
just the thing to sell at a money-raising organizational party, for
they cost but a cent apiece and keep everybody happy and coming
back for more, not minding a bit that the appetizing saltiness
creates a thirst that keeps the bartender busy. Buy whole loaves
of Russian black bread and cut it as thin as you can, for thus it
goes best with caviar. Be careful not to break the orange-colored
salmon eggs, but preserve them intact by using a little wooden
spoon or paddle to transfer them from package and strew them
over the bread. Open sandwiches covered with minced hard-cooked
egg white and minced onion, with a sprinkling of the egg yolk
pressed over through a sieve, will disappear too, but only because
the taste of these combines so well with the caviar. j

X^.

VII. Savory Spreads

Butter is such a universal spread we seldom think of changing to
cream cheese, smearkase, mayonnaise and other equally good
lubricators for bread. But in Europe butter is only one of the
spreads and plain juicy black or rye bread is just as often covered
with chicken fat, olive oil, even plain mustard, to make an appetiz-
ing snack with beer and other drinks. Such things as catsup, chili
sauce, pickled horseradish and garlic roasted soft make a slice of
honest, well-knit bread, white or black, into a miniature meal. In
fact, this last is the standard lunch of Italian shepherds. They carry
along half a loaf of bread and dozens of whole heads of garlic which
are roasted in the embers of olive twig fires until they become soft
as butter and are then spread on the bread. Since cooking takes
the strong taste and high spirit out of all onions, this is much milder
than garlic sliced raw on bread moistened with olive oil.

But we use olive oil mostly in the form of mayonnaise, and it's a
pleasant change to spread bread with that, especially if a little
relish, such as chopped chives or piccalilli is mixed into the mayon-
naise. Or try beating the yolk of a hard-cooked egg into it, with a
little salt and a couple of drops of Tabasco.

Such relishes go as well and tend to go farther when mixed with
butter, and when creamed with ordinary cottage or Dutch cheese,

64 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

which is good food and also cheap all over the world, youVe got
something.

Here are some suggestions for savory spreads to take the curse
off common salty store butter:

In summer mince fresh petals of roses, nasturtiums, violets,
orange blossoms, apple, peach — in fact any fruity blossoms and
perfumy flowers such as honey-filled clover heads, and mix them
with ordinary butter, or with cottage or cream cheese and mayon-
naise. This is a common practice in Europe, where spreads are
never monotonous.

GIBLET SPREADS

Pound cooked livers, hearts, gizzards, the little eggs found inside
a fat hen, or any combination thereof to make a paste with butter,
cream cheese or mayonnaise for toast or crackers.

CELERY

Instead of throwing away fresh celery leaves pound them to a
paste, pep them up with a little vinegar or lemon juice and salt,
mix into an equal amount of butter, cheese or mayonnaise.

AVOCADO BUTTER

When avocados are both ripe and cheap, scoop the luscious
vegetable butter out of the shell and mash it to a paste, seasoning
with a little lemon juice and salt. This is a most refreshing spread
as is, or it can be mixed with equal parts of regular butter.

NUT SPREADS

Pound nuts to oily paste, season with salt and cayenne and mix
into 3-4 times as much softened butter, cheese, or mayonnaise.

SHRIMP BUTTER

4-5 DRIED SHRIMP ^i POUND SWEET BUTTER

Pound dried shrimp to powder and cream into butter, then rub
it through a fine sieve.

Dried shrimp can be bought reasonably in any Chinatown. They
are already shelled, so it isn't much trouble to pound them to

SAVORY SPREADS 65

powder and use like curry in seasoning anything which lends itself
to their high, sharp flavor.

Try your hand at making original spreads. If you like coffee,
stir the contents of a George Washington "Ace" into as much
butter as it will take and spread it on crackers for an unusual treat
when you can*t have a cup of hot coffee, but hanker for the taste.
Fresh fruits, especially apples, mix in to refreshing spreads and also
double the volume of butter and cheese, making it go twice as far.
Beef extract and fish pastes are likewise excellent, although they
add to the cost of the original spread instead of reducing it, as
bulkier ingredients do.

VIII
Swell Pickings

BEEF LIVER PATTIES

I POUND BEEF LIVER I SCANT TEASPOON SALT

I EGG yi TEASPOON PEPPER

^ CUP BREAD CRUMBS COOKING FAT

1 TABLESPOONS ONION JUICE 3 ONIONS, SLICED

With a dull knife scrape liver to pulp, discarding veins and stringy
tissues. Wet bread crumbs with lukewarm water and squeeze
dry, then mix with liver pulp, beaten egg, onion juice, salt and
pepper, and form into cakes ^ inch thick. Fry in hot fat. The
patties are done as soon as the reddish. color has changed to brown
all the way through, and care should be taken to never overcook
liver, for it quickly becomes leathery and flavorless, and indigesti-
ble as well.

Prepare the sliced onions separately by putting them into rapidly
boiling water and cooking for 5 minutes. Drain them, but save
some of the water in which they're cooked.

When you take up the liver patties put the cooked onions into
the frying pan gravy, add a spoonful of the onion water and stir
lightly for a moment until onions have absorbed the liver flavor.

Put patties in center of hot platter, surround with onion slices,
which fall into decorative rings, and serve with dish gravy made
by stirring some more of the onion water into the contents of the
frying pan.

Because beef liver is toughest and driest of the livers, it should
be cheaper than either lamb or pig. And to overcome the toughness
it must be scraped to a pulp, which also helps bring out its fullest
flavor. Calves' liver, which probably is tastiest of the lot, costs
three times as much as beef, so its use is prohibitive. In fact,
chicken, turkey, and even goose livers are a better buy than calves*

SWELL PICKINGS 67

liver, and are truly epicurean when broiled or fried in butter.
Turtle and fish livers, when obtainable, are also excellent. In fact,
a doctor will tell you that any kind of liver is good for your liver.

FRIZZLED BEEF

DRIED BEEF FLOUR

BUTTER BUTTERED TOAST

Cut any quantity of dried beef into thin strips and put in sauce-
pan half full of water, bring to boiling point, stir in some butter and
thicken with flour to make a tasty gravy. Season with pepper,
or not, but no salt. Heap on hot buttered toast and go to it.

Dried beef is called "jerky" by Texas cowboys; it's their
Americanization of the Spanish xarque. They cut a steer into strips
and hang them on the fence to dry in the baking sun. The only
trouble with dried beef is its high price, but a little of it goes a long
way and it has a wild, gamey tang all its own.

HAM TOAST

Put minced cold boiled ham in a pan with hard-boiled eggs
chopped fine and simmer in a little butter. Season with mustard
and cayenne and spread on thick slices of buttered toast.

This is the original Western Sandwich which, with the present
high price of ham, is about the only way we can get our national
ham and eggs. Ever since Harvey of the railroad restaurants died
with this last admonition ** Slice the ham thin, boys!" it's been
getting thinner and thinner; so any day now we can expect the
southern makers of ham paste to sell a little blow-brush with it
to blow a thin film of ham on our bread.

CALVES' CHEEKS, CANNIBAL STYLE

6 calves' CHEEKS (3 POUNDs) MUSTARD

SALT WORCESTERSHIRE, OR SOY SAUCE

PEPPER, FRESHLY GROUND 2 ORANGES

% POUND BUTTER, OR BACON I LEMON
DRIPPING

Have butcher clean cheeks and flatten them like veal cutlets with
the side of his cleaver. Cut off any adhering skin or taste buds. Salt

68 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

and pepper the cheeks well, using whole black peppers either
freshly ground or pounded in a cloth, as much of the flavor of this
delicate dish depends on the pepper sparkle. Dot with half the
butter or bacon dripping and mustard, sprinkle on Worcestershire
or soy sauce and put in roasting pan.

Cut oranges and lemons in half, remove most of the yellow
top skin, the oil of which is hard to digest, squeeze the citrus juices
over the meat and put the white squeezed skins into spaces be-
tween meat in pan.

Roast lo minutes, turn meat, dot with rest of butter or fat and
roast lo more minutes.

Turn meat again, put it under medium flame beneath the broiler,
baste and turn several times while cooking it a final lo minutes.

Most Kosher and Latin butchers carry calves' cheeks and also
calves' feet, which are almost unknown in regular ioo% American
butcher shops. So the cheeks are still as good a buy as calves*
liver was before the medicos boosted the price to prohibitive
heights.

To keep this dish cheap, any tasty fat may be used in place of
butter, and wine vinegar instead of oranges and lemons. But if you
can afford it, use the butter and fruit, for the extra quality im-
parted by these is well worth the difference.

Of course, any left-over cold cheek meat makes swell sandwiches,
with a bit of pickle or chili sauce for piquance.

SMOTHERED CALVES' CHEEKS

3 calves' cheeks (about lyi 1 SLICES BACON

POUNDS I ONION, CHOPPED FINE

% TEASPOON BLACK PEPPER 1 TABLESPOONS COOKING FAT

}/i TEASPOON RED PEPPER 1 SCALLIONS, CHOPPED FINE

4 GARLIC CLOVES, CUT FINE I CUP TOMATO PULP
1 TEASPOONS VINEGAR, OR LEMON I TEASPOON SALT

JUICE iy2 CUPS BOILING WATER

Remove any rough skin from cheeks, cut the meat in pieces
about I inch square and rub well with both kinds of pepper and
the garlic.

Put bacon in frying pan and cook crisp, remove it and fry onion

SWELL PICKINGS 69

in the bacon fat; add cooking fat, the seasoned meat and scallions.
Return the fried bacon to the pan and cook everything together,
shaking the pan and stirring until meat is lightly browned. Press
tinned or cooked tomatoes through a sieve to make i cup of pulp.
Add this pulp and the boiling water. Cover well and simmer 45
minutes, adding salt while cooking.

This is a juicy stew, excellent for dunking.

The French standby for a cheap meat dish is a whole or half
calf s head with the brains taken out, but the cheeks not cut off.
This requires long, slow cooking, which costs money when you're
buying from a gas or electric company. So the cheeks alone, with-
out any bone or waste, make a dish that's quicker to cook and as
tender as spring chicken, which it resembles in taste.

Because calves' cheeks are almost unknown outside of foreign
butcher shops they sell for about 25 f^ a pound and are even a better
buy than beef, pig's or lamb's liver. Since they're all meat, this is a
very economical food and one that meets with universal approval.

If there is any objection to garlic it may be cut in slices and
picked out just before serving; then its presence will not be sus-
pected, and the dish will be subtly improved by its flavor. For it's
well known among canny cooks that people who think they can't
stand the taste of garlic relish its flavor if they happen to eat a
garlic-seasoned roast or stew with their eyes shut. And, by the
way, in handling cut garlic all odor can instantly be washed off
the fingers by holding them for a moment under the cold water tap.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

Lightly fry in butter any cold meat cut in thin slices and keep
it warm while you heat up any cold cooked vegetables such as
cabbage, potatoes, onions and turnip-tops chopped together and
seasoned with Mike and Ike, the salt and pepper shaker twins.
When vegetables are ready put meat on a hot platter, surround it
with the vegetables and sluice with gravy, if there is any.

This standby of England started in the good old days when most

poor families had a joint of beef every Sunday, with some always

left over until the middle of the week. It's a quick way of using

[. leftovers and is about the same as our hash, except the meat isn't

70 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

chopped and it*s cooked separately. The picturesque name comes
from the bubbling of the margarine and the squeaking of the cab-
bage whilst cooking, for cabbage is always a prime ingredient. The
dish is also aifectionately known as Bubblum Squeak.

MUGWUMP IN A HOLE

I POUND BEEF OR VEAL I EGG

SALT AND PEPPER I CUP MILK

I CUP FLOUR

The meat may be either fresh, or underdone leftover, and should
contain some fat. Cut it into i/^-inch chunks, and season; lay in
bottom of a buttered baking dish. Beat egg light, mix with milk
and I teaspoon of salt. Slowly stir into flour, and beat thoroughly.
Pour over meat and bake i hour.

Down South a mugwump is a tadpole when he has grown half
way into a frog, but is neither one nor the other. Before the Dem-
ocratic and Republican parties became exactly alike, a voter who
was loyal to neither but switched when he pleased was derisively
called a mugwump, or in-between tadpole, by his confreres in both
parties. The epithet carries no sting now, when one of our United
States senators can run on both tickets at the same time for nom-
ination as Mayor of New York City. There were never any asper-
sions on this dish, however, which is a variation of the British
"Toad in a Hole," and by any name it*s both economical and good.
The baking dish may be carried to the table just as it comes out of
the oven, or the mugwumps may be taken out of their holes and
laid on a hot platter, with the holes set around them as a garnish.

SHEEPS* TROTTERS A LA POULETTE

I DOZEN MUTTON FEET l-^ TABLESPOONS VINEGAR

2-3 QUARTS HOT WATER SALT AND PEPPER

4 TABLESPOONS FLOUR 3 TABLESPOONS BUTTER OR

1 WHOLE ONION MARGARINE

2 CLOVES I ONION CHOPPED
2 CARROTS, QUARTERED 3 EGG YOLKS

HERB BOUQUET }4 CUP EVAPORATED MILK

JUICE OF I LEMON

SWELL PICKINGS 71

Have butcher clean feet well; wash them; put in cold water; blanch
by bringing to boiling point. Place in deep kettle, iron preferred.
Work 2 tablespoons flour smooth with a little water, stir into the
hot water and pour over the feet. Add onion stuck with cloves,
carrots, herb bouquet consisting of sprig of thyme, parsley, celery
and bayleaf; add vinegar and pepper. Salt is added during cooking.
Partially cover kettle and simmer 5-6 hours. The sheeps* feet are
done when the middle bones may be detached easily. Melt butter
in another kettle, lightly brown the chopped onion, add 2 table-
spoons flour, stir together, then add nearly all of the cooking liquor,
stirring all smooth. Beat egg yolks with milk, add, stirring con-
stantly, and take from the fire before egg can curdle. Lift feet one
at a time from the kettle, remove and discard center bones; drop
feet into sauce, sprinkling in the lemon juice. Serve at once in a
deep hot dish.

The test of a good cook is the ability to take food materials that
less competent cooks reject in favor of prime parts easier to do and
make them into succulent dishes by skilful, intelligent preparation.
This practice has brought distinction to both thrifty French cooks
and poverty stricken Negroes, who have had to take the tougher,
rejected meats and make them into dishes fully as delicious as
those of a ritzy chef who has everything at hand.

STEWED LAMB'S TAILS

Trim the tails; line a stewpan with slices of bacon, carrots, and
onions. Put in the tails, with one clove of garlic and an herb bou-
quet — that is, a sprig of thyme, two sprigs of parsley and a bay
leaf, tied together. Season with a clove and peppercorns; put the
stewpan over the fire for 10 minutes, then pour in i pint of boiling
water and 2 pints of vinegar. Simmer until done, salting while
cooking. Take the tails out, strain the liquor they have cooked in
and boil it until almost reduced to a glaze. Then put the tails back
in and warm them up again. Prepare a puree of spinach or a mess
of greens such as beets, turnip or poke, pile it in the center of a hot
dish, arrange the tails around it, and pour their sauce over all.

These are a real delicacy, as are the tails of all animals, from pigs
to oxen. The bit of tail our canny packing houses leave on a leg of

72 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

lamb is a delicious morsel if it is well protected by a thick covering
of paper to keep it from drying out while the rest of the leg is roast-
ing. And those who have dined on the broad fat tails of Turkish
sheep, so prized that centuries of careful breeding have been de-
voted to producing them, always come back for more.

HAVE A HEART!

Pig*s and lamb's hearts are good just cut up and stewed with
vegetables and herb seasonings. There should be a browned flour
gravy. Or they may be stuffed as follows:

For each heart: i small onion, minced, i tablespoons bread
crumbs, i tablespoon melted fat, j^ teaspoon sage, salt, pepper, and
a dash of cayenne. StuflF, sew up opening and brown heart in fat;
then stew in very little water with a carrot and an onion. When
tender eat at once.

Although beef, lamb and pigs* hearts are both good and cheap,
the one that appeals most to us is veal heart. In New York City we
pay a nickel apiece for these, and since they weigh around half a
pound, that's probably the cheapest solid meat available anywhere.
To make the dish economical it's advisable to cook more than enough
for one meal, since the cooked meat keeps well and is fine when cold.

Let the veal hearts lie in cold water to discharge coagulated
blood, wash thoroughly, open up pockets with a knife, trim veins,
fill with rich stujffing flavored with onion juice and poultry season-
ing, or your own herb mixture, and have that stuffing moist. Sew
up, and slowly bake or braise with onion, carrot, herbs, and pepper-
corns. If some of them are to be eaten cold, the family will welcome
the change if these are stuffed somewhat differently: a little ground
liver, or sausagemeat, or leftover poultry, mixed with the crumbs,
with slightly different seasoning — and then let the ones so stuffed
cool in the gravy, wipe dry, and slice thin. The circular slices with the
inner rounds of stuffing are attractive to look at and very palatable.

BEEF HEART

The heart of every animal is both substantial and tasty, as any-
body knows who has fished the chicken heart out of a stew and
gobbled it as an appetizer while the cook was making the dumplings.

SWELL PICKINGS 73

Heart is as good meat in its way as kidneys or high-priced liver,
and the best thing about buying hearts is that there's almost no
waste. But being the most active of all muscles, the old and big
ones, such as beef, are both lean and dry, so the fat they lack must
be supplied in stuffing or in basting sauce, and the dry tough
texture must be overcome by long, slow cooking and much basting.
Beef heart is especially obdurate, but it is a fine dish, if the cook
starts out with some of the courage its consumption was anciently
supposed to supply. It tastes something like game and is entirely
worthy of being eaten with currant or grape jelly. Three hours
should be allowed for braising, or two for roasting. A fireless cooker
does this dish at little cost. First soak the heart in cold water for
half an hour, then parboil it; strain and save the liquid to use in
basting. Enlarge the natural openings or pockets with a knife, and
stuff with breadcrumbs which have been wet and squeezed dry,
mixed with minced suet or bacon, and seasoned with thyme, grated
nutmeg or an infinitesimal amount of powdered cloves, and a tea-
spoon of grated lemon rind (the yellow outside only). Sew up, and
place in the pan with a sliced onion, a bit of carrot, a bay leajf and
celery leaves. Reduce the parboiling liquor, add to it 2 tablespoons
bacon fat or other fat, and either the juice of a lemon or 2 table-
spoons of vinegar to help tender it, and baste with the mixture
every 15 minutes. Keep closely covered until done. There should
be plenty of good rich gravy. Carve like a honeydew melon, from
top to tip and all the way to the center of the stuffing, so each
portion looks like the new moon with stuffing filling its convexity.

AUSTRIAN GOULASH

Brown 3 big onions in butter, add i teaspoon or more of paprika,
i/^ pounds cubed veal, and salt. Cover with tomato sauce of con-
sistency desired, let cook one hour. Then add 3 tablespoons cream
or evaporated milk, and let simmer ^ hour; or put in cream just
before serving, if desired.

VEAL CUTLETS OR CHOPS

Season with pepper, dip in flour and then fry with cut-up bacon.
Add a dozen or so pitted olives, the kind bought cheaply in bulk at

74 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

foreign groceries. Add vegetable or meat broth, or just hot water,
cover and simmer until very tender. Further thicken the gravy if
you wish. The bacon and olives will probably furnish all the salt
necessary.

VEAL BIRDS

Flatten thin slices of veal with cleaver; cut in narrow strips,
spread with bread dressing or liver stuffing, roll, skewer with tooth-
picks and fry. Dredge with flour and make a gravy of pan contents.

STRETCHING THE VEAL OR PORK CHOPS

Inferior cuts with bone. Dredge with flour and brown slowly on
both sides in fat with a sliced onion. Fill frying pan with boiling
water, or preferably water in which any delicate vegetable has been
boiled. Add a second sliced onion, cut up potato and i stick
macaroni for each chop; seasonings, a bit of thyme, sage or savory,
and perhaps a small garlic clove, minced. Simmer for an hour,
closely covered. A bit of any suitable left-over vegetable may be
added at the end, a tablespoon or so of peas, cooked celery, carrot,
tomato, or what have you. There should be a little liquid gravy if
the cooking is slow enough. Otherwise boiling water must be added
while cooking, and then the flavor and texture will not be so good.

LEFTOVER ROAST VEAL

Cut in thin slices, dip in warm white sauce mixed with grated
mellow cheese, and arrange overlapping in the shape of a small veal
loaf. Cover with more of the white sauce, grate more cheese over,
then sprinkle with crumbs and brown.

BREADED LAMB CHOPS

Mix bread crumbs, minced ham and a little minced parsley.
Season chops with salt and pepper, roll in flour, then beaten egg,
then in these crumbs. Fry in hot fat and place on platter. Pour
around them a sauce made of the pan contents, a little minced ham,
minced pickle and meat broth.

SWELL PICKINGS 75

CHOPS WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

Pan-broil neck lamb chops on one side; place in buttered baking
dish, cooked-side up; cover with mushroom sauce and bake until
tender in hot oven. Serve hot with a sprinkling of chopped mint
over each chop.

LAMB WITH EGGPLANT

Cut lean lamb in /^-inch cubes, season, cover with tomato sauce
and bake in the oven about Vi hour, or until the meat is tender.
Cut eggplant in thin slices; soak yi hour in strong salt water, dry,
dip in beaten egg and fry. Heap mounds of the cooked lamb on the
fried eggplant and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

LAMB MEAT BALLS

I POUND SHOULDER LAMB yi TEASPOON PEPPER

3 SMALL CARROTS I EGG, BEATEN

I SMALL ONION 1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER OR FAT

I TEASPOON SALT 2 CUPS HOT BROTH

2 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

Put Iamb, carrots, and peeled onion through food chopper. Add
the seasonings and beaten egg. Mix thoroughly, shape into small
balls and roll in flour. Saute in butter until brown. Add yi cup of
broth, cover and cook slowly lo minutes. Remove the meat and
keep hot. Add flour to pan contents; cook until smooth. Then add
remaining broth, stirring constantly. Cook until the gravy thickens.
Pour over the meat balls.

LAMB HAMBURGERS

Season ground shoulder of lamb with a little salt and form into
cylinders; wrap each with a thin strip of bacon, skewer with a tooth-
pick. Mix 1 tablespoons melted butter with the juice of a lemon, i
teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, i teaspoon salt, Vi teaspoon dry

^> mustard. Dip each roll quickly in the sauce and fry or grill. Eat

K^ with remainder of the sauce.

76 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

LAMB OR MUTTON WITH APPLES

I POUND NECK MUTTON CHOPS PAPRIKA

SALT I ONION

2 MEDIUM-SIZED GREENING APPLES

Remove superfluous fat from chops. Season with salt and paprika
and lay in a baking dish. Cover the meat with finely sliced apples
and finely chopped onions. Bake in a moderate oven until the meat
is tender.

Frozen mutton from Canada or Argentina is sweetest and cheap-
est.

LAMB WITH ALMONDS

Reheat cold roast lamb in the following sauce, or pour the sauce
around pan-fried chops. Chop 3 tablespoons of blanched almonds
very fine and cook them until brown in a saucepan with i table-
spoon of olive oil. Add i tablespoon Worcestershire and 2 table-
spoons chopped sweet pickle; thin with lamb gravy.

PAPRIKA DEVILS

I SPRING CHICKEN, JOINTED I TEASPOON PAPRIKA

3 TABLESPOONS FAT OR BUTTER SALT

I SMALL ONION, SLICED SOUR CREAM

FLOUR

Heat butter in pan, lightly brown sliced onion in it, then put in
chicken cut in handy pieces, strew paprika over and a little salt.
Cover tightly and simmer till tender, adding a spoon of water if
necessary. This takes 20 to 25 minutes. Then dust in some flour and
stir in some sour cream to make a thin sauce. When this boils up
the dish is done.

Tender Veal or Lamb Paprika Devils are prepared in exactly the
same way, using about i^ pounds of either meat, which will equal
the amount of flesh on a Spring chicken, minus bones and unused
parts. Served in true Hungarian style tiny dumplings usually keep
the devils company. Or little raviolis, stuffed with chicken giblets or
with chopped lamb's liver, prepared in advance and boiled at the
last minute, are worth while doing.

SWELL PICKINGS 77

SOUTHERN VEAL PIE

y2 POUND HAM 2 CARROTS, DICED

I POUND VEAL SHOULDER 1 TABLESPOONS FLOUR

SALT AND PEPPER I QUART BOILING WATER

I TABLESPOON FAT yi CUP TOMATO CATSUP

1 ONIONS, SLICED 3 RAW POTATOES, DICED

BISCUIT DOUGH

Cut ham in y^-vaoki cubes and veal in i-inch cubes. Sprinkle both
meats with salt and pepper. Put fat in iron pot, and when hot add
meat. Brown well, add chopped onions and cook a few minutes.
Add carrots and sprinkle with flour. When brown, add boiling water
and catsup. Cover and simmer for yi hour or until meat is almost
tender. Then add potatoes and cook until tender. Place in deep
baking dish and cover with baking powder biscuit dough. Brown
in hot oven.

This is as tasty as a chicken pie.

CHILE CON CARNE

I POUND GROUND BEEF ^ TEASPOON CUMIN SEED, OR

I LARGE ONION CARAWAY

I GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED I MINCED BAY LEAF

3 TABLESPOONS OIL OR FAT J^ TEASPOON CHILI POWDER

I SMALL CAN TOMATOES ^ TEASPOON CHOPPED BASIL, OR

I GREEN PEPPER, CHOPPED PARSLEY

yi TEASPOON CELERY SALT I^ TEASPOONS SALT

yi TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER I CAN CHILI BEANS

Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry for a moment in hot
oil or fat. Add the beef and fry slowly until brown. The Mexican
secret of this dish lies in slow frying. Add the chopped tomatoes,
green pepper and seasonings. Continue simmering over a slow
fire. Add beans. Cover and let simmer slowly until the juices blend.

BOEUF A LA STROGANOFF

1 POUND TENDER BEEF I PARSLEY SPRIG

2 TABLESPOONS FAT y^ POUND FRESH MUSHROOMS
I SMALL ONION, MINCED I TABLESPOON FLOUR

yi GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED SALT AND PEPPER

I CUP SOUR CREAM

78 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Have meat cut in narrow thin strips. Slowly fry onion and garlic
in fat, add steak and brown. Add parsley and the mushrooms,
sliced thin. Cover and smother for 20 minutes. Add flour, simmer
until thick, adding a little boiling water if necessary. Add cream
and heat, shaking the pan to mix.

This recipe, supposedly invented to be served at StroganofF
Palace on the Nevsky Prospect in what used to be St. Petersburg,
is similar to many dishes in Central Russia today, where no one
can do without his sour cream. The meat is either sliced or cut in
cubes, and it may be beef, veal, chicken or goose, or any mixture
of them. The flour used for thickening is buckwheat, so common
in this section, and it is lightly browned in the oven before being
added. The seasoning varies with the fresh herbs in the market, and
even includes tomatoes, which may take the place of the sour cream
in summer.

METHOD FOR CHEAP STEAKS

Lay a chuck steak, or other inexpensive cut, for several hours
in a mixture of 2 tablespoons salad oil, i tablespoon vinegar, 3-4
onion slices, a cut garlic clove, a bit of parsley or other herb, half
a bay leaf and a sprinkling of pepper. Turn occasionally, and rub
mixture into meat. Lift out, drain and dry. Dredge with flour,
brown on both sides in fat, add the mixture and simmer until
tender and nearly dry. Salt during last half hour of cooking. Make
a gravy of pan remains.

HUNGARIAN FILLETS OF BEEF

J^-INCH TENDER STEAKS I LARGE ONION, MINCED

SALT AND PAPRIKA 2 TABLESPOONS VINEGAR

FLOUR FAT FOR FRYING

Salt Steaks, rub with paprika, spread with onion mixed with
vinegar and let stand 3-4 hours. Dip in flour and fry. Eat with a
sharp salad.

In exchange for all the foreign influences in these beef recipes
and many similar ones, we have given the world beefsteak, just
as England centuries ago spread its roast beef from the Cape of

SWELL PICKINGS 79

Good Hope to the Horn. Today, roast beef and beefsteak are part
of every foreign vocabulary and it is interesting to observe the
variations of spelling:

Italian

Bistecca

Swiss

Beefsteack

Spanish

Biftec

German

Beefstake

Portuguese

Bife

Swedish

BifF

French

Biftek

Japanese

Bif-tekki

Nice, Fr.

Beefsteack

In an Italian-American bill-of-fare an oddity will be noted in
Bistecchine di Agnello^ literally "a beefsteak of lamb."

A similar "howler" exists in the Rosbif de Mouton of Flanders.
Quite naturally there can be neither beefsteak of lamb nor roast
beef of mutton, yet these names for these dishes point out the uni-
versality of the distinctive Anglo-American pieces de resistance.

But nowadays steak is too expensive for most of us, so we often
taken our protein in the form of:

Eggs. Some like 'em white, some like 'em brown, but all of us
like 'em fresh. In New York City eggs selected for their pearly
whiteness fetch a few cents more a dozen, while mid- West cus-
tomers fancy the brown egg as fuller flavored and are sometimes
willing to pay a cent or two more for their preference. It's all a
matter of taste, just so long as the eggs are fresh and of good size.
The only honest way to sell eggs is by weight, but dealers make
more money grading them as to color and size. Back in a Chicago
suburb forty years ago a woman on our street. Old Miss Prouty,
used to go to the store and pick out the biggest eggs in person,
which got to be a town joke because she was rich and everybody
said she got that way by getting her money's worth — a thing
considered hardly respectable by us poorer families, well-trained
by both grocer and butcher to telephone in our orders and accept
their word for quality and weight. No housewife would think of
being seen with a market basket, and as a result, in a year or two
the grocer in our town had bought up half the vacant lots around
and the butcher got himself a nice string of race horses, not for
slaughtering purposes. In ordering fish from him, for example,
the housewife would pick up the receiver and say, "Otto, send

8o MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

up four pounds of fish." Just fish. No thought as to whether he
sent a cheap fish that cost him three cents a pound, or a really
flavorsome one for which he had to pay six. And that helped him
get rich, because we always paid fifteen.

It was almost the same with meat, **Otto, how's your chicken
today?" "All right, send her up if she's plump." Never any ques-
tions of price, quality or weight, only unconsciously intimate little
questions like '*Otto, how are your hams today?" Or, "your sir-
loin?" It wasn't often that a bride asked, "Are your kidneys nice?
How's your liver, lamb fries, or heart?" Such giblets were supposed
to be bought, if at all, only for the cat.

So Otto might have heaved his cleaver at a customer who asked,
"Have you got any brains?" For brains, although good, cheap
food out of which fine dishes can be made quickly and simply,
were taboo. You might have whispered "calves' brains" to him,
but if you asked for pigs' brains, which many people prefer for
their substance and flavor, the story about your poverty-stricken
taste would have been all over town by night.

PIGS' BRAINS WITH BLACK BUTTER

Boil a bone with some onion, thyme and half a bay leaf, or use a
beef cube in place of the bone, and in this broth slowly poach the
pigs' brains for 15-20 minutes, then remove membranes and sim-
mer the brains golden in blackened butter pepped up with a couple
tablespoons of vinegar, using this for a sauce at the finish and saving
the delicate and delicious broth in which the brains were cooked
to start your next soup.

CALVES' BRAINS

Prepare and serve same as pigs' brains, or vary the sauce from
black butter to ravigote, the French "pick-me-up" mixture of
minced tarragon, chervil, chives and burnet, made into a sauce
with melted butter, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

SADDLE OF RABBIT

Leave the saddle attached to the hind legs. Lay in roasting pan
outside up. Season with salt and pepper, and rub thickly with but-

SWELL PICKINGS 8 1

ter. Put into hot oven and when it begins to brown you begin to
baste with yi cup of heated cream, either sweet or sour, or evapo-
rated milk, and lower oven temperature to moderate. A young
rabbit will be done in ^ hour. An older one may take as long as
i^ hours and it's great cooked country style, that is, basted with
buttermilk, which helps the tendering process. No other seasonings
are necessary beyond more and more buttermilk as evaporation
takes place. A bay leaf or % teaspoon crumbled sage dropped into
the pan at the beginning enhances the gravy.

In Brooklyn we paid 4f^ a quart for buttermilk from an inde-
pendent dairy that had a hard time getting rid of all they produced,
while the milk monopohsts held their price at loj:,.

JUGGED RABBIT

This is a dish which should only be prepared on a fire con-
stantly kept going for heating purposes, because it takes so long
to cook. In England we often had it cooked on the hob before our
fireplace. And anybody who has a fireplace can do most of his
cooking on it. You can call it jugged hare if you like, but we've
no time for splitting hares, since everything is rabbit to the Ameri-
can butcher.

The following quantities of seasonings are flexible according to
individual taste:

1 ONIONS % TEASPOON POWDERED THYME

6 CLOVES yi TEASPOON SAVORY OR MARJORAM

I TEASPOON CHOPPED PARSLEY >^ TEASPOON GRATED NUTMEG

I TEASPOON GRATED LEMON PEEL

Stick 3 cloves into each onion, mix all the other seasonings to-
gether. Salt and pepper pieces of rabbit and fry brown in butter.
Line the bottom of an earthenware bean pot with bacon strips
and pack down the fried rabbit, scattering the seasonings in as
you proceed. Place one onion near the bottom and the other near
the top. Add the juice of an orange, or other fruit juice mixed
with I cup of wine or cider and i cup of meat broth. (The broth
can be made of i beef cube.) Or add i cup of ale or beer and i cup
of water. Seal the cover tight with flour and water paste. Set in

82 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

a large kettle of cold water and after it boils cook 4 hours, more or
less, depending on age of the rabbits. If you have even, slow heat,
the kettle of water may be dispensed with. Or the pot may be set
in a slow oven. Take up meat, keep hot, skim fat off the liquid,
strain, and thicken with flour worked smooth with a little water and
poured in through a sieve; boil 3-5 minutes. Put rabbit back in
bean pot, pour gravy over and put it on the table. If the rabbit is
fresh-killed save the blood to mix with the gravy.

Small onions, boiled and then caramelled in butter with a tea-
spoon of sugar, go with any dish of rabbit, or hare, as does a puree
of boiled chestnuts.

Good
Gravies

The best of all gravies is broiled steak juice that follows the
knife and collects in the hot platter, mingled with the dribblings of
butter which was spread on the sizzling meat when it was taken
from the grill. Even though one can have a steak like that, there is
never enough dish gravy to give each person more than a taste.
So this great, natural gravy is something to think about wistfully,
rather than to eat.

Next best is the essence of meat that flows out of it during the
process of cooking, and even this must be stretched to go around.
By the time it is increased by thinning, and then is thickened with
tasteless flour, it too often serves no other purpose than to wet
the food it is spooned over. To make up for its deficiencies, store
catsup, or some other expensive commercial condiment, is put on
the table to pep things up, thus adding one more item to the budget
which would not be necessary were the meat's natural dressing
all it should be.

The first requisite for a good gravy is a good gravy maker, one
who is not too hurried and flurried at the moment of taking up a
meal to give the crowning sauce all the care and quick thought it
demands. The next requisite is a wooden spoon to stir it with,
and a small collection of herbs and seasonings to give it inspiration.

Such a gravy maker knows that the pan liquid should never be
diluted with plain water. Vegetables are usually cooking in other
vessels on the stove, and it is just as easy to take some of the tasty
broth from boiling potatoes, or peas, or string beans, as to reach
for the tea kettle. She will also save for this purpose the liquids in
which foods were cooked for former meals. A cup of leftover soup
will come in handy, too, and, of course, milk for veal and chicken.
Anything to add flavor instead of weakening it.

84 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

There are three ways to thicken a gravy with flour:
(i) Work the flour smooth in a little liquid, strain as an extra
precaution against lumps, and pour into the simmering pot liquor
slowly, stirring carefully all the while until thick and smooth.
This procedure is suitable only for stews and fricassees which are
already fully seasoned and which will be served in the gravy. The
solid portions should be lifted out with a skimmer, kept hot, and
returned to the pot for a few minutes for a final immersion in the
simmering sauce before serving.

