From the 1881 book, Miss Parloa’s New Cook Book and Marketing Guide.

EDITORS NOTE: This article is decorated with drawings from the “Kitchen Furnishing” chapter.

General Advice on Salads.

☺ A salad should come to the table fresh and crisp. The garnishes should be of the lightest and freshest kind.

☻Nothing is more out of place than a delicate salad covered with hard-boiled eggs, boiled beets, etc.

☺A salad with which the mayonnaise dressing is used, should have only the delicate white leaves of the celery, or the small leaves from the heart of the lettuce, and these should be arranged in a wreath at the base, with a few tufts here and there on the salad.

☺The contrast between the creamy dressing and the light green is not great, but it is pleasing.

☺In arranging a salad on a dish, or in a bowl, handle it very lightly. Never use pressure to get it into form.

☺When a jelly border is used with salads, some of it should be helped with the salad.

☺The small round radishes may be arranged in the dish with a lettuce salad.

☺In washing lettuce great care must be taken not to break or wilt it.

☺The large, dark green leaves are not nice for salad.

☺As lettuce is not an expensive vegetable, it is best, when the heads are not round and compact, to buy an extra one and throw the large tough leaves away.

☺In winter and early spring, when lettuce is raised in hot-houses, it is liable to have insects on it. Care must be taken that all are washed off.

☺Only the white, crisp parts of celery should he used in salads. The green, tough parts will answer for stews and soups.

☺Vegetable salads can be served for tea and lunch and with, or after, the meats at dinner.

☺The hot cabbage, red cabbage, celery, cucumber and potato salads, are particularly appropriate for serving with meats.

☺The lettuce salad, with the French dressing, and the dressed celery, are the best to serve after the meats.

☻A rich salad, like chicken, lobster or salmon, is out of place at a company dinner. It is best served for suppers and lunches.

☺The success of a salad (after the dressing is made) depends upon keeping the lettuce or celery crisp and not adding meat or dressing to it until the time for serving.

Dressings.

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Mayonnaise Dressing.

- table-spoonful of mustard,
- one table-spoonful of sugar,
- one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne,
- one teaspoonful of salt,
- the yolks of three uncooked eggs,
- the juice of half a lemon,
- a quarter of a cupful of vinegar,
- a pint of oil and
- a cupful of whipped cream.

Beat the yolks and dry ingredients, until they are very light and thick, with either a silver or wooden spoon — or, better still, with a Dover beater of second size. The bowl in which the dressing is made should be set in a pan of ice water during the beating.

Add a few drops of oil at a time until the dressing becomes very thick and rather hard. After it has reached this stage the oil can be added more rapidly.

When it gets so thick that the beater turns hard, add a little vinegar. When the last of the oil and vinegar has been added it should be very thick.

Now add the lemon juice and whipped cream, and place on ice for a few hours, unless you are ready to use it. The cream may be omitted without injury.

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Salad Dressing Made at the Table.

The yolk of a raw egg, a table-spoonful of mixed mustard, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, six table-spoonfuls of oil. Stir the yolk, mustard and salt together with a fork until they begin to thicken. Add the oil, gradually, stirring all the while. More or less oil can be used.

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Cream Salad Dressing.

- two eggs,
- three table-spoonfuls of vinegar,
- one table-spoonful of cream,
- one teaspoonful of sugar,
- one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt,
- one-fourth of a teaspoonful of mustard.

Beat two eggs well. Add the sugar, salt and mustard, then the vinegar, and the cream.

Place the bowl in a basin of boiling water, and stir until about the thickness of rich cream. If the bowl is thick and the water boils all the time, it will take about five minutes. Cool, and use as needed.

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Red Mayonnaise Dressing.

Lobster “coral” is pounded to a powder, rubbed through a sieve, and mixed with mayonnaise dressing. This gives a dressing of a bright color.

Or, the juice from boiled beets can be used instead of “coral.”

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Green Mayonnaise Dressing.

Mix enough spinach green with mayonnaise sauce to give it a bright green color. A little finely-chopped parsley can be added.

