Jewish Cook Book - Entrees

This is the Entrées section of this book

 * Go to start of book

Croquettes
Combine ingredients as directed in the recipe, roll the mixture lightly between the hands into a ball. Have a plentiful supply of bread crumbs spread evenly on a board; roll the ball lightly on the crumbs into the shape of a cylinder, and flatten each end by dropping it lightly on the board; put it in the egg (to each egg add one tablespoon of water, and beat together), and with a spoon moisten the croquette completely with the egg; lift it out on a knife-blade, and again roll lightly in the crumbs. Have every part entirely covered, so there will be no opening through which the grease may be absorbed. Where a light yellow color is wanted, use fresh white crumbs grated from the loaf (or rubbed through a purée sieve) for the outside, and do not use the yolk of the egg. Coarse fresh crumbs are used for fish croquettes, which are usually made in the form of chops, or half heart shape. A small hole is pricked in the pointed end after frying, and a sprig of parsley inserted. Have all the croquettes of perfectly uniform size and shape, and lay them aside on a dish, not touching one another, for an hour or more before frying. This will make the crust more firm.

The white of an egg alone may be used for egging them, but not the yolk alone. Whip the egg with the water, just enough to break it, as air-bubbles in the egg will break in frying, and let the grease penetrate. Serve the croquettes on a platter, spread them on a napkin and garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Chicken croquettes, No. 1
Cook one-half tablespoon of flour in one tablespoon chicken-fat, add one-half cup of soup stock gradually, and one-half teaspoon each of onion juice, lemon juice, salt, and one-quarter teaspoon of pepper, one and one-half cups of veal or chicken, chopped very fine, one pair of brains which have been boiled, mix these well, remove from the fire and add one well-beaten egg. Turn this mixture out on a flat dish and place in ice-box to cool. Then roll into small cones, dip in beaten egg, roll again in powdered bread or cracker crumbs and drop them into boiling fat, fry until a delicate brown.

Chicken croquettes, No. 2
Chop the chicken very fine, using the white meat alone, or the dark meat alone, or both together. Season with salt, pepper, onion-juice, and lemon-juice. Chopped mushrooms, sweetbreads, calf's brains, tongue, or truffles are used with chicken, and a combination of two or more of them much improves the quality of the croquettes.

Croquettes of calf's brains
Lay the brains in salt water an hour, or until they look perfectly white, then take out one at a time, pat with your hands to loosen the outer skin and pull it off. Beat or rub them to a smooth paste with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper and a very little mace; add a beaten egg and about one-half cup of bread crumbs. Heat fat in a spider and fry large spoonfuls of this mixture in it.

Meat croquettes
Veal, mutton, lamb, beef and turkey croquettes may be prepared in the same way as chicken croquettes.

Meat and boiled hominy croquettes
Equal proportions.

Sweetbread croquettes
Cut the boiled sweetbreads into small dice with a silver knife. Mix with mushrooms, using half the quantity of mushrooms that you have of sweetbreads. Use two eggs in the sauce.

Veal croquettes
Veal is often mixed with chicken, or is used alone as a substitute for chicken. Season in same manner and make the same combinations.

Cauliflower croquettes
Finely chop cold cooked cauliflower, mix in one small, finely chopped onion, one small bunch of parsley finely chopped, one-half cup of bread crumbs and one well-beaten egg. Carefully mix and mold into croquette forms, dip in cracker dust and fry in deep, smoking fat until a light brown.

Eggplant croquettes (Roumanian)
Peel the eggplant, place in hot water and boil until tender, drain, add two eggs, salt, pepper, two tablespoons of matzoth or white flour or bread crumbs, beat together; fry in butter or oil by tablespoonfuls.

Croquettes of fish
Take any kind of boiled fish, separate it from the bones carefully, chop with a little parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Beat up one egg with one teaspoon of milk and flour. Roll the fish into balls and turn them in the beaten egg and cracker crumbs or bread. Fry a light brown. Serve with any sauce or a mayonnaise.

Potato croquettes
Work into two cups of mashed potatoes, a tablespoon of melted butter, until smooth and soft; add one egg well-beaten and beat all together with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and nutmeg. Roll each in beaten egg then in bread crumbs, fry in hot oil or butter substitute. If desired chicken-fat may be substituted for the butter and the croquettes fried in deep fat or oil.