(2) Knead equal quantities of flour and butter, or fat, together,
and drop tiny bits of the mixture into the pot, here and there,
shaking or otherwise agitating the liquid so the lumps dissolve
evenly and mingle smoothly with the whole. This way is appropri-
ate for a mixture of meat and vegetables which cannot be skimmed
out easily before gravy-making begins, or for fish slices or other
foods of such delicate texture that their appearance is spoiled by
too much handling.

In using either of these first two methods one should make ab-
solutely sure there are no lumps, and that the consistency is right,
neither too thick nor too thin. And then the solids and liquid should
simmer together for at least 15 minutes in order to completely
cook the starch, and to let it make a coating over each morsel.

(3) In a separate sauce pan or frying pan, fat and flour are
cooked together over heat so low that they may simmer for 15
minutes without scorching. Gravies for roasts, pot-roasts, and
ragouts, are best made in this manner, with some of the fat skimmed
from pot or roasting pan. The general rule for quantities is i table-
spoon of fat to I tablespoon of flour, and i cup of liquid. The
thorough cooking of flour and fat together before the liquid is
added prevents the pastiness that is characteristic of bad gravies.
It is obvious that this part of the process should begin before
the meat is quite done. The careless gravy maker errs right here, by
starting so late that either the gravy is stickily underdone, or the
meat is drying out in the oven while she is patiently stirring, sea-
soning, and straining the gravy. Before this final cooking, the gravy
should be tasted, and here is where the artistry comes in. While the
tongue is holding the flavor, the cook stands before her seasoning

GOOD GRAVIES 85

shelf, so that inspiration may decide just what touch of this or
that will make the composition perfect. For flavor is what one
craves in a gravy, not too much, but just enough to enhance the
food it accompanies. Our seasoning shelf for sauces contains such
simple things as these: a glass jar of dried celery leaves, another
of dried parsley, others containing thyme, marjoram, sage, etc.;
a sifter of dried chili peppers, to be crumbled between the hands;
a shaker of celery salt; a bottle of red chili peppers in vinegar; soy
sauce from Chinatown — cheaper than Worcestershire; a jar of
tomato paste bought in bulk at an Italian grocery, with a little oil
always poured over the surface to keep it moist and fresh; paprika
— the best Hungarian is cheap and wonderful, but buy it in bulk;
whole peppers to be twisted in a corner of cloth and crushed to
give real pepper flavor; beef and chicken cubes, of which the
Herb-Ox brand is the best weVe found. It has appetizing green
specks of tangy herbs in it.

No milk gravy for meats should ever turn out white. It should
be tawny with delicately browned flour, or pale pink with paprika.
And it should have an appetizing flavor of its own, imparted by
celery leaves, or parsley, or a little grated onion — whatever goes
best with the meat.

For dark gravies the French have a trick we have adopted. We
very slowly fry a minced onion in about 2 tablespoons of the meat
fat, cover the pan and let the onion merely smother until nearly
done, sprinkle in the flour — about a tablespoonful — through
a sieve; stir and fry for 5 minutes. The liquid goes in then, and
stirring is vigorous until all are well mixed. It must simmer for
10 minutes longer, be occasionally stirred, and finally finished by
straining. French cooks sometimes fry a grated small carrot with
the onion, and drop in a little chopped celery before simmering.
The result is truly tasty.

Right
Down
to the
Squeal

With the high price of pork, ham and bacon, it's a good thing to
know that every part of the pig is good eating, right down to the
squeal. Spareribs, jowls, liver, kidney, yes, even the ears and tails,
every one of them as good as "poke chops" in its way.

In most foreign countries pigs' ears and tails are highly esteemed,
but they've never been popular in America, except down South
where white landowners threw them to their slaves, who, from ne-
cessity, learned to make delicious dishes out of things their white
masters considered offal. And this mistake exists down to this day
when slaughter houses market everything but the chops and ten-
derloin for almost anything they'll bring. But certain butchers
specialize in such choice tidbits as hogs' jowls, chitterlings, and
harslet, the pluck of the animal which includes heart, lungs and
liver. Ten cents a pound is the price, just now, but let some smart
promoter get to work on them and they'll go skyrocketing, for from
this raw material at which the snooty turn up their noses, the tasti-
est dishes are made. It's all a matter of education, as is easily seen
in the fact that calf's liver and sweetbreads not so many years ago
were given away or sold for next to nothing, until vitamin hunters
brought calf's liver up to 8of^ a pound and doctors prescribed sweet-
breads to a growing class of millionaire gourmets who thought it
was good for their own giblets, brains, or something.

So don't stop at anything edible, and here are some appetizing
ways to use the unpopular parts of a pig.

HOGS' JOWLS AND TURNIP GREENS

HOGS JOWLS
TURNIP GREENS

SALT AND PEPPER
VINEGAR

RIGHT DOWN TO THE SQUEAL 87

This recipe is played in halves, like a football game.

Boil the jowls half an hour in salted water, then put the greens in
and boil everything together for the second half.

Salt and pepper at the finish, pep up the greens with vinegar or
lemon juice and add a little butter if you like.

This dish that came out of the poverty of the Negroes in slave
days was quickly appropriated by the whites, so when you see a
testimonial to Southern cooking today by some of the great native
eaters like Irvin S. Cobb, you'll usually find them rooting for hogs'
jowls and turnip greens or some other humble dish such as pigs*
ears boiled with mustard greens, according to recipes worked out
in plantation days when the master got the ham and tenderloin
and the slave got the squeal.

There are dozens of variations that may be rung on this simple
recipe and all of them excellent. Here are some:

Pig's Snoot and Collards

Hog Maws, Southern Style

Pig Tails and Poke Greens, Cabbage or Brussels Sprouts

Salt Pork and Beet Greens

Neck Bones and Virginia Collards

Pigs' Feet and Alabama Mustard Greens

Such specialties are easiest to find in the Negro sections of big
cities, like New York's Harlem, which, in spite of its poverty, en-
joys an exceptional cuisine that would make a Park Avenuer's
taste buds come to full bloom if he ever got the chance to taste
it: spareribs and turnip tops for example, every part of the pig with
all kinds of greens, from poke salad to sorrel, which is plain sour
grass to us but an exhilarating herb to all Frenchmen.

In fact, about the only Negro dish that some folks can't go, is
chitterlings, but when they're young and tender as "newmown
spaghetti " they're tops, either plain or with turnip tops. Any chit-
terling fan will walk a mile for them.

Another great contribution of the slaves is crackling — and here's
a tip for a perfect appetizer: render the pig fat next to the skin in
juicy mouthfuls, and serve it sizzling, just plain crackling, with a
touch of salt.

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PIG'S LIVER

Pig's liver is so luscious that many people who can afford the
difference in price really prefer it to calf's liver which costs four
times as much. To our mind it has beef liver beat a mile; although it
is about as dry, it's much more tender. You might like to try pig's
liver in place of beef in the Beef Liver Pattie recipe given under
"Swell Pickings."

But the most popular way of cooking the liver of any old hog is
to fry it plain, using plenty of fat to overcome that natural dryness.

Because this is a favorite in Negro Harlem the price is held high
by whites who own most of the butcher shops, but elsewhere, es-
pecially on the fringes of wealthy white sections, pig's liver is a drug
on the market and sells even lower than that of beef or lamb. And
of course we all relish it without knowing it, for the fine flavor of
commercial liverwurst comes from just that, since pig's liver is used
in this almost exclusively. But don't buy a pig's liver in a poke, for
it's not handled as carefully as the more expensive livers. Punch it
to make sure it's firm; see that it's bright red in color, and fresh,
with very little odor. It deteriorates rapidly and when kept too
long becomes soft and dark-colored around the edges. And in cook-
ing, never wash it, but wipe it clean with a damp cloth before re-
moving skin and veins. Tough liver should be parboiled 20 minutes
if it's to be cooked whole, or 5 minutes if already sliced.

PIGS' FEET

Have bones of 6 feet split lengthwise by butcher, leaving each
two halves attached; scrape, and soak in cold water 3-4 hours.
Drain, cover with cold water, add a sliced carrot, a sliced onion, a
dozen peppercorns, a sprig of celery, another of thyme and one bay
leaf. Simmer and skim until very tender, adding salt while cooking.

At this point they are prepared for cooking in any way you like,
grilling, pickling, or jellying. If your family is large it will pay you
to use 12 feet and double the recipe, and if small you might save out
3 of the feet for jellying or pickling and grill the other 3, as follows:

Drain, lay on a dish to cool somewhat, cut the skin holding the
bones together, season each half-foot, rub with butter or oil, roll in

RIGHT DOWN TO THE SQUEAL 89

crumbs and fry or grill until brown on all sides. Meanwhile fry a
minced onion brown and tender, add some of the boiling liquor,
cook for a moment, add a tablespoon of vinegar, a small minced
pickle and cayenne pepper. Serve with this sauce poured over, or
in a boat for each diner to help himself.

PICKLED PIGS' FEET

6 pigs' feet, cooked 1 CUPS CIDER VINEGAR

CAYENNE 6 CLOVES

3 TEASPOONS SALT GRATED NUTMEG

1 BAY LEAVES

Cook feet according to first half of recipe above. While still
hot lay in a bowl, season with salt and cayenne. Heat vinegar to
boiling point with spices and pour over feet, cover, and leave until
next day, turning them over several times.

A better way to pickle pigs* feet, however, is to begin with un-
cooked feet, split in halves and soaked for several hours in cold
water. To every 6 feet you add 3 cups of vinegar and bring to boiling
point. Skim, add 2 medium onions, 1 bay leaves, 20 peppercorns
and lyz teaspoons salt, boil slowly for i^ hours, or put in fireless
cooker for longer time.

Let them cool and serve cold in their own juicy jelly.

Potato salad is the ideal accompaniment to this melodic snack,
and beer, of course.

The only reason for pickling pigs' feet yourself is to save money
on a good-sized quantity, enough to pay for the beer maybe. If
only 2 or 3 are wanted it's cheaper to buy them at a delicatessen.

Peppercorns should be bought by the pound in bulk (and the
same holds true for Hungarian paprika), since the packaged kinds
are no better and cost many times as much by weight. But usually
only foreign shops keep peppercorns (or paprika) in bulk. Ground
pepper is largely a racket, in which all kinds of inferior peppers and
adulterant bird seeds are concealed, so it's best to buy the whole
round pepper berries and grind them yourself, or pound up in a
cloth But in this recipe only the whole peppers give the proper
flavor. The black kind give you the most pep for your money.
Black pepper is fully ripened on the tree, while white pepper is

90 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

picked green, hence milder in flavor, and chiefly used in salads,
such as white potato salad in which black pepper specks are too
conspicuous. So if you want to do the thing right, use black peppers
in the pigs' feet and white peppers for the accompanying potato
salad, but don't put any kind of pepper in the beer.

PICKLED PIGS' FEET BROILED

Split in half, egg and crumb them, and broil. Eat with lemon
juice and cayenne, or with a piquant sauce.

JELLIED PIGS' FEET

Boil feet according to first half of first recipe. Take out bones and
cut up meat; strain cooking liquor through cloth, season and spice
to taste with cayenne, a few grains powdered cloves, a tablespoon
of your favorite condiment, and juice of a lemon. Heat, to blend
seasonings, and reduce by boiling if you think necessary; lay meat
in a mold, pour liquor over, cool and chill. Unmold on platter and
decorate with servings of potato salad laid on lettuce leaves, cut-up
dill pickle, red radishes, and slices of pickled beets.

JELLY OF PIGS' FEET AND EARS

Cut up both feet and ears, simmer in water to barely cover, with
I teaspoon sage, 3 sprigs parsley or of dried herbs, peppercorns, and
yi teaspoon ground mace, salting while cooking. Take out bones of
feet when done, arrange meat in a mold, strain liquid through very
fine sieve, pour over meat, cool and chill.

PIGS' EARS

Cut in two, each half being as big as your hand and as white as
snow. Grill in a slightly greased frying pan; they will be done in no
time. Season and eat with spinach, sauerkraut or cabbage. They
may be cooked like pigs' feet, too, or cooked with the feet, slicing
the ears when done; and like pigs' feet they may then be either
pickled or served hot with their gravy; or they may be allowed to
cool, and then egged, crumbed and fried.

RIGHT DOWN TO THE SQUEAL 9 1

SMOTHERED PIGS' TAILS

Slowly brown 1^4 pounds of tails in a little fat, with a chopped
onion; season with pepper and }i teaspoon sage or thyme to each
pound of tails. Add i cup boiling water, cover closely and simmer
very slowly until tender, salting while cooking.

PORK KIDNEY

Split kidney, remove skin and core, cut in y^ inch slices, season
and dredge with flour. Heat i tablespoons bacon fat, brown a
minced onion in it and a clove of garlic if you wish, then brown the
kidney slices. They will make their own gravy, which is better if
yi cup of strained tomatoes is added.

PORK CHOPS AND APPLES

Trim some of the fat from 4 pork chops, season with salt and
pepper, and lay in a baking dish. Cover with thin slices of greening
apples; sprinkle with a very little sugar, just to make the apples
brown, and dot with butter. Bake in a hot oven until apples begin
to get tender, then pour in sufficient cider to make a gravy. Bake
another half hour.

FRIED PORK CHOPS WITH SAUERKRAUT

6 chops seasoned with salt and pepper, dredged with flour and
fried in hot fat. Parboil i pound sauerkraut. Remove chops from
frying pan, put in kraut and fry until brown. Serve with chops and
mashed potatoes.

STUFFED PORK CHOPS

Make a stuffing of minced ham or left-over meat, bread crumbs
and onions, or use any preferred mixture. Pile some of the mixture
in center of a thin pork chop, lay another on top, sandwich-wise,
press together and fasten well with toothpicks. Fry in butter or
bacon fat, or bake in gravy.

SPARERIBS WITH BEANS AND SAUERKRAUT

I POUND NAVY BEANS 12 PEPPERCORNS

1 POUNDS SPARERIBS 8 SMALL POTATOES

I QUART SAUERKRAUT SALT

92 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Soak beans over night, parboil and then cook until nearly tender.
Or open i cans of pork and beans. Mix cut-up spareribs with sauer-
kraut and peppercorns and simmer in own juices for }4. hour. Stir
in the beans, with a little of their liquor, imbed the potatoes in the
mixture, and simmer 40 minutes. Taste before potatoes are done
and add salt carefully, the amount needed depending on how salty
the kraut is. This dish is not worth making unless eight people are
to be served.

GRILLED SPARERIBS

Do not cut them up. Rub with garlic, sprinkle well with pepper
and lemon juice, and let stand half an hour. Put under medium grill
and turn often, seasoning with salt while grilling.

ROAST PORK REHEATED

Fry a large onion in bacon fat or butter. Slice another and boil
without covering. Mash both together through a sieve. Heat pork
slices in bacon fat or butter, pour onions over and simmer a few
minutes, seasoning with a little salt, and pepper to taste.

XI. JVatch Your JVeight!

We're so used to reading articles about reducing, instead of
keeping healthily plump, that the phrase "watch your weight"
makes us think we're going to be advised not to get fat. But we ad-
vise our readers to get as much to eat as they can, and '* watch
your weight" to us means — be on the lookout against under-
weight in buying food stuffs, either from stores or pushcarts,
though under frantic competition you can hardly blame a push-
carteer for taking any sort of advantage — to keep alive.

The chain stores do not underweigh as much as individual stores,
as a rule, yet their managers are charged with the full weight of
bulk articles and have to make up the waste in measuring out or
pay it from their own pockets. They'd be fired for giving under-
weight, but in rush hours it's humanly impossible not to spill or
lose some of the company's property. So this has to be made up
somehow out of careless customers. One thing is sure, the customer
must never get a break, in overweight. We got a good laugh re-
cently when a chain store clerk weighed out a pound of biscuits for
us. He had an accurate eye and was worried when the last biscuit
brought the weight to a canary feather over a pound. He took the
biscuit off, but the scale then showed a little under, so what was he
to do, with us watching? He broke the biscuit in half and ate the
overweight himself.

The other day we ordered a chicken by telephone and it came
with a bill for ^1.75, the weight marked on the package was 5^

94 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

pounds at 2^i each pound. That bird felt so light we weighed it and
found it had gone down to 3^^ pounds, but we had paid the bill
and it was too late to kick, for the butcher would answer it lost
the 2>^ pounds in dressing. So we said ''Never again"; we'll stand
right by the scale and try to intimidate the butcher into giving us
what we pay for. WeVe developed a lot of false modesty about such
things, which has been encouraged by those who profit by our fear
of supervising what we pay for, or bargaining.

So, nowadays, "full weight" usually includes the butcher's
thumb, and we had a friend in this business who stuck his scale up
high so when he read it at a slant it always showed a few ounces
more than it would at a level reading. In that way he added an
easy 10% to 20% to his profit.

Buying mushrooms, however, is the trickiest thing of all. In
New York we tried half a dozen different dealers and never got
more than ^ of a pound for a full pound. When we were sure of our
ground we used to kid these dealers about it and they had only one
defense, "Mushrooms are too high in Washington Market. We
gotta ask a low price or you won't buy, so to get anything for our-
selves we've just got to weigh light." Then they'd toss in a couple
of tiny button mushrooms to show their hearts were in the right
place, but when we got home our scale still showed the old %"
pound.

By way of contrast, when we lived in Moscow, grocery clerks
who had nothing to fear, would give us exact weight, cutting a last
snip of bread to balance the scale precisely at i kilo. With nothing
to gain or lose in non-profit commerce we got full value — to a
kopek.

So now, back home, by way of self protection we keep a reliable
spring scale in the kitchen drawer and it's paid for its cost over and
over. And the best part of it is, our local dealers know that the
scale is there and that's a healthy threat that pays dividends in
more food for our money.

Another crafty cheat, which extends to toilet articles and all sorts
of human needs, is for the big controllers to steadily enlarge the
package and make it flossier, to cover periodical reductions in net
weight, but none in price. Even if the fixed price hasn't gone up,

WATCH YOUR WEIGHT ! 95

the net contents have been so subtly reduced that soon we're ac-
tually paying double the original price without noticing it. And
here the profitable fad of reducing comes in. The owners of our
staffs of life have taken advantage of this reducing rage to make
everything smaller (except the containers), on the theory that the
smaller the portion the healthier, or the more they reduce what we
get for our money, the better off we are.

XII. Dishes for Knife^ Fork and Spoon

A false notion of elegance, probably instigated by penurious
restaurant owners, has gradually depleted an historic class of fine
family dishes until even home versions are often quite useless for
either nourishment or enjoyment. Our soups come on the table
strained, or with little bits of this and that, chips of carrot, two or
three green peas to a plate, infinitesimal crumbs of meat, floating in
a weak hot liquid just to give the illusion of what a really good
soup might have been made of. Our stews often are served with
scarcely enough gravy to moisten a crushed potato, just because
magazines for real "ladies" require that gravy must be mixed with
solids on the plate in such a manner that it can be gathered up with
a fork. Spoons for this purpose are strictly taboo. We must eat
daintily and follow the rules, regardless of heartiness and pleasure.
Away with the great dishes intimately eaten with knife, fork and
spoon — all three.

While European workers and all gypsies and artists enjoy well-
balanced meals in one hearty course eaten with any and every
kind of table gear at hand, we as a nation have fallen under the spell

DISHES FOR KNIFE, FORK AND SPOON 97

of many-course meals with special forks for salad, bread and butter
knives and tiny ice cream shovels, just one silly tool after another
with which to toy with miniature "courses." So nowadays people
who can least afford it will start a dinner, especially if there's
company, with half a pound of assorted synthetic sausage from the
delicatessen, followed by a thin soup, maybe more costly because
it's out of cans, then an entree before the regular meat dish, and
always a characterless salad with a dab of bottled mayonnaise,
probably made of cottonseed oil, and finally a fancy dessert and
coffee. This, naturally, is the most wasteful procedure possible.
So we say — a curse on the '* course" system. All of those Httle
dabs put together don't make nearly as much of a meal as one big
dish well-rounded out with meat, vegetables and the soup or gravy
that comes with it, or one big salad, either of them accompanied
by good, well-knit bread, not this light-as-chicken-feathers white
stuff. Such a simple meal is the cheapest that any family can in-
vest in, even though it actually costs more than any one course of
the conventional meal.

For when the real cost of one big satisfying dish is counted, sim-
ply by dividing it by the number of eaters, it's sure to be less than
any five-course dinner where four-bits has gone for more or less
useless appetizers, thirty cents for an insipid salad and another
half-dollar for drug store ice cream blown up with a bicycle pump,
without counting the main dish, which is all that hunger really
hollers for. Such a meal, after counting in the celery, olives, cottony
bakery cake, and other bits of conventional swank, comes to any-
way fifty cents a head, because a few of the courses, and probably
those least appreciated, cost out of all proportion to the substantial
ones. So it's hard to say which dish is expensive and which is cheap,
because this always depends on the satisfaction the eater gets out
of it.

On top of this there's the extra labor and fuss, which is entirely
eliminated by a single well-balanced and bounteous dish that has
everything and is accompanied by a plenitude of honest bread and
one good relish, or one meaty salad and a whole quart of fine ripe
olives with plenty of crusty, yet juicy, well-made bread, either
of which leaves the diner better satisfied, and certainly at a cost

98 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

of less than half the standardized dinner. Indeed, one more-or-less
useless course may cost even more than a big all-around hot potful
that has everything.

The idiocy of "courses" is well pictured in the story of a cook
to the Great Conde who felt so disgraced when a fish failed to
come in time to serve it after the soup that he "killed himself with
his sword and drew his last breath just as the fish arrived.'*

Other nations cherish and preserve their soupy stews, consider-
ing them worthy to appear on elegant as well as simple tables.
Spanish people, no matter where they live, always have the olla
podrida in the mother land, their cosidas in the countries south of
us, and that diWm.^ puchero of the Argentine; the Italians have their
multitudinous minestras; Russians and Central Europeans eat
those grand borschts and even more substantial cabbage soups in
which slices of meat are couched to satisfy the most ravenous
hunger; and the French make a ritual of their pot aufeu. Any of
these, plus a plenteous relish of pickled peppers, onions, radishes,
olives, cole slaw, or any salad, for the vitamins, and a light dessert,
are all the heart and watering mouth desire. But try to get a knife-
fork-and-spoon dish in America, except in a foreign restaurant or
home, or in some artist's studio.

Artists are especially adept at the one-dish meal, bringing to its
composition their genius for balanced composition, color and inven-
tion. It may be only a steaming kettle of spaghetti, but the sauce
will be thought out with care and then done with a flair. It will
contain all the food elements for health and strength, and with
attention undivided among several other saucepans, that one
spaghetti pot will be kept boiling just right, will be removed from
the heat at the psychological second so it won't cook soggy, will
be drained with care and given just the right dousing of cold water,
to make it perfect

A life-loving genius like Brancusi gets as much kudos in Paris
for his creative cooking as for his modern sculpture. He assembles
whatever he has in the cupboard when guests arrive, and beginning
with a deftness worthy ofa,coj'don bleu^ molds and slaps the ingredi-
ents together into an original dish which is said never to be a
duplicate of any other he has made. He, like so many other artists,

is a one-dish-is-a-meal cook, and when that dish is done everyone
eats of it ecstatically. And because of such creative achievements,
cooking in France has been officially recognized as the eighth art.
And here is a small gallery of Gallic culinary cornerstones, quite as
perfect in their v/ay as the classic sculptures and columns of ancient
Greece.

POT AU FEU

Any of the cheaper cuts of beef will serve, but rump and shoulder
are the preferred pieces, with a length of marrow bone to give rich-
ness. Rump takes the longest cooking, approximately one third
more time than brisket, or other cut from the fore quarter of the
animal.

For each 2 pounds of beef:

lyi QUARTS COLD WATER 2 CARROTS, QUARTERED

SALT yi PARSNIP (oPTIONAL) .

3 LEEKS I SPRIG THYME

I ONION I SPRIG OF PARSLEY

3 CLOVES I BAY LEAF

6-IO PEPPERCORNS

Place meat in cold water over moderate fire and heat 35-40
minutes without allowing it to reach boiling point. Skim every few
minutes. Increase heat and add i tablespoon salt, which will bring
remaining scum to the surface so it can be removed. Cut leeks into
finger lengths and wind with thread so they will not fall apart in
cooking; pierce onion with cloves and add with remaining ingredi-
ents. Skim again when vegetables begin to cook. Reduce heat, cover
closely and keep barely at the boiling point until done. The four
essential points are: (i) careful skimming; (2) slow even heat; (3)
a close-fitting cover that does not allow the aroma to escape; (4)
never add more water to the pot while cooking or the flavor will be
ruined.

Taste of the pot during the last half-hour of cooking and add
additional salt if necessary. Take up meat and vegetables, and keep
them hot. Skim fat from soup, strain, and reheat; pour it over sip-
;pets of toasted or fried bread. At the French family table the platter
[of sliced meat and vegetables is passed for each person to choose

lOO MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

what he likes to put into his soup plate, then the solid portions are
eaten with knife and fork, and the liquid with a whopping big soup
spoon, and the more spoon music the better, though the polite
French never go as far as Orientals who belch loudly and smack
their lips like firecrackers to show full appreciation of food.

A big enamelware saucepan will turn out a fair pot au feu, an
iron kettle is better, but the choice of all cooking utensils for this
is an earthenware pot set on an asbestos ring to protect it from
direct flame. Aluminum is the most unwholesome material in
which to prepare any food, especially if it is to be cooked for a long
time while chemical action is taking place on the metal.

RAGOUT

A ragout is simply a refined French name for a mulligan or Irish
stew made with any kind of meat, cooked or fresh, left-over
tidbits of fowl, and always potatoes, with any other vegetables, of
course, and one clove of garlic, minced.

A savory way to start a ragout of cooked meat is to get two table-
spoons of olive oil smoking hot in a big black kettle. Let it cool for
a minute and fry in it the garlic with any minced vegetable or
mixture of, say, green peppers, onions, carrots and turnips. Then
put in your cooked meat, chopped into handy-sized chunks, cover
with boiling water in which a couple of beef cubes have been dis-
solved, or any broth, add half as much thickly sliced potatoes as
meat and simmer until tender, seasoning of course.

If you use fresh meat start the other way around by heating a
little fat in the kettle and frying in it a pound or two of beef or
mutton, cut in small pieces, add a little water, salt and pepper.
Then add plenty of sliced potatoes, onions, carrots, or what you will
(a cooked sliced beet is always nice and its blood enriches the color
of the ragout), and let everything simmer till tender.

No dish offers a better chance for originality and if you add mush-
rooms and wine with the cocks' combs we throw away, though the
French sell them at dollars a pound, you can have a Millionaire
Mulligan, the type called Ragout a la Financiere on ritzy bills-of-fare.

But ordinarily, the simpler the ragout, the better, and here's a
story to illustrate:

DISHES FOR KNIFE, FORK AND SPOON lOI

COOK'S CHOICE

Professional cooks do simple dishes for themselves which they
prefer to the fancy ones they make for their employers. In Cla-
risse, or the Old Cook, we find this illuminating anecdote: The
"master," named Brumaque, is dining alone while his cook Sophie
is out on an errand: "He starts by filling two of his glasses with
Loka and White Sicilian and, comfortably seated before a huge
table, where, on a snowy cloth river trout, Loire carp au bleu, with
its caviar, a pate of wild duck liver au grand Tivollier, a truffle
salad, prawns cooked a la Lorraine, black grapes, velvety peaches
and barberry preserve please the eye, makes ready to eat, when lo !
through the crack of the door a most delicious smell steals to his
nostrils, making his mouth water.

"Brumaque rises and follows the savory trail, which leads to his
own kitchen. O joy! Sophie the cook is absent. With a trembling
hand the amateur takes the cover off the saucepan from which
escapes the enticing smell and there, ye immortal gods! he sees the
dish! It is one of those which an artist makes for herself and never
for her master, a ragout of mutton, the ideal golden-brown ragout,
with a thick sauce transparent and warm in color, and potatoes
that are like living topazes. Trembling, like the thief he is, Bru-
maque carefully helps himself to the stew and eats, tasting it,
relishing it, and devouring it with such gusto that the plate is licked
clean, washed, cleaned better than by a dog. But the terrible Sophie
returns; furious, with her arms akimbo:

"*So,' she says, *you have stolen my food!*

"* Well,' says the master, pale and smiling faintly, 'you can have
mine.'

"'This time I will let it pass,' says the cook severely, *but don't
let it happen again. I don't eat your nastiness.' "

CASSOULET

lyi PINTS NAVY BEANS I PIECE BACON RIND

lyi POUNDS LEAN MUTTON I POUND LEAN PORK, DICED

1 ONION SLICED ^ POUND SMOKED SAUSAGE
GOOSE OR BACON FAT I SPRIG THYME

2 GARLIC CLOVES, SLICED I TABLESPOON MINCED PARSLEY
I TOMATO SALT AND PEPPER

I02 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Soak and parboil beans. Cut bones from mutton and simmer to
make a broth; and if you have a piece of fowl, a goose or duck
carcass, or any other tasty leftover, throw it in with the mutton
bones. Start simmering onion in fat, add garlic, then mutton, and
let all slowly brown; take out mutton, add tomato to pan and
simmer until thick. Place bacon rind in bottom of a wide saucepan
or earthenware casserole, add onion mixture, then a few beans and
some of the meat; alternate beans and meat, seasoning each layer,
until all are used. Pour in the strained juice, cover very closely and
simmer for about 3 hours. The French often buy a piece of goose
to include with the other meats, but there are only a few foreign
butcher shops in our cities which will accommodate their customers
by selling portions of poultry. As for the sausage, there is nothing
so good to give flavor to soups and stews as that smoked sausage
sold for this purpose by Italian and Spanish grocers.

BOUILLI, OR LEFTOVER BOILED BEEF

Beef which had served for soup-making was once considered use-
less and thrown away by prodigal American housewives, until our
chemists discovered that such meats still contain valuable food
elements that are not dissolved by boiling. French cooks, however,
have always made tasty and nourishing dishes out of the remains
of their soup pots, to serve on the following day.

REHEATED SOUP MEAT

(i) Cut meat across the grain in even thin slices. Mince i onion,
I garlic clove, i parsley sprig, and i anchovy, and mix together.
Place half of the mixture in a saucepan with i cup of leftover soup
and I tablespoon of the fat skimmed from soup. Lay the meat
slices in the pan and cover with the other half of mixture. Simmer
30 minutes. (2) Brown a sliced onion in 2 tablespoons soup fat,
add I tablespoon flour, mix well; add i^ cups leftover soup, i
tablespoon vinegar, salt and pepper. Boil and stir 5 minutes. Care-
fully lay thinly sliced meat in pan and simmer 15-20 minutes. (3)
Blanch a dozen small onions, drain and brown in a mixture of
butter and soup fat; add i>^ cups leftover soup, and thinly sliced

DISHES FOR KNIFE, FORK AND SPOON IO3

meat. Simmer until onions are done. (4) Brown i tablespoon flour
in soup fat, add \% cups leftover soup and a grated onion; season,
stir, and boil 5 minutes. Lay thinly sliced meat in a baking dish,
pour gravy over it, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and
brown in oven.

XIII. Mulligans^ SlumguUionSy
Lobscouses and Burgoos

MULLIGAN

This American specialty of tramp jungles cannot be reduced to
one recipe, for its ingredients depend on what you've got, its mix-
ture on the artistic inspiration of the cook, and the time required
for cooking entirely on the hunger of the eaters-to-be.

Here's a sample, however, based on the take of a lucky day:

3 POUNDS OF MEAT SCRAPS }4 CABBAGE, SHREDDED

1 BUNCH CARROTS I POUND POTATOES

2 ONIONS, SLICED SALT AND PEPPER

t Start the meat cooking, then add the vegetables, stirring occa-
sionally so the potatoes, which sink to the bottom, won't stick
there.

The word Mulligan is American slang which the dictionary says
is obscure in origin, but it seems probable that it's the knight of the
road's mocking abbreviation of the millionaire's Mulligatawny, a

104

MULLIGANS, SLUMGULLIONS, LOBSCOUSES, ETC. I05

chicken and curry soup, which is no better than a jungle Mulligan
after a successful raid on a hen roost and a farmer's field.

The addition of dumplings makes it equal to any dollar-a-plate
stew at the Waldorf. Everything goes into it to make the savor
irresistible, especially such sauces as the oil from a can of sardines
and the liquid from bottles of pickles and olives.

SLUMGULLION

Jack London's recipe for slumgullion is both simple and appe-
tizing: Fry half a dozen slices of bacon, add fragments of hardtack,
then two cups of water and stir briskly over the fire. In a few min-
utes mix in slices of canned corned beef and season well with pepper
and salt.

Although this is a sailor's specialty, it has spread to the army, to
hunting and fishing camps and the jungles, where, of course, any
stew is called "slum.'Mt can be made of any meat and vegetables
available, with hardtack or pilot crackers as a base, and it is
usually highly seasoned.

The name was bestowed on this dish centuries ago by British
tars, combining the contemptuous '*slum," meaning worthless
junk, with **gullion," their word for stomach ache. That accurately
described their ration of thin stew, only a little better than the
boiled seaboot they might have to subsist on if shipwrecked.

But the ingenuity of poverty raised slumgullion from a weak,
insipid stew to a rich flavorsome hot pot to which all peasants of the
sea and millionaire yachtsmen alike are now addicted. It reaches
perfection when boiled up by sailors stranded on the beach, for
galley cooks in port look after their own by putting aside tidbits to
fill the blackened stewcans which are lowered to them secretively
from the wharves all the way from Shanghai to Buenos Aires.

LOBSCOUSE, LOBSCOURSE, OR SCOUSE

Lobscouse is the sailor's stew and a lobscouser is a sailor — so,
like the chicken and the egg, it's hard to tell which came first.

This highly nautical stew also is based on sea biscuit, and the
proper way to make it is to soak several big round hunks of hard-
tack in water or milk, using this substantial dough to make a thick

Io6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

pudding with any kind of meat and vegetables, usually limited to
onions, potatoes and/or carrots, especially on shipboard. Sometimes
the savory porridge is baked at the finish, but it's always made hot
with pepper, and since all A.B.'s have able-bodied appetites as well,
it goes down like truffles and ortolans at Delmonico's.

Another recipe: pound hardtack to powder, mix with potatoes
and salt beef chopped in cubes and either boil or moisten with water
and bake. The dish must be hot with pepper and rich with fat,
since "lob" means "a hanging lump of fat." But when there's no
meat to put in you call it ** bread scouse" and bake it.

BURGOO

Burgoo is the twin of lobscouse, but with oatmeal in place of
hardtack. It was brought to our shores by British seamen and be-
came popular at early barbecues and picnics. Now it is the camper's
delight. Like all the other manly stews in this salubrious section,
burgoo calls for meat and vegetables, but since it's mostly cooked
outdoors and on dry land today, the meat usually is game and the
vegetables come fresh from some farmer's field when his back is
turned. It's made more flavorsome by the addition of wild herbs
and greens such as poke salad, parsley, sage and thyme.

Sailors camping ashore jungle-up in any tumbletown shack and
manage to club together meats and vegetables that are kettled into
thick soups and savory stews which some chefs would have a hard
time beating. And any of the above are perfect for" barbecues, pic-
nics and organizational get-togethers.

XIV. Barbecuing Indoors and Out

Recently the old-fashioned barbecue has been brought right into
the kitchen and nothing's more popular than doing meats and fish in
what's called barbecue style, although one of those old French
buccaneers who brought it to this country centuries ago would
hardly recognize it. For instance, modern Barbecued Ham consists
of crisping thin slices of cold boiled ham in butter, pushing it to the
side of the pan while you heat up i teaspoon of mustard and another
of sugar in the spluttering butter with two tablespoons of vinegar
pepped up with plenty of pepper. You move the crisped ham back
into this snappy sauce, let it simmer a couple of minutes and serve
on thin slices of bread or crackers.

