New-York tribune., 1891-05-24
THE WIFE'S ART.
TX.
LETTERS TO A YOUNG HoUSEKEEPER.
MORE MAcARoNI REcIPEs-soME DELICIOUS
POTATO DISHES.
BY MRS. BAYARD TAYLOR.
ospwiohG 1891 By The Tribune association

i
There are accords and discords in the composition
OF human food AS to macaronl, there Is a striAi"s
harmony in its union with the sweetest Of butter ana
the spiciest OF Parma cheese Now add TO these the
white meat and liver of chicken, and fresh mushrooms
moisten the whole with !. tomato sauce ana you VIII
have almost ambrosal symphony. In TINS suaai'
at least the praises sounded OF the dishes Oh ca
roni the great Rossni used to have served 70 his en-
thusiastic guests. He however, when asked about
the secret of his culinary composition, was said to be
mute like Jupiter olympus Why macarom shouia
have such great attractions for musical genius cannot
tell learn also that Lablache, the great singer
expert In macaron and that he took MS secret
| with him TO the grave. Then there was lsouaru the
composer, who invented the stuffed macaroni pipes'
and who used to prepare with his own hands the stu-
ng which consisted Of beef suet venison, goose liver
rules and oysters RosSini, however, 1t appears was
not always as closemouthed stated, for II we are
TO believe Mlle Francolse" she Is In possession OF
recipe in Rosslni's handwriting for dish OF mac
aron OF which she partook at his villa at Passy, III
company with Auber and Meyerbeer give you this
| recipe here published In her lone hundred
Recipes" 1t Is called Stuhato Pltahehe WIN 'a'a
| roni.'
| Cover the bottom Of a stew-pot with half pound
of chopped bacon; when melted, brown IN 1t four to
| five large onions chopped fine. This done remove
| the onions with SKINNER put them In teacup ana
fill It up with hot water; then set aside Take rom
four to five pounds Of the round OF beef pound IL well
ON all sides with a wooden mallet, and lard IL with
sauare strips OF lard half Inch wide which nave
been turned over and in mixture OF SALT pepper
three cloves powdered aud q minced Glove OF garlic
| When thus prepared put the beef into the not iao
left in the wpot and roast 1t, uncovered on the
| ton of the stove slowly for two hours III must DC
of a nice brown all over. Then add the onion water
nonnd of the knuce Of veal and one cupful OF thick
tomato sauce to the meat cover tho pot with sheet
of paper and then with the potlid, and allow 1t to
continue to stew very slowly for four hours longer
| Meanwhile boil your inacaron 1--WE will say half
pound) in salted water drain and serve In layers
each of which you with part OF the gravy LETT
in the after the meat has been taken out ana
the fat removed and with plenty OF grated Parlnesn
cheese Meat and macaroni are, of course, served
| together.
give You now the recipe OF Alexandra Dumas for
| Macaron a la Menagere" (of the good hOusewife)
| Boil your macaroni for three-quarterS OF an hour
in salted water with piece Of butter and an onion
stuck with Glove. Drain we'll, put it in casserole
with little butter, plenty of grated cheese, half
| Guyere and half Parmesan, a sprinkle OF nutmeg
coarsely ground pepper few teaspoonfuls Of cream
and allow the whole to saute for couple Of minutes
| then serve.
| For "Macaroni au Gratin,o fill a buttered dish
| with the above macaroni. dust over 1t some sfed
breadcrumbs and some grated cheese, and put 1t In
the oven for fifteen minutes to get light brown on top
Servo in the same dish. This is also Dumas recipe
You improve it by adding some boiled ham
| chopped fine.
If you have some meatliquor to spare, you can en-
rich both the flavor and nutriciousness Of your mac
aronl by boiling it In it instead OF water In that
case you put 1t first in salted water and allow 1t
TO boil for ten minutes Then you drain II and
put into the boiling broth, which ought TO be no more
than sufficient to be absorbed by the macaroni at the
time 1t is DONE Shake it from time to time to prevent
% $hn not
To talk of potatoes after rice and macaroni seems to
step down from the sublimef not to the Ridiculous to
the veriest prose of life 1t IL coming uown, In fact
for although belonging to the class Of food as the
two former they do not possess nearly the same
nuritive value They are, consequently, as "feeders
not the cheap food they commonly thought to be-
This chiefly owing to their large percentage OF water
e. refuse. They contain 755 per cent OF 1t in 100
parts You see 1t leaves but little for the food-mat-
| ter which consists of per cent albuminods, 2O7
per cent carbohydraes and fat at all. This poor
showing accounts for the immoderate use OF tea or
coffee among the poorer classes who feed on potatoes
Their craving for what Is lacking to nourish them
leads them nsncuvely to make up for 1t in the best
way they can. You viii know from this that
potatoes are more luxury than anything else unless
they are accompanied by that kind Of food which sup
plies the nitrogen they devoid Of Yet despite all
this potatoes general favore on our tables, and
their prosac nature not prevent their being trans
formed into variety of very nice dishes The chap-
ter on potatoes in the literature of cookery Is quite
| vOlumnous one, but intend chiefly to tell you now
to treat potatoes In boiling roasting and seamng and
then to give you a few nice recipes not commonly
known You would smile, very likely, at my wanting
| to teach you how to boil potatoes" such simple
afairr-if you had not complained that your potatoes
| were not always what they should be, sometimes
| watery instead Of dry, and then again soapy rather
than mealy. Even poor potatoes can be made to DO
| 4r,;ro, Qd
| know how.
| tn hoil uotatoes wash them very clean through
several waters any dirt remaining will enter into the
potato through the medium of the water. wash them
only lust before boiling them. Cut away an inch wide
Of the skin around the middle Of each potato; this
facilitates the escape of their poisonous substance called
Solanin which is next TO the inside of the skin and
s most hurtful potatoes not entirely ripe or In those
snrounc toward spring. It is this poison which causes
| the obnoxious smell Of the water in which potatoes
have been boiled. Although they get done sooner by
being put on boil with cold water 1t is advisable to
put them into hot, boiling, water, because 10 saves
Of their small amount of nrogenous substance as much
as possible Boil them in plenty Of water, keep the
steam in by covering the pot tightly. Add some salt
| after they are half done. They need half-hours
boilinQ Try them by sticking in fork; II soft all
through remove them at Once-if you allow them to
boil longer than needful they will take up more water
than they need TO soften them and Will get watery
Pour of oil the water and put them with the potnd
slightly to side hot place for short while to
cot entirely dry Serve them at once in a folded nap
| kin. Another way to boil potatoes is to peel the
nototoes have them very clean put them In boiling
water salted, and them tightly. They will be
| done in about twenty-five minutes. Pour the water
| oR at once: DO as before to have them dry.
To steam potatoes peel them, and when very clean
| put them in ooander over boiling water; cover
tightly with lid and leave them until done.
To bake potatoes wash them very clean. dry them
with towel and lay them in a good oven. They will
need about two hours to get done. BY baking them
you get all the nutriment they contain They are also
| the most wholesome, since in baking part Of their
starch is already turned into sugar. and thus of
the work to be done by digestion is performed before
| hand.
| For mashed potatoes, take potatoes boiled in
second recipe; add a good-szed piece Of butter some
| salt If needed, and while MASKING them, little hot