THE HOME OFFICE

Southland Times, Issue 21000, 5 February 1930, Page 13

THE HOME OFFICE

TOMATO AND ASPARAGUS SALAD. Select even, small tomatoes, scald and skin, and, if possible, lay on ice to cool. Cut in halves and remove a thin slice from the bottom, so they will stand firm. Then season tomatoes with French dressing, three parts of oil to one of vinegar, mixed well. Cut asparagus tips (canned) Ilin. in length, dip in dressing, and place in tomatoes in an upright position. Serve on a bed of parsley or lettuce leaves. Home Office.” ORANGE AND LETTUCE SALAD. The heart of one lettuce, four oranges, one dessertspoonful lemon juice. Dressing: One tablespoonful lemon juice, salt and pepper, three tablespoons olive oil. Peel the oranges, removing all the pith, then cut them into thin slices across the fruit, and take out all pips. Line a bowl with lettuce leaves, put in the orange slices, and sprinkle with a dessertspoon of lemon juice. Add the oil to the salt, apd pepper, stir with a wooden spoon while you mix in the lemon juice. Pour this over the oranges and serve. "Editor Home Office.” PLUM CHUTNEY. ‘Sarah” Invercargill sends this recipe Take 141 b of plums, which are not quite ripe or just only so, cut them in halves and remove the stones. Take Alb tomatoes that are also just ripe and peel them. Chop up lib unions, and stew all together in an aluminium pan for a couple of hours. Then add a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, Alb brown sugar, a dessertspoonful of salt and some red cherries, if procurable. Continue to cook gently for another } hour with 14 pint of vinegar. When cool, place in well-corked glass bottles and keep for a month or longer before using. It is best to cover the covers with melted wax. APRICOT sorbet: Sent in by “Amy” Gore. Half a tablespoon of gelatine, 2 tablespoons of cold water, half-cup of boiling water, half-cup sugar, 1 cup of milk, 1 - tin of apricots, the juice of half a lemon, 1 cup of cream. Soften the gelatine in cold water, then' dissolve it and the sugar in boiling water and cool. Put on one side 12 halves of apricots, and rub those remaining through a sieve. Whip the cream and fold into it the gelatine mixture, the sieved apricots and syrup, the milk , and the lemon juice. Put in a cool place to set and leave for three or four hours. Garnish with the halves of apricots. RHUBARB WINE. Rhubarb, loaf sugar, two lemons, a few pieces of ginger, a few red peppercorns. Cut out into rather small pieces two large bundles or more of rhubarb. After carefully washing the sticks, put the pieces into a large earthenware pan or basin, which must be so large that the rhubarb does not I more than one-third fill it. Next fill the! pan up to the top with clear cold water — use spring water if possible.. Cover, and let it stand for five days; after that time strain off all the water into another clean pan. Use a wire sieve to strain it, and then the rhubarb can be thrown away. Now measure the liquid, and to eyery four quarts that you have add 341 b. loaf sugar. This should stand (covered over) for another. three or four days, till all the sugar is dissolved. Each day it should be well stirred twice. When this is done, put it either into a cask or large stone jar, and add two lemons cut in slices, two or three pieces of ginger, and a few red peppercorns. Cork down and examine it about once a week, if necessary filling-up the jar with ; water. When all working—that is all bubbling on the top—has ceased, remove lemon, etc., and colour the liquid with burnt sugar till it resembles sherry. Put in into dry bottles, cork and seal down tightly, and leave for six months or longer if possible; the longer the better. “Editor Home Office.”