As for Barbecued Fish, it takes a lot of beating, and any fresh
medium-sized fish will do. After it's scaled, cleaned and washed you
split it down the back, yank out the back bone and lay it skin side
down in a pan which it should nearly fill. Sprinkle on plenty of salt
and pepper, dot with a couple tablespoons of butter and brown in a
hot oven, basting with the butter that melts. When it's golden
brown put the pan over a stove-top flame for five final minutes, re-
move fish and keep it warm in a hot platter while you toss up an
instantaneous barbecue sauce by stirring into the pan-juice of fish
and butter a pint of boiling water, salted and pepped up with soy
sauce, mustard, chilies or whatever fiery condiments you fancy

107

I08 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

with fish, never forgetting a few drops of Tabasco. Let everything
boil two minutes while you stir, then pour this sauce over the fish
and eat it piping hot.

As for outdoor barbecuing, the revival is on. Up in Hillsboro, New
Hampshire, the century-old barbecue oven of President Pierce has
been restored on the picturesque banks of the Contoocook River,
and down in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the picnic hay
rides of 1837, ending in corn roasts around the old barbecue pit,
were revived during Old White Week, with hillbilly dance-downs
to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw'* and "All Bound 'Round with
a Woolen String." Out in Michigan a duplicate of President Pierce's
whole-ox roaster is doing its historic duty in feeding flocks of holi-
day makers, and there's no better way to finish a Labor Day parade
than to throw a big barbecue.

Like a prairie fire the hungry flames have spread from camp cook-
ing in the ashes to portable grills, charcoal pots and outdoor fire-
places in the back yard, with everybody getting ashes, smoke and
cinders in his eyes over pits and spits on one holiday or another,
snacking on chickens scented with green apple-wood smoke, pic-
nicking on meats broiled sweet over coals of corncob and walnut
bark, everything smacking with grandmother's herbs that have
also staged a comeback.

For now we've gone native American, and there's nothing that
quite fills the hole of hunger like one of those soul-satisfying barbe-
cue sandwiches that have turned some of the old Robert E. Lee
highways into one mouth-watering sign that reads: "Old Style Pit
Barbecue with Green Hickory Wood."

The genuine article in this line consists of luscious thin slices of
crackling hot roast pork, and pork only, with just enough crisp,
mellow fat on it so butter becomes redundant. It has to be gener-
ously stacked between slices of good well-knit bread or a split bis-
cuit, piping hot and homemade, we hope, and everything lavishly
sluiced with a real barbecue sauce that has pep, zest, what it takes
and then some! It should taste "the most more-ish," as Nantucket
Islanders say of their chicken chowder "squantum," which is an-
other specialty of our rekindled outdoor fires. Down South, the
mingled savor of pork and hickory wood rising from the pit sets the

BARBECUING INDOORS AND OUT IO9

traveler's nose to twitching half a mile away and starts the old taste
buds to blossoming out like sunflowers. And when finally you bite
into that Old Style Sandwich it answers back sharply to the cave-
man appetite that yips and yaps way down deep within the best
of us.

With many of us catching our meals on wheels, and hardly able
to wait for the next snack counter that's always just around the
corner, small wonder that barbecue stands have grown as thick as
filling stations, especially as we cross the Mason and Dixon Line.
And from there on to the Mexican border the sauce gets hotter and
hotter.

This is as it should be, since those little red peppers that serve as
the real base of this All-American culinary art are native to Mexico,
and all the way down to the State of Tabasco we find dabsters
stirring up salsa de barbacoa. That's the tastiest stuff we've ever
dabbled a crackling brown slab of roast pork in. The recipe should
be on the tip of every tongue — just get yourself a flock of limes and
squeeze out about half a glass of juice; use lemon, vinegar, white
wine or sherry if you must, though the result won't be nearly so
Mejicano without those limes. But first chop up very fine a discreet
amount of garlic with one big onion and cook it tenderly in plenty
of butter, anyway a quarter pound. Then toss in your lime juice,
with a couple of teaspoons of mustard and of salt, just ahead of two
whopping tablespoons of good Texas chili powder, a can of thick
tomato soup and half a cup of water. To get that extra foreign savor
here's the secret: Crumble a bay leaf with some cumin seed in your
palm and sprinkle it in, or try a modicum of sweet marjoram which
grows as wild as sage along the border. Let all your ingredients get
well acquainted by simmering them together for five minutes,
stirring the while, and then you've got the real McCoy in meat
spreads.

Of course the best place to enjoy a real longhorn barbecue is
down in Texas, where such parties are thrown to celebrate almost
anything from a baptism to a by-election. So let us start out the day
before the big party with a couple of those lean, pit-hardened ex-
perts who pick out the prime fat steer, or steers, in plenty of time
and superintend the digging of the fire holes and stacking of good

no MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

hardwood handy before the real work begins — at midnight. They
try to have everything ready by sundown on the day before so they
can catch a few winks before arriving on the job at that witching
hour, loaded down with lanterns, pitchforks, shovels, brooms, rakes,
plenty of peppers and big bottles full of Worcestershire and
Tabasco. And as soon as the pit fires are lighted you can see their
silhouettes and shadows weaving like imps around the flames as
they heap on the fuel, rake hot coals level, shovel in a little earth
here to retard a blaze, pull out a hot stone there, gradually building
a smooth, smokeless bed of embers, readying everything for the
ravenous crowd that'll arrive around noontime with jaws raring to
go.

All in all, a hangup barbecue takes about twenty-four hours
preparation and a lot of skill. The seasoned specialists in charge
know their stuff as well as a strip tease knows her burleycue, and
it's hot stuff, too, for first the juicy beef is soaked all the juicier
in fiery chili-ajo, the standard marinating bath of a whole State
that is as large as all Europe. Then each barbecuer mixes a second
sauce for basting the beast, filling wash tubs sloshing full of minced
peppers, garlic, herbs, tomatoes, lime juice and sundry condiments,
according to formulas handed down within the craft. With this
mixture the roasting longhorn is basted for eight solid hours, to
give it that unbeatable hunter's style flavor, making tame beef
taste as gamy as pioneer buffalo humps, grizzly bear steaks or elk,
and Mary's little lamb like Rocky Mountain sheep.

The enormous beef, run through from chin whiskers to tail, or
**barbe" to "cue," with a sharp steel spit to hold it securely in
place over the glowing pit, is kept turning by dexterous jabs of the
pitchfork. A steel spit is the thing; never green wood, for steel is
such a perfect conductor of heat that the inside of the meat will be
as thoroughly cooked as the outside. The basting is done wholesale
by dipping new brooms in the tubs of sauce and swabbing down the
sides of meat evenly.

After a first quick searing on all sides to seal the juices in, the
slow roasting begins and continues from dawn till high noon, when
a triumphant gleam comes into the chief chef's eye as he shoves his
rolled shirt sleeves a notch higher and sharpens his carving kit, to

BARBECUING INDOORS AND OUT III

begin the real fancy work just at the moment when the outside crust
is spiciest and the inside is cooked through to the bones. Crowds
close in to watch the knife-wielding, each expecting to get the
choicest tidbit as it*s expertly dipped in the hot sauce and slapped
onto slabs of yaller bread. In this clash between sharp knives and
sharper appetites, corn liquor passes freely and everything's hotsy-
totsy. The tang of wood fires and odor of crisping beef whip up
gargantuan appetites, especially if the artful barbecuer throws an
armful of sage on the dying coals at the finish to accent the whole
roast — then the amount of lusty munching such a crowd can do is
limited only by the size of its rounding eyes and whether the feast is
free or not.

Old-time pit barbecues on Southern plantations are much more
ladylike than one that Senator Maverick might throw. They are
staged in shady groves equipped with picnic tables on wooden
trestles, stretching from one county to the next and carefully cov-
ered with starched linen, hallmarked silver (if there's any left in the
family), all set forth with pickles, fresh biscuits, jellies, watermelon
and cake, besides the whole pigs, lambs and chickens roasted in-
stead of the Texas steer — and with plenty of scuppernong wine
punch in place of red-eye.

But in barbecuing we have gone soft, for nowadays it doesn't
really matter to most of us whether this unique kind of jamboree is
held indoors or out, and compared to the pioneer and frontier feeds
a small modern barbecue is a cinch. As a matter of fact, it doesn't
take much more time or trouble than spitchcocking an eel or steam-
ing an impromptu clambake on the beach, if not actually in the
living-room fireplace.

An indoor barbecue is done right at the kitchen range, either on a
spit or in a roasting pan, perhaps in the dining room on one of those
spifFy electric rotisseries, even in the lady's parlor over a charcoal
grill that shoots its fumes up the fireplace chimney. In fact, such a
citified version can be held in a sky-scraper, as was recently demon-
strated by Mrs. Helen Angell, who walked off with the ^500 prize
at the national cooking contest on the strength of barbecuing a leg
of lamb in the ultramodern kitchen of a mid-Manhattan hotel.

There's not much of the outdoors left in Mrs. Angell's barbecue

112 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

of lamb, of course, except the tang of the sauce; and that's too ex-
pensive. But here's how it's done: First rub salt and pepper over the
leg and make a few slashes in it so the juice will run, then slap it into
a roasting pan and leave the cover off so it can be constantly basted
with this lavish sauce — half a bottle each of Worcestershire, A-i
sauce and ketchup, with two tablespoons of butter and half a pound
of fat, everything melted together and flavored with sugar, vinegar
and a squirt or two from the Tabasco bottle. Then tie a whole sliced
onion together with three cloves of garlic in a bit of cheesecloth,
drop it into the exciting mixture and begin twirling your basting
spoon. At the finish, all pan gravy is poured over the roast, so not a
drop of meat essence is wasted. But to cheapen this sauce use soy
and ground chilies in place of the more expensive Worcestershire
and A-i to get just as salubrious an effect.

Chicken may be barbecued in the same painless fashion. Just slit
a broiler down the back, put it in a well-greased pan and sear it on
both sides beneath a blistering fire. Then slow down the fire and
when the bird is golden brown try this old Pennsylvania Dutch
sauce for a change: Melt half a cup of butter and snap it up with a
tablespoon of tomato paste, then toss in a third of a cup of vinegar,
a tablespoon of soy, with some onion juice, salt, pepper and paprika,
never forgetting those three buds of garlic, which should be taken
out before serving to save the sensitive feelings of some who fear
they'll get a sprained nose from a passing whiff of it. A paintbrush is
excellent for daubing this on, and at the finish you'll have extra-fine
dripping in which to dunk sippets of bread and fresh hot biscuit.

Or buy three pounds of round steak and marinate it in a pint of
American white wine made all the more intoxicating with a tea-
spoon of genuine Texas chili powder — that is, all the more intoxi-
cating in flavor, for none of the alcohol is left in the meat after it's
cooked. When you add one grated onion and the inevitable clove of
garlic you have the chili-ajo^ that spicy mixture of chilies and garlic
in which most meats are drenched in Mexico and along the border.
Turn the meat a few times while it's taking the stimulating wine
bath, let it stay there a couple of hours; then take it out, dry it off
and rub in salt, cayenne pepper and bacon grease. If possible, do the
barbecuing over hot coals; if not, under the gas grill.

BARBECUING INDOORS AND OUT II3

The whole trick is in marinating, which softens and flavors the
meat, and in basting lavishly with sauce of any peppery degree
Fahrenheit. Naturally, there is no limit to suitable kinds of flesh,
fish and fowl. Game is great in this fashion, especially obese young
possum or porcupine, and tame ducks come out almost as tasty as
wild ones. If you want a dish that will lay them in the hammocks,
try Mexican Duck.

The bigger and tenderer the better, so one fat duck is always a
good buy; it costs about one-third less than chicken. Or you might
get a better bargain in two small ones, although there'll be more
bone to throw away. Whichever you choose, tie bay leaves over
their protruding bay windows, dip 'em in a bath made with one cup
of water and another of onion juice, chant a line of " California,
here we come!" and dump in a whole pint of native sherry to keep
the ducks contented. A quarter pound of butter will do to start
things spluttering nicely and half that much olive oil, say a wine-
glassful, to give that foreign smack. Besides salt and black pepper,
half a teaspoon of red cayenne goes in and a whole tablespoon of
dried marjoram. After sousing the ducks in their natty vests of bay
leaf with plenty of this sauce you perch them on the grill and start
basting. Turn them often and when they've acquired a regular life-
saver tan just pop 'em into a roasting pan, give 'em a shower bath
by dumping on all the liquid that's left; then let 'em sizzle away till
you can't wait any longer.

We Browns took up the fragrant trail in Texas some years ago
and had the time of our young lives following it through big out-
door frolics called fiestas campestras (countryside fetes) and bar-
bacoas serranas (hillside barbecues). At most of these roundups the
roasting was done on hot stones under the ground, and all the way
through Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, the
Argentine and Brazil we burned tongues and fingers in sampling
local styles.

We spent years with South American peons, senores, Indians,
hidalgos and padraos, growling over our portions of venison, paca,
wild pig and equally porcine armadillos cooked in their shells, with
accompanying papas (potatoes), camotes^ chayotes and chuchu^
yams, tropical squashes and fruits roasted to a turn in the embers.

114 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

In this way we learned the unbeatable succulence of Bermuda
onions roasted all the sweeter in their skins, beets too, with the
garden loam still clinging to them, wrapped in leaves and all the
outside earth and skin shelled off before eating. A whole rainbow of
both bananas and green corn, including green plantain and pink
popcorn. All sorts of potatoes, both sweet and Irish, and that tasti-
est of squash, the small one called acorn and nutmeg after its shape
and likewise from its flavor being improved by a sprinkling of nut-
meg. And the secret of the success of all these is the same as that
with which we are familiar in roasting murphies in their jackets —
the outside is instantly and hermetically sealed, so not one salubri-
ous drop of juice can escape.

At a Farmer-Labor get-together in Valparaiso, Chile, we sampled
roast sheep tails sizzling with their own fat, drank pomegranate-
flavored and -colored chicha from gay bull horns swung by broad
ribbons around our necks and found out next morning that it leaves
your head feeling as though it's been screwed up tight with a Still-
son wrench. In Petropolis, the summer capital of Brazil, we built a
clay oven of our own, the kind the Italians used to set up on vacant
lots in New York's East Side to roast kids, steaming portions of
which they wrapped up in fresh hearth bread to supply the early
sandwich trade. In this above-ground barbecue we roasted every-
thing from ducks to macuco, the local wild turkey, of which the
crackling back strip including Pope's Nose and jewels is the most
esteemed cut. Although monkeys chattered on the other side of the
ravine and roast monkey delights any Brazilian, we thought the
practice too cannibalistic.

Marketing

There are lots of eye openers in the food market reports in finan-
cial sections of daily papers, not intended for consumers' eyes but
for the middle men and retailers who make money out of our uni-
versal need to eat. There are tips on the best buys, what is in the
height of the season and coming in so fast that there is too much
even to go into cold storage — somebody slipped somewhere and
the crop was not kept down to keep the price up. Here is published
the illuminating lowdown on everything the housewife buys for
her kitchen. It may not seem so interesting at first, because the
information is condensed and is hard to remember. But those who
profit by the market's ups and downs remember it well enough,
you bet, and they are not faced with the problem of stretching
the weekly income and keeping a family healthy and happy
too. These vital statistics make good reading; it is best to take
one food at a time to start, and then with the ranges of that one
in mind, branch out and soon you'll find more diversion than in
following the funnies. Poultry is especially illuminating. A neigh-
bor of ours, in the only countrified district left within the limits
of New York City, had forty hand-petted chickens, hatched this
last Spring, all well-fed and of a kind and size most suitable for
broiling and frying. She could no longer keep them and sent for
a poultry dealer, who offered her 8 cents a pound and went off

Il6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

in a hufF when she would not accept it. Our local butcher was
selling similar ones for 30 cents a pound and up. So the woman
chicken rancher is now eating her flock, one at a time, trying to
forget sentiment and which pet was little Joe and which was Jane.

Chain stores hand out lists of their weekly bargains worth taking
advantage of, but in the light of what market reports tell us, the
bulk of these bargains will go still lower next week. Most things,
of course, are cheaper if bought in quantities instead of singly.
But here the real estate promoters who plan our housing space
seem to connive with the grocers by not allowing us room to store
up food as the lowest prices come along. Any one of us though can
find a shelf or so somewhere to fill a little at a time with packages
and cans that do not spoil. It is a comfort besides, to feel ready
for a sudden emergency, unexpected company, no pay day, or
what not.

The United States Bureau of Standards requires that substitute
flavorings should be labelled ''flavoring" and that only the extracts
of real vanilla, almond, lemon, etc. may be labelled "extracts."
So we choose the extract rather than the flavoring and get the real
thing. There is often little difference in price, and always much
difference in taste. As to vanilla, the vanilla bean is vastly superior
to any extract of it. For the average family a piece ^ inch long is
sufficient to flavor a pudding, custard, or ice cream. After cooking
the piece of bean should be taken out, wiped clean and kept for
using again, several times; the last time split it open to allow all
the taste to escape.

We listen to the seductive voices of food advertisers as we would
to the serpent, knowing that, for all the protection we get from
government control of advertising, we can be misled to any extent
as to the quality and wholesomeness of those sweet-sounding prod-
ucts. The serpent stings a second time when we pay the price of
each unctuous word and pretty picture. And when added up at
the end of a year, a heavy price it is, tacked onto every package
we open. Wouldn't it be nice if we could spend our yearly contri-
bution to sponsored radio programs and slick magazine pages for
more food, or the theater, parties, tropical fish, flowers — any
hobby out of which we get real refreshment.

MARKETING II7

Although thus far we are licked at the start by our own fault,
we can still put up a fight by giving moral support to conscientious
progressive legislators, and by taking advantage of the little pro-
tection they have succeeded in getting for us. Their limited record
is on the food and drink labels, usually in the smallest print —
the net weight, harmful chemical preservatives, occasionally the
exact ingredients — and after a terrific struggle a few products like
maple syrup have been forced to admit their adulterations. The
label reader can refuse to buy any but the purest and best, even
by this meager data given him.

The most-advertised names often do not give the best value.
A famous packer, for instance, puts up the most watery fruits
and vegetables, the least solid food for the money, a fact not re-
vealed until the can is opened and conteifts examined. And what
a difference between the luscious picture on the outside and the
sickly quality within! It is a pleasure to encounter a brand which
lives up to its label artist's ideal. After sifting out the trash from
the true, a duty we all owe the families which eat from our hands
and the public each consumer represents, there is still that ques-
tion of taste to consider, the most important feature of all quality.
It is not always the fanciest looking stuff, raised for size and ap-
pearance, that is best flavored. But every member of the family
will be keen to vote on this point of taste as soon as the chance is
given him.

Meat labels are as deceptive as any. That purple stamp, which
resembles a government inspector's, deceives sometimes, and
when read turns out to be the butchering establishment's own
statement. The housewife who takes an interest in her job of
being the spender of hard and uncertain earnings has to be a keen
detective, as well. And a $3.00 membership in the Consumers
Union will pay dividends, as will purchases from the growing
consumers' cooperatives.

XVI
Polenta

PLAIN POLENTA

To I quart of boiling water add i teaspoon salt, then sprinkle
in approximately i cup yellow cornmeal so slowly that it does not
lump, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until it thickens and
finish cooking over reduced heat, stirring often; or set in a double
boiler. Cornmeal develops its best flavor thus, by being dropped
directly into boiling water. If mixed with a little cold water first,
as given in many recipes, just to save the trouble of stirring out
any possible lumps, neither the texture nor the taste is as good.

So far, this is the same mush that we usually eat as a breakfast
cereal, with milk and sugar. Of course we also let it cool, slice
and fry it, and serve it with syrup or gravy. But we seldom mix
anything piquant with it, while the French, Spaniards and other
Europeans, fix cornmeal mush in a number of delicious ways and
eat it almost as commonly as the Italians, who call it Polenta,
and with whom it is often the main dish of the evening meal.

POLENTA WITH CHEESE (i)

Lay tablespoons of hot mush in a hot dish, sprinkling each with
grated cheese and a dash of cayenne or paprika. Lay more table-
spoons of mush on top of these, sprinkle with more cheese until
ail is used. Then brown under the grill — or eat as is.

POLENTA WITH CHEESE (2)

Make thick corn meal mush by sprinkling ^4 pound yellow corn
meal, also called Indian meal, a little at a time, into i}4 pints
salted boiling water.

118

POLENTA 119

Remove i tablespoonful of mush at a time and lay it in a baking
dish, being careful to preserve the oval spoon shape and keep each
separated a little from the others. Sprinkle with grated hard cheese
and moisten with butter browned in a pan, but not blackened.
Put the dish in a hot oven for about 5 minutes to let the cheese
melt in, then serve piping hot in the same dish it's baked in.

POLENTA WITH MEAT GRAVY OR HASH

Make a ring of rather thick cornmeal mush around the rim of a
dish and fill center with hash or gravy. Or, lay the mush in a hot
dish, a large spoonful at a time, make a little hollow in each spoonful
and fill with hash. Build up in layers until all is used, cover with
hash or gravy and sprinkle with a little grated cheese. The French
do not depend on Parmesan for such dishes, as the Italians do,
but save every bit of cheese scraps which are dried somewhat,
then grated and kept in a jar until needed.

POLENTA WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Instead of meat gravy or hash in the preceding recipe use a
tomato sauce made as follows:

TOMATO SAUCE

3 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OR COOKING OIL I SPRIG CELERY LEAVES
1 ONIONS, CHOPPED I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY

I GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED }4 TEASPOON THYME

1 TOMATOES, FRESH OR TINNED I BEEF CUBE

SALT AND PEPPER

Slowly fry onion and garlic in oil until golden; add tomato,
parsley and thyme and fry until tomato thickens. Add beef cube
dissolved in i cup boiling water (or i cup meat broth), strain,
season and simmer until sauce thickens.

SLICED POLENTA

Slice cold cornmeal mush and lay in a baking dish, covering each
slice with grated cheese, gravy, hash or tomato sauce. Build up
in layers, cover with grated cheese and dots of butter, and brown
under grill or in oven.

no MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PIG'S LIVER POLENTA

I ONION, CHOPPED I CARROT, CHOPPED (OR GREEN

3 TABLESPOONS FAT OR OIL PEPPER, OR CELERy)

1 GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED SALT AND CAYENNE

I CUP YELLOW CORNMEAL
y^ POUND PORK LIVER

Slowly fry onion in i tablespoon of fat, add garlic and fry, then
add carrot, or green pepper or a celery stalk, or better still, all
three chopped fine, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add fried
mixture to i quart salted boiling water, and when it bubbles fast
sprinkle in the cornmeal; stir and cook until it thickens. Then
cover and let simmer while you prepare the liver. Dice the liver,
dredge well with flour, and season with cayenne. Heat remaining

2 tablespoons of fat in same frying pan used before, and quickly
brown the liver without letting it cook through; sprinkle with salt
and add half a cup boiling water in order not to waste the flavors
clinging to the pan, turn all into the cornmeal mixture, stir well,
and cook another 5 minutes. Eat as is, or better, pour into a greased
deep pan and let cool, then slice, dredge with flour and brown in
fat or butter.

Hamburger or sausage meat, in fact, any left-over cold meat,
may be substituted for pig's liver, but will need to be cooked a
little longer.

ITALIAN POLENTA CROQUETTES

Make corn meal mush as above, but stir in a little butter and
grated cheese when it's done. Then take this richer mush out in
the same way, by tablespoonfuls, but lay it on a surface, such as
a slab of marble, and shape into egg-like ovals. Cover each with
a thin slice of old Wisconsin cheese, pressing it down so it adheres
to the corn meal. Let cool, then dip in beaten egg and bread crumbs
and fry in deep fat.

A slab of marble, the kind that used to top bed-room bureaus,
can be had for a dime or so in almost any junk shop. It doesn't
matter if a corner or two are broken off\, and you'll find it very
handy for recipes like this which need a cold surface to help hold
shapes — also for candy-making.

POLENTA 121

Old Wisconsin cheese costs up to 20 per cent more than ordinary-
store cheese, but it has ripened for 3-4 years and lost probably
20 per cent weight in water, at the same time gaining incomparably
in flavor. So we consider it a much better buy than green store
cheese. Besides, it's much more digestible. For most cooking pur-
poses good old Wisconsin equals imported Holland, cheddar or
Swiss. Old New York State cheese is also good, but the milk from
which it's made is more likely to be mixed from different sections
and states where cows are fed on different foods, while all Wisconsin
cheese is made of milk of that State, which produces cheese uniform
in flavor and richly mellow when aged.

XVII
Hot Stuff!

The bakers provide the world with so many varieties of bread,
and some of them good, that homemade bread is fast joining the
extinct dodo. But we are still true to our hot breads, dyspepsia
warnings notwithstanding, and only homemade muffins, corn-
breads, biscuits and scones can be served piping hot from the oven
to pep up a breakfast or a luncheon or, when masked with fruit, a
dinner.

QUICK DROP BISCUITS

2 CUPS FLOUR ^ TEASPOON SALT

4 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

^ TO I CUP MILK

First turn on heat for quick action, then mix and sift dry in-
gredients 2 or 3 times and work in shortening with finger tips.
When it is like coarse meal add milk gradually, mixing with a knife
to a soft dough. Dough should be so thick it can hardly be stirred,
but not stiflF enough to knead; add a little water if more liquid is
needed. Drop from tip of spoon into buttered muffin pans and bake
12 to 15 minutes in hot oven (450 F.).

PLAIN BISCUITS

Prepare dough as above and make it just stiff enough to roll out
on bread board about ^ of an inch thick. Shape with a biscuit cut-

122

HOT stuff! 123

ter, place on buttered baking sheet and put into hot oven. In 15
minutes it may be taken out, the most light, fluffy biscuits imagina-
ble. Add /i cup of grated cheese to dough before patting out and
you will have, when baked, a savory biscuit that, with a bowl of
salad, will make a complete luncheon.

FRUIT SHORTCAKES

With fruit in season, or fruit in cans, a fruit shortcake is a quickly
made dessert and a decidedly satisfying finish to a plain dinner. Of
course it should never follow a heavy one. Add 2 tablespoons short-
ening and I tablespoon sugar to biscuit recipe and prepare dough.
Roll or pat it out into 2 rounds. Spread one with a little soft butter,
place the other on top, put in round pan and bake in hot oven
(450 F.). When done and while warm, not hot, separate and put
previously prepared fruit between layers and on top.

PIONEER PAN DOWDY

Fill a deep buttered baking dish with slices of tart apples, add a
very little water, dredge with sugar, add bits of butter and sprinkle
with cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Cover with baking powder bis-
cuit crust j4 inch thick and bake 40 minutes in moderately hot oven
(375° F.). Invert on platter and serve with cream or any creamy
sauce.

It would be hard to find anything tastier or cheaper than this
apple dish that put hair on the chest of our pioneers in log cabin
days.

The basic recipe for biscuit dough is found in all cook books and
most pamphlets. It is repeated at the beginning of this section on
hot, toothsome stuff because of the many truly cheap and tooth-
some dishes it will father, and the more important fact that any
amateur can make them.

PLAIN MUFFINS

^ CUP SHORTENING }4 TEASPOON SALT

^ CUP SUGAR 4 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

I EGG, WELL BEATEN 1 CUPS FLOUR

J/i CUP MILK

124 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Cream shortening and sugar and add beaten egg. Mix and sift
dry ingredients and add, alternately with milk, to first mixture.
Drop in greased muffin pans and bake 30 minutes in hot oven
(40O°F.).

Huckleberries, blueberries or blackberries are fine for baking in a
muffin batter. Fill greased muffin pans % full of alternate layers of
berries and batter, putting in a spoon of batter first. Bake like plain
muffins.

QUICK GRAHAM MUFFINS

I CUP FLOUR % TEASPOON SALT

1 CUP GRAHAM FLOUR 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER
4 TABLESPOONS BAKING POWDER ^ CUP MILK

Sift dry ingredients together, returning the bran removed by
sifting. Work in butter and stir in milk quickly. Drop by spoonfuls
in greased muffin pans and bake 25 minutes in hot oven (400° F.).

CORN MUFFINS

)/2 CUP CORNMEAL >^ TEASPOON SALT

}4. CUP FLOUR 2 TEASPOONS SUGAR

2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER J^ CUP MILK (aBOUt)

I EGG

Grease muffin pans, leaving a teaspoon of melted lard in one.
Mix together dry ingredients and add milk to make a thick batter.
Then break in egg and beat 3 minutes (without cheating). Pour
grease from muffin pan into mixture, stir quickly and fill pans nearly
full. Bake 15 minutes in hot oven (450° F.).

CORN PONE

Sift I quart of corn meal with i teaspoon salt and add enough
cold water to work it into a soft dough. Heat in a baking pan and
sprinkle with bran sifted from meal. Mold dough into oblong cakes
an inch thick at ends, a little thicker at middle, and put in pan,
pressing so finger marks show. Bake 20 minutes in hot oven. Save
up butter to pile on these and drizzle with honey.

HOT stuff! 125

ENGLISH SCONES

I CUP FLOUR I TABLESPOON GRATED ORANGE PEEL

I TEASPOON BAKING POWDER 3 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

X TEASPOON SALT yi CUP CURRANTS

I TABLESPOON BROWN SUGAR ^ CUP MILK

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; add peel and
work in butter with finger tips or knife, add currants and mix
quickly as possible to a soft dough with milk. Pat into sheet on
floured board, cut in small triangles and lay on buttered baking
sheet. Bake 12 minutes in moderately hot oven (375° F.).

Men leave home for food like this, but you won't have to, now
that you've got the recipe. If the wife's too rushed, make some
scones yourself, anyway on Sunday. And try them with a pot of
tea, for that's what they're made to go with.

BRAN MUFFINS

3 TABLESPOONS SHORTENING I CUP BRAN

I TABLESPOON SUGAR I CUP WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

I EGG, WELL BEATEN I TEASPOON SALT

1/i CUP MILK I TABLESPOON BAKING POWDER

Mix together dry ingredients. Add milk to beaten egg and stir
into dry mixture, beat well and add melted shortening. Turn into
buttered muffin pans and bake 20 to 25 minutes in moderately hot
oven (375° F.).

Bran may not be as good for you as the blowers-up of cheap
cereals to sell us at fancy prices say — and doctors tell us it's dan-
gerous in systems that can't stand any more roughage than they
already get. But it does make a mighty tasty muffin. So if you can
take it, and can still find at a fair price this stuff" they used to feed
the cows, by all means try the above recipe.

Life gets mighty dull on rations of the same cottony white bread
every day, so if you've got the time to make hot breads such as this
you'll find the family whooping with pleasure; for freshly cooked
grains are hot stuflF for a change. And if you haven't much time be-
fore breakfast buy them from the baker and at the same time get
some good juicy rye bread, oatmeal, whole wheat, or anything more

126 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

real and chewy than that chalky white loaf which only fattens the
big baking companies. And don't buy bread already sliced. It may
taste as good as the kind you cut yourself, but you're sure to waste
some of it, and that's the manufacturer's intention. He cuts it
thick so you'll either eat more than you want or leave some uneaten
to be thrown away, and when it comes to those end crusts he's
clever as the devil; they're cut too thin to make toast and too thick
to nibble unless you're a crust-hound, so the result nine times out
of ten is that these leathery little heels, which comprise anyway
3^0 of the weight of the loaf, are thrown away. At a dime a loaf
that's io% gone — to excess profits, and bakery dividends.

We always save these heels, dry them crisp at any time when the
oven is cooling, roll them fine and store them in a jar which is dipped
into many times a day. Cookbook recipes for stuffings say to cut off
crusts of bread, because, perhaps, it is usually so fresh that the
crusts are tough. If properly dried this is an unnecessary waste,
for the crusts crush to crumbs and lend a nutty toasty flavor which
improves a dressing and helps it to fulfill its purpose of enriching
the taste of any food it goes into.

Whole wheat, cracked wheat, and oatmeal breads make more
appetizing stuffings that plain white, and a mixture of several is
better still, while way-do wn-South corn bread is so prized for dress-
ings that cooks bake up a specially big batch of it and let it grow
stale when a turkey or something special is to be roasted.

So many crumbs are used in France that bakers supply them at a
very cheap price by weight, thus marketing their leftover loaves,
crusts and all, just as our biscuit companies furnish us with pack-
ages of cracker crumbs much cheaper than we can make them from
whole crackers.

So precious is stale bread in the kitchen that not a slice should
ever be wasted. Broken bits thrown into the soup pot are the best
sort of thickening. Sifted crumbs are more tasty than flour for
gravies; they make grilled and fried dishes delicious, form tempt-
ing crisp tops of baked ones, and furnish the base of a dozen
wholesome economical puddings, of bread omelet, bread and butter
fritters, special bread soup, bread sauces, and even bread ice cream.
And toasts of any sort give a family the feeling that they are eat-

HOT stuff! 127

ing at a luxury table, especially if creamed vegetables or gravied
hashes are poured over while the toast is still hot and crunchy.

CINNAMON TOAST

Cut crusts from sliced stale white bread and save for other uses.
Toast on one side. Brush other side with melted butter, sprinkle
, with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, and brown under broiler.

ORANGE TOAST

Cut stale bread in slices about i inch thick. Remove crusts, then
cut in three pieces crosswise. Toast on one side. Brush other side
with melted butter and sprinkle with a mixture of half cup of sugar
blended with one-quarter cup of grated orange rind and two table-
spoons orange juice. Toast under the grill just long enough for bub-
bles to rise.

COCOANUT TOAST

Cut bread slices into fingers 1 inches long and ^ inch wide;
cover all sides with evaporated or condensed milk; roll in dry
shredded cocoanut which has been crumbled between the hands.
Set in a greased pan and delicately brown on all sides in the oven,
or toast on a fork over coals.

FRENCH TOAST

If bread is very dry dip first in sweetened milk, flavored or not
with vanilla, then dip each slice in beaten egg, and fry in butter,
delicately browning both sides.

If bread is not so stale make a batter of i egg beaten with >^ cup
of milk and % teaspoon salt, sweetening it if you prefer. Dip both
sides of slices in the mixture and fry. Serve very hot.

Sweetened French toast, eaten with syrup, jelly, jam or marma-
lade, or with powdered sugar and sprinkling of lemon juice, is an
appetizing breakfast dish. Or it makes an equally good dessert
with any sweet pudding sauce. Left unsweetened, it can be fried in
bacon fat and served with meat gravy or hash.

128 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

FRUIT FRENCH TOAST

Lay a drained slice of tinned pineapple, or a pear or peach half,
on French toast, sprinkle generously with sugar and brown in oven
or under grill. Cinnamon bread or rolls make good French toast, es-
pecially when topped with slices of fried apple or with applesauce.

THE CLUB SANDWICH

A lettuce lear spread with salad dressing, a slice of fried bacon
and two slices of toast to lay them between is the beginning of any
club sandwich. Then let imagination and leftovers run riot to build
it as high as hunger demands, even to three decks of toast. It may
include a tomato slice, a bit of potato or cucumber salad, chopped
celery, cut-up olives, pickles, nuts, slices of hard-cooked egg, a
slice of leftover cold meat. It may be composed of cold fish, sardines
or canned salmon, and the things that go with these. In any case, a
club sandwich is always a refuge for a flurried woman when some
member of the family needs a tempting meal in a hurry.

CROUTONS AND BREAD CUPS

For croutons cut stale bread into ^-inch cubes. For bread cups
cut into lyi. inch cubes and hollow out a cup in each one. Fry in
plenty of fat, hot enough to brown them at once. Drain well on
layers of absorbent paper. Serve croutons with soup, and use the
cups like patty shells, to fill with any little delicacy in cream sauce
or gravy.

PLAIN WHEAT BREAKFAST FOOD

WHOLE WHEAT GRAIN SUGAR MILK

Take a small quantity of wheat grain just as it's produced by the
farmer, remember that it swells in cooking, and parboil it for 5
minutes to keep it from fermenting. Let it stand in the water for
24 hours, then add milk to make a breakfast cereal of good consist-
ency and cook it for ^2 hour, without letting the milk come to a boil.

Serve with cold milk or cream and sugar, just like any other
breakfast food.

This dish costs little more than the milk and sugar that's put on

HOT stuff! 129

it at the finish, for you can buy a bushel of wheat for about $1.25
from the farmer or a consumers' co-op, enough to make more than
1,000 generous dishes, at a cost of about i mill apiece.

