From the 1905 book, New England Cookbook distributed “Compliments of Metropolitan Coal Company,” Boston.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many of the recipes given have been omitted to reduce the article size.

VIII—CROQUETTES AND FRITTERS.

—CROQUETTES DEFINED.
—FRITTERS DEFINED.
—USES OF EOTH.
—TWENTY-FOUR RECIPES FOR CROQUETTES AND FRITTERS.

THE term croquette (pronounced cro-ket) is from a French verb, meaning “to crunch.” It designates all that class of preparations made of minced meat, or other ingredients, highly seasoned and fried in bread-crumbs.

Fritters, like croquettes, are fried, but they are made of batter containing other ingredients, as taste may dictate. Both these preparations are used as accessories of the dinner or tea table rather than as principal dishes.

RECIPES.

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Rice Croquettes.—Put a quarter of a pound of rice into a pint of milk. Let it simmer gently until the rice is tender and the milk absorbed. It must then be boiled until thick and dry, or it will be difficult to mold.

Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, one of butter, one egg, ad flavor to taste with vanilla or cinnamon; beat thoroughly for a few minutes, and when cold form into balls or cones.

Dip these into beaten egg, roll lightly in bread-crumbs, and fry in hot butter.

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Hominy Croquettes.—To a cupful of cold boiled hominy (small grained) add a tablespoonful of melted butter and stir hard
- moisten by degrees with a cupful of milk, beating to a soft, light paste
- put in a teaspoonful of white sugar and a well-beaten egg
- Roll into oval balls with floured hands, dip in beaten egg, then in cracker-crumbs, and fry in hot
lard.

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Potato Croquettes.—Season cold mashed potatoes with pepper, salt, and nutmeg.
Beat to a cream, with a tablespoonful of melted butter to every cupful of potato.
Add two or three beaten eggs and some minced parsley.
Roll into small balls; dip in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs, and fry in hot lard.

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Oyster-Plant Croquettes.—Wash, scrape, and boil the oyster-plant till tender.
Rub it through a colander, and mix with the pulp a little butter, cream, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.
Mix the ingredients thoroughly together to a smooth paste, and set the dish in the ice-box to get cold.
Shape it into small cones, dip them in beaten egg, roll in crumbs, and fry crisp and brown.

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Chicken Croquettes.—Add to the quantity of minced chicken;
- about one-quarter the quantity of bread-crumbs,
- also one egg well beaten to each cupful of meat;
- pepper, salt, and chopped parsley to taste,
- add the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs rubbed smooth.

Add gravy or drawn butter to moisten it, make into cones or balls, roll in cracker-dust or flour, and fry in hot lard.

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Oyster Croquettes.—Take the hard ends of the oysters, leaving the other end for a soup or stew; scald them, then chop fine, and add an equal weight of potatoes rubbed through a colander.

To one pound of this combination add two ounces of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, half a teaspoonful of mace, and one-half gill of cream.

Make in small rolls, dip them in egg and grated bread, fry in deep, hot lard.

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Lobster Croquettes.—Chop the lobster very fine; mix with pepper, salt, bread-crumbs, and a little parsley; moisten with cream and a small piece of butter; shape with your hands; dip in egg, roll in bread-crumbs, fly in hot lard.

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Plain Fritters.—Take one pint of flour, four eggs, one pint of boiling water, and one teaspoonful of salt. Stir the flour into the boiling water gradually, and let it boil three minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from the fire and stir in the yelks of the eggs, afterward the whites, they having been well beaten. Drop this batter by large spoonfuls into boiling lard and fry to a light brown.

Serve hot, powdered with white sugar.

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Potato Fritters.—Break open four nicely baked potatoes scoop out the insides with a spoon, and mix with them;
- wineglassful of cream
- a tablespoonful of brandy,
- two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar,
- the juice of one lemon,
- half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract,
- and well-beaten yelks of four and the whites of three eggs.

Beat the batter until it is quite smooth; drop large tablespoonfuls of the mixture into boiling fat and fry to a light brown; dust them with powdered sugar and send to table hot.