PLUM PUDDINGS. These should be made in individual moulds of basins. In the bottom of each mould that has been greased place three or four cooked plums. Have ready some cold boiled rice, and fill each basin .with it. Beat an egg, add a cup of milk and two tablespoons of sugar. Pour over the rice and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes, or until firm. Serve hot with sauce made by boiling the syrup in which the plums were cooked for five minutes, with two tablespoons of sugar, a tablespoon of cornflour and a teaspoon of lemon juice. "Editor Home Office.” PINEAPPLE SWEET. I Sent in by “E.D.,” Winton. I Two ounces butter, two ounces castor ' sugar, two ounces flour, two eggs, small ■ tin pine chunks, and half pint milk. Place . the pine chunks in .pie dish, put butter and i flour into double saucepan and stir until ' a smooth paste, add sugar, then add juice of pineapple, then the milk gradually, stirring all the time; now beat the yolks of eggs into it, and pour into pie dish; beat up the whites of eggs with another two ounces of castor sugar until it looks like 1 icing. Place over top and bake until goldenbrown; ten minutes in moderate oven is sufficient; serve cold. i ■ • CHERRY DELIGHT. - Sent in by "E.D.,” Winton. I One pound cherries (fresh or bottled), five ounces sugar, quarter pint water, four sponge cakes, quarter pint hot custard flavoured with almond. Boil the sugar and water together for four minutes, then put in the cherries, and simmer till tender. Put them into a pic dish and let them cool Slice the sponge cakes and lay therii on top of the cherries, and then pour over all the custard quite hot, and flavour with almond essence. Bake’ for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Dredge thickly with sugar and serve at once. I .' . RIPE TOMATO SAUCE. Sent in by "Sarah” Invercargill. 121 b tomatoes, 1 pint vinegar, 2lb onions, :jlb sugar, loz garlic, loz cloves, 6oz salt, loz ground ginger, cayenne to taste. Cook all the above, except the vinegar, sugar, and cayenne, slowly for two hours. Then pass through a hair sieve. Add the vinegar, sugar and cayenne, and boil up till the proper consistency is attained. Bottle it, and, when cold, cork securely. TOMATO FARCEE. (A recipe by A. Gibbs, diploma of cookery, Sydney Technical College). Take 4 dozen firm red tomatoes, 1 dessertspoon butter, 1 dessertspoon flour, -1 pint stock or milk, little finelj~chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon cooked ham (minced), a little grated cheese, some browned breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste, a few drops of lemon juice, 4 dozen rounds of fried bread. Melt the buttpr, add the flour,' and stir till free from lumps. Cook one minute. Add stock or milk and stir over the fire till it boils and thickens. Add the parsley, ham and cheese, and season with a few drops of lemon juice. Wash and dry' the tomatoes, and cut the tops off. Scoop out the inside carefully, leaving a good layer of tomato at; the bottom. Mix a little of the tomato pulp which has been scooped out with the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a few breadcrumbs inside the tomato, then fill them with the mixture. Sprinkle a few more crumbs on top, < replace the lids, and cook in a very moderate’oven about 15 minutes.

Fry the rounds of bread a golden brown. Drain on-paper, place a tomato on each round. Serve on a d’oylcy, and garnish with parsley.

FISH SALAD. Half pound cold boiled fish, two hardboiled eggs, lettuce, salad dressing. Wash and dry the lettuce, and arrange it nicely on a white dish. Quarter the eggs and put them around. Remove the skin and bones and cut the fish into neat pieces, and lay it on the salad. Pour some good thick dressing over and serve. Any firm, cold fish may be used for this salad. “Editor Home Office.” A TOMATO SALAD. Slice about eight fair-sized tomatoes, arid simmer gently until soft with a slice of onion four cloves, salt and pepper. Strain through a hair sieve, add -}oz. of gelatine to the tomato mixture, and stir all over low heat until the gelatine has melted, adding half a gill of hot water. Put into a wetted tin and leave until set. Turn out, cut into fancy shapes, and serve on crisp lettuce leaves mixed with mayonnaise, or an oil and ■vinegar dressing. > “Editor Home Office.” APPLE CHUTNEY. “Sarah” Invercargills sends this recipe. - 41b brown sugar, -loz salt, 6oz garlic, jib onions, ]oz cayenne-pepper, 2oz ground ginger, loz. .mustard seed, 41b raisins,' 1 quart or 21b apples or gooseberries, 1 quart vinegar. Stew apples in half the vinegar, and when quite soft cool them. Make a syrup of the rest of the vinegar, chop the onions, bruise the garlic, then blend the whole of the ingredients and cook together. When done bottle. It will be fit to use in a fortnight.