Many a wise farmer has figured out that his bushel of wheat,
which weighs 60 pounds and may bring him anything from 50^!^ to
$1.50, is blown up or rolled out into "whole wheat breakfast food"
retailed in fancy boxes at around 15^ for 6 ounces, or say J250.00 a
bushel. This is a small profit ranging from 8,000% to 25,000%,
depending on the price paid to the farmer. So he takes his wheat
whole in the above fashion and gets a superior breakfast food be-
sides, for nothing can equal the rich nutty flavor of wheat grains
stewed slowly in milk.

This flavor, of course, can be enriched by sprinkling on cinnamon
sugar, or melting a little butter instead of milk or cream in the
individual cereal dish, and a handful of currants or raisins makes
it almost a plum pudding.

FROM-POVERTY-TO-RICHES PANCAKES

The cheapest and at the same time the best honest-to-goodness
pancake we know was described in a newspaper by a Nebraskan
woman, as follows:

My invalid husband and I were compelled to spend the summer in the
mountains one year. Our funds were low and I knew that something must
be done at once. But what? Finally I thought of this way out of my diffi-
culty. I need only to say that some days I made as high as four dollars for
you to know how successfully my plan turned out.

I noticed that many hunters and fishermen passed our way, so I hung
out a sign with "Hot Coffee and Pancakes — 25 cents" on it. I made good
strong coffee, serving only sugar with it. Only syrup was served with the
pancakes, which I made by the following recipe, which is excellent and
inexpensive:

One pint of flour; one pinch of salt; one heaping teaspoonful of baking
powder; one heaping tablespoonful of sugar. Mix thoroughly dry. Add
warm — not hot — water till the batter is thick as heavy cream and beat
well. Pour in size of pancake wanted on a smoking-hot griddle. Never
spread this batter with a spoon.

After trying this, there's no need blowing money on prepared
pancake flours any more.

130 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES

GROUND WHEAT GRAINS I TABLESPOON SUGAR

1 EGG I PINT SOUR MILK
SALT I TEASPOON SODA

Grind whole wheat grains fine in a hand grist mill or coffee mill.
Beat the egg, season with salt and sugar. Dissolve soda in sour milk
and whip everything together with the wheat to make a batter of
good consistency. Grease the griddle well and bake a rich brown.

For $2.50 you can get a small grist mill suitable to make fine
meal out of whole grains of wheat, rye or corn. It should pay for
itself in a few months. And a common coffee mill will do the job,
too. In this way you have not only fresh pancake makings but at a
cost which is only a fraction of prepared pancake mixtures.

CHINESE NOODLES

2 EGGS SALT

FLOUR }4 BEEF CUBE, DISSOLVED

Beat eggs, salt them and stir in as much flour as the eggs will
take, moistening with the beef stock dissolved in only a tablespoon
of warm water. Knead with fingers till you have a smooth, soft
dough, adding flour until the right texture. Roll out very thin and
let stand 5 minutes. Then roll with care into a long thin rod and
slice the whole roll very thin, to make succulent strips, or noodles.

If you happen to live near Chinatown or even a Chinese restau-
rant it is just about as cheap to buy the noodles damp and fresh
from experts in this line who make them in all colors, of all sorts of
appetizing flours and oriental flavors. We buy fresh noodles from a
maker on Mott Street in New York for 10^ a pound and they go
a whole lot farther than a loaf of bread at 10% higher cost, and also
taste better than the dry, packaged commercial noodles.

There is no end to the number of cheap and quick dishes you can
make with Chinese noodles. Here are a few:

CHOW MEIN OR FRIED NOODLES

FRESH CHINESE NOODLES OLIVE OR PEANUT OIL

Use only freshly made noodles and good oil, at least an inch

HOT stuff! 131

deep in the pan and smoking hot. Flatten out noodles in bottom
of pan and fry slowly until golden, then turn with pancake turner
and fry the other side; 10-15 i^ii^utes are required. Remove noo-
dles, drain the oil and save for future frying.

Though chow mein is the standard side-kick of chop suey, it*s
just as crisply palatable as French fried potatoes with any meat or
stew.

YAT GO MEIN

(Makes 6 bowls)

I POUND FRESH CHINESE NOODLES }4. POUND CHINESE CURED PORK, OR

3 PINTS BROTH, BEEF, MUTTON OR OTHER BITS OF MEAT, ESPECIALLY

CHICKEN CHICKEN, IN SHREDS

3 HARD-COOKED EGGS SOY SAUCE

Boil noodles in salted water, drain and put in bowls, cover with
hot broth and garnish each with yi hard-cooked egg, several shreds
of pork and chicken or other meat tidbits. Serve the soy sauce in a
cruet or bottle for each person to season to suit himself.

The Chinese use both cured pork and breast of chicken, but if
these are not available, scraps of dried beef, corned beef or other
cold meats are good. Fine broth can also be made from beef or
chicken cubes, especially the Herb-Ox brand which have savory
bits of greens in them.

Soy sauce, made of salt and soy beans, is the base of Worcester-
shire and other expensive table sauces. It costs about one-third
and goes a whole lot farther, since it's undiluted. There's no better
buy in condiments and any Chinese store will send soy, thick or
thin, by mail, if you're not near enough to go and get it. The thin
kind suits our taste best and in spite of its name is thicker than
most occidental sauces.

GO MEIN GANG

This is a more elaborate Mein that calls for chicken broth, sliced
mushrooms and bean sprouts in place of the egg.

Make it the same as Yat Go Mein and dress it up with bits of
smoked pork and chicken.

XVIII

Sandwiches That Satisfy

CANNIBAL SANDWICH

ROUND STEAK, FRESH AND FINE
ONION, MINCED

RYE BREAD, CUT THICK AND WELL

BUTTERED
SALT AND PEPPER
PARSLEY, CRESS OR WATER CRESS, MINCED

Scrape the best bit of round or tenderloin you can get, to free it
from all sinew. Don't chop it or run it through a grinder, but scrape
it carefully with the point of a tablespoon. Season well with salt
and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon if you like. Spread thickly
on buttered rye and pile the minced onion and parsley in little
heaps hard by, for mixing into the meat according to taste or taking
alternate bites of these indispensable relishes.

This red-faced, open-faced, raw meat sandwich is made attrac-
tive by cross-hatching the top with the back of a knife blade or
otherwise dappling it into a decorative pattern, as a butler would
fix up a pat of butter fancy enough for a DuPont, or a stableboy
would curry the flanks of Mrs. Astor*s horse.

A pleasing addition is an egg yolk, either stirred into the meat
to make it juicier, or perched whole on top of it, like a jockey, for
the eater to mix in to suit himself.

Since all professional cooks at some time or another sicken at the
sight of any cooked dish, just as candy-makers choke on candy.
Cannibal Sandwiches are a godsend to them. They'll turn down

132

SANDWICHES THAT SATISFY I33

fancy food frills a la financiere and go for the uncooked Ham-
burgers. For that's exactly what these are; and there's nothing
simpler or easier to digest in the way of meat.

HEARTH-BREAD SPREADS

The best white sandwich bread we know is the wholesome,
well-knit Italian loaf, sold cheaper than ordinary cottony white
bread in any "Little Italy.** It's the type known as "hearth"
bread, very solid and crusty, has more weight to it, is better baked
and guaranteed to stick to your ribs. For a pleasant change butter
it with olive oil, or the olive oil from a can of sardines, anchovies or
antipasto, but make sure it's not cottonseed oil. And for many peo-
ple chicken fat is much finer than the best butter you can buy. The
oil from honestly made peanut butter or plain peanut oil also
makes a snappy spread.

A sandwich that's a well-balanced meal in itself is:

CHEESE AND GARLIC

Buy some good old Wisconsin cheese. It costs 20% more than
the green, rubbery store cheese, but then, it's lost at least that
much water in standing several years, so you're getting probably
more cheese for your money and the flavor, of course, is incom-
parable. Peel all the cloves of three or four heads of good garlic,
the younger and fresher the better, and fry them in a very little
olive oil until they're soft and gelatinous. Push them to one side of
the pan to keep warm while you melt a couple of good slices of your
old cheese in the pan and when it's bubbling and creamy pour ev-
erything, garlic, cheese and oil over a big thick slab of hearth bread.
Butter, of course, is unnecessary with this rich miniature meal.

POOR BOY SANDWICH

In spite of its partonizing name this is a good handout. It's a
New Orleans specialty that has now spread to barbecue stands all
over the South. Just get yourself a long, narrow "flute" of French
bread, slice it lengthwise and fill it with an assortment of three or
four different things, in sections that can be cut off separately, a
hot dog with sauerkraut fills one-third, a fried egg the next and

134 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

perhaps a luscious slab of liver and bacon completes this three
course meal. You can vary the fillings, with whatever you've got
on hand, and there's nothing that fills the lunch box quite so
handily, but it must be a long lunch box, more like a piccolo case.

UNUSUAL SANDWICHES

During the revolution in Mexico we ate cactus sandwiches and
liked them — because there wasn't anything else. In France, we
had horsemeat sandwiches which likewise came into fashion
through war, but the flesh was a little too sweet, although we were
assured that the plug was from our own middle west which supplies
much of the horsemeat that Europe eats because it's cheap,
tasty, and as nourishing as beef. But we ioo%-ers won't eat any
animal we can pet — and that goes for goat, which makes the most
popular sandwich in all Mexico. Along the Mex-Tex border tamales
and enchilladas wrapped in crisp tortillas take the place of sand-
wiches and we learned to dress a hot dog Panhandle style by split-
ting it open and pouring red hot chili the full length, to make a real
smoldering Chile Con Carne Sandwich.

In Chinatown you can get a Smoked Duck Sandwich with am-
brosial "duck sauce," or make a Bean Sprout and Soy Sandwich
at home by covering the bread with crisp bean sprouts (the fresh
are better than the canned, and cheaper) sprinkled with soy sauce.

STINGER SANDWICHES

Plain German style mustard, just spread fairly thick on bread
makes a peppy open-faced sandwich, and the same holds good for
pickled horseradish, catsup, chili sauce or any mixture of these
stingaree spreads, on thick, juicy, black or rye bread — of course,
with or without butter and a cooling lettuce leaf. Beer is the best
accompanying cooling agent.

RED CAVIAR CANAPES

One of the cheapest imported delicacies we know is the red sal-
mon caviar that's sold in foreign sections for less per pound than
butter. Stamp out some rounds of pumpernickel with the top of a
can and just roll the big red fish pearls on, using a wooden spoon.

SANDWICHES THAT SATISFY 135

to avoid crushing them. Some spread the bread with butter, but
we Hke it plain, in Soviet style, for the caviar is rich enough. Pressed
caviar is the cheapest of the black sturgeon kind, but it hasn't the
juicy snap of the bargain-priced red.

BARBECUED BULLFROG SANDWICH

Parboil fresh froglegs 20 minutes (or use cooked canned frog meat
without parboiling), then broil over hot coals, basting with a little
butter. Shred the meat, clap it between hot buttered sides of a bun
and sluice with a good barbecue sauce, plenty hot with Tabasco
and garlic.

CURRIED GAME SANDWICH

Use any chopped, cooked game such as rabbit or prairie chicken,
the quantity of it doubled, if necessary, by adding an equal amount
of chopped veal. Use 1 parts of game, or game and tame, combined
with a little ham and 2 or 3 anchovies. Run through grinder, season
well with hot curry, heat in butter with a little lemon juice or
vinegar. Spread thick on buttered toast and grate hard cheese over.

Pulverized dill flowers might take the place of the powdered
cheese. This is an expensive sandwich unless you shoot your own
game, although rabbit is cheap in its season.

MOUNTAIN OYSTER SANDWICHES

I PAIR LAMB FRIES 2-3 DROPS TABASCO

CORNMEAL LEMON JUICE

SALT NUTMEG

BUTTER 2 BUTTERED TOASTS

Skin, wash and parboil the fries, drain, slit lengthwise into two
ovals that resemble oysters, roll in fine yellow cornmeal and fry
golden brown. Place flat-side down on buttered toast, sprinkle with
lemon juice, nutmeg and Tabasco.

English Aristocrat Style: The English call mountain oysters
"lamb's stones'* or, more modestly, "lamb's secrets." They roll
them in flour, with an equal number of sea oysters and pieces of
sweetbreads frying the sweetbreads and secrets first and adding
oysters when half done. After putting them to bed on buttered

136 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

toast, they cover the secrets and everything with a highly-seasoned
sauce of asparagus tips, chopped chives, sherry, egg, nutmeg and
meat gravy, to make a costly sandwich that's got nothing on our
Western:

SHEEPHERDER'S MOUNTAIN OYSTER

At gelding time, on the western range, shcepherders carry
along sourdough, bacon and seasonings. They make biscuits, broil
baconj throw the mountain oysters whole into the campfire and
roast them like potatoes. When done, they dust off the ashes, clap
the meat between bacon dripping sourdough biscuits and drench
with pepper sauce and catsup.

Lamb fries have no waste and are great value in meat, for usu-
ally they're sold cheap because the squeamish are afraid to buy
them or to ask the butcher, "Otto, how are your lamb fries today?"

This sheepherder's special might be called an occupational sand-
wich and among others peculiar to their craft are:

EPSOM DOWNS' BOOKMAKER'S SPECIAL

A chopped mixed grill of meats and giblets such as liver, heart,
and kidneys, with plenty of mustard, between slabs of bread. This
has been the classic snack of British bookies ever since the Epsom
Downs track was laid, for they, like workers in more honest and
creative jobs, have to have something substantial to munch on
without taking time off for a sit-down meal.

LINOTYPER'S LEADEN BULLETS

In South America, where linotypes and monotypes haven't been
in common use long enough for operators to really fear lead-
poisoning, the molten metal box is often used as a sandwich heater
until the operator is suddenly stricken with strange shooting pains
and is carted off to hospital or cemetery.

"MAGGIE AND JIGGS" SANDWICH

"Spread white bread with horseradish butter and cover with
thinly sliced corned beef, top with slice of brown bread and a lettuce
leaf. Serve with a side of hot buttered cabbage."

SANDWICHES THAT SATISFY I37

This good Irish number is quoted from a workmanlike cookbook
called Salads and Sandwiches by Emory Hawcock, who runs Haw-
cock's Cafe in Monmouth, Illinois.

And another from the same excellent MidWest source book is:

"HOG IN THE WHEAT" SANDWICH

Pat a thin casing of biscuit dough around franks, weenies, or any
link sausages, brush with egg wash and bake. For link sausages,
serve on lettuce with a paper cup of chutney or chili sauce; the
frankfurter itself barks for chow chow or mustard.

And this sealed sandwich is only an Americanization of

RUSSIAN PIROSHKIS

Fine biscuit dough for making rolls is stuffed with forcemeat,
caviar, chopped eggs, all different sorts of piquant fillings, and the
rolls baked as usual. When you eat them hot you're always pleas-
antly surprised with the cooked-in savory stuffings. They're like
gigantic raviolis.

XIX

Damn that

Delicatessen

Habit!

^^m

At the beginning of this century delicatessen stores were so new
and exciting to this country that the imported word was used
playfully by our native elite: "Would that be the delicatessen
thing to do?" ** Let's go delicatessening" — like our present Eng-
lish importation ** Let's go pub-crawling." Delicatessens then were
smart city shops which supplied Westphalian hams, the raw sau-
sage of Aries, anchovies chasing their tails in olive oil, caviar and
such, all the juicy black breads and spicy black puddings that our
leisure class had learned to love on trips abroad. Although some of
these foreign specialties were plebeian enough abroad, they were
much too good for the common people here after duty had been
paid.

We remember Percivars French delicatessen on Sixth Avenue
just above Eighth Street, in New York, where Ugobono's is now.
And the only way we could beat Percival's price for imported

138

DAMN THAT DELICATESSEN HABIT ! I39

camembert was when he had too many cheeses ripening all at once
— he was the original importer of the excellent Torre Eifel Brand
and shipped it to delicatessens all over the U. S. Then he had to
sell them out three for a quarter, nice, round, ripe wooden boxes
velvety with the cream of cheeses that we've never been able to
imitate. But look at the thing now! The delicatessens are full of
sloppy American-made atrocities that sell in bad condition for as
much as the genuine camembert used to bring. And American
Roquefort should be a national scandal. The women's magazines
taught us that Roquefort was the smart thing, especially when
mashed with butter for a spread, and the original imported wasn't
so bad, but now it looks as though the French are sending us chips
off the chalk cliffs of Dover and we're actually paying as high as
^2.00 a pound for the stuff when we buy it in ten and fifteen cent
doses at the delicatessen. And not only that, but an incredibly
bad domestic imitation is palmed off by delicatessen dealers
who know their public will stand for anything — even processed
cheeses.

The delicatessen habit has grown upon us so subtly that many
weary laborers returning home on payday, too worn-out to think
of cooking, stop in at the nearest delicatessen and blow a day or
two's pay for bologna that's got less meat than a gnawed drumstick
and is likely to blow up the stomach like a balloon; on synthetic
liverwurst, too, that goes green even in the icebox and is apt to
cost a visit to the doctor; on processed cheese pastes that resemble
cheese about as much as Big Bill Thompson resembled King
George, and half a dozen bottles of beer with halitosis caused by
its greenness and the rice its made of instead of slower maturing
grain, and sold at a fixed price of 3 for two-bits plus deposits on
bottles we've been taught it's almost shameful to return.

So, many hurried city workers are as much in the clutch of the
delicatessen habit as they are in the hands of the druggist who sells
them a lousy ham sandwich for 15^ at noon, with just a trace of
ham paste blown on, and then a watery drink for a dime. Our
human need for lunching has been turned into a swell way to
produce drug-chain dividends out of foodless food, but with the
small independent delicatessen keeper it's different, for he's as

140 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

much in the grabbing hands of the makers of fake foods as we are
in his.

True, there are some fine American products for his store, ex-
cellent Cincinnati sausage and Milwaukee liverwurst that can
compare with the imported original, but in order to live at all, the
delicatessen man usually has to sell bad fakes. If you pin him down
as to the origin of that sausage called "Cincinnati" in the trade
and sold for 49^ a pound solely on the honest reputation it has
earned in Ohio, he'll have to admit that his is made in some local
slum slaughterhouse in New York, Chicago, almost anywhere, out
of whatever's left over, plus a whole lot of cornmeal mush or maybe
sawdust, and has never been within 500 miles of its supposed
original habitat in Cincinnati.

Delicatessens have become the kind of necessary luxury we can't
live with, yet can't live without. So all we can suggest is to pass up
the 100% American ones and find some honest dealer who still
handles imported goods or the best substitutes made by compatri-
ots in America, including, of course, all the really good maple sugar,
succotash and all-American products. Such a store is a convenience
and is most often found in a foreign workers' quarter; in an Italian
one you can get fresh-baked hearth breads that your teeth sink into
with a contented sigh, spicy hot homemade sausage, bulk ancho-
vies, swell cheeses, Mortadello, all sorts of succulent things im-
ported in big barrels and tins and sold in most cases for less than
the standardized wooden-nutmeg imitation. In a Greek delicatessen
you can buy calamatas, those slender, long olives that taste better
than any others we know, for as little as 35^ a pound, and a virgin
olive oil which comes out as cheap or cheaper than butter, if you
get a gallon can. There are even imported grapevine leaves for
wrapping around meat melanges to give that sapid oriental savor
and for a nickel you can buy enough of them to liven up several
meals, or you can pick and pickle them yourself if the right kind
grows in your neighborhood, for this wrapping leaf must be bluish
on the underside. A real Danish pastry shop is a gold mine com-
pared to a typical bakery chain and a freshly stuffed dill pickle is
something, when you get it made in true Austrian style; the stores
of Chinatown sell smoked pork and duck, honest noodles, soy

DAMN THAT DELICATESSEN HABIt! I4I

sauce, bean sprouts and superior foods which you can't match for
twice the money in one of those typical snack shops that keep
alive by staying open to catch you when you come home at mid-
night with a big appetite and maybe a little overtime pay to blow
on bologna, beer, and biscuits, getting the resultant bellyache and
hangover absolutely free.

XX
Rabbit Food

FOR VITAMINS AND BODY-BUILDING MINERALS

Immigrant truck farmers, especially Italians, have enriched our
fresh vegetable scope enormously with such things as anise, arti-
chokes, spaghetti, squash and broccoli. And the Chinese have given
us bean sprouts, easy to grow in a big flat pan in the kitchen, and
Chinese cabbage. Such domesticated importations, added to our
own indigenous potatoes, tomatoes, and pumpkins, grown from
coast to coast and climate to climate give us a swell assortment at
what should be fair prices the year around. In any case there's al-
ways something in season produced and shipped in quantities big
enough to make a good buy, if the price isn't held too high by mar-
ket racketeers and middlemen.

When we had a room down near the market in New Orleans we
never paid anything for either ice or head lettuce because the
Negro boy who did odd jobs for us used to pick both up free around
the cars loading up for the North. For Louisiana lettuce in season
is almost worthless, except by the crate. Likewise our market boy
brought us bananas from the fruit docks, where the ripe ones are
cut out of the green bunches and thrown away, since one ripe
banana will spoil a whole green bunch, just as a rotten apple will
ruin the entire barrel. Although this is off the subject, it was in our
New Orleans Creole-quarter room where we first tasted the chit-
terlings of kid as prepared by the Italians downstairs, and these

142

RABBIT FOOD 1 43

were much more delicate and nicer in fragrance and taste than calf
chitterlings. Likewise we supped absolutely free on luscious oyster
crabs for which millionaires have to pay I5.00 a quart. These were
smuggled out and brought home by underpaid oyster openers who
lived in the next room.

But to get back to vegetables: buy in big city markets and direct
from the truckers if you can. In wholesale auctions of food-stuffs
two sets of books are sometimes kept, and the one jeeringly called
"The Farmer's Book" shows prices paid to him that often are be-
low the cost of production. In retail markets, the best bargains are
late Saturday night or before holidays when perishable foods can't
be kept over; not that we wish the marketmen any bad luck or ex-
pect that everybody will wait till the last minute for the price to
come down, but just to point out that since most of us have got to
buy cheap or starve, the time and place for marketing must be care-
fully considered. The early bird gets the pick of the market, but
has to pay a high price for it. Likewise, usually it's foolish to make
journeys into the country to buy from farm stands, since nowadays
most of these are supplied from the city wholesale market and you
pay the middleman's profit just the same. But the best way to buy
at a fair price is to organize and boycott, as east-side Jewish women
fight the rising cost of kosher meat and the middle class New York
League of Women Shoppers pickets with market bags tacked on
poles to convince dealers that they'd better exert pressure on the
middleman and get that profit down or be forced out of business.

Also, to get your money's worth it's necessary to know how to
judge quality, so here are some hints on picking out prime vege-
tables.

Anise, or Finocchio. The sweet anise, called Florence Fennel,
or Finocchio, in Italian, is a large blanched bulb of fine flavor,
something like licorice. The best type is big, crisp and tender,
known in Italian markets as "Mother Anise." You seldom get a
bad one. The chief thing to look out for is withered outside leaves
or too spindly a shape, which shows that the seed core has begun to
develop. The bulb should be compact like celery and the top spray
of leaves fresh and dark green in color. It's best eaten raw; try cut-
ting one in eighths and dressing it with olive oil, lemon juke or vine-

144 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

gar, beaten together with salt and freshly ground pepper and then
pepped up with a palmful of poppyseeds heated crisp as popcorn in
a frying pan. We perfected this salad by adding the poppyseeds
and are mighty proud of it.

Anise can be roasted or boiled, but the Italians, with whom it's
an enduring favorite, prefer it raw, and so do we.

Artichokes. Pick out firm, compact heads of plump globe shape.
When they're getting old, tough and tasteless the leaves turn brown-
ish, wither, begin to loosen and stand out from the head. The bot-
tom is the meatiest part, but there's a tasty little bite at the base of
each leaf. In season, artichokes, most of which are shipped from
California, are a good buy and make a nice change from the usual
run of vegetables. They can be stuffed in all sorts of ways but we
hke them best plain boiled and dipped leaf by leaf into a saucer of
melted butter or olive oil with lemon juice or red wine vinegar, salt
and plenty of fresh-ground pepper. Small, or baby artichokes are
the last that grow and Italians preserve them. In 1936 the Mayor
of New York City smashed a market racket which had forced up
the cost of these tiny ones to even more than that of the big
globes.

Jerusalem Artichokes. These knobby little fellows are not at
all like their big leafy brothers. How they ever came to be called
"artichoke" we can't imagine, for Jerusalems are just the root of
the old American sunflower, or girasol, which sounds like Jerusa-
lem. They're cooked like potatoes, but are harder to pare on ac-
count of their irregular shape. They must be smooth of skin, firm,
even in color, and dry, for damp, flabby ones will be soggy and
watery when cooked.

Asparagus. As with wild strawberries, small wild asparagus is
tastier than tame, but it's hard to come by commercially, so this
serves only to illustrate the fact that you don't have to buy the
biggest California stalks of asparagus; you'll get better value out of
the small uneven-sized ones grown closer to home and sold by
weight at half the big bunched rate. And this small green asparagus
should be done pioneer style, cut up small and creamed in plenty
of milk. Of the two colors of asparagus, green and blanched white,
the green is by far the tastier, and the only good canned asparagus

RABBIT FOOD I45

we know consists of the green tips only — although the obese whole
white stalks cost more, because of the waste.

The less there is of woody stalk, the better. The U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture says ** green asparagus should be green for al-
most its entire length" and adds that the blanched kind **is said
to be somewhat milder in flavor." "Said to be" is right — it's of-
ten so mild you can't even taste it!

All asparagus must be fresh, with heads compact, and stalks un-
wilted.

Beans. Some marketers who know their onions don't know beans.
But "snap" is the other name for "string" or fresh green beans,
and that's all the clue we need. Whether green, yellow or wax,
they've got to be as full of snap as a cranberry and as nearly string-
less as possible. The way to test that is to break one in half — if it
pops and exudes juice, buy it, but if it bends and is held together by
too woody a string, leave it for Mrs. Astor's butler.

Beans, Dried. The only thing we know against the common
dried navy beans is that sometimes they're adulterated with peb-
bles, which are hard on the teeth, so a mess of beans should be
looked over carefully, and since they come in all colors, try black,
red, blue or spotted beans for a change. Some Southern varieties
are swell, like whippoorwills or "lady peas," for Southerners can't
really tell the difference between peas and beans, and that's all to
the good — if you're buying beans.

Beans, Lima. The two common kinds are tiny limas, called but-
ter beans, and the big ones known in the trade as the "potato
type." Both are excellent when tender, and as they're usually sold
shelled it's easy to tell whether or not the skins are fresh by prick-
ing one with the fingernail. If it pops open it's okay, but if your nail
only leaves a dent, that means the bean is old, tough and tasteless.

Bean Sprouts. Spread navy beans on any absorbent piece of
cloth in a big flat pan, keep in a warm spot, covered with water and
another cloth until the sprouts shoot up. These make a succulent,
crunchy salad, or cook them in the juice from a can of pineapple,
to give the real oriental tang to chop suey and many another fine
.Chinatown dish.

Bean sprouts are cheap as beans, so anybody who likes some-

146 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

thing snappy, fresh, and full of vitamins can have it on hand all
winter long. We've mentioned this in other places, but since no-
body reads a cook book clear through, from "civer to civer," it'll
bear repeating.

Beets. Early beets are sold whole with their top leaves on, and
be sure to get them that way, for these beet greens are so much in
demand they're sold separately, too, though usually they're the
kind the farmer thins from the rows, but sometimes they're cut off
bunched new beets by market racketeers. Late summer beets are
sold without their tops, which usually are too dry to make a decent
mess of greens. And don't wash off the earth that clings to these
because the best way to get the full beet flavor is to wrap it whole
in paper, earth and all, bake in the oven and when done, remove the
earth with the outer skin. And for boiling, beets must never be
cut, except for borscht, or the red runs out and the beet gets pallid
and unpalatable. In European markets and in some foreign sec-
tions here they're called *'beet root" and sold already boiled, which
saves the cost of the long cooking they require.

Broccoli. Freshness and tenderness are the essentials. The
flowers may be closed or open but must not be wilted or spotted,
because there'll be too much waste.

Brussels Sprouts. These miniature cabbage heads should be
compact and bright green in color.

Cabbage. Heavy, compact heads are best and since there are
several varieties, including the red and the light green savoy, as
well as the pointed and Danish, it's a good idea to use them all in
rotation, to vary the menu. Cabbages are graded by the number of
outside leaves showing, the fewer the better. Small new cabbages
are best boiled whole for 15-20 minutes, then split and buttered at
the table. Don't cook them too long, if you want to enjoy their
sprightly flavor.

Chinese Cabbage. Long, cylindrical, crisp — fine as lettuce, for
salad. Of course you can cook them, but they're lots tastier raw.

Carrots. As with beets, new Spring carrots are sold with their
tops on and when these tops are young and tender they are good,
chopped like parsley, in salad or to garnish meat dishes. As a matter
of fact, carrots and parsley belong to the same family. Young car-

RABBIT FOOD I47

rots wilt quickly and shrivel down to nothing; so they should be
bought fresh and bright in color and used within a day or two —
the sooner, the tastier.

Cauliflower. The creamy- white head is picturesquely called
"curd" which it resembles. It must be clean and compact, for, as
with broccoli, loose and spotted heads are too wasteful.

Celery. Good celery has crispness and snap. It shouldn't be
either small and runty or overgrown, for then the heart may be
starting to go to seed. Everything pertaining to a bunch of celery
should be used, except the string; the tougher outside and tops of
stalks are fine for soups and the leaves when dried make as good
seasoning as you can buy. And so do the roots, which usually are
pared down too close, but always worth drying and powdering.

Celeriac. This big celery root is a good buy and usually appears
in the market in sound, acceptable condition.

Chard, Swiss Chard. Should be as fresh and snappy as celery
and the leaves not holed by bugs. There is no waste to chard and
it's one of the most dependable vegetables we know. It should be
cheap, because it grows like grass. The contrast between meaty
white stalk and soft juicy greens makes an appetizing dish.

Chicory, Endive, Romaine and Escarole. Crispness is the
test for these fine salad plants brought to us by immigrants. They
make an appetizing change from ordinary garden or head lettuce.

CoLLARDS. This makes a good mess of greens with salt pork or
corned beef. As with all greens, unwilted crispness is essential.
Although collards are a kind of kale, they taste like cabbage, but
not like "skunk cabbage" which is sometimes called collards, too.

Corn. Sweet corn for biting right off the ear is chiefly divided into
the yellow kinds, usually known as Golden Bantam, and the whites
such as Country Gentleman. They should never be bought sight-
unseen. The dealer should pull back the husk of each ear to show
that there are no worms, and the kernels should be tested with the
thumb-nail to make sure they are plumped out with milk. When
corn is too young the kernels are too small and tasteless and when
too old they're so tough only horses can chew them. Look out for
big "field" or "horse" corn often dumped for "sweet" or "sugar"
corn at the end of the season.

148 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Cress. All cresses, garden, water and highland are fine peppery
herbs when fresh, crisp and a good green in color. Swell in salads
and for garnishing meat. They cost next to nothing.

Cucumbers. Firm, fresh and bright in color, never yellowish or
puffy.

Dandelion Greens. The wild kind is stronger in taste, and
likely to be tough, unless picked very young and always, of course,
before blossoming. The cultivated kind is lighter in color from
blanching, larger, more tender, and milder in taste, yet most
eaters of the dandelion prefer the tangy call of the wild.

Eggplant. Deep royal purple is the color and an eggplant must
be heavy and elastically firm.

Garlic. The fresh crop, or "new" garlic, is by far the richest in
flavor. In Europe, the day that new garlic comes in is often cele-
brated by drinking, feasting, and dancing in the streets. As with
onions, when garlic gets old it begins to sprout and lose its firmness
and flavor, from too much preoccupation with reproducing itself.

Greens. There are all sorts of greens the year around, their va-
riety depending on the locality: beet tops, broccoli, chard, chicory,
collards, cress, dandelions, endive, escarole, kale, mustard, sorrel
(sour grass), spinach, turnip tops, etc. These are judged by crisp-
ness, strong color and general vitality.

Kale. This cheapest of greens is also the coarsest. Its quality is
judged just the same as the others — it must be clean, fresh and
dark bluish-green in color.

Kohlrabi. This delicate cabbage whose roots grow above ground
shouldn't be neglected — it's inexpensive and makes a fine dish
when firm, young and tender. Its youth can be told by the velvety
feel of its skin.

Lettuce. The two head lettuces are named after Boston and New
York, the Boston kind is also called ** butter-head" and has
smoother, greener leaves than the New York ''crisp-head," which
is larger, firmer and crisper, and sometimes wrongly called "Ice-
berg." The third kind is leaf or garden lettuce which doesn't head, is
more delicate and wilts quickly, and the fourth is romaine or cos
lettuce, the head being as long and cylindrical as a cucumber, with
tougher leaves and stronger flavor. All lettuce has to be fresh, firm
and lively in color. Beware of old lettuce in which the seed stalk

RABBIT FOOD I 49

has begun to separate the leaves at the base. It's bitter. You can
feel the top of the hard seed core by gently pressing the top and
sides of any kind of lettuce.

Mushrooms. "Button" mushrooms sell at a higher price than
those with their umbrellas open, but are not necessarily as good a
buy. We like mature mushrooms with well-developed spores that
make a tastier sauce.

Okra. Pods must be young, tender and as full of snap as snap
beans.

Onions. Dry onions come in many colors: white, yellow, brown,
red and purple, and in all degrees of flavor. They must be plump,
shapely, hard and bright-skinned. Unshapely onions may have be-
gun to split or sprout and are therefore wasteful and not as tasty.
There are the big Bermudas that taste as sweet as apples; Spanish
or Valencia, and American kinds that are smaller but much stronger.

Green Onion Family. Leeks, shallots, chives, scallions and
Spring onions must all be green to the top and bursting with juice.
The bulb onion from seed is better in taste and value than any
kind of sprouts or scallions. Chives bought growing in a pot, for a
dime or so, are handy fresh garnishing to keep in the kitchen.

Parsley. The flat-leafed Italian kind is fullest of flavor; the
curled leaf may be prettier, but it's not so tasty. But a third kind
called Hamburg is the best buy because it has a big root that's
fine in soups and as flavorsome as celery root, although it belongs
to the carrot family. The tops serve as any other parsley for gar-
nishing. Color and crispness is the test. Yellow, wilted parsley is a
bad buy.

Parsnips. Good only in winter and best when left in the ground
until spring. Small, firm, smooth and shapely parsnips are the ones
worth taking home. Overgrown ones are likely to be woody or
pithy and hence useless.

Peas. The younger the better. Like beans, they must have snap
and juice in their pods and the peas tender but well developed.
Bright "pea" green is the right color and, as with most vegetables,
any sign of yellow indicates approaching old age and hardened
arteries. To get the full flavor, peas should be steamed in French
farmer style with little or no water and covered with lettuce leaves
to hold the steam down.

150 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Peas, Dried. The finest we know are Southern "lady peas," but
try to get them in Northern markets!

Peppers. The two commonest kinds are the large, bell-shaped
sweet Spanish pepper or pimiento and the hotter, smaller cayenne
and chili peppers. (The dictionary spells this "chile" but along the
Mexican Border it's "chili" and we think this comes closer to the
original.) All are picked mature but while still green in color, for
shipping; they become red as they ripen. They must have smooth,
bright skins and be plump and elastic to the touch. Discolored
spots indicate approaching decay. Sometimes the whole plant of
small peppers is pulled and that makes a fine interior decoration
for the kitchen. We bought one off a pushcart for 15^ and it served
both for seasoning and beauty for half a year.

Poke Salad. This common weed when picked young is as tasty
as asparagus, which it resembles in appearance.

Potatoes. The only way to make sure that any lot of potatoes is
good all the way through is to cut one in half, and any dealer should
be willing to do this to prove there's no hollow or black ring under
the skin, which last indicates freezing. The best buy is smooth and
well-shaped with shallow eyes because deep eyes are wasteful; and
the color should be even without any green showing, for such
"sunburned" potatoes are bitter. Care should be taken in paring
thin, for sometimes a quarter of the food is thrown away with the
skin. In fact, sailors and other amateur potato-peelers sometimes
waste even more than goes into the kettle, so the most economical
way to cook potatoes is always with their jackets on, unless you're
going to slice them for drying or scalloping.

Sweet Potatoes. Should be bright, firm, smooth, shapely and
dry. They rot easier than murphies, and should never get damp or
wet.

