Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
Spring Day Salads.

The salad Is not only the most appetite
Ing dish ON the spring table. but 1t 10 abso-
| lutely essential to the health at this season
OF the year. and the more vegetable COM
binations served in this form the better.
Heavy meat salads are for winter rather
than for spring.
The success of salad depends princi-
pally upon its dressing. and here are found
spring fashions in the culinary department.
French dressing Is the spring relish par ex-
cellence. The best method of making a
French dressing is this: Rub the sides of a
small bowl with garlic. Mix half tea
spoonful of salt and small saltspoonful
of pepper in the bowl. and then add very
| slowly four tablespoonfuls of olive oil.
When the oil has thoroughly dissolved the
salt. add tablespoonful of tarragon
vinegar or lemon juice. Mix with fork
and serve Immediately. The southern
housewife generally adds to the salt and
pepper half teaspoonful of sugar and a
| dash of dry mustard. 1t is something of
| a fad to substitute paprika for black pep
per, but this is purely matter of tas-e.
| The inexperienced housewife will not at
tempt to mix her salad dressing at the
table, but it is the last thing she does
| before dinner is served. and 1t is kept on
! Ice i'll a pretty bowl until the salad course
appears. Especially in spring and summer,
the vegetable salad and its dressing should
| appear at the table in separate dishes. The
| salad which stands some time in the dress
| ing loses crispness. 1t is also mistake to
| dry too thoroughly the lettuce leaves in
tended for the foundation of the salad, as
| they are extremely tender and show ham
| ding very easily. large sieve is handy
| receptacle for draining water off the let
| tuce. and some women have Il large square
| of cheese cloth in which they toss the let
| tuce and shake it lightly.
| Combination Salad.-A simple but most
| appetizing vegetable salad is this Line
L la,- IN lad wifi
and fill it with alternate layers of sliced
green pepper shells. from which the heart
has been removed, sliced tomatoes and
very thin slices or strips of onion. serve
! with French dressing.
| String Bean Salad-Strfng beans are now
| selling at reasonable figure in most city
| markets String and cut young, tender
beans into three lengthwise strips. Plunge
| them into boiling water and cook them for
| twenty minutes. Drain and throw them
| into cold water until thoroughly chilled;
! Again drain them and pour boiling unsaited
water over them. Cook ten or fifteen min,
utes longer. Drain the water off and stand
| them away to cool By this method OF
| cooking the beans become tender without
| being mushy. Serve them on shallow let
| tuce leaves with chopped parsley ana
| French dressing over them.
| Dandclion Salad. - Dandelions will soon
sprout, and, properly picked over, these
| green's make delightfully."- fresh salad
| Only the youngest green leaves should be
| selected. After being thoroughly Washeo,
| throw them into ice-cold water snake IN
a square of cheese cloth and serve with the
| French dressing.
Vegetable Salad in Aspic.-This is a beau
| tiful dish for a formal dinner. Halt box
| of gelatiue should be soaked one hour IN
| half a cup of cold water Place on the
| stove one pint of cold water and ada a
| slice of onion. a bayleaf and half tea
| spoonful of celery seed. Bring very slowly
| to the boiling point and add half cup of
| rich stock. a dash of salt and cayenne pep
per- one tablespoonful of lemon juice ana
| the dissolved gelatine. Stir together THOR
| oughly and drain through tlne soup sieve
| or thin muslin. Have ready a tube mold
| or border half filled with the following veg
| etables which have been cooked ana chlleu
| and cut into dice or fancy shapes: Turnlps,
| carrots, red beets and peas. FIJI up the
| mold with the strained gelatlne STOCK.
| When cold and firm, unmold within CIR
| Gle of crisp lettuce leaves. FIJI the center
! of the form with mayonnaise dressing or
| if you prefer. place lettuce leaf on eacn
! plate with a section Of the chilled salad
| and pour French dressing over the whole
| Allow plenty of time for the geIatlns 10
| mold.
| combinations of vegetables and fish
| are also palatable salads at this season OF
| the year. and anchovy as favorlng or
| relish is a Russian taste which has taken
! root in this country. Cover the bottom OF
| a salad bowl with crisp lettuce leaves. Cut
| off the heads and clean out the lntestines
| from half a dozen spiced anchoVies. CUT
| them into tiny slices and scatter them over
| the lettuce leaves. Crush one hard-bolled
egg through a vegetable press over the an
| choyies Scatter over this mixture which
| includes a tablespoonful each of parsley
| and onion cut fine and one tablespoonful or
| whole capers. Pour over this French dress
| ing and serve Immediately. If you have
| not vegetable press. chop beth the yoiK
| and white of the egg very fine.
| Bits of cold white fish may be utilized
| for a combination salad. Use only the
| white pieces and flake it carefully. Sprinkle
| it with lemon juice and stand it aside to
/ whites hard
| boiled eggs so that you will have at least
| half much chopped egg as you nave nsh.
| Add some thin slices of small, sour pickles.
Stir with this and the faxed hsh enough
| French dressing to give it a favor, but not
! to make it moist. Pile the salad lightly on
| crisp lettuce leaves. Sift powdered yolks
| of eggs over the top and serve
Despite the general prejudice against fruit
| salads, they are slowly but surely gaining
| ground in America. An effective combina-
| ton is this: Have ready some large white
| or Tokay grapes from which the seeds have
been removed and which have been sliced
| crosswise. Wash and split lengthwfse
| three large bananas with perfect yellow
| skin and firm texture in the fruit itself.
Scoop out carefully the inside of the fruit,
| cut 1t into thin slices, aud mix it with an
| equal quantity of the grapes. Have ready
| a little very thick mayonnaise salad dress
| ing Add a dash of strained orange juice
| and dress the sliced fruit with the mixture.
Fill the halves of the banana skin with
! this salad. Arrange them like the spokes
| of O. wheel on a dish, and fill in the empty
spaces with bits of watercress. Serve very
| cold.
Cheese dishes of various sorts are served
with these vegetable salads, and make the
course substantial one. In fact, the salad
course, properly served, is more important
than the meat course which was in favor
during the winter.
Cheese Sauares.-Cover the top of sailed
crackers with finely grated American cheese
and put a teaspoonful of tomato ketchup in
the center of each cracker busting the
whole with salt and a dash of paprika.
Bake In quick oven until the cheese is
melted and the crackers crisp. Serve hot.
Cheese Wafers-Mix half cupful Of
stale breadcrumbs which are not too dry
with two tablespoonfuls of -four, and in
well made in the center of this mixture
put the yolk of one egg and six tablespoon
fuls of soft grated cheese. With silver
fork work the egg and cheese together and
sprinkle over them half teaspoonful of
salt and dash of cayenne or paprika.
Mix the crumbs in gradually, adding a ta-
blespoonful of ice water if necessary. Roll
out very thin and cut into diamonds five
inches long drying them on brown paper
in moderate oven.