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Aspic Mayonnaise Dressing.

Melt, but heat only slightly, one cupful of aspic jelly; or, one cupful of consommé will answer, if it is well jellied. Put in a bowl and place in a basin of ice water.

Have ready:
- the juice of half a lemon,
- one cupful of salad oil,
- one-fourth of a cupful of vinegar,
- one table-spoonful of sugar,
- one scant table-spoonful of mustard,
- one teaspoonful of salt and
- one-tenth of a teaspoonful of cayenne.

Mix the dry ingredients with the vinegar. Beat the jelly with a whisk, and as soon as it begins to thicken, add the oil and vinegar, a little at a time. Add the lemon juice the last thing.

You must beat all the time after the bowl is placed in the ice water. This gives a whiter dressing than that made with the yolks of eggs.

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Boiled Salad Dressing.

- three eggs,
- one table-spoonful of sugar,
- one table-spoonful of oil
- one table-spoonful of salt,
- a scant table-spoonful of mustard,
- a cupful of milk and
- a cupful of vinegar.

Stir oil, salt, mustard and sugar in a bowl until perfectly smooth. Add the eggs, and beat well; then add the vinegar, and finally the milk.

Place the bowl in a basin of boiling water, and stir the dressing until it thickens like soft custard.

The time of cooking depends upon the thickness of the bowl. If a common white bowl is used, and it is placed in water that is boiling at the time and is kept constantly boiling, from eight to ten minutes will suffice; but if the bowl is very thick, from twelve to fifteen minutes will be needed.

The dressing will keep two weeks if bottled tightly and put in a cool place.

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Sour Cream Salad Dressing.

- one cupful of sour cream,
- one teaspoonful of salt,
- a speck of cayenne,
- one table-spoonful of lemon juice,
- three table-spoonfuls of vinegar,
- one teaspoonful of sugar.

Mix all together thoroughly. This is best for vegetables.

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Sardine Dressing.

Pound in a mortar, until perfectly smooth, the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs and three sardines, which have been freed of bones, if there were any.

Add the mixture to any of the thick dressings, like the mayonnaise or the boiled. This dressing is for fish.

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Salad Dressing Without Oil.

- the yolks of four uncooked eggs,
- one table-spoonful of salt,
- one heaping teaspoonful of sugar,
- one heaping teaspoonful of mustard,
- half a cupful of clarified chicken fat,
- a quarter of a cupful of vinegar,
- the juice of half a lemon,
- a speck of cayenne.

Make as directed for mayonnaise dressing.

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Salad Dressing made with Butter.

- four table-spoonfuls of butter,
- one table-spoonful of flour,
- one tablespoonful of salt,
- one table-spoonful of sugar,
- one heaping teaspoonful of mustard,
- a speck of cayenne,
- one cupful of milk,
- half a cupful of vinegar,
- three eggs.

Let the butter get hot in a sauce-pan. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, being careful not to brown. Add the milk, and boil up. Place the sauce-pan in another of hot water.

Beat the eggs, salt, pepper, sugar and mustard together, and add the vinegar. Stir this into the boiling mixture, and stir until it thickens like soft custard, which will be in about five minutes.

Set away to cool and when cold, bottle, and place in the ice-chest. This will keep two weeks.

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Bacon Salad Dressing.

- two table-spoonfuls of bacon or pork fat,
- one table-spoonful of flour,
- one table-spoonful of lemon juice,
- half a teaspoonful of salt,
- one teaspoonful of sugar,
- one teaspoonful of mustard,
- two eggs,
- half a cupful of water,
- half a cupful of vinegar.

Have the fat hot. Add the flour, and stir until smooth, but not brown. Add the water, and boil up once. Place the sauce-pan in another of boiling water.

Have the eggs and seasoning beaten together. Add the vinegar to the boiling mixture, and stir in the beaten egg. Cook four minutes, stirring all the while.

Cool and use. If corked tightly, this will keep two weeks in a cold place.

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French Salad Dressing.

- three table-spoonfuls of oil,
- one of vinegar,
- one salt spoonful of salt,
- one-half a salt-spoonful of pepper.