Radishes. Always press one of the biggest radishes in a bunch
to make sure it isn't pithy. There's no need to stick to the white
icicles or the little red kind, there's the long black Spanish and the
big white German kind, especially for winter.

Rhubarb. Stalks should be tender and snappy with juice and
well colored, either light pink or dark red, for rich color usually indi-
cates fine flavor. The younger the better, and never old and wilted.

RABBIT FOOD I5I

RoMAiNE. See lettuce.

Rutabagas. See turnips.

Salsify, or Oyster Plant. This is the same tan color as par-
snip, but smaller around, and of a different flavor. Like parsnip,
the smoother and more shapely, the less waste, and its flavor is
also improved if it's left in the ground until freezing weather.

Spinach. Must be bright and snappy. Beware of soft, wilted or
yellowed leaves.

Squash. There are so many kinds, winter, summer, green, yel-
low, round and flat, that all we can suggest is they should be hefty
for their size. We get the biggest kick out of three kinds, all of them
fairly new in the markets but growing fast in popularity, and we'd
even be willing to pay the price of popularity if these now-cheap
nutmeg, cocozelli and spaghetti squashes went up, for we figure
that anything which gives such keen enjoyment helps us get the
most for our squash dollar.

Tomatoes. Now bred to convenient size to suit the shipper, not
the consumer. The big old-fashioned ''beefsteak" tomato is best in
flavor — but try and get it! As for the commercial kind, the heavier
and healthier in color, the better; although underripe ones will get
red on the window-sill, they won't be as full of flavor. Overripe ones
are only good for kids to throw at cops when they're being shagged.

Turnips. As with beets, the early ones come with tops attached
and these crisp leaves make a swell dish of greens, especially when
cooked in the broth of salt pork. Smooth, firm turnips are a better
buy than old ones that have stayed in the ground until they've
become as pithy as punk radishes.

Rutabagas, called Swedes, from the popularity of this giant
turnip among the Swedes who brought it to this country, were
formerly thought fit only for cattle, but now they prove to be about
the best buy in the whole turnip family. In any case, they offer
most for your turnip money.

Watercress. This luscious cress, when crisp and fresh, is one
of the best buys we know. It's fine dunked in mayonnaise a spray
at a time, also for pepping up a salad or garnishing a meat dish.
It's chockful of vitamins and body-building minerals and those
people who munch it like rabbits are all the better off.

XXI

Eat Your Spinach

ARTY SPROUTS

2 POUNDS JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES
I BOX BRUSSELS SPROUTS
MASHED POTATOES
SALT

1 OUNCES BUTTER

4-5 ONIONS, SLICED

CREAM SAUCE

PEPPER, FRESHLY GROUND

Peel artichokes, then wash them well, because they have a very
earthy taste. Cook in 2 quarts water with sliced onions, salt and
butter.

Separately, make mashed potatoes, cream sauce, and boil the Brus-
sels sprouts. When artichokes and sprouts are tender spread a thick
circle of mashed potatoes around the outside of a big dinner plate
or round platter and stick the artichokes in, leaving spaces between.
Cover with cream sauce or melted butter and then stick a Brussels
sprout between each pair of artichokes and heap the rest in the mid-
dle, to make a dish "exceedingly inviting, simple and pretty."

The last words are those of the internationally famous chef
Soyer, who invented this dish to please royal patrons in Queen Vic-
toria's reign. Soyer's dishes were a great gift to the gouty and many
of them, like the above, are cheap and satisfying to those who like
to make a whole meal out of one hearty vegetable dish, especially
in summer time.

This dish takes a bit of doing, as the English say, but it's well
worth it, for the contrasting flavors are pleasing to both eye and
tummy.

In season, both artichokes and Brussels sprouts are cheap.

152

EAT YOUR spinach! 1 53

Jerusalem artichokes, in fact, cost no more than potatoes and make
an acceptable change. The chief trouble with them is that they are
so irregular in shape they take patience to peel, but lots of us have
more time than money. Although these tubers were planted by
American Indians and introduced from here throughout the world,
they have never had the appreciation they deserve in their home-
land. Maybe because they're only the tubers of our indigenous
American sunflower.

LENTIL CROQUETTES

1 CUP LENTILS 2 ONIONS, GRATED
I>^ CUPS FINE DRY BREAD CRUMBS 2 PIMIENTOS, CHOPPED
% POUND BUTTER ^2 TABLESPOON SALT

3 EGGS CAYENNE

NUTMEG

Pick over lentils as you would beans, to make sure there are no
stones in them, wash and put to soak overnight. Then boil i>^ hours
or until tender. Put through sieve and mix in i cup of bread crumbs,
}4. the butter, 2 of the eggs, the onions, pimientos and seasonings.
Shape into croquettes, roll in bread crumbs first and after that in i
egg beaten and mixed with the rest of the bread crumbs. Fry in
butter.

While the lentils are cheap, the butter and eggs raise the price of
this dish. Yet it is substantial enough to take the place of meat and
many people find the flavor of lentils as savory as people did in
biblical days, when lentils generally took the place of beans.

SUCCOTASH

4 CUPS GREEN CORN, CUT FROM COB BUTTER

2 CUPS LIMA BEANS SALT

PEPPER

Boil beans 25 minutes in salted water. Boil green ears of corn
10-20 minutes depending on age. Cut corn from cob, not too close
to cob or it will be bitter. Drain most of the water from beans, add
corn, with butter, salt, a little pepper and heat to just below boiling
point.

154 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

This is the original American Indian dish, but it has sadly slipped,
with navy beans, even string beans, substituted for the limas and
sometimes canned corn in place of kernels cut fresh from the cob.
Since corn is our greatest indigenous food, when it is mixed with the
flat bean of tropical America it has an appeal to the native palate
unequalled by anything short of turkey and cranberry sauce.

GREEN CORN OYSTERS

2 CUPS UNCOOKED GREEN CORN, CUT I CUP SOFTENED BREAD CRUMBS

FROM COB I>^ TEASPOONS SALT

1 EGGS, BEATEN }4 TEASPOON PAPRIKA

1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER BACON DRIPPING^

Mix bread crumbs in the milky raw corn to soften them, beat in
eggs, butter and seasoning. Ladle out big spoonfuls and shape them
like oysters on hot griddle greased with bacon dripping. Drain on
coarse paper.

This is another natural. Next to succotash our native tongue
wraps rapturously around these most succulent of vegetable oys-
ters.

CORN OIL

The Turk's national food is beans, the Chinaman's is rice, and
ours is corn. Out of beans the orientals make soy sauce (the base of
Worcestershire) just as the French, Italian and Spanish people use
their olives to make salad and cooking oil. They eat up large crops
of peanuts too, mostly expressed into oil which suits the national
taste and is the piquant flavor we recognize in "French Fried
Potatoes" cooked on the other side. Walnut oil is another French
favorite.

There are scores of flavorsome oils, such as extracts of sesame
and sunflower seed used in the Near East and cocoanut oils in the
West Indies; cotton seed oils all over the world, called ''Sarashime"
in Japan, and less romantic names here at home.

Our national contribution is the oil of corn; a common brand of
it is called Mazola, from the old Indian word "maize." Corn oil
suits our taste, the same as succotash does, for it is indigenous to
our land. Succotash (also an American Indian name) is just our

EAT YOUR spinach! 1 55

dish, and besides it's on the alkaline side. So instead of a treatment
by Alka-Seltzer, try this — it's cheaper and better in every way:

SUCCOTASH SALAD

1 ONION, MINCED I TABLESPOON VINEGAR

2 BEETS, COOKED AND DICED 2 TABLESPOONS PAPRIKA
I CUP LIMA BEANS, COOKED SALT TO TASTE

3 TABLESPOONS MAZOLA (OR OTHER LETTUCE LEAVES

CORN oil)

Mix all ingredients and serve ice cold on lettuce leaves.

The corn flavor is in the oil and this is just a suggestion of pos-
sible uses of a tasty food lubricant which can enrich not only cold
salads but hot vegetable dishes such as zuccini, fish dishes, en-
trees, meats, and of course desserts. We give the trade name
Mazola because it's the only corn oil we know. Here's hoping there
are others; better and cheaper.

SUMMER SALAD

LEAF LETTUCE LEMON JUICE, OR VINEGAR

POWDERED SUGAR

Use the garden lettuce which comes in loose leaves rather than in
compact heads, wash well in cold water, shake off some of the
water, serve with quartered lemon and powdered sugar, for each
person to dress his lettuce as he likes.

This sour-sweet salad is specially suited to the summer season
when heavy, oily dressings are too heating. It was the favorite of
pioneers, who used vinegar in place of lemon, of course, and
powdered their own sugar from the big cones and lumps in which
it was sold. Powdered sugar is essential in this dish, granulated
sugar is too hard and gritty, since in this dish there's little liquid
to dissolve it.

Because head lettuce is in demand and brings a high price the
year round, it is good to know that plain garden lettuce, sold very
cheaply in the summer markets, will make a fine tasting salad that
needn't cost more than a cent a plate.

156 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

WILTED LETTUCE WITH BACON

}i POUND BACON, CHOPPED FINE I TEASPOON SUGAR

}i CUP VINEGAR PEPPER

^2 TEASPOON SALT 2 HEADS LETTUCE, SHREDDED

Fry bacon golden brown and remove from pan, keeping It warm.

To the bacon fat add all seasonings and when boiling pour over
lettuce in another cooking pan. Cover this, let steam 5 minutes,
sprinkle fried bacon over and serve piping hot.

This inexpensive, homey dish is licking good. It can be made in
summer of the common garden lettuce that's much cheaper than
the Boston kind raised for commerce.

BEAN SPROUTS

Bean sprouts are a great oriental gift to our cuisine. You can
make them at home just by sprouting navy beans in a shallow pan
kept covered with a damp cloth, or buy them in Chinatown for a
nickel a pound. They give the fresh crispness of salad when used
in hot dishes and are most tasty when simmered in the pineapple
juice that comes free with a can of Hawaiian slices or spears.

Other Chinese specialties that are cheap in Chinatown and fine
for varying salads and vegetable side dishes are Chinese cabbage,
water chestnuts, called "Chinese potatoes," mustard greens,
bamboo shoots, fresh ginger root and all sorts of strange bulbs and
tubers you'll begin to hanker for, once you get the economical and
refreshing habit of using them as the Chinese do — and it's well
to remember they were the world's first great cooks and their
chop sueys and such will still take a lot of beating.

Another good Chinatown buy is lychee nuts, those sweet gummy
meats the laundryman gives you for a Christmas present. They
cost just half as much in Chinatown as in any uptown grocery and
a pound of them makes dessert for several meals.

STRING BEANS, SALTED DOWN

Use string beans as young, tender and fresh as possible. Pack in
kegs or crocks, put a good sprinkling of salt between each 3-inch
layer of beans. Put a wooden cover on top and weigh it down. The

EAT YOUR spinach! 1 57

liquid extracted by the salt will rise over the cover and should be
kept skimmed. When you*re ready to use some of them in the
winter, soak most of the salt off, remove the strings and cook the
same as fresh.

This should be done in season, of course, when green beans get
down to a few cents a pound in big city markets. While these
won*t be just as fresh six months later as those expensive ones
preserved by the new freezing process, they'll be fresher and
cheaper than you can buy already canned and cooked.

WILD CUCUMBERS

These prickly little fellows abound in most parts of America
and send out eager shoots that leap and climb faster and farther
than squash plants, so that one tiny seed will make a vine that
yields bushels of native cucumbers that needn't cost a cent. Some
Southern manufacturers put them up instead of gherkins and this
salubrious old-fashioned pickle now sells under the name of " Cute
Cukes" in fancy groceries at fancy prices. You can fill a barrel
with them on half a day's holiday in the country and pickle them
with vinegar made cheaper and better at home, putting down a
whole barrel of pickles for winter at just whatever you may want
to spend for spices. They suit everybody's taste and are welcomed
as a refreshing novely. You can stuff them with peppers to make
them as attractive as stuffed olives.

GROUND CHERRIES, OR HUSK TOMATOES

There's a lot of confusion about these homely little bundles of
luscious flavor that grow about the size of cranberries, each en-
closed in a tissue husk that looks like a Chinese lantern. Some say
they taste like cherries, others like tomatoes. We've eaten them
ever since we were kids and don't yet know which they resemble
most. When preserved in syrup they taste like figs. In any case,
they're not common in city markets, but when they do appear
they're dirt cheap. So if you can find them, get acquainted with a
tart-sweet vegetable-berry that's great to eat plain or put up for
winter.

158 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

UNFIRED FOOD

While we don't take any stock in food fads, fanatically strict
vegetarianism, subsisting on raw turnips and rain-water, or any
advice that the poor should nibble grass so there'll be more wish-
bones for the rich, we do think that a lot of fine food is let go to
seed every year by needy families, especially in the suburbs, which
would furnish the vitamins and minerals we need at no cost at all.
So without going goofy on you, we'd like to point out the possibil-
ities of edible weeds, flowers and leaves and the fact that all of our
vegetables, fruits, spices and things grow wild in one part of the
world or another and are so common in their native habitat that
they're likely to be overlooked.

Here are notes we took while reading a book by Dr. George J.
Drews called Unfired Food:

For making a salubrious Spring Tonic Salad use any of these:
sour dock leaves, dandelion greens and the flowers cut fine, sour
knot weed, young woodbine shoots, young linden leaves (slippery
as slippery elm when chewed), shepherd's purse, nasturtium leaves
and flowers, sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, plantain and lamb's quarter.
For dressing such a salad use olive oil, peanut or corn oil, with
chopped peanuts, pinenuts, and other nuts and maybe a spoon of
honey or grated coconut. Simply toss together and serve. And
instead of lemon juice or vinegar you can get a good sour dressing
by grating rhubarb and squeezing out the juice. The juice of unripe
grapes is also good; it was called verjuice by our forefathers who
preferred it to vinegar.

The tuberous roots of nasturtiums can be eaten like radishes.

Pull the petals out of double marigold blossoms, chop them, mix
with nuts and sluice with salad dressing. Or you might like chrys-
anthemum petals in the same way — that's a great favorite in
Japan. Pansies, water lilies, double zinnias, stock and the Rose of
Sharon can all be used in the same way.

XXII

Handy Hints

DO NOT THROW AWAY

Bread. Quickly dip a stale loaf in cold water, crisp in oven and
it will be better than when fresh. Dry stale slices, crisp in oven, roll
and sift, store in a jar for crumbing fried dishes and for hasty pud-
dings. Make into toasts and croutons. Throw odd bits into the pot
when beginning to make soup, for additional thickening and
nourishment.

Pancakes. Reheat those left from breakfast, cut into ribbons
and put into the soup just before serving — better than noodles.

Bacon Fat, and Other Greases. Use for other frying. Or clarify
and remove odors by simmering with hot water; let cool and
harden, lift off the fat and store for deep-fat frying.

Trimmings and Peelings of Vegetables and Salads. Put in-
to the soup pot.

Green Pea Pods. Make into cream of pea soup.

Leftover Salads and Their Dressings. Into the soup pot.

Scraps of Cheese. Grate and store in ajar; use with spaghettis;
sprinkle over dishes for baking; mix with bread crumbs for frying.

Vegetable Broths. Make soup of them or put into gravies.

Bits of Cold Cuts and Store Sausage. Cut into small squares
and put into potato salad.

159.

l6o MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Bits of Cooked Vegetables. Mix into omelet or egg scramble;
make baked vegetable hash of them, sprinkled with crumbs and
grated cheese.

Fish Heads and Bones. Set to simmer in cold water and use the
broth, after straining through cloth, for fish sauces, or soup, or
boil a whole fish in it.

Cold Boiled Fish. Shred and mix with potato or other vege-
table salad.

Cold Fried Fish. Soak whole pieces for 2-3 hours in salad dress-
ing. Serve with onion slices and a green garnish.

Leftover Spaghetti and Other Pastes. Cut up, reheat, and
use for stretching egg dishes. Soft bread crumbs and leftover po-
tatoes, either mashed or sliced, serve the same purpose.

Leftover Gravy. Add to the next gravy, or heat leftover veg-
etables in it.

Bones and Meat Trimmings. Into the soup pot, of course.

Cold Fried Bacon. Reheat, crumble into a vegetable dish, or
into the soup just before serving; or mix with scrambled eggs.

Poultry Feet and Trimmings. Clean, scald and trim feet,
simmer with trimmings, and use for gravy or soup; reduced, this
broth makes the most delicious aspic.

THE BEST ASPIC YOU EVER TASTED!

And the Most Economical

Use fresh chicken giblets, also the wing tips, neck and feet.
Prepare feet by immersing 1-2 minutes in boiling water and re-
moving skin and nails. Put feet with neck, wing tips, liver, heart
and gizzard into a pan, add a little parsley, carrot, onion and 2
cups of water for the parts of each chicken, simmer gently for 2>^
hours, which will reduce the broth to one-half. Flavor with lemon
or strong sweet wine such as sherry, or both.

It doesn't pay to use less than the parts of 3-4 chickens, but
since nearly everybody throws away the feet and giblets, these
can be bought separately from butchers who serve hotels. It
shouldn't be either difficult or expensive to get the makings of
this exceptional aspic which is even cheaper than making it of
gelatine or calves* feet, which aren't stocked commonly, except by

HANDY HINTS l6l

kosher butchers. And there's no comparison between this tasty-
aspic and one made of gelatine, or calves* feet.

Fowl Fat. Chicken or turkey fat, reduced to oil, takes the place
of melted butter and makes a tasty salad oil as well. Also makes a
swell sandwich spread.

Any Part Except the Quack. The meat packers got rich by
utilizing every part of the pig down to the squeal, and we can
keep from getting poorer faster by economizing on the duck and
goose in the same way, using every part of the duck except the
quack, and of the goose down to its hiss:

1st: save the tongue, for that's the gourmet's pick of either duck
or goose, throw away the bill and the eyes, but use all the rest of
the head, neck, tip ends of wings, all giblets and trimmings of skin
and fat. The feet must be blanched and skinned and the toe nails
discarded. Wash everything well and put in a pan with a quart
of salted water, carrot, the roots of celery and of parsley. Cook
until the toughest piece (probably the gizzard) begins to get ten-
der, then toss in a cup of rice, some celery and two beef cubes
dissolved in a cup of hot water. By the time the rice is cooked most
of the liquid will be absorbed and you'll have a fine dish at the cost
of what most people throw away.

Pope's Noses. The Pope's nose, which is "the part that goes
over the fence last," is the tastiest tidbit of any fowl, especially
chicken and turkey, so don't by any chance throw that away.

VINEGAR

A clove of garlic in a bottle of almost any kind of vinegar peps
it up most pleasingly, that is, if you like garlic, and if your vinegar
is made honestly — not out of wood shavings.

It's good to have a stock of different-flavored vinegars on hand
to vary the savor of mayonnaise and other sauces. Get good country
cider vinegar if you can, and buy it by the gallon instead of in
those tricky small chain store bottles made like magnifying bar
glasses to make a very little look like a lot. Fresh or dried herbs
are cheap in every "foreign" market and their full flavor can be
added to a pint or quart of your bulk vinegar by using such com-
binations as the following:

1 62 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

In one pint of vinegar put i tablespoon each of minced water cress
or highland cress, shallot, chervil and rosemary, with one clove of
garlic, and let it steep in the sun until it's full flavored.

In yi pint of red wine vinegar steep 4 tablespoons shredded cucum-
ber rind, i tablespoon grated horseradish, i tablespoon minced
chives or shallots.

Or, I dessertspoon each of various seeds, such as celery, dill and
caraway, made sprightly with minced cress, parsley and 2 capsicums.

You can make your own wine vinegar by letting cheap California
wine sour, adding the "mother'* from any old vinegar or a little
yeast to start the acetic acid.

It's always most satisfactory to make your own vinegar. Then
you'll know what went into it. Apple juice, cider or peaches are
best for this, but the following vegetable vinegars are cheap and
satisfactory:

VEGETABLE VINEGARS

Tomato. Press juice from ripe tomatoes into a large vessel or
crock, leave uncovered in a moderately warm place and it will
quickly turn to vinegar. Add Yi cup molasses to every quart of
juice if you want an extra-acid vinegar.

In season, tomatoes should be almost as cheap as the dirt they
grow in, especially in city markets on Saturday night, when all
ripe produce has to be sold out because it won't keep until Monday.

Beet. Run a bushel of washed beets through a grinder 2 or 3
times to extract all the juice — put juice in open cask or crock
covered against insects and light, set in the sun for 2-3 weeks and
by that time you'll have several gallons of good tasty vinegar.

Potato. To every gallon of water that potatoes have been boiled
in put half a cake of yeast and a pound of brown sugar. This will
turn to vinegar in less than a month, but it's not as nicely flavored
as most. It serves, however, for cooking and making fresh cucumber
pickles without salt, simply by putting in cucumbers cut fresh
from the vines and adding dill if you wish. And the chances are
that this potato peel product will be as good or better than the
average store article.

Nasturtium. Bruise Nasturtium flowers, cover with cold vinegar,

HANDY HINTS 1 63

add I shallot, and yi garlic clove to each quart. Set aside for 1
months. Strain, add yi ounce cayenne and >2 ounce salt.

MINT

This fresh herb is so refreshing, especially in lamb sauce and
lemonade, that a nickel bunch of it should always be on hand in
the kitchen to use as the most-for-your-money flavoring in stews,
sauces and beverages. It is packed so full of flavor that a sprig or
two go farther than a whole handful of watercress or other lively
relish. To our mind it's the most economical flavoring we know,
and besides, mint seems exactly suited to our All-American taste.

GARDEN GARNISHES AND MISCELLANIES

Celery Curls. Cut stalks in 2-inch lengths and with a sharp
knife cut ^-^ slits about i-inch deep in end of each piece and throw
into ice water several hours before using, so they'll be nicely curled.

Radishes. Remove tips and retain stem with sufficient green
leaves to be attractive and make a good handle for eating them.
Keep in ice water until wanted. Serve on chipped ice.

Parsley Root. Many people throw away the roots of parsley
after using the tops for garnishing, but some varieties have a fine
tuber that's as savory as celery root for seasoning soups and stews;
so that should never be thrown away.

Capers. Since everybody relishes a relish, always have a bottle
of capers on hand, for snacks and seasoning. A bottle needn't
cost more than 20^ and can be used to pep up a plate of cold cuts,
sandwiches, all sorts of tidbits, at a cost of less than a cent a
person, for a bottle should be enough to spice half a dozen good-
sized platters. In some places you can buy capers cheaper in bulk,
or if you can get hold of nasturtium pods they're just as good.
You pickle them simply by dropping them into a bottle of vinegar.
The green seed-pods of radishes also take the place of capers, at
no cost at all.

Peas. A dish of French green peas is almost a meal in itself and
is always served as a separate course over there. The secret is in
cooking freshly shelled peas an hour in a little butter, with some
bits of bacon, lettuce leaves, spring onions and parsley. The flavors

164 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

of lettuce and peas not only complement each other, but the lettuce
serves to put on top of the peas to keep them savorily smothered
while cooking. Likewise, to perk up canned peas, cover them with
lettuce leaves, add a little green onions and butter, or bacon, or both.

Pepper Skins. Since these are too tough to eat, before using
peppers as a garnish or in salad you can easily remove the skins
by holding them over flame on a fork until skin begins to blister;
then peel it off.

Water. Water is Flavor Enemy No. i. Too much washing of
meat and vegetables removes a great deal of their flavor. There's
an old English song that advises: "But don't let the water get into
the wine." The French, after washing lettuce, swing it in a basket
until it's bone dry and able to absorb the oil of the dressing, while
anybody who knows his mushrooms never washes them, but wipes
them clean with a moist cloth.

Cucumbers. Lots of people have an allergy to fresh cucumbers
and few of us can get along without soaking them for a while in
salted water. Although they're usually sliced like a loaf of bread,
the way to get their full flavor is to slit lengthwise in quarters and
instead of using black pepper, sprinkle with paprika. Fresh cool
cucumber makes a fine contrast to eat out of hand with a dish of
hot vegetables.

Foods Free for the Picking. Even city dwellers have access
to suburban fields and forests where there are herbs, nuts, mush-
rooms, wild berries, fruits and even edible flowers free for the
picking. It pays to learn about the good mushrooms, for instance,
and gather a sack or two of these neglected foods on a holiday.
You can have a feed or two of the fresh ones and then dry the rest
by stringing them like necklaces and hanging in a dry place. Be-
cause of their light weight when dried these cost a dollar and more
a pound in the markets that stock them, and there's nothing so
tasty in stews and soups. So if you don't want to trouble to gather
and dry them yourself, you can buy a dime's worth, soak them over-
night and give that old mushroom flavor to a whole gallon of soup.

Pork and Mutton. As with oysters, the "R" months are best
for eating both pork and mutton which are really in their prime
only in October and November.

HANDY HINTS 1 65

Ripe Olives. Oily black olives are a gift to any cook who'll
learn to use them. They cost very little in foreign neighborhood
markets and are bursting with rich flavor which imparts piquance
to many a stew and salad.

Spaghetti. On English menus Italian paste products, spaghetti,
macaroni and vermicelli are listed under "vegetables"; and while
we do not think of them in this way, it's good to remember, espe-
cially in winter, that if you haven't any vegetables at hand to give
a lift to a meat stew, sometimes lightly cooked Italian pastes,
especially if made of good hard wheat, take the place of vegetables.

Juniper Berries. These peppy dried berries which we think of
mostly for flavoring gin do just as cheerful a job when they're
crushed and sprinkled over stews and hash.

Popcorn. Buy the seed by the pound, pop it yourself in one of
those mosquito-wire poppers and season with salt and melted
butter, or do it cheaper by popping in lard in an iron kettle and
then salting. It's the finest garnish we know for cream soups, where
a few crunchy, buttery, snowy kernels scattered on at the finish
make all the diflference in the world. It's great to eat by the handful
with a glass of milk or to use as a cereal at a fraction of the cost of
puffed grains put up by the breakfast food racketeers, or pack-
ageers. Try it in a bowl of milk in place of bread, and savor every-
thing by crumbling in bits of fine old store cheese. Makes a great
snack at anytime and is just suited to the palate of this cornfed
country.

Peanuts. Cheap and handy for making anything from peanut
soup to candy. In fact. Dr. George W. Carver of Tuskegee Insti-
tute not only extracted sweet milk and rich cream equal to the
cow's from this lowly nut that's chockful of food value, but he
gave a five-course luncheon to food experts, consisting of 14 dishes
in every one of which the chief ingredient was peanuts. And then
he compiled 105 peanut recipes, ranging from peanut bread, rolls,
cookies, wafers, muffins, doughnuts, to cake, salad and candy bars.

Peanut Butter. Many commercial peanut butters are ruined in
flavor by draining off^ the peanut oil to sell for a good price and
then substituting cottonseed oil. If you don't know where to get
honest peanut butter, which is the handiest sort of thing for help-

l66 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

ing the flavor of all kinds of dishes, write to Llano Cooperative
Colony, Newllano, Louisiana, and they'll supply the finest we ever
tasted, at a price much lower than any chain store offers.

Piping Hot. The recent success of sizzling platters, whose virtue
is that the meat is still hissing on a metal platter when brought
to table, proves that we like our hot dishes piping. This can be
done with stews and vegetables as well, bringing them on bubbling
in thick earthenware dishes, so they're as attractive as a savory
Lobster Newburg or Welsh Rabbit made right on the table. It's
also good to remember to heat the diner's plate in cold weather
and in summer to chill plates before serving salad, cold consommes
and such things on them, just as a good bartender chills his beer
steins before using.

HOMEMADE FIRELESS COOKERS

We seldom hear of fireless cookers these days, but at one time
not so long ago, they were a part of regulation kitchen equipment,
and they cut dollars off the yearly fuel bills. World War propaganda
further popularized them, for then all housewives were urged to
save coal, not so much for their own account as for the dear Allies.
Wheatless and meatless days, and fireless cookers for pure patriot-
ism, with never a thought on the part of either war profiteers or
their helpless fellow citizens that after-the-war-depression would
bring enforced wheatless weeks and meatless months to millions.

Metals, which are wasted in peace times on all sorts of useless
contraptions, had to be conserved to their death dealing ends. So
the press carried instructions for making fireless cookers at home.
All one needed was a wooden box or paper carton, and a lot of old
newspapers to insulate it, layers of paper fitted into the bottom of
the box and around the sides, with a cylindrical hole left in the
center to receive a boiling pot of soup or stew; then wads of paper
on top to hold in all the heat for hours. An excellent device for
long, slow cooking of cheap foods. Dried beans, peas, and lentils,
tendered in their unbroken skins; and cereals, started the night
before, are still hot at breakfast time and have attained a jelly-
like and delicate consistency which only many hours of low heat
can give.

HANDY HINTS 1 67

These economical, practical cookers will save coal now, just as
they did then, and are well worth reviving.

And before we leave the wheatless, meatless and eatless days
when owner patriots urged wage-slaves' wives to half starve their
families and "Win the War in the Kitchen," we'd like to record
the fact that one of these Official Recipe Books was published under
the chairmanship of Samuel Insull.

SEASONING SECRETS

A row of jars and bottles of home prepared seasonings is a never-
ending inspiration on those days when one is distracted with think-
ing up new ways to vary the menus. Herbs such as rosemary,
savory, dill, marjoram and tarragon can be collected, one at a time,
as they appear on the pushcarts. Dried and kept away from the
air, they will last a year. The leaves from a bunch of celery will dry
also, keeping their natural color and full flavor if laid on a pie tin
in an open warm oven, or hung on a string over radiator or behind
stove, until brittle. Piled up loosely in a covered glass jar, these will
always provide fresh celery seasoning for the soup and stew pot,
or roasting pan, for sauces and for gravies. Parsley cannot be suc-
cessfully dried for commerce, but for one's own kitchen it will dry
as well as celery and take the place of green parsley, especially if it
is refreshed in cold water 15 minutes before using. Basil, too, can
be dried at home in the same way. But living plants of basil or
sweet marjoram, procured from florist or vegetable vendor, will
grow in pots on any window sill, bravely putting out more leaves
to take the place of the ones continually plucked oflF. In summer,
fire-escapes in foreign sections of our cities always display tin cans
and boxes of these two sturdy plants which are taken inside in
winter.

With this store of herbs should go a string of little hot red
peppers, likewise dried out in the open oven, so they will not spoil.
An unopened pod is not too much for a pot of soup. If only a portion
is used, be sure the seeds are discarded. And be sure to take it out
before serving, or some person will get more than his share of
hotness.

l68 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

There is nothing like herb variety for relieving food monotony
and giving a family the feeling that they are eating something
different all the time. Most herbs are both appetizers and aids to
digestion besides, and thus they may be used freely without fear
of injury to health. Although most of them are so strong that a
little goes a long way, there are a few, like the faithful basil that
grows in a pot, whose leaves can be scattered through green salads
or, minced, may be put into the salad dressing until it is actually
green. Basil is the best herb of all with tomatoes, either raw or
cooked, and Italians like to lay a few leaves of it on a platter of
spaghetti with tomato sauce, for each person to tear up a leaf and
mix it in, or nibble at it whole, while eating.

The time to lay in orange and lemon flavorings is when these are
cheapest. Before cutting the fruit, carefully pare off the outside
yellow covering of the skin in a long unbroken spiral with as little
of the white sticking to it as possible. Toss the spirals over a
string stretched in a warm place. When the moisture has dried out,
but before the skin has become crisp, pack away in a glass jar.
Eventually there will be two jars full, one of lemon and the other
of orange peel, ready for the season when fresh citrus fruit is
scarce and expensive. Two inches or so broken off will flavor soup,
or pudding or pie, will give a zest to applesauce or other cooked
fruits and is handy in concocting drinks. For use in certain cakes,
cookies and puddings it is better to candy these peels.

CANDIED ORANGE AND LEMON PEELS

After juice has been reamed from oranges or lemons, tear out
the membranes. Soak over night in water salted with i tablespoon
of salt to the quart. Drop into fresh water and drain. With a
spoon scrape off white inside, and cut with scissors into narrow
strips. Mix yi cup of water with i cup sugar, add the peel and cook
until the strips look clear. Drain, lay on a plate to cool, then roll
in granulated sugar, letting as much sugar as possible stick to
them. When dry pack away in jars or tin boxes lined with paper.
If they become too dry after a time, warm them in the oven.

HANDY HINTS 1 69

CANDIED GRAPEFRUIT PEEL

Grapefruit peel is so bitter that it should be parboiled for 15
minutes after being taken from the salt water; and some people
parboil, drain, parboil a second time and drain, before cooking with
sugar. After parboiling follow the recipe for Candied Orange and
Lemon Peels.

There's a whole book about using citrus peels, if you're interested.
Mrs. Florence Gilson Barton wrote and published it in San Bernar-
dino, California, in 1928. It's called ne California Orange Cook
Book, Complete and Explicit Directions for the Making of Candied
and Glace Fruits, Jellies, Marmalades; Orange and Grapefruit Rinds
in Decorative Forms and Preserves. And while you're at it, experi-
ment with the rinds of Persian limes and kumquats.

XXIII. The Pick of the Pushcart

We've made our very best vegetable and fruit buys, over a
period of thirty years, off pushcarts in the poorest sections of cities
all over the world, not counting the unbeatable bargains on the
tropical fruit wharves of Bahia and the raspberries and melons sold
in season on every Moscow street corner and in the unbelievably
bounteous Gastronomes throughout the Soviet.

The reason for pushcart plenty is obvious, especially in a huge
city like New York. In this broad land some fruit is always in
season, and the pick of all crops comes to this highest priced
market; so, since the best of it ripens en route, every day something
or other arrives in the commission merchant's hands that's prime
but risky for big dealers to hold for a gamble. He's either got to sell
it out at once for what he can get, or throw it away. Shipments
with slight imperfections also can't be resold to Park Avenue Bon
Voyage basket fillers, so they're picked up by the haggard, hoarse
street-hawkers who haunt Washington Market at dawn, with only
ten or twenty dollars to invest in quick merchandise to load up
pushcarts or a bag-of-bones horse and wagon they rent for from 50^
to ^3.00 a day. Without capital they can't hold out for prices as
the chain stores do, so they yell and sell in Paddy's market, east
side marts and on the streets, and if you know your artichokes,
fresh figs, pomegranates or honeydews, the very best fruit value
you can get is — the pick of the pushcart.

The one sure quality test in picking out any kind of fruit is its

170

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART I7I

weight in comparison to its size. The heavier, the more mature,
hence fullest of juice and flavor. Grapefruit offers an easy begin-
ning; heft one in each hand and soon you'll come across a specimen
as big as your head yet light as a balloon (please don't transpose
this), while in the other hand youVe got one just half the size but
heavy as a cannon ball. The heavy one is naturally the best buy,
for the lighter one just has to be thick skinned and puffy — no juice !

In picking out any fruit remember it's already been handled
enough by picker and packer, so don't pinch it to test its ripeness.
Let the dealer do that, and he will, if his stuff is worth a darn.
Always put it up to the seller to prove that his fruit is worth buy-
ing. If he won't do that, buy from one who will. Pinching, of course,
bruises any fruit and starts decay, so you can't blame a dealer for
getting sore when an amateur ruins half a dozen avocados or
peaches by amateur poking which makes soft spots that quickly
lead to waste.

With berries, melons and smaller fruits, if the seller has something
worth buying he's glad to give you a sample taste. If not, beware.