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Corn Fritters.—Scrape twelve ears of corn, mix with two eggs, one and one-half cups of milk, salt and pepper to taste, and flour enough to hold all together. Fry in hot fat.

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Hominy Fritters.—Two teacupfuls of cold boiled hominy;
- stir in one teacupful of sweet milk and a little salt,
- four tablespoonfuls of sifted flour,
- and one egg (beat the white separately and add last;)

Drop the batter by spoonfuls in hot lard and fry to a nice brown.

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Rice Fritters.—Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in milk till it is tender, then mix it with a pint of milk, two eggs, one cup of sugar, a little salt and cinnamon, and as much flour as will make a thick batter. Fry them in thin cakes and serve with butter and white powdered sugar.

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Apple Fritters.—Take one egg, two tablespoonfuls of flour, a little sifted sugar and ginger, with milk enough to make a smooth batter.

Cut a good sized apple into slices and put them into the batter.

Put them into a frying-pan, with the batter which is taken up in the spoon. When fried, drain them on a sieve and sift on powdered sugar.

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Fruit Fritters.—The following recipe will serve for many kinds of fruit or vegetable fritters: Make a batter of ten ounces of flour, half a pint of milk, and two ounces of butter.

Sweeten and flavor to taste.

Stir in the whites of two eggs well beaten; dip the fruit in the batter and fry. Small fruit and vegetables should be mixed with the batter.

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Currant Fritters.—Take two cupfuls dry, fine bread-crumbs,
- two tablespoonfuls prepared flour,
- two cups of milk,
- one-half pound currants, washed and well dried;
- five eggs whipped very light and the yelks strained,
- one-half cup powdered sugar,
- one tablespoonful butter,
- one-half teaspoonful mixed cinnamon and nutmeg.

Boil the milk and pour over the bread. Mix and put in the butter. Let it get cold.

Beat in, next, the yelks and sugar, the seasoning, flour, and stiff whites, finally the currants dredged white with flour. The batter should be thick.

Drop great spoonfuls into the hot lard and fry. Drain them and send hot to table. Eat with a mixture of wine and powdered sugar.

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Oyster Fritters.—Take one and one-half pints of sweet milk,
- one and one-fourth pounds of flour,
- four egg (the yelks having been beaten very thick);
- add milk and flour.

Stir the whole well together, then beat the whites to a stiff froth and stir them gradually into the batter.

Take a spoonful of the mixture, drop an oyster into it, and fry in hot lard; let them be a light brown on both sides.

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Venetian Fritters.—Take three ounces of whole rice, wash and drain into a pint of cold milk. Let it come slowly to a boil, stirring often, and let it simmer till quite thick and dry.

Add two ounces of powdered sugar, one of fresh butter, a pinch of salt, the grated rind of half a lemon.

Let the whole cool in the saucepan, and while still a little warm mix in three ounces of currants, four ounces of chopped apples, a teaspoonful of flour, and three well-beaten eggs.

Drop the batter in small lumps into boiling fat, allowing them to fry till the under side is quite firm and brown; then turn and brown the other side.

When done, drain through a hair sieve, and powder with white sugar when about to serve.

IX.—EGGS.

—NUTRITIOUS VALUE OF EGGS
—TEST OF FRESHNESS
—PACKING EGGS
—PRESERVING EGGS
—THIRTY-THREE WAYS OF COOKING EGGS.

HIGH chemical authorities agree that there is more nutriment in an egg than in any substance of equal bulk found in nature or produced by art. They are much used for food the world over, and few articles are capable of more varied employment.

The freshness of an egg may be determined in various ways. In a fresh egg, the butt end, if touched on the tongue, is sensibly warmer than the point end.

If held toward the light and looked through (“candled “), a fresh egg will show a clear white and a well-rounded yelk. A stale egg will appear muddled.

Probably the surest test is to put the eggs into a pan of cold water. Fresh eggs sink quickly; bad eggs float; suspicious ones act suspiciously, neither sinking nor floating very decidedly.