Sweet potato croquettes
Press through a ricer sufficient hot baked sweet potatoes to measure one pint. Place over the fire. Add one teaspoon of butter or drippings, the beaten yolks of two eggs, pepper and salt to taste, and beat well with a fork until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Cool slightly, form into cones, roll in fine bread crumbs; dip in beaten eggs, roll again in crumbs and fry in hot oil or fat.

Peanut and rice croquettes
To one cup of freshly cooked rice allow one cup of peanut butter, four tablespoons of minced celery, one teaspoon of grated onion, one tablespoon of canned tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well; add the white of one egg, reserving the yolk for coating the croquettes. Shape into croquettes and let stand in a cold place for an hour, then coat with the egg yolk mixed with one tablespoon of water and roll in stale bread crumb dust until well covered. Fry in any hot oil or butter substitute.

Rice croquettes, No. 1
Separate the white and yolk of one egg and reserve about half the yolk for coating the croquette. Beat the rest with the white. Mix with two cups of boiled or steamed rice and one-half teaspoon of salt, form into oblong croquettes or small balls. Mix the reserved part of the egg yolk with a tablespoon of cold water. Dip croquettes in this and then roll in fine bread crumbs. Repeat until well-coated, then fry brown in deep oil.

Rice croquettes, No. 2
Put on with cold water one cup of rice, and let boil until tender. Drain, and mix with the rice, one tablespoon of butter, yolks of three eggs, and pinch of salt. About one tablespoon of flour may be added to hold the croquettes together. Beat the whites of the three eggs to a stiff froth, reserving some of the beaten white for egging croquettes, mix this in last, shape into croquettes and fry in hot oil or butter substitute. Place on platter and serve with a lump of jelly on each croquette.

Calf's brains (sour)
Lay the brains in ice-water and then skin. They will skin easily by taking them up in your hands and patting them, this will help to loosen all the skin and clotted blood that adheres to them. Lay in cold salted water for an hour at least, then put on to boil in half vinegar and half water (a crust of rye bread improves the flavor of the sauce). Add one onion, cut up fine, ten whole peppers, one bay leaf, one or two cloves and a little salt, boil altogether about fifteen minutes. Serve on a platter and decorate with parsley. Eat cold.

Calf's brains fried
Clean as described in calf's brains cooked sour; wipe dry, roll in rolled cracker flour, season with salt and pepper and fry as you would cutlets.

Brains (sweet and sour)
Clean as described above. Lay in ice-cold salted water for an hour. Cut up an onion, a few slices of celery root, a few whole peppers, a little salt and a crust of rye bread. Lay the brains upon this bed of herbs and barely cover with vinegar and water. Boil about fifteen minutes, then lift out the brains, with a perforated skimmer, and lay upon a platter to cool. Take a "lebkuchen," some brown sugar, a tablespoon of molasses, one-half teaspoon of cinnamon, a few seedless raisins and a few pounded almonds. Moisten this with vinegar and add the boiling sauce. Boil the sauce ten minutes longer and pour scalding over the brains. Eat cold and decorate with slices of lemon.

Deviled brains
Put one tablespoon of fat in skillet, and when hot add two tablespoons of flour, rub until smooth, and brown lightly, then add one-half can of tomatoes, season with salt, pepper, finely-chopped parsley, and a dash of cayenne pepper, and the brains which have previously been cleaned, scalded with boiling water, and cut in small pieces. Cook a few minutes, and then fill the shells with the mixture. Over each shell sprinkle bread crumbs, and a little chicken-fat. Put shells in pan and brown nicely. Serve with green peas.

Brains with egg sauce
Wash brains well, skin, boil fifteen minutes in salt water; slice in stew-pan some onions, salt, pepper, ginger and a cup of stock. Put in the brains with a little marjoram; let it cook gently for one-half hour. Mix yolks of two eggs, juice of a lemon, a teaspoon of flour, a little chopped parsley; when it is rubbed smooth, stir it into saucepan; stir well to prevent curdling.

Jellied chicken
Boil a chicken in as little water as possible until the meat falls from the bones, chop rather fine and season with pepper and salt. Put into a mold a layer of the chopped meat and then a layer of hard-boiled eggs, cut in slices. Fill the mold with alternate layers of meat and eggs until nearly full. Boil down the liquor left in the kettle until half the quantity. While warm, add one-quarter of a cup aspic, pour into the mold over the meat. Set in a cool place overnight to jelly.