In buying berries always ask the seller to turn them out in his
cupped hands or pour them into another box to show you that the
bottom ones are fair-sized, sound and dry, not mildewed, unpal-
atable runts. Naturally, you'll have to allow a little for those
packed far down out of sight, since cheating has become an ac-
cepted practice in our competitive society. Even the consumer
has been taught to expect fruits and vegetables to get smaller
and gnarlier as he digs down beneath the top "show" layers.
Whether you're from Missouri or not, **show me" is the buyer's
slogan; so look at the bottom always to make sure it isn't a
false one built up like the bottom of a post-prohibition beer stein,
or that the fruits beneath are not entirely worthless, and when
buying by weight make sure there's no concealed brick or horse-
shoe. Probably today spare-tires are used to make up the weight,
but when a father of ours used to buy butter wholesale his testing
plugger often struck fire on a "thrown" plough-horse shoe. And
for God's sake don't be 100% American and embarrassed about
looking for flaws; you can be sure the dealer has done it thoroughly
in the first place and has refused to pay full price for fakes. So take a

lyi MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

tip from him and if the stuff is of lower value than he asks, don*t
pay the asking price like a meek little lamb that loves to be shorn.
Just tell him plainly what it's worth to you. Never be afraid to
bargain. We are, in fact, the only people in the world who take it
on the chin by paying fixed prices for bad or good without a peep.
We're dumb as mud-puppies about protecting ourselves in the
most vital concerns of life. Advertising, movies and such models of
exploitation have made us think that maybe it's more elegant to
just sit down at the phone and ask the butcher "Otto, how's your
liver today ? Okay, send me two pounds." We're ashamed to be seen
out with a market basket and pretty soon we'll take to letting our
little fingernails grow long like Chinese Rockefellers, to prove that
we don't live by using our own hands.

Recently organized labor has grown weary of the owner's old
"take it or leave it attitude" and begun to bargain with the boss,
so labor's helpmeet can help meet the high-cost of living by bar-
gaining determinedly with all food-choker-off-ers and if they don't
give in, she can organize and pull a boycott, a sort of sitdown
buyers' strike. (And while the following is a bit off the subject we
can't resist putting in about that Soviet foreman in charge of ship-
ping lumber. In competitive days under the Czar he'd learned to
load ships light by building at night a false bottom in the ship to be
loaded. Although under Socialism he had nothing to gain by this,
the habit was so fixed in him that he continued cheating comradely
consumers' co-ops and couldn't be made to see the light until he'd
been arrested three or four times. Likewise, the leading purveyor of
fruit juice drinks under the Czar held on to his recipes for palatable
adulterations until the Soviet showed him up by going back to the
root of the matter and making drinks of pure juice alone. And
finally these fine drinks aroused the respect of the old drink- waterer;
so he went to work for the beverage trust, adding his skill and
technique to making what are now the finest, purest fruit drinks in
the world.)

Though our own Government supports the competitive system
which carries its share of germs of capitalist decay which one day
will destroy the whole barrel, it gives honest advice about sharp
practice and tells the consumer how to get his money's worth if he's

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART 1 73

smart. So send a nickel (in coin, not stamps, and don*t ask us why
the Government refuses the sticky little lozenges of paper it prints
and sells for postal service at a price much higher here than in any
country we know of) to the U. S. Department of Agriculture in
Washington for Miscellaneous Publication No. 167, ^ Fruit and
Vegetable Buying Guide for Consumers by R. G. Hill. We have used
this bulletin with profit in our own summary of how to get your
money's worth in buying fruits, but there's much more detailed
information than we can pack in half a dozen pages:

Apples. An apple a day may not keep the doctor away, but it'll
keep almost anybody from falling for the phoney laxative ads.
Since there are 500 different kinds on the market, don't buy just
"apples." The kind we get in the East called Macintosh are a little
more expensive, but we use their excellent flavor and juicy snap to
judge all others. No apple should be too ripe, bruised or spotted.
Medium-sized, thin-skinned ones are apt to be juiciest. And now
that workers are demanding something more than the core, it's a
good idea to list the most popular kinds and the seasons when
they're cheapest. The Consumers Union's Buying Guide has
summed up the apple situation for us, as follows:

Favorite cooking apples are those having a slightly tart taste
(Wealthy, Jonathan, Willow Twig, and Rome Beauty). Grimes
Golden, Delicious, and Stayman Winesap are excellent dessert
apples — but let us add that the Macintosh is best of all.
September — Gravestein, Wealthy
October — Jonathan, Grimes Golden, Delicious
November — Jonathan, Spitzenberg, Delicious, King, Twenty

Ounce
December — Jonathan, Spitzenberg, Stayman Winesap, De-
licious, Northern Spy, Rome Beauty
January — Spitzenberg, Stayman Winesap, Northern Spy,

Rome Beauty
February — Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow New-
ton, Stayman Winesap
March — Yellow Newton, Stayman Winesap, Willow Twig
April and May — Stayman Winesap, Willow Twig, Yellow
Newton.

174 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

So don't be satisfied with just "apples," like those recipe writers
who say "add a cup offish" without saying what kind and knowing
why that kind is best.

No summer apples are mentioned in this Consumers Union list,
but local varieties known as "Harvest apples" are fine, though
usually they won't keep. Most apples improve by long keeping,
in fact "a last year's apple" is demanded by epicurean orchardists
and readers of Proust.

To our mind there's no better Sunday night supper than snow
apples and a jug of sparkling hard cider, each trying to outsnap the
other. Snow apples are so small and delicate they're often eaten
seeds and all, so "there ain't gonna be no core." And for jelly,
the ugly little crabapple that's much too puckery to gnaw raw, is
a natural. Any other apple sliced into beer soup, or made into a
Waldorf Salad with celery and nuts, is something to brag about.

Apricots. Best, of course, are tree-ripened. Since they're perish-
able they're best buys only near where grown in California, Oregon
and Washington. The Persians call them "sun eggs," which shows
they shouldn't be picked green.

Avocados. (Alligator Pears.) Called "tropical salad fruit."
There are many different kinds, those from California trade-named
G?/avo (California and avocado) those from Florida, Flavocado.
Rough, thick-skinned ones are fullest of flavor. When ready for eat-
ing they must be soft as butter (in fact, they are fresh vegetable
butter). Don't buy them when bruised or discolored. Cheapest in
fall and winter.

Bananas. Ripe bananas are best and can be bought advanta-
geously when dealers can't keep a big ripe stock over the week-end.
Must be fat and juicy with brown spots proving they're sugary.
Don't be afraid of black skins if the fruit is sound inside. Bananas,
by the way, are the only fruit we know that actually improves by
being picked green. Yet we remember the rarer flavor of the natu-
rally ripened fruit in Brazil.

Berries. Must be fresh and plump. Red raspberries mildew
quickly and should be used at once. Always have the seller turn
out the berries so you can see what's on the bottom, and remember
that "short pack" cheating in measure is common sharp practice.

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART 1 75

Never buy "a pig in a poke." This business of buying sight-unseen,
for which we fall too easily in our hurried, harried struggle for any
life at all, only profits the seller. Berries with their caps on are likely
to be green and juiceless. Make sure they're plump and juicy, but
not wet and soggy, for then you'll waste more than you'll use.
Your eye quickly learns to detect ripeness by full color and it's
always a good idea to taste a berry or two if the seller is willing;
and if they're any good at all, he is, for it pays him to let you prove
"the pudding" by eating thereof.

Blueberries are a better buy than drier, too seedy huckleberries.

Cherries. Sour cherries for cooking, sweet ones for eating. They
must be bright and shiny, fat, yet firm. Look out for worms and
dull-skinned ones, which show they're too long off the tree.

Cranberries. Good ones must be crisp and tender; by pressing
one between thumb and forefinger you can hear the hearty snap.
Those out of cold storage are apt to be leathery, shrivelled, soggy,
or all three. As with all berries, they should be bought as fresh
from the bush as possible. For making jelly and most preserves,
fruit shouldn't have been picked earlier than the day before it's
used. The fresher the better; and the most pectin, when it is a
bit under-ripe. Pectin is the jelly-making constituent and it can't
be duplicated by manufactured pectins, no matter what the siren
ads say.

Figs. Come in all colors of the rainbow and all sizes, each as good
as the other in its way, but every one of them must be mellowly
ripe to be worth a damn. They sour and ferment quickly, so watch
your step! Many are being shipped from the blooming deserts of
Arizona and New Mexico and we buy them in Paddy's market in
prime condition for a cent apiece. With cream, they make as ex-
ceptional dessert as peaches and cream, at about a nickel per eater.

Grapefruit. Seedless ones are a better buy than those full of
big slippery buck teeth that sometimes take up half the space in-
side. But the best way to recognize your money's worth is by weight
in relation to size, the heavier, the more juice for your money.
Russet grapefruit looks rusty and on that account is sold cheaper
in some places, but the flavor is just the same, or even better — as
with brown and white eggs, white eggs always sell at a premium in

176 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

New York while in the middle West brown ones may cost a little
more. But both have the same nutritive value, which Consumers
Union says is also true of Grade A and Grade B milk.

Our pick of grapefruit is the pink-fleshed seedless one from Texas.
It*s delicately yet fully flavored, pretty to look at and shouldn't
cost more than the pallid white kind.

Grapes. There are so many kinds of grapes, both domestic and
imported, that only general rules can be given. They must be plump,
heavy, fresh looking, fully colored and stuck firmly to the stem.
If you gently shake a bunch and the grapes rattle off* like hail it's
no good — and the seller will curse you, besides. But what are you
going to do ? It's always wise to sample one, for some of fine quality
when kept packed in sawdust too long taste like old corks.

One of the best seasonal buys is the small seedless California kind
that's been burbanked. It's easy to eat and sweet as Tokay wine.

Lemons. Thin skin and golden color for plenty of juice. Some of
the small thick-skinned ones are a bad buy; they don't give as much
juice as a lime and are little better value than the old wooden nut-
meg. Lemons are cheap in California, which produces the bulk of
our supply, but in the East they're two or three for a dime even at
the height of their season. At the same time, however, they're
peddled on the pushcarts, just as good, even better quality, at five
or six for a dime, but here you have to watch out for tiny ones, no
bigger than pullet eggs, and both of them look fair-sized if there isn't
a regular lemon or cackleberry handy to compare them with. To keep
lemons fresh drop them in a jar of water and take them out as needed.
That keeps them juicy and prevents the skin from mummyfying.

Limes. Dark green ones are prime and the best of these are the
big ones called Persians. But unless one is addicted to the piquant
flavor of limes in sloe gin rickeys and such, we consider lemons,
even small ones, a better buy.

MusKMELLONS OR CANTALOUPES. Since most melons for market
are picked green in the condition known as "half-slip," they're
usually pretty punk and it's wise to ask for a slice of the same run of
melons before buying. We've wasted so much money on these taste-
less muskies that we're almost afraid to look one in the squinting
half-slip eye. They're tempting to view, and sometimes wink at

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART 1 77

you, but you simply can't tell anything about the taste from out-
side appearance, except by smelling the stem end and that takes a
really educated smeller. Finely-netted Rockyfords are fairly safe.
Ripeness can be told by pressing; if it's firm and elastic that part's
all right. With honey-dews and honey balls, however, it's wise to
keep them a long time until you're dead sure they're dead ripe;
otherwise you'll just have to throw them away. No melon should be
kept in a damp place — that takes the flavor out.

Nectarines. This cross of apricot and peach is pretty to look at,
but usually not as mellow and full-flavored as either a peach or an
apricot just by itself. In fact, if you bite into a nectarine with your
eyes shut you'll say it's just a hard, tasteless peach. We've never
had them fully-ripened from the tree, so this goes only for the kind
picked green and shipped all the way across the continent, bump-
ety-bumpety.

Oranges. See 21 Ways to Eat i Orange, The best buys in this
line are "grove or orchard run" trucked direct to town markets;
they may not look as fancy because they aren't washed, waxed or
polished, but they taste every bit as good, nay, even better. In
New York's pushcart market known as "Paddy's" we always find
bargains in the tangerine types, big King and mandarin oranges
and the smaller satsumas, sometimes bursting in taste, and we pick
them for tightness of skin in relation to weight. The light ones with
the loose wrinkled skins simply aren't worth buying. Get the can-
non-ball kind which go two or three for a nickel in season, after the
bon voyage baskets have been filled with all they can hold, at a dime
apiece.

Peaches. A peach may look pretty and yet taste pretty punk; so
the only sure test is to eat a slice. As with apples or tomatoes, when
buying by the basket, ask to see what's at the bottom and if there
aren't too many tiny, green, gnarly, wormy and rotten ones, they're
worth buying if the price is fair. Reject spotted and bruised ones —
too much waste.

Pears. Weight according to size is the best test, but as with
peaches, it's wise to taste before buying. You can always buy one
to test, and that may save you the price of a whole worthless dozen.

Pineapples. The only test for ripeness is to pluck a green blade

178 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

from the center of the bunch that thrusts out at the top. But smell
also comes into play, as with melons. Like figs, pineapples quickly
ferment, so don't buy any with soft spots or squashy bottoms. As a
matter of fact, although we always prefer any fresh fruit to canned,
the Hawaiian canned slices and spears have an advantage over the
fresh fruit in that they are picked fully ripe. We like the snap of a
fine, fresh pine, but when we stop to figure that it costs three or
four times as much as the canned article we pass it up. In general, a
good canned brand is more dependable and brings with it a whole
lot of appetizing juice that comes in handy for drinks and sauces.
So, our mind is made up that canned pineapple is the very best fruit
buy the year 'round. You're certain of quality with absolutely no
waste. And canned slices or spears are a much better buy than just
the juice, because you get both the fruit and a richer juice.

Plums and Prunes. Prunes are a species of plum best suited for
drying, but when fresh they're as fine as any plum or apricot. In
fact Damsons are shipped from Washington under the name
"Italian prunes." A grandmother of ours had a prune tree on her
front lawn in Lansing, Michigan, and when the fruit was ripe we
couldn't get enough of it. But since most of us haven't a yard, let
alone a prune tree, we'll have to use what plums we can get and these
are usually good value, if mellowly ripe but not squashy. Since the
flavor varies widely with different kinds, it's always wise to sample
one before buying a whole basket, for a juiceless plum can be as
unpalatable as a wrinkled sun-dried prune. Try peeled green-gages
just plain for Sunday night supper, or plum cake with tea.

Pomegranates. One of the best pushcart buys we know is this
classical food of Prosperpine, now grown abundantly in the West
and shipped everywhere. The heaviest, biggest sunset-glowing ones
are most-for-your-money and that money is usually a nickel apiece,
or less, because only foreigners, Greeks and Italians especially,
really appreciate this exceptional fruit. We Browns like the bitter-
sweet tartness, yet often we leave them sitting around till they be-
gin to wizen and dry, because we like their exotic decorative ap-
pearance even more than that of Mexican ornamental gourds
— probably because you can actually eat them after enjoying their
colorful warmth. And another reason we don't rush to eat them is

THE PICK OF THE PUSHCART I79

because they're too hard to get at and then nibble, pip by pip.
That's one way to eat them, but the worst. It's better to collect a
mouthful at a time; but the easiest way is to cut a wide hole in the
end, being careful to get rid of all bitter skin and then squeeze
gently and suck as you would an orange. Very gentle squeezing is
necessary, because if you bruise the skin or any of the million mem-
branes, fibres, cores, or even the seeds themselves, you get a mouth-
puckering dose. The juice makes a good drink by itself, with ice
and plain or fizz water — we call it pomegranatade. You can also
put a kick in a fruit salad by squeezing some tart pomegranate
juice over it, or add a refreshing acid touch to such a drink as a gin
rickey. But time and trouble must be taken to get only the juice of
the pips and none of the skin, pith or seeds. The Syrians remove
the pips in clumps, cut away the bitter cores and stew with sugar,
flavoring with rosewater at the finish.

Quinces. To be worth buying, quinces must be firm, but not
hard; and yellowish, but not green. Otherwise they're too puckery
for eating. The immature kind aren't even fit for canning, and
bruised or wormy ones aren't worth carrying home.

Strawberries. Wild strawberries are most flavorsome, but they
seldom come to market; so, among the tame varieties, pick fresh,
bright-colored ones, not for bigness, but for soundness of meat,
because big ones can be almost as pithy as overripe radishes. Un-
like other berries, it's safest to buy strawberries with their caps on;
capless ones are likely to be mushy and worthless. Again, the ojily
sure test is to taste one and, of course, the box should be dumped out
into the dealer's palms to see just what you're getting at the bottom.

Watermelons. Don't buy a watermelon without having it
plugged. If the melon is big, the rind thin and the flesh deep red
and juicy you'll find it good fruit value for the money. The bigger
the melon the bigger its heart. And since watermelons that get to
the city are high in price from their first appearance on Fourth of
July all the way to Labor Day, don't waste the rind; preserve or
crystallize it. The seeds when dried make good eating, too; so no
part of a watermelon need be wasted. Not even its pig-tail stem
which, if properly curled, can be worn as a ring at any watermelon-
eating festival.

XXIV. Fruity Desserts

The best thing about an Italian mid-day meal is that instead of
a fancy dessert a bowl of fruit is put in the middle of the table. And
likewise, there's always a compote of stewed fruit to end the eve-
ning meal. Nothing could be better to counteract the over-starchi-
ness of a spaghetti diet — or a potato and bread diet like ours. So
here are suggestions for serving fruit in season which needn't cost
as much as the average dessert and should satisfy any healthful
appetite:

One peeled pear with a piece of very tasty hard cheese such as
Parmesan to nibble with it. The cheese needn't be bigger than a
twenty-five cent piece and the pear should be pared the last minute
before serving, so it'll be fresh and juicy and won't have time to get
discolored.

When peaches are in season it's worth while to splurge on peaches
and cream, since no other combination is quite so yummy. Half a
pint of cream should do for six sliced portions; so the cost of this
unbeatable dessert needn't be over a nickel per person, cream and
all.

For fruit cocktails, salads, cups and compotes buy a "bailer" at
the 5 & lo. With this handy cutting cup you can turn contrasting
balls out of melons and fruits and pile up luscious mouthfuls. One
advantage of a ** bailer" is that you can salvage the sound parts of

i8o

FRUITY DESSERTS l8l

bruised fruits which are too far gone to be served whole, and it
makes any fruit go farther. It*s fun to experiment with tutti frutti
combinations in this way, and please remember that the juice of
unripe grapes or lemon juice snaps up any fruit cup or salad, while
vinegar may spoil its flavor, except maybe wine vinegar.

In the Soviet, ice cream and compote are the favorite desserts.
The compotes are simple but delicious, made of fruits in season, the
more different kinds, the better, just stewed together with sugar
and served cold in their juice. In contrast, fruit salad is popular in
England where both fruit and money are much scarcer among the
workers; so their salad is a watery concoction with a few discolored
slices of banana floating in it and a couple of wilted grapes cut in
half.

Everybody dotes on baked apples and knows how easy it is to
make a dish of them, but we're likely to forget that baked pears,
peaches, plums, quinces, oranges — almost any fruit is just as salu-
brious and easy to do in this fashion:

Here are sample recipes:

RUMMY GRAPEFRUIT

Cut 3 heavy grapefruit in halves, remove seeds, but not the core,
and loosen pulp from skin and section membranes. Cover with
sugar to start the juice running and after >^ hour add more sugar
and let stand another ]/2 hour. Then put in baking pan, add still
more sugar and i tablespoon of rum or brandy to each half. Bake
for 25 minutes in a hot oven, take out and let cool. Meanwhile stir
some more rum or brandy into the pan juice and you have an in-
toxicating sauce to pour over the fruit. If California brandy is used,
this costs less than 10^ a serving and is worth it.

CLOVE PEACHES

Pare and halve firm, ripe peaches, put in buttered baking pan,
stick 3 cloves in each half peach and fill the hole with i tablespoon
sugar, dot with butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Cover and
bake in slow oven until peaches are golden brown. Serve hot, and if
there is any juice left in the pan pour that over them.

I 82 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

BAKED PEARS

You don't want expensive California pears for this, but any
good-sized hard pears, usually with a green skin, although ripe,
costing 2 or 3^. Peel 6 pears, halve lengthwise and dig out core and
seeds. Put in buttered baking dish and sprinkle with two table-
spoons of sugar in which you've mixed about ^ of a teaspoon of
powdered cinnamon. Put yi cup of water in the pan, cover and bake
in moderate oven until pears are soft enough to stick a fork right
through — this may take an hour. Chill and serve plain or with
whipped cream. We don't think adding the whipped cream is worth
the difference, but many people do. You may be able to make
whipped cream out of a good brand of evaporated milk, according
to directions on the can, but we have trouble in making this stand
up long enough.

STEWED PEARS

Slice I beet and cook it 20 minutes in 2 cups water, saving only
the red water. Pare, core and quarter 3-4 ripe pears, cook these
in the beet water, sweetened to taste and seasoned with a little
grated lemon peel. This makes an appetizing, rosy-pink pear.

BREAKFAST SHORTCAKE

Everybody falls for a berry shortcake, especially strawberry,
but to make a good one it's necessary to mix a dough and bake.
Easy imitations are made by splitting a store cake and heaping
juicy crushed strawberries between layers, but we've discovered a
quicker, cheaper substitute that we like, although it also only
slightly resembles the real thing. Let's call it Breakfast Shortcake.
Fill your individual cereal bowl J4> ^^11 with a good hot cooked
cereal such as oatmeal, frumenty, or Pettijohns and plant a big
pat of butter in the middle. Have ready plenty of cold strawberries
crushed with sugar in their own juice, heap it liberally on top of
the cereal and dip your spoon deep, bringing up the buttery hot
cereal with a sauce of fresh strawberries and juice. You'll find that
the steamy exhalation of the cereal mingles so perfectly with the
fresh berry flavor that if you close your eyes you'll have a hard
time telling it from a real old-fashioned shortcake. You can use a

FRUITY DESSERTS 1 83

butter substitute at about % price. We like the vegetable Nucoa
for cooking and in some dishes it's hard to tell from real cow butter,
although none of these margarines, derisively called " bull butter,"
can equal the real thing.

The old saying that ** fruit is golden in the morning, silver at noon
and leaden at night" has about as much scientific basis as most
old sayings. A Chinese friend told us he was brought up on mid-
night feeds of fruit left over or thrown out in the market where he
worked, and he grew up healthier than any rice-fed coolie. For us,
oranges are golden in the morning and apples equally golden at
night, although we do think that cooked fruit is more digestible
than most raw fruit for the evening meal, and an apple before bed
may bring the doctor instead of keeping him away; it all depends
on personal reactions.

If you live where you can get it, juicy joints of sugar cane, cut in
handy lengths and peeled, make a novel and satisfying dessert at a
fraction of a cent a piece. Fresh figs are about the finest fruit we
know, and they're now produced so abundantly in the South and
West that they shouldn't cost more than a cent or two apiece.
They're perfect to eat out of hand or to skin, slice and serve with
sugar and cream, plain or whipped. And this goes for fresh guavas
too, if there're any around. And peaches, of course — always ripe
peaches and rich cream, if you can aflFord a nickel for dessert.
As for grapes, the small, seedless green ones are our pick of the
pushcart and we eat them vineyard style by throwing the head back
and holding up a whole stem of them above our lips. As Caruso
gargled his spaghetti, we nibble off half a dozen at once to make a
whole mouthful of grape juice at a time. But maybe it's more
refined or something, to pick them off one at a time; so if you eat
them that way, please wait until you've got a palmful and then
pop them into your mouth all at once. It'll be a pleasant surprise
to your taste buds, for the juice of each grape helps flavor the other
and your palate gets a big kick out of that.

We don't want to be accused of tempting to extravagance by
giving sweet cream as an ingredient; we'd rather use sour cream
or evaporated milk; yet some fruits, especially peaches, fresh figs
and strawberries simply holler for cream; so try sour cream at

184 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

half the price of sweet, because only "foreigners" go for it; it's
pure and harmless if you get it from an honest dealer. Cover the
sour cream with sugar and dip strawberries in, holding by the stem,
English fashion, and bite them off from the hulls one at a time.
The snap of the sour cream livens the fruit and the combination
with sugar gives that "sweet-sour" relish which the famous chefs
of Strassburg strive for.

Cranberries should be cooked whole; and if you haven't tried it,
you can't imagine how much is added to the flavor of cranberry
sauce by strewing on top a few crushed nuts or almond slivers.
Also, try a cranberry juice cocktail for a change and mix cranberry
sauce in your next tapioca pudding.

Fruit bars are a cinch to make at home and of course these are
much better and cheaper than any you can buy. Just grind up any
mixture of dried fruits (which you are sure haven't been preserved
with too much sulfur dioxide) with peanuts, pine nuts or any good
value in nuts and press them together. The fruit paste will make
them stick together. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into
handy bars for yourself and the kids. Dates are great for this and
almost as cheap as sugar, and figs are equally fine, but more ex-
pensive. By the way, try slicing dates on custard or into a lettuce
salad. Beware of raisins, dried peaches, pears and apricots, how-
ever, for in spite of government regulations against poisoning,
the greedy driers and packers often use too much poisonous sulfur
dioxide to preserve them. So let them eat it themselves.

If you can get honest dried fruits that come within the U. S.
Food and Drug limit of 350 parts by weight of sulfur dioxide in a
million parts of dried fruit (including most brands of prunes), try
soaking them in a little grape juice or California sherry. Then
you've got something!

FRESH FRUITS ICED

Beat together the white of i egg and 2 tablespoons cold water.
Dip in selected bunches of seeded grapes, roll them at once in
powdered sugar and place them on a sieve to dry. When dry keep
in a cool, dry place until wanted to serve. Currants on the stem,
plums, cherries, large sound raspberries or strawberries may be
iced in the same manner.

FRUITY DESSERTS I 85

CANTALOUPE

Wash thoroughly, dry and lay in a dish on ice till serving time.
Never allow ice to touch the flesh of a melon as the moisture injures
its flavor.

FRESH PEACHES

Choose large, fresh, ripe, juicy peaches; pare, and cut into
luscious mouthfuls. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, put into the
freezer and half freeze them. Do not remove from freezer until the
moment of serving, then sprinkle again with sugar and arrange in a
glass dish. Canned peaches may be treated in the same manner.

Grapes. Drop the bunches into ice water for 10 or 15 minutes
before serving.

Pineapple Spears. Turn out from can, pour sherry over and
chill for 2 hours.

Prunes. Soak ^2 pound of prunes in tepid water for 2 hours,
then boil gently until half done. Sweeten to taste, add yi cup of
wine and eat hot or cold.

BANANAS

Saturday bargains usually give one the very best bananas, fully
ripe ones, freckled with brown sugar spots, which will not keep for
sale on Monday. These are marvellous simply grilled or baked in
their skins until the outside is nearly black and the inside is
soft. They must be eaten as soon as done, served whole, each
person slitting the skin with a knife and sprinkling sugar and
cinnamon on the steaming pulp.

Or a half dozen, peeled, broken in two, and laid in a deep bowl,
with lemon juice, plenty of sugar, and bits of lemon (rind and all
except the seeds) scattered through. Bake until the top is browned
and the fruit is soft but not mushy. They form their own juicy
sauce.

Split and rolled in flour and fried, they are a treat with meat,
especially sausage, and they look pretty on the same platter with it.

Peeled, split, and grilled, they are a tasty accompaniment for
chops, especially pork chops.

I 86 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

A cupful of mashed bananas with juice of a lemon, sugar to
taste, and two cans of evaporated milk makes good ice cream. A
cupful of sliced bananas is added after freezing commences.

If the bananas are not too ripe, they can be cut into thinnish
lengthwise slices and fried, after being dipped in sugar. Or they
may be thinly sliced diagonally, dredged very lightly with flour,
shaken to remove superfluous flour, and fried in deep fat like potato
chips — no sugar with these, but you might like to salt them very
lightly.

CANDIED FRUITS

Prepare a thick syrup with i cup of water to each pound of
sugar; cook in this until tender, but no longer, sections of citrous
fruits, slices or bits of peaches, plums, pears, apricots, cherries, or
almost any prepared fruit. Let fruit remain 2 days in syrup; then
take it out, drain, and sprinkle sugar over each piece separately.
Dry them slowly in the sun or in an oven not too warm.

Sections of orange, grapefruit and tangerine, lightly warmed
until skin dries and then chilled, are fine just plain or in this candy
syrup.

APPLE GINGER PRESERVES

Tie a little ginger root in a muslin bag and boil in clear water until
the water is well flavored. Make a syrup with i cup of this water,
iy2 cups sugar and juice of half a lemon, to i pound of apples.
When syrup is skimmed, boil in it a few quarters of the apples at a
time, until they become clear — not a minute longer — and remove
carefully. Replace apples in syrup when it becomes cold.

XXV. 21 Ways f\ to Eat 1 Orange

Much of the value of food is lost by serving it dully.

To get your money's worth out of such a common thing as an
orange, for example, you should eat it in the way that's most
attractive to all the senses of sight, touch, smell and appetite.
That's how they do it in Spain, the West Indies, Brazil, Florida,
California — in fact everywhere that oranges are raised.

I. The very handiest and juiciest way we have ever encountered
is to jab a strong steel fork through the blow or blossom end (the
other is the stem end). Hold your fork straight up in the air, as
table manners say you shouldn't, and with an extra sharp steel
knife cut off not only the skin but an eighth of an inch or less of
the pulp beneath, so the juice begins to bleed and there are no dry
tough membranes to obstruct your hearty tooth work. Cut off
all the skin, that is, except a small cup of it just around the fork,
which part you loosen up to catch the juice, and that's the reason
the fork is held upright. Also, it's important to jab that fork right
in to the hilt to keep the orange from wobbling, since this slicing
art is a little strenuous. The knife must be steel and very sharp.
Steel is the only metal that should ever touch any citrous fruit,
since it doesn't affect the taste or change the temperature as
other metals do.

When finished you have the most enticing juicy globe you ever
sunk teeth in. Then all there is to do is hold the fork steady while
you chew your way around, occasionally supping up the juice
that quickly collects in the little cup of skin at the bottom. We can

187

I 88 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

never think of oranges without seeing Art Young's cosmic cartoon
of that swollen profiteer squeezing the juice of an orange into his
lardy face while a hungry little you-and-me stands between his
legs, about knee-high to that whopping grasshopper, catching the
drip.

Although there are easily loi ways to eat i orange, we haven't
room to list them all here; these samples must suffice:

2. West Indian Juice and Pulp — pick out a thin-skinned, ripe
and juicy orange for your victim. Roll or knead it as you would
a lemon to gently break down some of the juice cells. Then take
a thin, springy knife of trusty steel, sharp enough to slash a seed
in two as neatly as a razor severs a hair. Cut over a bowl to catch
the juice as you pare the skin off deeply in a continuous spiral,
just as you peel an apple in the Halloween game of throwing the
skin over your shoulder to divine the initials of your future mate,
or something. Drop the bleeding orange into the bowl and gently
press out all the juice that flows freely. This you drink, and you'll
find its flavor miraculously better than just mechanically reamed
juice; for it is the virgin sap, unmixed with pressed pulp, the same
as the grape juice which makes the first cru of fine wines (indeed
the best Tokay is obtained from grapes that press themselves by
their own weight).

The orange pulp is then chewed from the slightly pressed core,
and in order not to waste anything you can throw the skin over
your shoulder and read your fate, or better still, keep it to drape
from the rim of a tall drink glass and spiral down in the liquid
in the style known as Horse's Neck.

3. Sucking — first roll a thin skinned orange (the kind called
Valencias in the trade) on a board or between your hands, to start
the juice running; then with your -sharp knife cut away all the oily,
bitter, colored skin at the stem end, leaving a wide rim of the white
to soothe the lips. Ream the fruit with a thin blade, cutting away
top tissues of the sections and starting the juice sluicing from all
of them. After that Nature tells you just what to do.

4. Sweet sucking — make a little bigger hole and push one or
two cubes of sugar well down toward the center, then suck the
juice through the sugar, as Russians suck tea by holding a sweet

21 WAYS TO EAT I ORANGE I 89

lump of candy or sugar between the teeth and inhaling the hot
tea through it. Or improve on this by thrusting a piece of pepper-
mint candy stick straight through the middle, from hole to heel,
and suck up the juice with that fine flavor added.

5. Cinnamon-flavored — push down a couple spoonfuls of cinna-
mon sugar in place of the cubes, or use the tiny red cinnamon
drops that also flavor baked apples. You might like to suck it
through the natural straw of a whole cinnamon stick instead; or
give it a mint flavor by pushing in a couple of life-savers, or add
spicy oriental zest by sticking in 3 or 4 sen-sen pellets, licorice —
almost any high-flavored candy that will dissolve as quick as sugar.

6. Alcoholic — first soak your sugar cube in rum, kirsch, curacao,
brandy, or your favorite liqueur. This makes a fresh fruity cocktail.
There's no objection, of course, to mixing your drinks in this
innocuous style; so soak one lumpjn rum, and the other in whatever
liquor or liqueur you fancy, even gin, to make your own Mr. Boston.

7. Halving — cut a wide strip of the colored skin around the
belly band, leaving the white. Slice orange in half and gnaw, or
spoon out the contents with a pointed spoon.

8. Mexican style — as above, but sprinkle with coarse salt,
and red pepper.

9. In quarters or eighths — halve each half or quarter it, to
make handy mouthfuls for snapping up with the teeth.

10. In sections — peel away all skin, or knead it a little and
strip oflF with your fingers; remove any white or membranes, sepa-
rate into sections and either remove the fruity cellophanic wrapping
from each or eat them individually as is. Or split lengthwise and
suck the flesh out of the tissue wrapper.

11. In Segments or Wedges — peel deep with a sharp knife so
not only skin and white are sliced off but the top membrane of the
juicy meat as well; leaving it exposed. A sharp steel knife is neces-
sary because a dull one will make the juice bleed. Always remember
— never use a silver fruit knife on an orange, not only because it's
dull, but because it spoils the taste, and is too good a conductor of
heat. Steel ruins the flavor of some fruits, but not the citrous ones.
Cut down through the flesh on both sides of dividing membranes
and lift out the segments or wedges one at a time and pop into

190 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

your mouth. You'll find these more succulent than sections still
wedded to the membrane. The easiest way to do this is to jab a
fork in the end all the way down to the core, to use as a firm handle.
For this method, the bigger the orange, the better. A variation
is to peel off only the acid colored skin that bites the lips and then
slice oflF irregular wedges from end to end, using the white pith
as a handle in eating.

12. Sugared Wedges — heap in a saucer the kind of sugar you
prefer, granulated, powdered, brown, maple, or even colored. Make
wedges as above and dip in each slice expertly on its way to your
mouth. A few drops of orange flower water, curacao or rum sprin-
kled over the sugar gives a fragrant, elusive overtone.

Try this with maple syrup or honey, if you will, and even add
dashes of liqueurs, rose water, Angostura Bitters or one drop of
Tabasco.

13. Rummed Wedges — vary the above by filling your saucer
with kirsch, cognac, curacao, rum or any favorite tipple, with or
without sugar, and just dunk the wedges ad lib.

14. Peppy Wedges — do them Tehu an tepee style for a change
by just touching an edge to salt and red pepper, or paprika, mixed
in your saucer. This really gives an amazing flavor, if not used
too hot, but maybe you have to be born along the Texas-Chili
border to really go for it in such style. But pepper and salt do make
oranges sweeter the same as they do honey-dew melons, and they
also are supposed to help one digest them.

15. Rim Triangles — leave skin and everything on, slice the
orange into rounds of pleasing thickness, as you would cut up a
whole loaf of bread. Then cut each round or slice into handy tri-
angles and use the rim of skin for a handle to lift them to the
mouth one by one. Eat as is, or dip in anything sweet, or peppery.
Perhaps you'd like to try them with a touch of ground cloves or
ginger for a change. There's no law against experimenting.

16. Whole sliced — peel with a sharp knife, right into the juicy
meat, then slice down in whole rounds, sift a little plain sugar, or
fancy sugars, each of a diflferent color or flavor if you like, between
the slices, sandwich them up in the original orange shape and you
have a flavorsome melange or rainbow to fork into your mouth slice
by slice, or cut down in mouthfuls with a sharp knife. And don't

21 WAYS TO EAT I ORANGE I9I

let us discourage you from seasoning one layer sweet and the next
salty or peppery for piquant contrast. Go as far as you like, dust
on different spices, sprinkle on a drop or two of Tabasco or An-
gostura Bitters. There's plenty of gastronomic authority for all
of these and more besides. And by the way, the smallest oranges
are best for slicing and often as sweet as though you'd actually
stolen them.

17. Crosscut slices — cut the peel right off to the juicy meat.
Then instead of slicing straight down, slice on the bias, removing
any outstanding pith or membranes. Cut these slices in ^s, J^s,
8ths, i6ths, or hash them, but be sure to catch all juice in a saucer
and eat everything out of it with a spoon, plain or seasoned to
fancy.