Put the salt and pepper in a cup, and add one table-spoonful of the oil. When thoroughly mixed, add the remainder of the oil and the vinegar.

This is dressing enough for a salad for six persons.

If you like the flavor of onion, grate a little juice into the dressing. The juice is obtained by first peeling the onion, and then grating with a coarse grater, using a good deal of pressure. Two strokes will give about two drops of juice—enough for this rule.

Salads.

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Chicken Salad.

Have cold roasted or boiled chicken free of skin, fat and bones. Place on a board, and cut in long, thin strips, and cut these into dice.

Place in an earthen bowl (there should be two quarts), and season with four table-spoonfuls of vinegar, two of oil, one teaspoonful of salt and one-half of a teaspoonful of pepper. Set away in a cold place for two or three hours.

Scrape and wash enough of the tender white celery to make one quart. Cut this, with a sharp knife, in pieces about half an inch thick. Put these in the ice chest until serving time.

Make the mayonnaise dressing. Mix the chicken and celery together, and add half of the dressing. Arrange in a salad bowl or on a flat dish, and pour the remainder of the dressing over it.

Garnish with white celery leaves. Or, have a jelly border, and arrange the salad in this.

Half celery and half lettuce is often used for chicken salad.

Many people, when preparing for a large company, use turkey instead of chicken, there being so much more meat in the same number of pounds of the raw material; but the salad is not nearly so nice as with chicken.

If, when the chicken or fowl is cooked, it is allowed to cool in the water in which it is boiled, it will be juicier and tenderer than if taken from the water as soon as done.

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Lobster Salad.

Cut up and season the lobster the same as chicken.

Break the leaves from a head of lettuce, one by one, and wash them singly in a large pan of cold water. Put them in a pan of ice water for about ten minutes, and then shake in a wire basket, to free them of water. Place in the ice chest until serving time.

When ready to serve, put two or three leaves together in the form of a shell, and arrange these shells on a flat dish. Mix one-half of the mayonnaise dressing with the lobster. Put a table-spoonful of this in each cluster of leaves.

Finish with a teaspoonful of the dressing on each spoonful of lobster.

This is an exceedingly inviting dish.

Another method is to cut or tear the leaves rather coarse, and mix with the lobster. Garnish the border of the dish with whole leaves. There should be two-thirds lobster to one-third lettuce.

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Salmon Salad.

- one quart of cooked salmon,
- two heads of lettuce,
- two table-spoonfuls of lemon juice,
- one table-spoonfulof vinegar,
- two table-spoonfuls of capers,
- one teaspoonful of salt,
- one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper,
- one cupful of mayonnaise dressing, or the French dressing.

Break up the salmon with two silver forks. Add to it the salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. Put in the ice chest or some other cold place, for two or three hours.

Prepare the lettuce as directed for lobster salad. At serving time, pick out leaves enough to border the dish.

Cut or tear the remainder in pieces, and arrange these in the centre of a flat dish. On them heap the salmon lightly, and cover with the dressing. Now sprinkle on the capers.

Arrange the whole leaves at the base, and, if you choose, lay one-fourth of a thin slice of lemon on each leaf.

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Oyster Salad.

- one pint of celery,
- one quart of oysters,
- one-third of a cupful of mayonnaise dressing,
- three table-spoonfuls of vinegar,
- one table-spoonful of oil,
- half a teaspoonful of salt,
- one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper,
- one table-spoonful of lemon juice.

Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor. Skim well and drain. Season them with the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. When cold, put in the ice chest for at least two hours.

Scrape and wash the whitest and tenderest part of the celery, and, with a sharp knife, cut in very thin slices. Put in a bowl with a large lump of ice, and set in the ice chest until serving time.

When ready to serve, drain the celery, and mix with the oysters and half of the dressing. Arrange in the dish, pour the remainder of the dressing over, and garnish with white celery leaves.

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Sardine Salad.

Arrange one quart of any kind of cooked fish on a bed of crisp lettuce. Split six sardines, and if there are any bones, remove them.