Pressed chicken
Boil one or more chickens just as you would for fricassee, using as little water as possible. When tender remove all the meat from the bone and take off all the skin. Chop as fine as possible in a chopping bowl (it ought to be chopped as fine as powder). Add all the liquor the chicken was boiled in, which ought to be very little and well seasoned. Press it into the shape of a brick between two platters, and put a heavy weight over it so as to press hard. Set away to cool in ice-chest and garnish nicely with parsley and slices of lemon before sending to the table. It should be placed whole upon the table, and sliced as served. Serve pickles and olives with it. Veal may be pressed in the same way, some use half veal and half chicken, which is equally nice.

Home-made chicken tamales
Boil till tender one large chicken. Have two quarts of stock left when chicken is done. Remove chicken and cut into medium-sized pieces. Into the stock pour gradually one cup of corn meal or farina, stirring until it thickens. If not the proper consistency, add a little more meal. Season with one tablespoon of chili sauce, three tablespoons of tomato catsup, salt, one teaspoon of Spanish pepper sauce. Simmer gently thirty minutes, then add chicken. Serve in ramekins.

Chicken fricassee, with noodles
Prepare a rich "Chicken Fricassee" (recipe for which you will find among poultry recipes), but have a little more gravy than usual. Boil some noodles or macaroni in salted water, drain, let cold water run through them, shake them well and boil up once with chicken. Serve together on a large platter.

Sweetbread glacé, sauce jardinière with spaghetti
Put on some poultry drippings to heat in a saucepan, cut up an onion, shredded very fine and then put in the sweetbreads, which have been picked over carefully and lain in salt water an hour before boiling. Salt and pepper the sweetbreads before putting in the kettle, slice two tomatoes on top and cover up tight and set on the back of stove to simmer slowly. Turn once in a while and add a little soup stock. Boil one-half cup of string beans, half a can of canned peas, one-half cup of currants, cut up extremely fine, with a tablespoon of drippings, a little salt and ground ginger. When the vegetables are tender, add to the simmering sweetbreads. Thicken the sauce with a teaspoon of flour. Have the sauce boiled down quite thick. Boil the spaghetti in salted water until tender. Serve with the sweetbreads.

Chicken à la sweetbread
Take the breast of chicken that has been fricasseed, cut up into small pieces, and add mushrooms. Make brown sauce. Serve in paté shells.

Sweetbreads
Wash the sweetbreads very carefully and remove all bits of skin and fatty matter. Cover with cold water, salt and boil for fifteen minutes. Then remove from the boiling water and cover with cold water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll in beaten egg and bread crumbs, and fry a nice brown in hot fat.

Sweetbread sauté with mushrooms
Clean sweetbread, boil until tender, and cut in small pieces. Take one tablespoon of fat, blend in one tablespoon of flour; add half the liquor of a can of mushrooms and enough soup stock to make the necessary amount of gravy; add a little catsup, mushroom catsup, and a few drops of kitchen bouquet, a clove of garlic, and a small onion; salt and pepper to taste. Cook this about an hour, and then remove garlic and onion. Add sweetbreads, mushrooms, and two hard-boiled eggs chopped very fine.

Veal sweetbreads (fried)
Wash and lay your sweetbreads in slightly salted cold water for an hour; Pull off carefully all the outer skin, wipe dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat some goose-fat in a spider, lay in the sweetbreads and fry slowly on the back of the stove, turning frequently until they are a nice brown.

Calf's feet, prunes and chestnuts
Two calf's feet, sawed into joints, seasoned with pepper and salt a day before using. Place in an iron pot, one-half pound Italian chestnuts that have been scalded and skinned, then the calf's feet, one-eighth pound of raisins, one pound of fine prunes, one small onion, one small head of celery root, two olives cut in small pieces, one-eighth teaspoon of paprika, one cup of soup stock. Stew slowly for five hours, and add one hour before serving, while boiling, a wine glass claret and a wine glass sherry. Do not stir.

Calf's feet, scharf
Take calf's feet, saw into joints; put on to boil within cold water and boil slowly until the gristle loosens from the bones. Season with salt, pepper; and a clove or two of garlic. Serve hot or cold to taste.

Calf's foot jelly, No. 1
After carefully washing one calf's foot, split and put it on with one quart water. Boil from four to five hours. Strain and let stand overnight. Put on stove next day and when it begins to boil add the stiff-beaten whites of two eggs; boil till clear, then strain through cheesecloth. Add sherry and sugar to taste. Let it become firm before serving.