18. Creamed — dab cream cheese, mayonnaise, or whipped
cream on oranges sliced in any style you fancy.

19. Rolled — like candied apples on a stick, oranges may be
peeled right down to the juicy meat and then rolled in coconut,
crushed peppermint stick or cinnamon drops, cocoa, paprika,
crushed ginger nuts, or any spicy dust you say; harpoon firmly
with your fork and nibble around at leisure.

20. Skewered or pegged — in Kingston, Jamaica, at the colorful
Hallelujah Market, oranges are sold freshly pared to the pulp,
run through with wooden skewers, a small patch of skin left at
each end to hold the stick tight. They're eaten on the spot, simply
by holding at both ends and rotating the luscious morsel between
the lips for snatching juicy bites. The same custom prevails
throughout the West Indies, from Bermuda to Trinidad, and is
commonly called "pegging."

21. Fancy forking — all eating of whole oranges impaled on
forks is but a refinement of the skewer method, to avoid using
both hands. But there are even fancy refinements of orange fork-
ing, adopted by ladies who don't like to smear the lip-stick all
over the ears. One is to leave the skin on and cut in six or eight
slices, not around the middle of the orange, but from stem to stern.
Then each slice is impaled with a fork through the skin; seeds and
excess membranes are cut away, and the new-moon segments
chewed most elegantly, while held horizontal with the fork.

In preparing oranges whole, it's well to recall the Assyrian prov-

192 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

erb — An orange is like a cat on a chimney pot. It may look round
to you, but it isn't.

And another good saw to remember is — The more juice in the
eye, the less in the mouth.

People in prunes-and-prisms days used to say with shocked
modesty that oranges shouldn't be sucked in public and that really
the only suitable place to consume one was in the privacy of the
bath tub. They're wrong; that's the proper place to mangle a mango.
Here's a juicy quotation of those orange horrors, from Cranjord:
When oranges came in, a curious proceeding was gone through.
Miss Jenkyns did not like to cut the fruit for, as she observed, the
juice all ran out nobody knows where; sucking (only I think she used
some more recondite word) was, in fact, the only way of enjoying
oranges, but then there was the unpleasant association with a cere-
mony frequently gone through by little babies and so, after dessert
in orange season. Miss Jenkyns and Miss Matty used to rise up,
possess themselves of an orange in silence and withdraw to the privacy
of their own rooms to indulge in sucking oranges.

Some people like to chew the fresh peel or just sit for a while and
smell it, and we see no harm in that, unless it's one of those "Color
Added" abominations. The only fit use we can think of for those
fakes, that even come tied up in red bags so they'll look healthy-
cheeked until you get them in your hand, is to turn them inside
out as containers for blue-flamed Cafe Diable^ or to make one of
those silly little scalloped baskets with or without a bow-ribboned
handle, to hold the inedible pats of fruit salad with which cus-
tomers are molested at penthouse pink teas.

Half of the promise of an orange lurks in that natural golden
glow which gave it the name ''Golden Apple" in ancient days.
Oranges too were then considered to be the mythical ambrosia
that the gods snacked upon; and some sentimental prohibition-
ist or fruitarian once jingled:

"Here's to the orange.
The fruit divine,
Whose golden juice
Is better than wine."

But the chorus to this is obviously **0h yeah?"

XXVI

Sweets

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PULLED TAFFY

Put I cup granulated sugar, i cup brown sugar, 2 cups molasses,
I tablespoon vinegar and ^2 cup water in sauce pan and stir until
sugar dissolves. Boil until a little dropped in cold water makes a
hard ball when rubbed between fingers (265° F,). Add 3 tablespoons
butter, let it melt, then remove from fire and stir in }i teaspoon
soda. Pour into oiled shallow pans and when cool enough to pull,
add a teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract, or 4 drops bitter almond,
or J4 teaspoon of peppermint or wintergreen essence. Pull until
light colored and porous, stretch to a rope about half an inch thick
and cut with shears into inch lengths. Wrap pieces in waxed paper.

DIVINITY FUDGE

Boil 2 cups light brown sugar and J/2 cup cold water until mixture
forms a firm ball when tried in cold water. Beat i egg-white until
stiff, add syrup slowly, beating until creamy. Add J/2 cup chopped
nut meats and i teaspoon of any desired flavor. Drop on waxed
paper in lumps. Candied fruit or coconut may be substituted for
nut meats.

PEANUT BRITTLE

Put 2 cups granulated sugar into heavy pan and melt, stirring
constantly to prevent burning. Scatter a cup of shelled and skinned
peanuts on a greased pan and pour syrup over them. When hard
break into pieces.

^93

194 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PEANUT CRISP

For I quart peanuts shelled and skins removed, take i pound
sugar. Roll peanuts fine. Put a skillet over heat and when very hot
sprinkle in a little sugar, stirring rapidly. As soon as it melts,
sprinkle in more until all the sugar is in, being careful not to let it
burn. Then add a teaspoon of vanilla, stir in the rolled peanuts and
pour immediately into shallow tins, buttered, spreading very thin.

POP CORN BALLS

11/2 CUPS POP CORN I TABLESPOON VINEGAR

1 CUPS MOLASSES 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

I CUP BROWN SUGAR }4 TEASPOON SALT

Pop corn, discard unpopped kernels, put in large pan and
sprinkle with salt. Melt butter in saucepan, add molasses, sugar
and vinegar. Boil until a little of mixture tried in cold water be-
comes brittle. Pour gradually over corn while mixing thoroughly.
Shape into balls and wrap in waxed paper.

For a kids' party insert a tiny surprise package in the center of
each while shaping.

LOLLIPOPS

I>^ CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR }4 CUP CORN SYRUP

}i CUP WATER FLAVOR

Put sugar, water and syrup in saucepan, and boil to the brittle
stage. Flavor as desired and turn into buttered pans. Form into
small balls as soon as candy can be handled and insert wooden
skewers. Flavor with a few drops of oil of cinnamon or wintergreen
or peppermint for a change.

PLAIN FUDGE

1 SQUARES CHOCOLATE 1 CUPS SUGAR

}4 CUP MILK 1 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

I TEASPOON VANILLA

Cut chocolate in small pieces, put in saucepan with milk and
sugar over low heat and stir until chocolate melts. Continue cook-
ing until a teaspoon of syrup will form a soft ball when dropped in

SWEETS 195

cold water. Remove pan from heat, add butter without stirring and
set in a pan of cold water. When lukewarm, take pan from cold
water, add vanilla and beat contents until it thickens. Turn into
buttered pan before it sets, and let cool. % cup of chopped nut-
meats or raisins may be added while beating, if desired, or a cup of
marshmallows, cut in pieces, may be beaten in.

CREAM CANDY

Crease a marble slab, or a platter. Put 1 cups granulated sugar,
I cup boiling water and i tablespoon butter in saucepan over fire,
stir until sugar dissolves, then cook without stirring. If beads form
on sides of pan, wipe down with damp cloth. When a little of the
syrup, tested in cold water, will make a hard, rubbery ball between
fingers, remove from fire and pour on platter, or slab. Take up as
soon as syrup can be handled and pull as long as possible. Form to
slender rope on slab and cut in i-inch lengths with shears. Flavor,
while pulling, with Yi teaspoon of any desired flavor. Leave uncov-
ered overnight, place in a glass jar with waxed paper between
layers, and screw on top. The next day it will be so creamy it will
dissolve on the tongue.

The reason candymakers prefer a marble slab is because it quickly
cools the candy for working. An old marble bureau top is fine for this.

GLAZED FRUITS

String on strong, white linen thread or straws dry, sliced fresh
pineapple, ripe grapes, sections of oranges and grapefruit. Put 2
cups sugar, i cup boiling water and yi tablespoon of cream of tartar
in saucepan. Stir until sugar dissolves, bring to boiling point and
continue boiling without stirring until syrup spins a long thread
from tip of spoon when tested. Remove saucepan from fire in-
stantly and place in larger saucepan of cold water to stop boiling;
then remove from cold water and place in a saucepan of hot water.
Dip into it a string of the sliced fruits. It is easier to make these
short and all of a kind on i thread, but vary them if you like. Dust
with powdered sugar as fast as each is dipped and lay upon waxed
paper to harden. Nuts may also be dipped in this way, but care
must be taken not to split the meats in stringing.

196 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

SUNKISSED STRAWBERRIES

Wash berries, drain and hull them. For each pound of fruit take
I pound of sugar, and don*t do too many at a time — 3 pounds is a
generous amount. Put them in a preserving kettle with enamel
lining, make a heavy syrup with 3 pounds of sugar and i cup of
water and pour this over berries, shaking kettle to cover the berries
well. Set over fire and cook 15 minutes after boiling begins. Pour
into earthen plates or platters, cover with glass, not too close to
shut out the air, and set in the sun. In 2 days, if the sun is properly
amorous, the syrup will be thick, richly colored and ready to store
in jars or glasses, the same as for jelly.

Since no monopoly has got hold of the sun's heat yet, there's no
charge for the cooking in this recipe.

SOFT GINGERBREAD

4 CUPS FLOUR I TABLESPOON GINGER

I TEASPOON SODA I TEASPOON CINNAMON

^ TEASPOON SALT I/^ TEASPOON NUTMEG

I CUP SHORTENING 2 EGGS, WELL BEATEN

I CUP MOLASSES I CUP SOUR MILK

I CUP SUGAR

Mix flour, soda and salt and sift twice. Place shortening, molas-
ses, sugar and spices in mixing bowl, set over boiling water and
leave just long enough for contents to heat through, then beat all
together until well blended. Add beaten eggs and milk, stir in sifted
flour and beat vigorously. Pour into a greased and floured dripping
pan, dust a little sugar over top and bake 2S to 40 minutes in
moderate oven (350° F.). The cake may be cut in squares and eaten
hot or cold, or cut in halves and put together with any preferred
filling. A cup of currants or i of raisins, seeded, cut in pieces, with
a little of the flour sprinkled through them, may be added to batter
to give it a fruity taste; also i or both of the egg whites may be
omitted and used for frosting. The batter if made a little thinner
(about 2 tablespoons less flour), may be poured into patty pans, ^
full, and baked in 15 minutes.

Ready-to-mix gingerbread sold in packages is good and quicker
to make, but even if they throw in a nickel tin you get little for

SWEETS 197

your money and have to turn on the oven besides. So while you
are about it why not make a generous sized cake and have left-overs
for snacking or next day's luncheon.

DATE CAKE

I TEASPOON SODA 2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

1 CUP HOT WATER I CUP SUGAR

^2 PACKAGE DATES, I EGG, WELL BEATEN

CUT IN PIECES I>^ CUPS FLOUR, SIFTED TWICE

yi TEASPOON VANILLA

Dissolve soda in hot water, stir into dates and set aside till cold.
Cream butter and sugar, add beaten egg, date mixture, sifted flour
and vanilla; beat vigorously. Put in greased and floured cake pan
and bake 30 minutes in moderate oven.

APPLESAUCE CAKE

2 CUPS FLOUR y^. CUP BUTTER, OR OTHER SHORT-
I TEASPOON SODA ENING

\]/2 TEASPOONS CINNAMON I CUP SUGAR

yi TEASPOON CLOVES I CUP RAISINS, SEEDED

I CUP COLD THICK APPLESAUCE, STRAINED

Cream butter, add sugar gradually and beat until light and
fluffy. Mix and sift flour twice with soda and spices. Add alter-
nately with applesauce to first mixture, a small amount at a time;
and stir in raisins dredged with a little flour saved out for the
purpose. Put into a buttered and floured cake pan and bake 40
minutes in moderate oven (350° F.), or bake 15 minutes in patty
pans.

This cake is not only inexpensive but it is decidedly reminiscent
of rich fruit cake in taste and surely is easier on the digestion. It is
an old American recipe that should never be left out of the home
baker's repertoire.

SPICE CAKE

^ CUP MOLASSES 2 EGG YOLKS, WELL BEATEN

3 TABLESPOONS BROWN SUGAR % CUP BOILING WATER
\yi TEASPOONS CINNAMON I>^ CUPS FLOUR

^ TEASPOON NUTMEG I TEASPOON SODA

198 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Mix molasses, sugar, spices and beaten yolks together, add boil-
ing water and beat thoroughly; add flour, sift twice, with soda, and
beat again. Bake in 3 layers in moderate oven and put together
with a frosting made with the 2 egg whites. One tablespoon ginger
may be used for spice if preferred. An excellent everyday cake.

FEATHER CAKE

2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER l}4 CUPS FLOUR

1 CUP SUGAR l}4 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

2 EGGS I^ TEASPOON SALT

^2 CUP MILK

Stir butter, sugar and eggs together and beat well. Sift flour,
baking powder and salt together and add alternately with milk to
first mixture, a small quantity at a time. Bake in 2 greased layer-
cake pans 25 to 30 minutes in moderate oven (360° F.). Put to-
gether with any desired filling, jelly goes fine with it. The cake may
also be baked in muffin pans. There are many variations to this
plain cake. You may stir a cup of grated coconut into the batter
or a cup of nutmeats for a change; or if 2 tablespoons of flour are
omitted and a grated ounce of chocolate added with a teaspoon of
vanilla extract for flavor, you will have a chocolate cake. The
grated yellow of an orange and a little of the juice will lend it
another flavor, i scant cup of floured raisins or currants or a little
chopped citron may be added for a fruit cake, but 2 more table-
spoons of shortening will be needed to keep the cake from becoming
dry and crumbly.

INEXPENSIVE COCOA CAKE

2 TABLESPOONS COCOA I CUP SOUR MILK

1)4 CUPS FLOUR I EGG, WELL BEATEN

I TEASPOON BAKING POWDER I CUP SUGAR

}4 TEASPOON SODA 2 TABLESPOONS SOFTENED BUTTER

}4 TEASPOON SALT I TEASPOON VANILLA

Sift together first 5 ingredients. Whip sour milk, add to beaten
egg and beat thoroughly; beat in sugar and softened butter; add
vanilla, give a final beating and fold in the sifted flour mixture.
Spices may be used for seasoning, if desired, and 2 or 3 tablespoons

SWEETS 199'

of shortening added for a slightly richer cake. Bake in a moderate
oven as cup cakes, in a sheet, or in layers. Inexpensive, but surpris-
ingly good. Baked in 3 layers and put together with plain boiled
frosting, this cake is at its best.

BOILED FROSTING

l}4 CUPS SUGAR 2 EGG WHITES, BEATEN TILL STIFF

^2 CUP HOT WATER FLAVOR AS DESIRED

Put sugar and water in saucepan, stir until sugar is dissolved
and bring to boiling point. Boil without stirring (if crystals form on
sides of pan wipe down with dampened cloth) until syrup will spin
a long thread when dropped from spoon. Add flavor and pour syrup
gradually into beaten egg whites while beating constantly. Continue
beating until of right consistency to spread. For i egg white use i
cup of sugar, }i cup of water and add }i teaspoon of cream of
tartar.

This frosting may take a little more skill to make than a butter
frosting or one made with confectioner's sugar, but it is well worth
the trouble, since it has no peer when it comes to real creaminess in
taste. Besides it may be varied ad infinitum by additions to the
frosting. Nutmeats, chopped figs, marshmallows, raisins, dates or
a melted square of chocolate are a few suggestions.

ECONOMY QUICK CAKE

I CUP FLOUR 4 TABLESPOONS SHORTENING

I CUP SUGAR 2 EGGS

% TEASPOON SALT SKIMMED MILK

1 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER FLAVOR TO TASTE

Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl without sift-
ing. Put shortening, which must be soft, into a cup; break in eggs,
beat slightly and fill up cup with milk. Add this slowly to dry in-
gredients, stirring constantly. Beat until bubbles appear, then
flavor with vanilla, lemon or almond extract. It is an accommodat-
ing cake, since it may be baked as a loaf, in 2 layers, or in muffin
pans. Also i egg white may be reserved for frosting. If you're out
for economy try this one: beat the egg white with a thinly sliced

200

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

ripe banana, added gradually. With an egg beater continue beating
until mixture is a light creamy froth. Sweeten with powdered sugar
and flavor to taste.

If baked in layers, this cake takes kindly to any fruit jelly filling.
Lemon jelly, made with i cup sugar, juice and grated rind of i
lemon, i tablespoon water and 2 teaspoons flour, mixed and cooked
in double boiler until thick, is a delicious spread. And try this one:
pare and grate i large sour apple, mix with it i cup sugar, the juice
and grated yellow rind of i lemon and boil 3 minutes. Cool and
spread between cakes.

Fresh fruit whips are superfine when chilled and served with
cake. Crush i cup of any ripe flavorsome fruit with i cup of sugar,
whip it well together with 2 egg whites for 2 or 3 minutes, then with
egg beater continue beating as long as the elbow holds out. Fruit
marmalades are also good, in winter when fresh fruit is scarce.

LAYER CAKE (WITHOUT BUTTER)

1 CUP POWDERED SUGAR

2 EGG YOLKS
I CUP FLOUR

^ TEASPOON SALT

1^2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
2 TABLESPOONS MILK
^ TEASPOON VANILLA OR LEMON
2 EGG WHITES, BEATEN TILL STIFF

Beat egg yolks with sugar. Sift flour with salt and baking powder,
add y2 to first mixture and beat well; beat in milk and flavor, add
remaining flour and beat again. Fold in beaten egg. Bake in 2 layers
in moderate oven. This cake is quite like a sponge cake and is
especially good with a cream or chocolate filling.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

I CUP SUGAR

I EGG, WELL BEATEN

1% TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

2 CUPS FLOUR

j/i TEASPOON SALT

I CUP MILK

Cream butter and sugar, add beaten egg. Mix and sift flour,
baking powder and salt, and add alternately with milk to first
mixture, beating well after each addition. Bake 25 minutes in 3
oiled layer-cake pans in moderate oven. For chocolate filling, put

SWEETS 20I

6 tablespoons grated chocolate, i cup sugar, i cup milk and i egg
into double boiler; cook until thick, stirring constantly, then add I
teaspoon vanilla and spread between layers and on top of cake.

These cakes are too good to be restricted to a chocolate filling
only. They will combine most happily with any desired filling or
frosting.

SNAP DOODLE

Turn above cake batter into a greased dripping pan for this
delectable. Sift powdered sugar over top and over that either
grated chocolate or coconut. Bake in moderate oven. When done
cut in squares and eat hot.

BREAD PUDDING WITHOUT MILK

Put i}^ cups stale bread crumbs into a bowl and just cover with
boiling water. When soft, mix with them a cup of any fruit on hand,
cooked or fresh, add 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 well-beaten
egg yolks. Beat all together thoroughly, sweeten and spice to taste.
Put in buttered dish and bake 20 minutes in moderate oven. Make
a meringue with egg whites, spread on finished pudding and brown
lightly in oven. Dot generously with jelly when served and no sauce
will be required. Homemade jelly, of course, the frugal housewife
always puts up during summer, while fruits run riot, and stores as a
sort of insurance against leaner days.

APPLE PUDDING, SPICED

3 CUPS BREAD CRUMBS 3 TABLESPOONS BRANDY

I PINT SCALDED MILK I TABLESPOON CINNAMON

3 CUPS CHOPPED APPLES ^2 TEASPOON CLOVES

I CUP SUGAR I TEASPOON MACE

1 EGG YOLKS, BEATEN TILL THICK 1 EGG WHITES, BEATEN TILL STIFF

Pour hot milk over bread crumbs and let stand until well sof-
tened. Beat until creamy, add apples, sugar, beaten yolks, brandy
and spices, folding in beaten whites last. Bake about 30 minutes in
moderately hot oven (375° F.) until pudding is set and delicately
browned. May be eaten with most any sweet sauce.

202 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

COTTAGE PUDDING

y^ CUP SHORTENING 2 CUPS FLOUR

% CUP SUGAR X TEASPOON SALT

I EGG 2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

I CUP MILK FEW GRATINGS OF NUTMEG

Cream butter and sugar and beat until light and frothy. Sift
flour, salt, baking powder and spice together and add alternately
with milk to first mixture, beating after each addition. Bake in
greased, round pudding dish about 35 minutes in moderate oven
(350° F.). Bring hot to the table and cut like cake. Serve with any
sweet sauce. The following is a simple but tasty one: dissolve i cup
of sugar in 2 cups boiling water, stir in 2 tablespoons cornstarch,
which has first been mixed with a little cold water until smooth.
Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly, remove from heat and stir in
butter. Flavor to taste with vanilla or any desired spice and i
tablespoon lemon juice or a little less of vinegar.

The same sauce with any flavor variation you like will make a
company dish of this pudding: cream Yi cup of butter with 2 cups
of sugar; stir 2 scant tablespoons cornstarch, first mixed with a
little cold water, into i>^ cups boiling water and cook while con-
stantly stirring until thickened. Turn into a bowl, add juice of i
lemon, half of grated rind and creamed mixture. Beat at least 3
minutes and return to saucepan. Reheat not quite to boiling point,
add ]4. cup wine and serve.

BAKED CUSTARD

4 EGGS I TEASPOON VANILLA, OR OTHER

yi CUP SUGAR FLAVOR

yi TEASPOON SALT I QUART SCALDED MILK

Beat eggs slightly, add sugar, salt, and flavoring and gradually
stir in scalded milk. Pour into buttered cups or i large mold. Set
in pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 30 to 40
minutes if in cup molds; 20 to 30 minutes longer if in large mold.
Insert a silver-plated knife in center of custard; when done the
knife will come out clean. Cinnamon, a few gratings of nutmeg, or
coconut may be sprinkled over custard when ready for oven. Many
variations of the custard may be made by placing a layer of cooked

SWEETS

203

and sweetened fruit in bottom of buttered mold before pouring in
custard and baking. Apples, pitted peaches, prunes, apricots, or
pears, with a little chopped ginger, are all excellent for the purpose.
Canton ginger is best and can be bought in any Chinatown for a
fair price. It comes in beautiful peasant pottery jars that are useful
vases for years after the ginger's gone.

SNOWY PLUM PUDDING

l}i POUNDS FLOUR
I CUP SWEET CREAM
I POUND SEEDED RAISINS
}4 CUP MILK

4 OUNCES CURRANTS

4 OUNCES MASHED POTATOES

I CUP BROWN SUGAR

14 CUP SNOW

Mix and work ingredients thoroughly together, season with spice
to taste, and when ready to put into the pudding bag, stir y^ cup of
fresh clean snow very quickly into the mixture. Two tablespoons of
snow are equal to i egg in making any pudding light, so the snow in
this recipe takes the place of 4 eggs, a saving of 15^. Besides, the
snow feature makes interesting table talk and really gives new snap
to this ancient pudding. It was invented, of course, by resourceful
pioneers who had plenty of snow in winter but almost no eggs.

XXVII Frozen Desserts

The ghastly expose of certain commercial ice creams and similar
frozen products has driven many of us back to the home freezer.
Such foods should be under the same control as our milk supply,
since they are subject to the same adulterations, and are carriers of
typhoid and other dangerous disease germs. But legal standards
for the manufacturers are undoubtedly too low and inspection to
enforce existing laws has proved inadequate.

The Consumers Union tests of over forty bulk and packaged
frozen creams and milks, made in New York City and probably
typical of most cities, revealed that many of the well known makers
are guilty of slick practices to defraud the public and of permitting
unwholesome conditions of manufacture. In the case of bulk ice
creams, the chance of uncleanliness of the distributor doubles the
health risk. Since the same survey revealed that there are pure
products on the market, and that all ice creams are not blown up
with air or deficient in butter fat, it becomes the personal concern
of every consumer to protect both health and pocket book. The best
buys come in bulk, but it is not enough just to take a peek at the

204

FROZEN DESSERTS 20$

dealer's refrigerator, his utensils, hands, and the cloths with which
he washes up. Local plants, where the stuff is made, should also be
checked. An active housewives' association is the best spur toward
a clean ice cream factory.

Let no woman repine that she hasn't an electric refrigerator when
it comes to making frozen desserts. We have tried about twenty
recipes in our refrigerator before returning to the old fashioned ice-
salt-grinding method, at least until the time when refrigerator
freezing units are better adapted to this purpose. We got the worst
results from packaged "mixes," finding them deficient in quality.
A number of our recipes, based on milk, which required eggs, corn-
starch, flour or gelatin to give body, had to be removed and stirred
so many times to ensure smoothness that the labor and attention
seemed greater than if we had made one job of it in a freezer. The
long freezing time required, never less than four hours, made the
process a nuisance, too. From all points of view, there was only one
recipe we ever cared to repeat, and that was a mousse; just pure
cream, seasoned and sweetened. And this is not so expensive as it
sounds, for the cream is always whipped for mousses, making it go
twice as far. Since no other liquid was added, the whipped cream
froze smooth and rich without stirring.

Our second choice, not so flavorsome, but more economical, was
a combination of whipped cream and gelatin dissolved in milk, as
follows:

REFRIGERATOR ICE CREAM

I TABLESPOON GRANULATED GELATIN }4 TEASPOON SALT

^2 CUP COLD WATER I CUP WmPPING CREAM

I CUP HOT MILK }4 CUP POWDERED SUGAR

}^ CUP SUGAR I>^ TEASPOONS VANILLA

Sprinkle gelatin over surface of cold water; add hot milk, sugar
and salt; stir until gelatin dissolves; let cool until it begins to
thicken; then whip until light. Whip cream until stiff, add powdered
sugar and vanilla; fold into whipped gelatin. Put into ice trays and
freeze; stir once, after freezing for an hour.

When we moved to the country last Spring, no one in the Brown
family was sorry to exchange the little apartment kitchen, with its

2o6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

electric refrigerator, for a real kitchen and an old-fashioned icebox.
For less than a dollar we bought a freezer which makes two quarts
of ice cream in a jiffy, with a minimum of ice and salt. On hot days
we have had our own frozen desserts which cost no more, even when
made entirely of cream, than the blown-up counterfeits sold by local
purveyors. We can buy a quart of cream — but no less than a quart
— from our milkman at the wholesale price, around 60^. Then we
add a pint of something to it, and the mixture swells to two quarts
in freezing. That pint of something may be one cup of crushed fruit
and one cup of the same fruit, but cut up — not crushed — peaches,
berries, bananas, or canned pineapple. The crushed fruit is mixed
with the cream, then sweetened to taste, and the cut-up fruit, first
sweetened, is put into the freezer when the mixture has begun to
congeal. If no suitable fruit is at hand, we just add a tin of evapo-
rated milk instead, to make up the proper bulk, sweetening and
seasoning as we like.

Such ice creams as these are rich in butter fat, and the expense of
them can be charged up to the nourishing part of the meal. But
since we eat frozen desserts for their comfort-giving coolness rather
than for nourishment, a frozen custard answers the same purpose
at smaller cost, and has a quality all its own, except when it's made
in one of those fraudulent Coney Island contraptions, which use
more air than any other ingredient.

FROZEN CUSTARD

2 TINS EVAPORATED MILK I CUP SUGAR

2 CUPS WATER j4 TEASPOON SALT

1}4 TABLESPOONS FLOUR I EGG

lj4 TEASPOONS VANILLA

Mix I tin evaporated milk with i>^^cups water. Blend flour with
5^ cup water until no lumps remain; pour into thinned milk
through a sieve; add sugar and salt; bring to boiling point, stirring
constantly; then cook 5-10 minutes in double boiler. Beat egg with
a little evaporated milk until well mixed; add, stirring until it thick-
ens slightly. Take from fire before egg can curdle. Cool and chill.
When ready to freeze, add remaining evaporated milk and vanilla.

FROZEN DESSERTS IQ-J

If a vanilla bean is used — and the difference of flavor is worth it —
cut off two inches of bean and cook with the custard, saving the
cooked bean to use again several times.

LEMON ICE CREAM

JUICE 6 LEMONS yi TEASPOON SALT

lyi CUPS SUGAR 1 TINS EVAPORATED MILK

2 EGG WHITES

Mix lemon juice, sugar and salt. Slowly add to milk. Start to
freeze, and when mixture is mushy, fold in the stiffly beaten egg
whites.

PLAIN VANILLA ICE CREAM

This old-time favorite has stood the test of popularity for a cen-
tury, ever since Carlo Gatti introduced ice cream to England and
other Italians brought it over to this country:

I QUART SWEET CREAM yi POUND SUGAR

VANILLA BEAN

Scrape the small black seeds from a two-inch section of vanilla
bean and mix pod and all into cream and sugar, dissolving the sugar
in the cream over gentle heat and removing the piece of vanilla
bean pod before cooling the mixture and freezing. This seedless
vanilla bean pod can be used several times for flavoring other dishes,
and should always be saved until it gets as worn out as an old piece
of leather.

The black specks of vanilla seeds were formerly thought to be
pepper, put in for the sake of the stomach, to heat up the cold dish
and counteract any ill effect on the digestion. At least one modern
ice cream maker still uses this unbeatable recipe and advertises
**Look for the specks!'* to prove it's genuine. Old-timers used to
dust their pre-sundaes with the pepper shaker, too. It's terrible!

Mexican vanilla beans are much better than even the best pep-
per. Usually they're sold singly in glass tubes about 8 inches long,
costing about a quarter, and to our mind they are better value than
liquid vanilla extracts, which of course have only a trace of the true
flavor of the bean.

208 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

CHOCOLATE

2 QUARTS CREAM 2>^ OUNCES CHOCOLATE, MELTED

1 POUND SUGAR VANILLA EXTRACT, OR BEAN

Heat cream and sugar until sugar is dissolved, add to melted
chocolate, flavor with vanilla, strain through muslin, cool and freeze.

PEANUT ICE CREAM

2 CUPS SUGAR 3 EGGS

2 QUARTS MILK VANILLA BEAN

2 CUPS CREAM 2 CUPS PEANUTS

Brown i cup sugar and stir into milk, then put in the second cup
of sugar plain. Whip eggs, add cream and flavor with a 2-inch piece
of vanilla bean and add to sugar and milk mixture. Crush roasted
peanuts fine and stir them in last. Freeze.

Since peanuts are rich in fat and, indeed, a cream as well as oil is
extracted from them, this recipe calls for much more milk than
cream, yet it will be quite as rich as old-fashioned ice creams which
call for cream only.

XXVIII. Rich Man iS^,

Poor Man

It's enlightening, even refreshing, to contrast lavish recipes for
indigestible dishes, made to tickle the palate of the rich and often
labelled a la Financiered with others that have been known for
centuries as Poor Man's Sauce, Poor Man's Pudding, Poor Boy
Sandwiches, Poor this and Poor that till you're blue in the face.
Some are lousy, others swell; and when it comes to a steady diet the
poor-boy recipes have the splurgy ones beat a mile, but what gets
us down is the silly self-consciousness of the poor themselves who
invented these sound recipes out of sheer need, yet refuse to admit
their own poverty by evasively naming their cheap but sound
sauces and sweets after some mythical "Poor Man" who couldn't
possibly be they themselves.

So here's an ancient sample of about as flossy a billionaire sauce
as can be thrown together:

Take red wine, gravy, sweet herbs, and spice, in which toss up
lamb stones, cockscombs boiled, blanched and sliced, with sliced
sweetbreads, oysters, mushrooms, truffles, and morels; thicken
these with brown butter, and use it occasionally when wanted to
enrich a ragout of any sort.

209

2IO

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

And in contrast, here are some classic Proletarian Puddings;
the first, calling for only one egg, is a dandy, if you can squeeze a
little rum out of the bottle for the sauce:

POOR MAN'S PUDDING (i)

1 EGG, LIGHTLY BEATEN

2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR

4 TABLESPOONS MOLASSES

iy2 CUPS FLOUR

SALT

I TEASPOON CINNAMON

1 TEASPOON SODA
1}4 CUPS HOT WATER

yi CUP RAISINS, FLOURED

2 TABLESPOONS SHORTENING,

MELTED
RUM SAUCE

Stir sugar and molasses into beaten egg, sift in flour, salt and cin-
namon. Dissolve soda in a little hot water and beat in. Add shorten-
ing and raisins. Grease pudding mold and fill within an inch of top,
cover closely and steam i>^ hours. Serve with rum or lemon sauce.

POOR MAN'S PUDDING (2)

Cut a roll into thin slices, leaving the crust on; pour over them i
pint of milk mixed with two beaten eggs and a small quantity of
sugar and grated nutmeg. Let the slices soak in this custard for an
hour, pour it off, and let them drain for an hour; then fry them
brown, and serve hot with wine sauce.

POOR MAN'S PUDDING (3)

Take some stale bread; pour over it some hot water, till it is well
soaked; then press out the water and wash the bread; add some
powdered ginger, nutmeg grated, and a little salt; some rose water
or sack, some sugar, and some currants; mix them well together, and
lay it in a pan well buttered on the sides; and when it is well flatted
with a spoon, lay some pieces of butter on top; bake it in a gentle
oven, and serve it hot. You may turn it out of the pan when it is
cold, and it will eat like a fine cheesecake.

(For A Poor Boy Sandwich, see chapter on Sandwiches.)

AN UMBLE PIE

Take the humbles of a buck, boil them, chop them as small as
meat for minced pies and put to them as much beef suet, eight

211

apples, half a pound of sugar, a pound and a half of currants, a
little salt, some mace, cloves, nutmeg, and a little pepper; then
mix them together into a paste; add half a pint of sack, the juice
of one lemon and orange, close the pie, and when it is baked,
serve it up.

POOR MAN'S SAUCE (i)

Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them
very fine, strew over a little salt; shred fine half a dozen young
green onions, add these to the parsley, and put them in a sauce-
boat, with three tablespoon fuls of oil, and five of vinegar; add some
ground black pepper and salt; stir together and send it up.

Pickled French beans or gherkins, cut fine, may be added, or a
little horseradish.

This recipe, from Dr. Kitchiner*s Cook*s Oracle^ more than a cen-
tury old, has the added observation: "This sauce is in much esteem
in France, where people of taste, weary of rich dishes, to obtain the
charm of variety, occasionally order the plain fare of the peasant."

In Dr. Kitchiner's day the rich were supposed to have different
tasters from the poor and that swanky line of his — "and send it
up'* refers to the wife or slavy who cooked in a basement scullery
and "sent it up" to master or husband by some under-slavy,
usually a child, to the dining room on the main floor. And even to-
day England clings to the scullery and slavy, which sharply di-
vides both the sexes and the "clawses." Indeed, an English woman
of any "rank" is supposed to shine her husband's shoes.

POOR MAN'S SAUCE (2)

1 TEASPOONS CHOPPED SHALLOTS 3 TABLESPOONS VINEGAR
I TEASPOON MINCED PARSLEY 2 TABLESPOONS BROTH
I TEASPOON MINCED TARRAGON PEPPER

SALT

Put everything in a saucepan and boil a few minutes.

212 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

POOR MAN'S SAUCE (3)

I CUP BROTH I TABLESPOON CHOPPED ONIONS

1 SLICE LEMON

Cook together until onions are soft, remove lemon and serve.

Equal parts vinegar and water with chopped shallots, lemon
juice, pepper and salt.

English cooks say this is extra good for warming up cold mutton.

Some stir a beaten egg yolk into any of the above sauces to make
them richer.

XXIX. "JVe Dine for the Poor

In "Old Cookery Books" W. C. Hazlitt tells how a farm owner
in Shakespeare's time indulged his ** hinds" by feeding them some
of the meat they fattened for him, twice a week, on Sunday and
Thursday, which of course is much more than the modern share-
cropper gets. But Hazlitt says this was exceptionally good treat-
ment and gives us quaint culinary news from another food writer,
Tobias Venner, who shook a mean quill in the time of "Good
Queen Bess":

Venner considered two meals a day sufficient for all ordinary people,
— breakfast at eleven and supper at six (as at the universities); but
he thought that children and the aged or infirm could not be tied to
any rule. He condemns "bull's beef" as rank, unpleasant, and indi-
gestible, and holds it best for the laborer; which seems to indicate
more than anything else the low state of knowledge in the grazier,
when Venner wrote: but there is something beyond friendly counsel
where our author dissuades the poor from eating partridges, because
they are calculated to promote asthma. "Wherefore," he ingeniously
says, "when they shall chance to meet with a covey of young par-
tridges, they were much better to bestow them upon such, for whom
they are convenient."