Of all articles of food, doubtful eggs are most certainly to be condemned.

On the packing of eggs, the following conclusions may be regarded as established among egg-dealers: By cold storage, temperature forty to forty-two degrees Fahrenheit, kept uniform, with eggs packed properly or in cases, they will keep in good condition from six to nine months; but they must be used soon after being taken out of the cold storage, as they soon spoil.

Eggs become musty from being packed in bad material. They will become musty in cases, as a change of temperature causes the eggs to sweat and the wrapping-paper to become moist and taint the eggs.

Well-dried oats, a year old, makes the best packing.

- Eggs become “mixed” by jarring in shipping.
- Fresh eggs mix worse than those kept in cold storage.
- Eggs which have been held in cold storage in the West should be shipped in refrigerator cars in summer.
- Eggs will keep thirty days longer if stood on the little end than in any other position.
- They must be kept at an even temperature and in a pure atmosphere.
- Eggs laid on the side attach to the shell and are badly injured.
- To prevent imposition as to the freshness of the eggs, the egg gatherers should “candle” them when they get them from the farmers.
- Eggs keep better in the dark than in the light.

Methods of preservation for domestic purposes are:

- pack them in bran or salt, the small end down;
- grease them with linseed oil,
- or dip them in a light varnish.

For extra long keeping, slack one pound of lime in a gallon of water; when this s entirely cold, place it in a jar and fill with fresh eggs. Do not agitate the contents when eggs are removed from the jar. Eggs kept so will continue good for a year.

The French method of preserving eggs is to dissolve beeswax and olive oil and anoint the eggs all over. If left undisturbed in a cool place, they will remain good for two years.

RECIPES.

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Boiled Eggs.—Put into a saucepan of boiling water with a tablespoon, being careful not to break or crack them. Boil steadily three minutes, if you want them soft; ten, if hard.

Another way is to put them on in cold water, and let it come to a boil. The inside, white and yelk, will be then of the consistency of custard.

Still another way is to put them in water, heated to the boiling point, and let them stand from five to seven minutes without boiling. If desired for salad, boil them ten minutes; then throw them in cold water; roll them gently on a table or board, and the shell can be easily removed.

Wire egg racks, to set in boiling hot water with the eggs held in place, are exceedingly convenient.

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Poached Eggs.—Have the water well salted, but do not let it boil hard.

Break the eggs separately into a saucer, and slip them singly into the water; when nicely done, remove with a skimmer, trim neatly, and lay each egg upon a small thin square of buttered toast, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Some persons prefer them poached rather than fried with ham; in which case substitute the ham for toast.

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Poached Eggs with Ham Sauce.—Mince fine two or three slices of boiled ham, a small onion, a little parsley, pepper, and salt;
- stew together for a quarter of an hour;
- put the poached eggs in a dish, squeeze over them the juice of a lemon, and pour on the sauce hot but not boiling.

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Steamed Eggs.—Butter a tin plate and break in your eggs; set in a steamer; place over a kettle of boiling water, and steam until the whites are cooked; they are more ornamental when broken into patty tins, as they keep their form better.

The whites of the eggs, when cooked in this manner, are tender and light, and not tough and leathery, as if cooked by any other process.

Eggs in this style can be eaten by invalids, and are very much richer than by any other method.

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Whirled Eggs.—Put a quart of water, slightly salted, into a saucepan over the fire, and keep it at a fast boil.

Stir the boiling water with wooden spoon or ladle in one direction until the water whirls rapidly.

Break six eggs, one at a time, into a cup and drop each carefully into the centre, or vortex, of the boiling water. If kept at a rapid motion, the egg will become a soft, round ball.

Take it out carefully with a perforated spoon, and put it on a slice of buttered toast laid upon a hot dish.

Put a bit of butter on the top. Set the dish in the oven to keep warm, and proceed in the same way with another egg, having but one in the saucepan at a time.