Sulze von kalbsfuessen (calf's foot jelly), no. 2
Take one calf's head and four calf's feet, and clean carefully. Let them lay in cold water for half an hour. Set on to boil with four quarts of water. Add two or three small onions, a few cloves, salt, one teaspoon of whole peppers, two or three bay leaves, juice of a large lemon (extract the seeds), one cup of white wine and a little white wine vinegar (just enough to give a tart taste). Let this boil slowly for five or six hours (it must boil until it is reduced one-half). Then strain, through a fine hair sieve and let it stand ten or twelve hours. Remove the meat from the bones and when cold cut into fine pieces. Add also the boiled brains (which must be taken up carefully to avoid falling to pieces). Skim off every particle of fat from the jelly and melt slowly. Add one teaspoon of sugar and the whipped whites of three eggs, and boil very fast for about fifteen minutes, skimming well. Taste, and if not tart enough, add a dash of vinegar. Strain through a flannel bag, do not squeeze or shake it until the jelly ceases to run freely. Remove the bowl and put another under, into which you may press out what remains in the bag (this will not be as clear, but tastes quite as good). Wet your mould, put in the jelly and set in a cool place. In order to have a variety, wet another mould and put in the bits of meat, cut up, and the brains and, lastly, the jelly; set this on ice. It must be thick, so that you can cut it into slices to serve.

Aspic (sulz)
Set on to boil two calf's feet, chopped up, one pound of beef and one calf's head with one quart water and one cup of white wine. Add one celery root, three small onions, a bunch of parsley, one dozen whole peppercorns, half a dozen cloves, two bay leaves and a teaspoon of fine salt. Boil steadily for eight hours and then pour through a fine hair sieve. When cold remove every particle of fat and set on to boil again, skimming until clear. Then break two eggs, shells and all, into a deep bowl, beat them up with one cup of vinegar, pour some of the soup stock into this and set all back on the stove to boil up once, stirring all the while. Then remove from the fire and pour through a jelly-bag as you would jelly. Pour into jelly-glasses or one large mould. Set on ice.

Gansleber in sulz (goose-liver aspic)
Fry a large goose liver in goose-fat. Season with salt, pepper, a few whole cloves and a very little onion. Cut it up in slices and mix with the sulz and the whites of hard-boiled eggs.

Gansleber purée in sulz
After the liver is fried, rub it through a sieve or colander and mix with sulz.

Goose liver
If very large cut in half, dry well on a clean cloth, after having lain in salted water for an hour. Season with fine salt and pepper, fry in very hot goose-fat and add a few cloves. While frying cut up a little onion very fine and add. Then cover closely and smother in this way until you wish to serve. Dredge the liver with flour before frying and turn occasionally. Serve with a slice of lemon on each piece of liver.

Goose liver with glacéd chestnuts
Prepare as above and garnish with chestnuts which have been prepared thus: Scald until perfectly white, heat some goose-fat, add nuts, a little sugar and glaze a light brown.

Goose liver with mushroom sauce
Take a large white goose liver, lay in salt water for an hour (this rule applies to all kinds of liver), wipe dry, salt, pepper and dredge with flour. Fry in hot goose-fat. Cut up a piece of onion, add a few cloves, a few slices of celery, cut very fine, whole peppers, one bay leaf, and some mushrooms. Cover closely and stew a few minutes. Add lemon juice to sauce.

Spanish liver
Boil in salt water one-half pound calf's liver. Drain and cut into small cubes. Chop one onion, one tablespoon parsley, some mint; add two cloves, a little cinnamon, a little tabasco sauce, one tablespoon olive oil, and one cup of soup stock. Add one cup of bread crumbs which have been soaked in hot water and then drained. Mix all with the liver and bring to a boil. Serve with Spanish rice.

Stewed milt
Clean the milt thoroughly and boil with your soup meat. Set to boil with cold water and let it boil about two hours. Then take it out and cut into finger lengths and prepare the following sauce: Heat one tablespoon of drippings in a spider. When hot cut up a clove of garlic very fine and brown slightly in the fat. Add a tablespoon of flour, stirring briskly, pepper and salt to taste and thin with soup stock, then the pieces of milt and let it simmer slowly. If the sauce is too thick add more water or soup stock. Some add a few caraway seeds instead of the garlic, which is a matter of taste.