And all the way through culinary literature we find this idea per-
sisting: that the fat of the land is far too good for the people who

213

2l4 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

produce it. Workers, until recently, were supposed to have different
tasters and partridges have always been considered too rich for
their blood. This line of unreasoning was established by gormandiz-
ing medieval monks who spent most of their waking hours sampling
special dishes and brews, roUing their eyes and patting their stom-
achs, while they purred, "Ah, this is much too good for the laity."
To be sure, these charitable priests gave beer and black bread to
pilgrims who tottered starving to their gates, but it was a cheaply
brewed "small beer" handed out with "coarse" bread while they
regaled themselves on specially brewed "strong beer" with fancy
cakes, and even in the Lenten season brotherly cooks smuggled
into their refectories great dishes of forbidden meat camouflaged
under coverings of fish, which made chance penitents think the
fathers were keeping their fast honestly.

We still have traces of the best-being-none-too-good-for-the-
clergy in poor women who save a drop of good drink they can't
afford to taste themselves to give to the priest when he comes to
pray with them. And among Protestants the Sunday chicken dinner
for the minister is an established custom, with the wishbone for
him and the backbone for the family, who subsist on corned beef
the rest of the week. All of which parallels the practice in darkest
Africa where the medicine men get free beer parties to keep them
from casting the evil eye on tribal herbs.

The low food standards of English workers in 1750 is recorded in
the preface to Mrs. Glasse's cookbook where, for the first time, she
points to the great gulf between the diets of the classes and tells of
difficulties she encountered in an "attempt to instruct the lower
sort":

For example, when I bid them lard a fowl, if I should bid them lard
with large lardoons they would not know what I meant; but when I
say they must lard with little pieces of Bacon, they know what I
mean.

In spite of this, during the craft period "the labourers dyet" is
recorded as " Milk, butter and cheese .... and a pot of good Beer
quickens his spirits." On the other hand, a survey of today's work-
er's diet in the New York "Times says he can't afford to buy milk,

**WE DINE FOR THE POOR*' 215

but subsists on pork and cereals, while nothing is said about the
bad beer, now made with rice to give it a cheap kick, for which he
pays a dime a glass. This looks like Liberty League propaganda,
but it serves.to remind us of Hoover's failure to provide "two chick-
ens in every pot," a failure everlastingly recorded in the name
"Hoover hog" for the armadillo on which depression residents in
Mexican-border Hoovervilles sub-subsist.

It is true also that the majority of dispossessed farmers, especially
in the South, don't even get the pork, but exist on unappetizing
cornmeal mush which they call **hushpuppy" because it attempts
to still the inward cries of hunger. And Erskine Caldwell has shown
us whole populations of 100% Americans who are down to a diet
of grubs and clay. Likewise the grasshopper ravages have driven
Western farmers to eating that pest which has left them nothing
else to feed on, even as Chinese coolies were driven to making sweet-
meats of roast locust thousands of years ago. And while baked
grasshoppers are a genuine addition to our national menu, the same
as cooked crows in the corn belt, the obvious objection to both is
that there's nothing else to vary the monotony of the diet. It
smacks of the enlisted Navy man's bean song, with the melancholy
refrain, "All American mothers, I want to say to you, Monday
b-e-a-n-s, Tuesday s-o-o-u-p, Wednesday b-e-a-n-s — all American
mothers, I want to say to you!"

For it doesn't matter how great a delicacy any food is, too much
of it is plenty — as is eloquently proved by early laws which for-
bade voracious Southern planters feeding their slaves terrapin more
than twice a week and likewise shad and shad roe, both of which
are expensive delicacies today but used to be so common they were
shoveled out as the cheapest food, costing the owner nothing be-
yond the labor of bringing them in by the ton.

But now that the organization of labor is helping the toiler enjoy
more of the fruits of his own production, there's no fear of his ever
again slipping back to abjectly taking a repulsive diet lying down.

"COOKERY FOR THE POOR"

Passing from Shakespearean times to our revolutionary war
period, let us observe the illuminating "General Remarks and

21 6 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

Hints" in A New System of Domestic Cookery, formed upon princi-
ples of economy; and adapted to the use of private families through-
out the United States^ published in i8cx) and signed significantly
"By a Lady."

I promised a few hints, to enable every family to assist the poor
of their neighborhood at a very trivial expense; and these may be
varied or amended at the discretion of the mistress.

Where cows are kept, a jug of skimmed milk is a valuable present,
and a very common one.

When the oven is hot, a large pudding may be baked, and given to
a sick or young family; and thus made that trouble is little: Into a
deep coarse pan put half a pound of rice, four ounces of coarse sugar
or molasses, two quarts of milk, and two ounces of drippings; set it
cold into the oven. It will take a good while, but be an excellent solid
food.

A very good meal may be bestowed in a thing called brewis which
is thus made: Cut a very thick crust of bread, and put it into the pot
where salt beef is boiling and near ready: it will attract some of the
fat, and when swelled out, will be no unpalatable dish to those who
rarely taste meat.

Although brewis brings up thoughts of hearty Scotch days when
"the top of the pot and tail of the herring" were the choice servings
reserved for the head of the house, this thin pot is more reminiscent
of the Irish potato famine when a cold potato and a glass of
buttermilk was almost a banquet. Our "lady" authoress considered
a crust of bread soaked in the salt pork scum, that otherwise would
have been skimmed off and thrown away, as a "thing" plenty good
enough for "those who rarely taste meat."

"A jug oi skimmed m\\k" and a "coarse" pudding, made with
little trouble and "trivial expense" puts us in mind of Mrs. Hearst's
milk fund charities, the milk of human kindness of Borden and
Sheffield and the lousy bread lines maintained by the charitable
ladies and gents down to this day.

But we can't leave this "lady" writer of 1800 without quoting
her admonition about the staff of life:

Bread is now so heavy an article of expense that all waste should be
guarded against, and having it cut in the (dining) room will tend much

WE DINE FOR THE POOR 217

to prevent it; since the scarcity in 1795 and 1800, that custom has
been much adopted.

From this we see that the poor were crying for bread just after
the Revolution even as they were under the queen who said **Let
'em eat cake" and later under Mayor Walker who brought that
wisecrack up to date. Obviously, the cookbook- writing "lady"
warns against the "waste" of bread that might come about through
some starving Jean Valjean helping himself to a heel in the pantry.
Yet her advice about cutting the loaf in person comes handy in this
day when baking trusts get away with twelve cents a loaf and take
care to slice it as thick as they can, to make sure that we'll waste
enough of every loaf to insure a 12% dividend for them. They cut
the end crusts a little closer, to make them too awkward to eat, and
as a result most of them are thrown away. So, in spite of the mod-
ern convenience of pre-cut bread, which, by the way, even a Gov-
ernment Bulletin warns us against, those of us who can't afford
any waste and really know the taste of fresh bread will buy loaves
whole and slice them in person, as needed.

It was not until the year 1823 that anybody spoke up in a cook-
book for the vast majority of all eaters, the Have-nots. This was in
William Cobbett's Cottage Economy:

I am strongly disposed to believe that the manufacture, the estab-
lishment of which I am endeavoring to promote, will be beneficial
to my country in many respects, and particularly, that it will tend
to better the lot of the laboring classes; to cause them to live better
than they now live; to give them better food and better raiment than
they now have; and to assist in driving from their minds the effects
of that pernicious and despicable cant which has long been dinning
into their ears, that hungry bellies and ragged backs are marks of the
grace of God.

And such brave words have not appeared in the thousands of
cookbooks that have gone under the bridge since. Practically all of
which are written for the Haves, in the elegant style of that famous
French chef Soyer who gave his whole culinary genius to keeping
Queen Victoria well-fattened. Contrast Cobbett's honest, human
expression with this high-sounding bunk from Soyer's Pantropheon:

21 8 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

The Greeks and Romans — egotists, if there ever were any —
supped for themselves, and lived only to sup; our pleasures are en-
nobled by views more useful and more elevated. We often dine for the
poor, and we sometimes dance for the afflicted, the widow, and the
orphan.

Soyer*s "we" is purely rhetorical, for by it he means the Dukes
and Duchesses, Ducks and Drakes who were his patrons about a
century ago. They, not he, held charity dances and banquets where
the "quality" danced and ate "for the poor" — while Soyer and
his working class stood well outside that classy circle, content
with the Lord's Cold Potato, the io% for charity which the Lords
and Ladies dispensed to calm their consciences.

But from merely bending the knee in his Pantropheon Soyer gets
right down and grovels on the ground in another cookbook grandly
called 'The Gastronomic Regenerator. Its dedication is topped with
the royal arms of his patron. The Duke of Cambridge, consisting
of crowned lions, knight's armor, a unicorn and Dieu et mon Droit,
as well as Honi soit qui mal y pense:

To His Royal Highness
'The Duke of Cambridge
Your Royal Highness,

The gracious condescension which permits of the dedication of
this Work to your Royal Highness, adds another of the many claims
upon my devotedness and my gratitude.
I have the high honour to be

Your Royal Highness*
Most obedient and humble Servant

Alexis Soyer.

But Soyer doesn't stop there, he goes into one of those fanciful-
literary recipes which have been popular with patrons and poten-
tates since the time of Caesar, giving the following ingredients for
making "The Celestial and Terrestrial Cream of Great Britain."

" Procure, if possible, the antique Vase of the Roman Capitol . . .
(on the glittering rim of which three doves are resting in peace),
and in it deposit a Smile from the Duchess of Sutherland; then add a
Lesson from the Duchess of Northumberland ... an invitation

**WE DINE FOR THE POOR*' 2I9

from the Marchioness of Exeter ... a reception from the Duchess of
Leinster; an Autocratic Thought from the Baroness Brunow . . .
the protection of the Countess of St. Aulaire . . . the SylphHke
form of the Marchioness of Abercorn; a Soiree of the Duchess of
Beaufort; a Reverence of the Viscountess Jocelyn; and the good-will
of Lady Palmerston.

Season with the Piquante Observation of the Marchioness of Lon-
donderry; the Stately Mien of the Countess of Jersey; the Tresor
of the Baroness Rothschild; the Noble Devotion of Lady Sale. . . .

Amalgamate scientifically; and should you find (it) does not mix
well, do not regard the expense for the completion of a dish worthy
of the Gods!

Endeavor to procure, no matter at what price, a Virtuous Maxim
from the Book of Education of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent; a Kiss from the Infant Princess Alice; an Innocent Trick of
the Princess Royal; a Benevolent Visit from the Duchess of Cambridge
. . . and the Munificence of Her Majesty Queen Adelaide.

Cover the Vase with the Reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty,
and let it simmer for half a century, or more, if possible, over a Fire
of Immortal Roses.

Then uncover, with the greatest care and precision, this Mysterious
Vase; garnish the top with the Aurora of ?. Spring Morning; several
Rays of the Sun of France; the Serenity of an Italian Sky; and the
Universal Appreciation of the Peace of Europe.

Add a few Beams of the Aurora Borealis; sprinkle over with the
Virgin Snow of Mount Blanc; glaze with the Eruption of Mount
Vesuvius; cause the Star of the Shepherd to dart over it; and remove,
as quickly as possible, this chef-d'oeuvre; of the nineteenth Century
from the Volcanic District.

But in 1937 this all sounds very indigestible, for times have
changed. Perhaps the poor, including writers of cookbooks, won't
always be with us. We leave you with those pleasant possibilities
to gnaw on and hope to pass along others as we grow older and you
grow wiser.

INDEX

PAGE

Almond sauce 76

Alphabet soup 21

Anchovies 61

Anchovy sauce 61

Anise, or finocchio 143

Anna Sherover's Borscht 19

Apple ginger preserves 186

Apple pudding, spiced 201

Apple sauce cake 197

Artichokes 144, 152

Jerusalem 144

Asparagus 144

Asparagus and rice soup 11

Aspic 160

Austrian goulash 73

Avocado butter 64

Baked custard 202

Baked mussels 29

Baked pears 182

Baked shrimp 36

Baked clams 31

Bananas 185

Barbecued bullfrog sandwich . . 135

Barbecue sauce 109, 112

Barbecuing indoors iii

beef 112

chicken 112

game 113

lamb 112

Barbecuing outdoors 107-1 1 1

beef 109

fish 107

ham 107

pork 108

PAGE

Beans, dried 145

Lima 145

Bean sprouts 145, 156

Beef 70

a la StroganoiF 77

chili con carne 77

chuck steaks 78

dried 67

fillets 78

heart 72

left-over 102

liver patties 66

pot au feu 99

Beets 146

Billionaire sauce 209

Biscuits 122

Boeuf a la StroganoiF 77

Boiled frosting 199

Boiled crabs 37

Boiled shrimp 25

Boquet garni 54

Borscht 18

Bouilli, or left-over boiled beef 102

Bran muffins 125

Bread and cheese soup 25

Breaded lamb chops 74

Bread pudding (without milk) . 201

Breakfast shortcake 182

Broccoli 146

Brown egg soup 2i

Brown onion soup 16

Brussels sprouts 146

Brussels sprouts soup 12

Bubble and squeak 69

Burgov 106

Buttermilk soup (i) 22

Buttermilk soup (2) 23

221

222

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PAGE

Cabbage 146

Chinese 146

CAKE

Apple sauce 197

Chocolate 200

Cocoa 198

Date 197

Feather 198

Layer 200

Snap doodle 201

Spice 197

Calves* brains 80

Calves* cheeks

cannibal style 67

smothered 68

Candied fruits 186

Candied grapefruit-peel 169

Candied orange and lemon

peels 168

CANDY

Cream 195

Fudge, divinity 193

Fudge, plain 194

Lollipops 194

Peanut brittle 193

Peanut crisp 194

Taffy 193

Canned salmon chowder 47

Canned salmon souffle 48

Cannibal sandwich 132

Cantaloupe 185

Capers 163

Cape Cod clam cakes or fritters 31

Caraway seed soup 20

Carrot soup 15

Cassoulet loi

Cauliflower 147

Celeriac soup 14

PAGE

Celery 64, 147

curls 163

Cheese and garlic 133

Chestnut soup 26

Chicken (paprika devils) 76

Chile con carne 77

Chinese noodles 130

Chocolate cake 2cx)

Chocolate ice cream 208

Chowder

minced clam 34

minced clam and corn 34

mussel 29

Chow mein, or fried noodles ... 130

Cinnamon toast 127

Clam cakes or fritters 31

chowder 30> 34

potato fritters 32

pie 32

soup supreme 23

Classic proletarian recipes. 209-212

Clove peaches 181

Club sandwich 128

Codfish balls 43

fritters 43

stewed 43

with tomatoes 44

Cod*s head and shoulders 44

Cod's head soup 46

Cod's liver 45

Cocoanut toast 127

Collards 147

"Cookery for the poor*' 215

Cook*s choice loi

Coriander and bread soup .... 20

Corn 147

muffins 124

oil 154

pone 124

INDEX

223

PAGE

Cottage Economy J William Cob-

\ bett's 217

Cottage pudding 202

Crabmeat in tomato shells .... 38

Crabs 2f*

boiled 37

croquettes 38

devilled 37

I soft shells, broiled 39

^ fried 38

soup 39

stuffed 38

Crackling 87

Cream candy 195

Creamed ripe olives 59

Cream of sauerkraut 19

Cream of quahog 31

Cress 148

Croutons and bread cups 1 28

Cucumber 148, 164

Curried game sandwich 135

Custard

t baked 202

frozen 206

Date cake 197

Delicatessen 138

Devilfish or octopus 40

Devilled crabs 37

Divinity fudge 193

Dried lima bean soup 25

Economy quick cake 199

Economy soup 14

Eggs 79

Eggplant 148

English scones 125

PAGE

Epsom Downs* bookmaker's

special 136

Oyster plant soup (i) 15

Farina soup 22

Feather cake 198

Fines herbs SS

FISH

chowder 5^

pie 47

soup 5^

steaks 5°

Fried mussels 29

Fried pork chops with sauer-
kraut 91

Fresh fruits, iced 184

Fresh peaches 185

French onion soup 17

French peasant soup 13

French toast 127

French fruit toast 128

Frizzled beef 67

Frozen custard 206

FROZEN DESSERTS

Chocolate 208

Custard 206

Lemon 207

Peanut 208

Vanilla 207

Fruit French toast 128

Fruit shortcakes 123

Fruits, glazed 195

Garden garnishes and mis-
cellanies 163

Garlic 148

Gastronomic regenerator. The . 218

224

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PAGE

Giblet spreads 64

Gingerbread, soft 196

Glasse, Mrs 214

Glazed fruits 195

Gravies 83-85

® dish or pan 83

seasoning 84

milk 85

to thicken 84

Green corn oysters 1 54

Green pea-celery-carrot soup . . 10

Green split-pea soup 24

Greens, dandelion 148

Grilled spareribs 92

Halifax oyster stew 34

Ham toast 67

Handy hints 159-169

Hearth-bread spreads 133

Herbs 53~57

Herring, pickled 49

potato cakes 48

salad 49

" Hog in the wheat " sandwich . 1 37

Hog's jowls and turnip greens . 86

Homemade fireless cookers .. . 166

Homemade pickled herring ... 49

Hungarian fillets of beef 78

Inexpensive cocoa cake 198

Italian polenta croquettes. ... 120

Jambalaya ^^

Jelly of pigs' feet and ears 90

Jellied conger eel 42

Jellied pigs' feet 90

PAGE

Jenny Lind's soup 22

Jerusalem artichoke soup 13

Jugged rabbit 81

Kale 148

Kohlrabi 148

Lamb

chops, breaded 74

hamburgers 75

meat balls 75

neck chops with apples 76

neck chops with mushroom

sauce 75

with almonds 76

with eggplant 75

Lamb's heart 72

Lamb's tails, stewed 71

Layer cake without butter .... 200

Leek soup 23

Left-over roast veal 74

Lemon ice cream 207

Lentil croquettes 153

Lettuce 148

wilted, with bacon 156

Linotyper's leaden bullets. . . . 136

Lobscouse 105

Lollipops 194

"Maggie and Jiggs" sandwich 136

Marigold soup 57

Minced clam chowder 34

Minced clam and corn chowder 34

Mint 163

Mountain oyster sandwiches . . 135

INDEX

225

PAGE

Muffins, bran 1 25

Corn 1 24

Graham 1 24

Plain 125

Mugwump in a hole 70

Mulligan 104

Mushrooms 149

Mussel chowder 29

Mussels 27

baked 29

fried 29

pickled 29

steamed 28

Mutton feet 70

Mutton with apples 76

Navy bean soup 25

Nut spreads 64

Octopus 40

Okra 149

Old Cookery Books 213

Olive ragout 59

Olives 58

green, pickled 60

ripe, creamed 59

Onion soups 16

Onions 149

Orange 1 87

Orange toast 1 27

Oysters, scalloped ^Z

Pancakes 1 29

Pantropheon 217

Paprika devils 76

Parsley 149

PAGE

Parsley root 163

Parsnips 149

Pea pod soup 13

Peanut brittle 193

Peanut crisp 194

Peanut ice cream 208

Peanuts 165

Peas 163

Peas, dried 150

Pepper skins 164

Peppers 150

Pickled green olives 60

Pickled mussels 29

Pickled pigs' feet 89

broiled 90

Pigs* brains 80

ears 90

feet 88

jellied 90

pickled 89, 90

heart 72

liver 88

liver polenta 120

tails, smothered 91

Pioneer pan dowdy 1 23

Piroshkis 137

Plain biscuits 122

Plain fudge 194

Plain muffins 1 23

Plain polenta 118

Plain vanilla ice cream 207

Plain wheat breakfast food .. . 128

Poke salad 150

Polenta

sliced 119

with cheese (i) 118

with cheese (2) 118

with meat gravy or hash ... 119

with tomato sauce 119

226

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PAGE

Polish Kraut Borscht 19

Poor boy sandwich 133

Poor man's pudding

(i) aio

(2) 210

(3)--^ 210

Poor man's sauces

(i) 211

(2) 211

(3) 211

Popcorn 165

balls 194

Pork 86

chops 74

and apples 91

stuffed 91

with sauerkraut 91

kidney 91

roast, reheated 92

spareribs 9i> 9^

Pot au feu 99

Potato-celeriac-onion soup .... 11

Potatoes 150

sweet II

PUDDING

Apple 201

Bread 201

Cottage 202

Snowy plum 203

Pulled taffy 193

Pumpkin soup 24

Quick confetti soup 21

Quick drop biscuits 122

Quick graham muffins 124

Quahogs, stewed 31

PAGE

Radishes 150, 163

Ragout 100

Red caviar canapes 134

Refrigerator ice cream 205

Reheated soup meat 102

Rhubarb 150

Roast pork, reheated 92

Roll-mops 50

Roumanian cream of potato

soup 14

Rummy grapefruit 181

Russian piroshkis 137

Saddle of rabbit 80

Salsify 151

Salt codfish balls 43

fritters 43

SANDWICHES 132-137

Club 128

Red caviar 62

SAUCE

Anchovy 61

Almond 7^

Billionaire 209

Barbecue 109, 112

Scalloped clams or oysters .... 23

Scotch broth 23

Seasoning secrets 167

Sheep-herder's mountain oyster 136

Sheeps' trotters a la poulette. . 70

Shrimp butter 64

Shrimp in tomato sauce 36

Shrimps

baked 36

in tomato sauce 36

jambalaya 36

INDEX

227

PAGE

Shrimps {Continued)

toasted ^S

Skate 42

Sliced polenta 119

Slumgullion 105

Smelts 46

Smothered pigs' tails 91

Snacks 58-62

Snap doodle 201

Snowy plum pudding 203

Soft clams, stewed 32

Soft gingerbread 196

Soft-shell crabs, broiled 39

fried 38

SOUPS 9-26

Alphabet 21

Asparagus and rice 11

Borscht 18, 19

Borscht, Anna Sherover's ... 19

Polish Kraut 19

Bread and cheese 25

Brown egg 21

Brown onion 16

Brussels sprouts 12

Buttermilk (i) 22

Buttermilk (2) 23

Caraway seed 20

Carrot 15

Celeriac 14

Chestnut 26

Clam, supreme 23

Cod's head 46

Coriander and bread 20

Crab 39

Cream of quahog 31

Cream of sauerkraut 19

Dried lima bean 25

Farina 22

French onion 17

PAGE

French peasant 13

Green pea-celery-carrot .... 10

Green split-pea 24

Jenny Lind's 22

Jerusalem artichoke 13

Leek 23

Marigold 57

Navy bean 25

Onion 16

Oyster 34

Oyster plant (i) 15

Oyster plant (salsify) (2) .'. . , 15

Pea pod 13

Polish Kraut Borscht 19

Potato-celeriac and onion ... 11

Pumpkin 24

Quick confetti 21

Roumanian cream of potato 14
Salsify (oyster plant) soup

(2) 15

Scotch broth 23

Spanish garlic 18

String bean and potato .... 11

Tomato tapioca 14

Vegetable creams 12

Water cress 18

White onion 16

Yankee onion 17

Southern veal pie 77

Spaghetti 165

Spanish garlic soup 18

Spareribs with beans and sauer-
kraut 91

SPREADS

Avocado butter 64

Celery 64

Giblet 64

Nut 64

Original 65

228

MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK

PAGE

SPREADS {Continued)

Savory 6^

Shrimp butter 64

Spice cake 197

Spinach 151

Squash 151

Squid 41

Stale bread 1 26

Steamed mussels 28

Stewed codfish with tomatoes . 44

Stewed lambs' tails 71

Stewed pears 182

Stewed soft clams 32

Stinger sandwiches 134

Strawberries 196

String beans, salted down. ... 156

String bean and potato soup . . 11

Stuffed crabs 38

Succotash 153

salad 155

Summer salad 155

Sunkissed strawberries 196

Swiss chard 147

Tomato sauce 119

Tomato tapioca soup 14

Tomatoes 151

TOAST

Cinnamon 127

Cocoanut 127

French 127

PAGE

French, fruit 128

Orange 1 27

Toasted shrimp 35

Tuna 50

Turnips 151

Umble pie 210

Unfired food 158

Veal 70,73

chops 73,74

cutlets 73

pie 77

roast 74

Vegetables 142-151

Vegetable cream soups 12

Vegetable vinegars 162

Venner, Tobias 213

Vinegar 161

Water 164

Watercress 151

Watercress soup 18

White onion soup 16

Whiting with mussel sauce .... 47

Wilted lettuce with bacon. ... 156

Yankee onion soup 17

Yat go mein 131

Pages for Tour Favorite Menus

things to Remember

Things to Remember

'Things to Remember

A COMPLETE LIST OF

NEW BOOKS, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED

FICTION — General

Order by
This Number

2. OLD HELL by EMMETT GOWEN. Authoritative portrait
of a hillbilly Casanova. "A backwoods Thurber ... al-
most every line seems uproariously right and splittingly
good . . . classic chuckling." — Stanley Young in N. Y.
Times Book Review. Pdper, 25 f5

2c. Same as 2. Cloth, 85^

5. ALL'S FAIR by RICHARD WORMSER. An exciting story

of conflict between love and duty, with a realistic back-
ground of labor struggles. Paper, 25i
5c. Same as 5. Cloth, 85 ?5
THE STORY OF ODYSSEUS: A New Translation of
Homer's Odyssey by W. H. D. ROUSE. Illustrations by
Lynd Ward. "The greatest adventure story ever told, in the
liveliest English prose version ever made." — Paul
Jordan-Smith in Los Angeles Times. Paper, 50ji
24c. Same as 24. Cloth, 85^
33. THE WALL OF MEN by WILLIAM ROLLINS. A grand
adventure story with a moving love theme, set against
a background of the Spanish Civil War. Paper only, 25 ji

SHORT STORIES

6. BABIES WITHOUT TAILS by WALTER DURANTY.

First-rate short stories about life in the U.S.S.R., by the
author of I WRITE AS I PLEASE. Paper, 25 fi

6c. Same as 6. Cloth, 85^

39. LOVE, HERE IS MY HAT by WILLIAM SAROYAN.
Twenty-one new stories by the author of THE DARING
YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (see
below, under MODERN AGE REPRINTS), some serious,
some as cock-eyed as Ed Wynn.
Publication March 14. Paper only, 25ff

FOR MYSTERY FANS

4. MURDER STRIKES THREE by DAVID MacDUFF. Shed-
ding what misht be called a New Light on America's
College Campuses, this hard-boiled Hammett-type case
will carry the Old Lady from Dubuque right oFf her feet.
Those who can take it will like it. Paper, 25 i

4c. Same as 4. Cloth, 85 f*

23. DEATH SLAMS THE DOOR by PAUL CADE. "Fine for
readers who like to unravel a case through the medium of
police interrogation." — New Yorker. Paper, 25ji5

40. GRAVEYARD WATCH by JOHN ESTEVEN. A young
rookie cop, Patrick Connelly, handles a tough assignment,
gets the goods on a big dope ring, and discovers a mur-
derer. Publication March 14. Paper only, 25i

MODERN WORLD SERIES

(Basic studies, each focussed on a contemporary problem).

Edited by PROFESSOR LOUIS HACKER of Columbia
University.

11. THE UNITED STATES: A Graphic History by LOUIS
HACKER, RUDOLF MODLEY and GEORGE R. TAYLOR.
Economic history, with 76 pictorial charts. "No matter
what other history of the country a reader may have read,
he will find something new in this." — Carl Van Doren in
Boston Herald. Paper only, ISi (814" x 11 WO

Other titles in this series are in preparation. Full information on
request.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

7. MEN WHO LEAD LABOR by BRUCE MINION and

JOHN STUART. Candid, unsparing, concise biographies
of the men who are helping to shape the course of Ameri-
can labor. Samuel Yellen's comment immediately below
refers also to this book. Paper, 35 f5

7c. Same as 7. Cloth, 850

8. THE LABOR SPY RACKET by LEO HUBERMAN. Bril-

liant presentation of evidence revealed in the hearings on
industrial espionage before the LaFollette Civil Liberties
Committee. "Should be read by every student of labor,
but especially by every American worker." — Samuel
Yellen in the New Republic. Paper, 35jif

8c. Same as 8. Cloth, 85^

28. YOU HAVE SEEN THEIR FACES by ERSKINE CALD-
WELL and MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE. 75 photo-
graphs oF sharecroppers by Margaret Bourke-White, one
of America's leading photographers, with text by a dis-
tinguished American writer. "Deserves ... the audi-
ence of another Uncle Tom's Cabin." — N. /. Post and
Philadelphia Record (editorial).

Paper only, 75fi (SW x 11 14")
9. KALTENBORN EDITS THE NEWS by H. V. KALTEN-
BORN. "Vivid and thrilling ... a new method of re-
porting . . . Radio editors like Mr. Kaltenborn are quite,
quite different." — Robert C. Brooks in Saturday Review
of Literature. Paper, 35fi

9c. Same as 9. Cloth, 85 ji

10. FROM SPANISH TRENCHES compiled by MARCEL
ACIER. Letters from foreigners of many nations fighting
with the Loyalist armies in Spain. Paper, 35j4

10c. Same as 10. Cloth, 85^

BIOGRAPHY

22. LaGUARDIA: a Biography by JAY FRANKLIN. Sig-
nificant interpretation of the political career of New York
City's colorful mayor, presenting the possibilities which
now lie before him. Note: The publishers call to your at-
tention that, owing to objections made by Mayor LaGuar-
dia, a portion of the text on pages 58 and 74 has been
excised. Paper, 35^

22c. Same as 22. Cloth, Q5i

COOK BOOKS

3. MEALS ON WHEELS: a Cook Book for Trailers and
Kitchenettes by LOU WILLSON and OLIVE HOOVER.
"Useful for brides, business women, camps and summer
cottages — anywhere or for anyone who is learning the
game or who wants to spend time on something else be-
sides cooking all day long." — Syracuse (N. Y.) Post-
Standard. Paper, 25^
3c. Same as 3. Cloth, 85 ?f
30. MOST FOR YOUR MONEY COOK BOOK by CORA,
ROSE and BOB BROWN. How to make inexpensive
materials into delicious and exciting meals. Prized recipes
of famous experts who have eaten their way through the
markets of the world. Washable cloth only, 50j4

GUIDE BOOK

Order by
This Number

32. U. S. ONE: From Maine to Florida compiled by the FED-
ERAL WRITERS' PROJECT of the W.P.A. New and ex-
citins guide. Gives the tourist in a hurry all he needs, with
a wide variety of entertaining details about the country
and places along this important highway. Cloth only, 95i

A DIVERSITY

27. ALMANAC FOR NEW YORKERS 1938 by the FED-
ERAL WRITERS* PROJECT of New York City. A handy,
useful, highly entertaining almanac indispensable for daily
use of New Yorkers,- a unique cross-section of the mad
metropolis for those who like it for a week-end but
wouldn't live there if you gave it to them. Paper only, 25 fi

29. TICKETS TO FORTUNE by ERIC BENDER. Colorful history
of contests and lotteries going back to Roman days. Should
prove illuminating to the 25 million Americans who enter
contests every year, and to the millions who buy sweep-
stakes tickets. Paper only, 35 jf

31. HOW TO KNOW PEOPLE BY THEIR HANDS by
JOSEF RANALD, Ph.D. Human hands and how they reveal
character by one of the world's foremost authorities.

Cloth only, 95^

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

1. RED FEATHER by MARJORIE FISCHER. "A fairy tale as
delicate as moonlight, which yet has a tenderness and a
wisdom born of true humor." — Ellen Lewis Buell In
N. Y. Times Book Review. Paper, 25 ji

1c Same as 1. Cloth, 85^

25. PIXIE PETE'S CHRISTMAS PARTY by PHINEAS O'MEL-

LISH. Illustrations by Sam Berman. A picture book to add
hilarity to any youngster's life, as a unique Christmas card
or for fun the year round. Paper only, 25 j5

26. YOU ARE ... by EMERY I. CONDOR. A famous

Hungarian cartoonist shows his young readers "just how
clever You Are," as May Lamberton Becker says, "by
means of spirited and provocative puzzles In brightly
colored comic pictures . . . The book will give many a
little person a sense of competence good for his peace of
mind." Boards, 75 fi

MODERN AGE REPRINTS

FICTION — General

16. THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH by MORLEY
CALLAGHAN. This story of Americans in the depression
years has something of the simplicity and spiritual illumina-
tion of a Dostoievsky novel. Pdper only, 25^

18. THE HONORABLE PICNIC by THOMAS RAUCAT.

Gay, satirical farce which contains a shrewd and intimate
revelation of Japanese psychology. Paper only, 25 j4

20. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E. M. FORSTER. Superbly

written story of race antagonism in India. One of the
great novels of our time. Paper only, 25^

19. MR. WESTON'S GOOD WINE by T. F. POWYS. This

reviewer takes pleasure in commending MR. WESTON'S
GOOD WINE to connoisseurs of fine vintages . . . One
of those surprising creations for which English literature is
famous." — Wm. McFee In The Bookman. Paper only, 25ff

21. THE BLOOD OF THE CONQUERORS by HARVEY

FERGUSSON. Romantic tale of the Southwest/ of Ramon
Delcasar, in whose veins flowed the blood of the con-
quistadores; of a clash between the Latin and northern
civilizations. Paper only, 25^

38. LIGHTSHIP by ARCHIE BINNS. Into this story of nine men
on a lightship off a reef on the Pacific coast is concentrated
the Individual and collective drama of nine lives brought
together after many separate journeys. Paper only, 35 fi

34. LIHLE CAESAR by WILLIAM RILEY BURNEH. Hard-

hitting story of a Chicago gang chief who stepped into a
dead man's shoes but didn't know when to stop himself.

Paper only, 25 ji

35. GOD'S ANGRY MAN by LEONARD EHRLICH. Of this

dramatic novelized biography of John Brown Granville
Hicks has said: "GOD'S ANGRY MAN seems to me the
finest American historical novel I have read."

Paper only, 50 fi

SHORT STORIES

17. THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING
TRAPEZE by WILLIAM SAROYAN. These are the
stories which made Saroyan a literary sensation when they
were published in 1934. Paper only, 25?^

FOR MYSTERY FANS

14. SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS by DOROTHY L SAYERS.

One of the best of the stories by the English writer who
has endeared herself to connoisseurs of first-class detec-
tion who appreciate literary skill. Paper only, 25 j^

15. THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by ANNA KATHARINE

GREEN. "Not to have read THE LEAVENWORTH
CASE is to have . . . denied oneself an absorbing and
fascinating literary experience." — S. S. Van Dine.

Paper only, 25 ji

36. PERIL AT END HOUSE by AGATHA CHRISTIE. That

exasperating genius, Hercule Poirot, finds an unusually
knotty problem at End House, one worthy of his marvel-
lous powers. Agatha Christie at her best. Paper only, 25^

BIOGRAPHY

13. TWELVE AGAINST THE GODS by WILLIAM BOLITHO.
Biographies of adventurers and adventuresses from Alex-
ander the Great to Woodrow Wilson, by one of the most
distinguished of modern writers. Paper only, 25i

37. BURTON: Arabian Nights Adventurer by FAIRFAX

DOWNEY. The personality of the great 19th-century
explorer and translator of the Arabian Nights was as
astonishing as that of T. E. Lawrence. Paper only, 35 ff

TRAVEL

12. TRAVELS IN THE CONGO by ANDRE GIDE. "A book
to place beside one's set of Conrad." — N. Y. Times.

Paper only, 25 j5

^snq

THE BROWNS are undoubt-
edly the most interesting family of cookbook
writers in America. They are authors of those
popular culinary guides, THE WINE COOK
BOOK, THE COUNTRY COOK BOOK,
and TEN THOUSAND SNACKS.

The Browns are a versatile group. Cora
Brown has written short stories for well-
known English and American magazines;
has published the Brazilian American maga-
zine and Mexican American together with
Bob and Rose Brown. She is author of The
Guide to Rio de Janeiro and co-author of
four cookbooks.

Rose Brown, teacher, interior decorator
and journalist, is now contributing articles
on cooking to Colliers, Vogue, This Week,
etc.

Bob Brown has appeared in several an-
thologies, among them Rebel Poets, Atneri-
cans Abroad, New Caravan, etc. and has
written editorials for The Masses (now the
New Masses), Brazilian American, Mexican
American, British American, and many other
magazines. H. L. Mencken recently said:
"All I know about beer is what I read in
Bob Brown's book."

A SEAL BOOK

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