A Little Cook Book for a Little Girl | Page 8

see when it gets the right color.

Steak with Bananas
Peel one banana and slice in round pieces, and while the steak is
cooking fry them in a little hot butter till they are brown. After the meat
is on the platter, lay these pieces over it, arranging them prettily, and
put the parsley around as before. Bananas are very nice with steak.
Frizzled Dried Beef
Take half a pound of dried beef, shaved very thin. Chop it fine and pull
out the strings. Put a large tablespoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and
when it bubbles put in the meat. Stir till it begins to get brown, and then
sprinkle in one tablespoonful of flour and stir again, and then put in one
cup of hot milk. Shake in a little pepper, but no salt. As soon as it boils
up once, it is done, and you can put it in a hot covered dish. If you like
a change, stir in sometimes two beaten eggs in the milk instead of using
it plain.
Veal Cutlet
Wipe off the meat with a clean wet cloth, and then with one that is dry.
Dust it over with salt, pepper, and flour. Put a tablespoonful of nice
dripping in a hot frying-pan, and let it heat till it smokes a little. Lay in
the meat and cook till brown, turning it over twice as it cooks. Look in
the inside and see if it is brown, for cutlet must not be eaten red or pink
inside. Put in a hot oven and cover it up while you make the gravy, by
putting one tablespoonful of flour into the hot fat in the pan, stirring it
till it is brown. Then put in a cup of boiling water, half a teaspoonful of
salt, and a very little pepper; put this through the wire sieve, pressing it
with a spoon, and turn over the meat. Put parsley around the cutlet, and
send hot to the table.
Margaret's father said he could not possibly manage without potatoes
for breakfast, so sometimes Margaret let Bridget cook the cereal and
meat, while she made something nice out of the cold potatoes she
found in the cupboard.
Creamed Potatoes

Cut cold boiled potatoes into pieces as large as the end of your finger;
put them into a pan on the back of the stove with enough milk to cover
them, and let them stand till they have drunk up all the milk; perhaps
they will slowly cook a little as they do this, but that will do no harm.
In another saucepan or in the frying-pan put a tablespoonful of butter,
and when it bubbles put in a tablespoonful of flour, and stir till they
melt together; then put in two cups of hot milk, and stir till it is all
smooth. Put in one teaspoonful of salt, and last the potatoes, but stir
them only once while they cook, for fear of breaking them. Add one
teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and put them in a hot covered dish.
You can make another sort of potatoes when you have finished
creaming them in this way, by putting a layer of them in a deep
buttered baking-dish, with a layer of white sauce over the top, and
break-crumbs and bits of butter for a crust. Brown well in a hot oven.
When you do this, remember to make the sauce with three cups of milk
and two tablespoonfuls of flour and two of butter, and then you will
have enough for everything.
Hashed Browned Potatoes
Chop four cold potatoes fine, and add one teaspoonful of salt and a
very little pepper. Put a tablespoonful of butter in the frying-pan, and
turn it so it runs all over; when it bubbles put in the potatoes, and
smooth them evenly over the pan. Cook till they are brown and crusty
on the bottom; then put in a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and fold
over like an omelette.
Saratoga Potatoes
Wash and pare four potatoes, and rub them on the potato-slicer till they
are in thin pieces; put them in ice-water for fifteen minutes. Heat two
cups of lard very hot, till when you drop in a bit of bread it browns at
once. Wipe the potatoes dry and drop in a handful. Have a skimmer
ready, and as soon as they brown take them out and lay on brown paper
in the oven, and put in another handful.
Potato Cakes

Take two cups of mashed potato, and mix well with the beaten yolk of
one egg, and make into small flat cakes; dip each into flour. Heat two
tablespoonfuls of nice dripping, and when it is hot lay in the cakes and
brown, turning each with the cake-turner as it gets crusty on