Cover the fish with the sardine dressing. Over this put the sardines, having the ends meet in the centre of the dish.

At the base of the dish make a wreath of thin slices of lemon. Garnish with parsley or lettuce, and serve immediately.

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Shad Roe Salad.

Three shad roe, boiled in salted water twenty minutes.

When cold, cut in thin slices. Season and set away, the same as salmon.

Serve the same as salmon, except omit the capers, and use chopped pickled beet.

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Salads of Fish.

All kinds of cooked fish can be served in salads. Lettuce is the best green salad to use with them, but all green vegetables, when cooked and cold, can be added to the fish and dressing.

The sardine and French dressings are the best to use with fish.

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Polish Salad.

- one quart of cold game or poultry, cut very fine;
- the French dressing,
- four hard-boiled eggs,
- one large, or two small heads of lettuce.

Moisten the meat with the dressing, and let it stand in the ice chest two or three hours.

Rub the yolks of the eggs to a powder, and chop the whites very fine.

Wash the lettuce and put in the ice chest until serving time.

When ready to serve, put the lettuce leaves together and cut in long, narrow strips with a sharp knife, or tear it with a fork. Arrange on a dish, heap the meat in the centres and sprinkle the egg over all.

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Beef Salad.

- one quart of cold roasted or stewed beef—it must be very tender,
- double the rule for French dressing,
- one table-spoonful of chopped parsley, and
- one of onion juice, to be mixed with the dressing.

Cut the meat in thin slices, and then into little squares. Place a layer in the salad bowl, sprinkle with parsley and dressing, and continue this until all the meat is used. Garnish with parsley, and keep in a cold place for one of two hours.

Any kind of meat can be used instead of beef.

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Meat and Potato Salad.

Prepare the meat as directed for beef salad, using, however, one-half the quantity. Add one pint of cold boiled potatoes, cut in thin slices, and dressing. Garnish, and set away as before.

These salads can be used as soon as made, but the flavor is improved by their standing an hour or more.

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Bouquet Salad.

- four hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped;
- one head of lettuce, or one pint of water cresses;
- a large bunch of nasturtium blossoms or buttercups,
- the French dressing, with the addition of one teaspoonful of sugar.

Wash the lettuce or cresses, and throw into ice water. When crisp, take out, and shake out all the water. Cut or tear in pieces.

Put a layer in the bowl, with here and there a flower, and sprinkle in half of the egg and half the dressing. Repeat this.

Arrange the flowers in a wreath, and put a few in the centre. Serve immediately.

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Cauliflower Salad.

Boil one large cauliflower with two quarts of water and one table-spoonful of salt, for half an hour. Take up and drain.

When cold, divide into small tufts. Arrange on the centre of a dish and garnish with a border of strips of pickled beet.

Pour cream dressing, or a cupful of mayonnaise dressing, over the cauliflower. Arrange a star of the pickled beet in the centre. Serve immediately.

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Asparagus Salad.

Boil two bunches of asparagus with one quart of water and one table-spoonful of salt, for twenty minutes. Take up and drain on a sieve.

When cold, cut off the tender points, and arrange them on the dish. Pour on cream salad dressing.

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Asparagus and Salmon Salad.

Prepare the asparagus as before directed.

Season a quart of cooked salmon with:
- one teaspoonful of salt,
- one-third of a teaspoonful of pepper,
- three table-spoonfuls of oil,
- one table-spoonful of vinegar and
- two table-spoonfuls of lemon juice.

Let this stand in the ice chest at least two hours.

Arrange the salmon in the centre of the dish and the asparagus points around it. Cover the fish with one cupful of mayonnaise dressing.

Garnish the dish with points of lemon. Green peas can be used instead of asparagus.

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Cucumber Salad.

Cut about one inch off of the point of the cucumber, and pare. (The bitter juice is in the point, and if this is not cut off before paring, the knife carries the flavor all through the cucumber.)

Cut in thin slices, cover with cold water, and let stand half an hour.

Drain, and season with French dressing. If oil is not liked it can be omitted.

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Tomato Salad.