When all are done, dust lightly with salt and pepper and send up hot.

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Baked Eggs.—Mix finely chopped ham and bread-crumbs in about equal proportions, season with salt and pepper, and moisten with milk and a little melted butter; half fill your small patty pans with the mixture, break an egg over the top of each, sprinkle with fine breadcrumbs, and bake; serve hot.

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Baked Eggs, No. 2.—Butter a clean, smooth saucepan, break as many eggs as will be needed into a saucer, one by one, and if found good, slip each into the saucepan.

No broken yelk must be allowed, nor must they crowd so as to risk breaking the yelk after put in.

Put a small piece of butter on each, and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Set into a well-heated oven, and bake till the whites are set. If the oven is rightly heated, it will take but a few minutes, and the cooking will be far more delicate than fried eggs.

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Eggs sur le Plat.—Melt butter on a stone-china or tin plate. Break the eggs carefully into this; dust lightly with pepper and salt, and put on top of the stove until the whites are well set. Serve in the dish in which they are baked.

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Scrambled Eggs.—Put into a frying-pan enough butter to grease it well; slip in the eggs carefully without breaking the yelks; add butter, and season to taste.

When the whites begin to set, stir the eggs from the bottom of the pan, and continue stirring until the cooking is completed. The appearance at the end should be marbled, rather than mixed.

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Scrambled Eggs with Ham.—Put into a pan, butter, a little pepper and salt, and a little milk.
When hot, drop in the eggs, and with a knife cut the eggs and scrape them from the bottom as the whites begin to set.
Add some cold ham chopped fine, and when done, serve in a hot dish.

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Toasted Eggs.—Cover the bottom of an earthenware or stone-china dish with rounds of delicately toasted bread, or with rounds of stale bread dipped in beaten egg and fried quickly to a golden-brown in butter or nice dripping.

Break an egg carefully upon each, and set the dish immediately in front of a glowing fire.

Toast over this as many slices of fat salt pork or ham as there are eggs in the dish, holding the meat so that it will fry very quickly and all the dripping fall upon the eggs. When these are well set, they ae done.

Turn the dish several times while toasting the meat, that the eggs may be equally cooked. Do not send the pork to table, but pepper the eggs lightly and remove with the toast to the dish in which they go to the table.

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Egg Baskets.—Boil quite hard as many eggs as will be needed. Put into cold water till cold, then cut neatly into halves with a thin, sharp knife; remove the yelk and rub to a paste with some melted butter, adding pepper and salt. Cover up this paste and set aside till the filling is ready.

Take cold roast duck, chicken, or turkey, which may be on hand, chop fine and pound smooth, and while pounding mix in the paste prepared from the yelks.

As you pound, moisten with melted butter and some gravy which may have been left over from the fowls; set this paste when done over hot water till well heated.

Cut off a small slice from the end of the empty halves of the whites, so they will stand firm, then fill them with this paste; place them close together on a flat, round dish, and pour over the rest of the gravy, if any remains, or make a little fresh.

A few spoonfuls of cream or rich milk improves this dressing.

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Fricasseed Eggs,—Boil six eggs hard; when cold, slice with a sharp knife. Have ready some slices of stale bread, fried to a nice brown in butter or drippings.

Put a cupful of good broth in drawn butter over the fire, season it with pepper, salt, and a trace of onion; let it come to a boil.

Dip the slices of egg first into raw egg, then into cracker dust or bread-crumbs, and lay them gently into the gravy upon the side of the range. Do not let it actually boil, lest the eggs should break, but let them lie thus in the gravy at least five minutes.

Place the fried bread upon a platter, lay the sliced eggs evenly upon this, pour the gravy over all, and serve hot.

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Curried Eggs.—Boil six or eight fresh eggs quite hard, and put them aside until they are cold. Mix well together from two to three ounces of good butter, and from three to four dessertspoonfuls of currie-powder.

Shake them in a stewpan, or thick saucepan, over a clear but moderate fire for some minutes, then throw in a couple of mild onions finely minced, and fry gently until they are soft.

