Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-08-27
Household Recipes.
SALADS.

crudeness of our national cuisine,
the stay-at- homes are enjoying their
Yankee pork and beans in blissful
ignorance of all the delights of which
they are deprived, Or striving, accor-
ding to the lights set before them,
to arrive at the degree Of excellence,
where the robes of c)mplacency and
assurance shall clothe them, even
though confronting host of pot
ages, entrees and entremets.
There plenty Of worthy women
who can cook dinner on which
even an epicure might congratulate
himself, yet they have never been
to Paris, nor seen the inside Of
French cookbook. Had they been
natives Of that paradise Of gastrono-
merg, their dishes might have borne
more elaborate titles without being
more palatable, but their dinners
would have invariably boosted a
soup. and salad. However mea-
gerly Frenchman may dine, the
meal always includes a salad Al
though Americans have not yet ar
rived at a just appreciation of French
cookery and generally prefer those
dishes which retain trace of their
component parts and original flavor
we might profit by following at least
this one example, and make salad a
feature of tho dinner table; its sim
plicity entities it to consideration
and its healthful, refreshing and
frugal merits to universal acknowl-
edgement.
There are a number of roots and
herbs that are used for salads
among the principal of which may
be reckoned lettuce. In order to
have it crisp, sweet and well bleach
ed, it should be grown rapidly
Slow growing will render even a
GOOD variety tough and bitter. By
transplanting young plants into a
cold frame and carefully covered in
the fall, it may be kept until late
in the winter. Endive. correl, corn
salad, water-crcss, chives, pepper
grass, Or garden-cress, nasturtium
blossoms, onions, potatoes, cabbage,
beet-root, radishes, celery, cucunl-
bers, beans, peas, tomatoes, caull-
flower and artichokcs are used sep
arately and in different combina-
tions. The leaves of the common
wood-sorrel, also the round and
broad leaved verieties are highly
valued by both French and Ger
mans, not only for their pleasant
flavor, but for their wholesome quail
tiles. Tarragon and burnet, though
little known in this country, are
commonly used in foreign salads.
The leaves of these herbs may be
stepped in vinegar and thus preserve
flavor to which many are partial;
others would prefer the vinegar in
in which nasturtium seeds have
boen picked, for favoring their sal
ad. Gather the seed when full
grown, but before they become hard
and old. Throw them into a bottle
of cold vinegar and keep closely
corked,
Whate er the ingredients of the
salad, they should be carefully pre-
pared, kept crisp and cool, and the
dressing added only just before
serving. A simple dressing is more
wholesome that the elaborate ones,
and may be varied to suit Individual
tastes. The preparation Of the
mayonnaise requires greater care,
and to make THO skllltully may be
considered quite an accomplishment.
Chicken salad, and those prepared
with the various kinds of fish, re-
quire this dressing, and may prefer
it for all salads, but epicures favor
the simple combination of pepper,
salt, oil and vinegar for almost ev-
cry variety except those containing
fish or meat. Potatoes, tomatoes,
cabbage and caulifower are usually
served with the mayounaise sauce
Potatoes, beets, beans, peas and
caulifower must be cooked and al
lowed to become perfectly cold be-
fore being used in a salad. Cucum-
bers are best served with young
onions. Radishes are not iInprov-
ed by dressing, but may be used to
garnish a salad. The petals of TO
ses are appropriate for lettuce, but
nasturtium blossoms are the most
brilliant and the flavor is excellent.
Lettuce may be served alone or
combined with sorel, peppergrass;
chiyes, celery or onions. 1t is also
used with lobster, crabs, shrimps,
anchovies, Or with any kind of cold
cooked fish.
Tomatoes that are to be used Tor
salad should be fully ripe, but firm
and heshy. Keep them as cold as
possible; skin them without scald-
ing; slice with very sharp knife
and just before serving place over
the top thick.
MAYONNAlSE SAUCE.
Beat the volk Of a raw egg with
a teaspoonful of mixed mustard,then
add, drop by drop, the very best Of
olive oil, and stir constantly until