Pare ripe tomatoes (which should be very cold), and cut in thin slices. Arrange on a flat dish.

Put one teaspoonful of mayonnaise dressing in the centre of each slice. Place a delicate border of parsley around the dish, and a sprig here and there between the slices of tomato.

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Cabbage Salad.

- one large head of cabbage,
- twelve eggs,
- two small cupfuls of sugar,
- two teaspoonfuls of salt,
- one table-spoonful of melted butter,
- two teaspoonfuls of mustard,
- one cupful of vinegar, or more, if you like.

Divide the cabbage into four pieces, and wash well in cold water. Take off all the wilted leaves and cut out the tough, hard parts.

Cut the cabbage very fine with a sharp knife. Have the eggs boiled hard, and ten of them chopped fine. Add these and the other ingredients to the cabbage.

Arrange on a dish and garnish with the two remaining eggs and pickled beets.

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Hot Cabbage Salad.

- one quart of finely-shaved cabbage,
- two table-spoonfuls of bacon or pork fat,
- two large slices of onion, minced very fine;
- one teaspoonful of salt,
- one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper,
- half a cupful of vinegar,
- one teaspoonful of sugar.

Fry the onion in the fat until it becomes yellow; then add the other ingredients.

Pour the hot mixture on the cabbage. Stir well, and serve at once. Lettuce can be served in the same manner.

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Vegetable Salad.

- a spoonful of green parsley, chopped fine with a knife;
- six potatoes,
- half of a small turnip,
- half of a carrot,
- one small beet.

Cut the potatoes in small slices, the beet a little finer, and the turnip and carrot very fine. Mix all thoroughly.

Sprinkle with a scant teaspoonful of salt — unless the vegetables were salted in cooking, and add the whole French dressing, or half a cupful of the boiled dressing. Keep very cool until served.

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Red Vegetable Salad.

- one pint of cold boiled potatoes,
- one pint of cold boiled beets,
- one pint of uncooked red cabbage,
- six table-spoonfuls of oil,
- eight table-spoonfuls of red vinegar (that in which beets have been pickled),
- two teaspoonfuls of salt (unless the vegetables have been cooked in salted water),
- half a teaspoonful of pepper.

Cut the potatoes in thin slices and the beets fine, and slice the cabbage as thin as possible.

Mix all the ingredients. Let stand in a cold place one hour; then serve.

Red cabbage and celery may be used together. Use the French dressing.

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Potato Salad.

- ten potatoes, cut fine;

- the French dressing, with four or five drops of onion juice in it, and

- one table-spoonful of chopped parsley.

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Potato Salad, No. 2.

- one quart of potatoes,
- two table-spoonfuls of grated onion,
- two of chopped parsley,
- four of chopped beet and
- enough of any of the dressings to make moist ... the sardine is the best for this.

Pare and cut the potatoes in thin slices, while hot. Mix the other ingredients with them, and put away in a cool place until serving time. This is better for standing two or three hours.

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Cooked Vegetables in Salad.

Nearly every kind of cooked vegetables can be served in salads. They can be served separately or mixed. They must be cold and well drained before the dressing is added.

Any of the dressings given, except sardine, can be used.

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Dressed Celery.

Scrape and wash the celery. Let it stand in ice water twenty minutes, and shake dry.

With a sharp knife, cut it in pieces about an inch long. Put in the ice chest until serving time; then moisten well with mayonnaise dressing. Arrange in the salad bowl or on a flat dish.

Garnish with a border of white celery leaves or water-cresses. When served on a flat dish, points of pickled beets, arranged around the base, make an agreeable change.

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Lettuce Salad.

Two small, or one large head of lettuce. Break off all the leaves carefully, wash each separately, and throw into a pan of ice water, where they should remain an hour. Put them in a wire basket or coarse towel, and shake out all the water.

Either cut the leaves with a sharp knife, or tear them in large pieces. Mix the French dressing with them, and serve immediately.

Beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, etc., can each be served as a salad, with French or boiled dressing.

Cold potatoes, beef, mutton or lamb, cut fine, and finished with either dressing, make a good salad.