Pour in by degrees from half to three-quarters of a pint of broth or gravy, and stew slowly until they are reduced to pulp.

Mix smoothly a small cup of thick cream with two teaspoonfuls of wheaten or rice flour; stir them to the currie, and simmer the whole until the raw taste of the thickening is gone.

Cut the eggs into half-inch slices, heat them through in the sauce without boiling them, and send to the table as hot as possible.

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Plain Omelet.—Beat thoroughly yelks of five eggs, and a dessertspoonful of flour, rubbed smooth in two-thirds of a cupful of milk. Salt and pepper to taste, and add a piece of butter the size of a hickory-nut.

Beat the whites to a stiff froth, pour the mixture into the whites, and without stirring pour into a hot, buttered omelet pan. Cook on top of the range for five minutes; then set pan and all into the oven to brown the top nicely.

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Cheese Omelet—Butter the sides of a deep dish and cover with thin slices of rich cheese; lay over the cheese thin slices of well-buttered bread, first covering the cheese with a little red pepper and mustard; then another layer of cheese.

Beat the yelk of an egg in a cup of cream or milk, and pour over the dish, and put at once into the oven.

Bake till nicely browned. Serve hot, or it will be tough and hard, but when properly cooked it will be tender and savory.

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Meat or Fish Omelet.—Make the same as plain omelet. When it is done, scatter thickly over the surface cold, boiled ham, tongue, poultry, fish, or lobster, chopped fine, and season nicely to taste.

Slip the broad knife under one side of the omelet and double, inclosing the meat. Then upset the frying-pan upon a hot dish, so transferring the omelet without breaking. Or the minced meat may be stirred in after the ingredients are put together, and before cooking. Be careful not to scorch the egg.

Omelet with Oysters.—Allow one egg for each person, and beat yelks and whites separately, very light; season to taste, and just before cooking add the oysters, which have been previously scalded in their own liquor.

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Deviled Eggs.—Boil the eggs hard, remove the shell, and cut in two as preferred.

Remove the yelks, and add to them salt, cayenne pepper, melted butter, and mixed mustard to taste; then stuff the cavities of the hard whites, and put the halves together again.

Serve garnished with parsley. For picnics, etc., each egg can be wrapped in tissue paper to preserve its form.

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Pickled Eggs.—Boil the eggs until very hard; when cold, shell them, and cut them in halves lengthways.

Lay them carefully in large-mouthed jars, and pour over them scalding vinegar, well seasoned with whole pepper, allspice, a few pieces of ginger, and a few cloves of garlic.

When cold, tie up closely, and let them stand a month. They are then fit for use. With cold meat, they are a most delicious and delicate pickle.

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Egg Balls.—Rub the yelks of hard-boiled eggs with the raw yelk of an egg, well beaten, and season to taste. Roll this paste into balls the size of marbles, adding flour if necessary to thicken, and boil two minutes.

A valuable embellishment and enrichment of soups.

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Sweet Omelet.—Beat four eggs without separating; add a piece of butter the size of a walnut and four tablespoonfuls of warm water. Put another piece of butter in a frying-pan.

When melted and hot turn in the egg and shake until set, then lift carefully the side, drain the liquid portion underneath, shake again until the omelet is cooked.

Fill the centre with jam and fold over one side and then the other. Turn it into another heated pan; turn on to a heated dish and serve.

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Eggs Scrambled in Tomatoes.—Fry one small slice of onion in three tablespoonfuls butter until crisp, then remove onion; add to the butter one large cup tomato, one teaspoonful sugar, one teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper and cook five minutes.

Add four eggs beaten and cook the same as scrambled eggs. Serve with entire wheat or brown bread toast.

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Omelet Souffle.—Separate six eggs, beat the whites to a very stiff froth; beat and add the yolks of three, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, the grated rind of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of lemon juice.

Mix quickly and turn into a baking dish or form on a platter. Dust thickly with powdered sugar and bake in a quick oven about five minutes.