Gefillte milz (milt)
Clean the milt by taking off the thin outer skin and every particle of fat that adheres to it. Lay it on a clean board, make an incision with a knife through the centre of the milt, taking care not to cut through the lower skin, and scrape with the edge of a spoon, taking out all the flesh you can without tearing the milt and put it into a bowl until wanted. In the meantime dry the bread, which you have previously soaked in water, in a spider in which you have heated some suet or goose oil, and cut up part of an onion in it very fine. When the bread is thoroughly dried, add it to the flesh scraped from the milt. Also two eggs, one-half teaspoon of salt, pepper, nutmeg and a very little thyme (leave out the latter if you object to the flavor), and add a speck of ground ginger instead. Now work all thoroughly with your hands and fill in the milt. The way to do this is to fill it lengthwise all through the centre and sew it up; when done prick it with a fork in several places to prevent its bursting while boiling. You can parboil it after it is filled in the soup you are to have for dinner, then take it up carefully and brown slightly in a spider of heated fat; or form the mixture into a huge ball and bake it in the oven with flakes of fat put here and there, basting often. Bake until a hard crust is formed over it.

Calf's liver smothered in onions
Heat some goose fat in a stew-pan with a close-fitting lid. Cut up an onion in it and when the onion is of a light yellow color, place in the liver which you have previously sprinkled with fine salt and dredged with flour. Add a bay leaf, five cloves and two peppercorns. Cover up tight and stew the liver, turning it occasionally and when required adding a little hot water.

Chicken livers
Slice three or four livers from chicken or other fowl and dredge well with flour. Fry one minced onion in one tablespoon of fat until light brown. Put in the liver and shake the pan over the fire to sear all sides. Add one-half teaspoon of salt, one-eighth teaspoon of paprika and one-half cup of strong soup stock. Allow it to boil up once. Add one tablespoon claret or sherry and serve immediately on toast.

Kischkes—Russian style
Buy beef casings of butcher. Make a filling of fat, flour (using one-third cup fat to one cup flour) and chopped onions. Season well with salt and pepper, cut them in short lengths, fasten one end, stuff and then fasten the open end. If they are not already cleaned the surface exposed after filling the casing is scraped until cleaned after having been plunged into boiling water. Slice two large onions in a roasting-pan, and roast the kischkes slowly until well done and well browned. Baste frequently with liquid in the pan.

Kischkes
Prepare as above. If the large casings are used they need not be cut in shorter lengths. Boil for three hours in plenty of water and when done, put in frying-pan with one tablespoon of fat, cover and let brown nicely. Serve hot.

Hashed calf's lung and heart
Lay the lung and heart in water for half an hour and then put on to boil in a soup kettle with your soap meat intended for dinner. When soft, remove from the soup and chop up quite fine. Heat one tablespoon of goose fat in a spider; chop up an onion very fine and add to the heated fat. When yellow, add the hashed lung and heart, salt, pepper, soup stock and thicken with flour. You may prepare this sweet and sour by adding a little vinegar and brown sugar, one-half teaspoon of cinnamon and one tablespoon of molasses; boil slowly; keep covered until ready to serve.

Tripe à la creole
Boil tripe with onion, parsley, celery, and seasoning; cut in small pieces, then boil up in the following sauce: Take one tablespoon of fat, brown it with two tablespoons of flour; then add one can of boiled and strained tomatoes, one can of mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste. Serve in ramekins.

Tripe, family style
Scald and scrape two pounds tripe and cut into inch squares. Take big kitchen spoon of drippings and put in four large onions quartered and three small cloves of garlic cut up very fine. Let steam, but not brown. When onions begin to cook, put in tripe and steam half an hour. Then cover tripe with water and let cook slowly three hours. Boil a few potatoes and cut in dice shapes and add to it. Half an hour before serving, add the following, after taking off as much fat from the tripe as possible: Three tablespoons of flour thinned with little water; add catsup, paprika, ginger, and one teaspoon of salt. It should all be quite thick, like paste, when cooked.

Boiled tongue, (sweet and sour)
Lay the fresh tongue in cold water for a couple of hours and then put it on to boil in enough water to barely cover it, adding salt. Boil until tender. To ascertain when tender run a fork through the thickest part. A good rule is to boil it, closely covered, from three to four hours steadily. Pare off the thick skin which covers the tongue, cut into even slices, sprinkle a little fine salt over each piece and then prepare the following sauce: Put one tablespoon of drippings in a kettle or spider (goose fat is very good). Cut up an onion in it, add a tablespoon of flour and stir, adding gradually about a pint of the liquor in which the tongue was boiled. Cut up a lemon in slices, remove the seeds, and add two dozen raisins, a few pounded almonds, a stick of cinnamon and a few cloves. Sweeten with four tablespoons of brown sugar in which you have put one-half teaspoon of ground cinnamon, one tablespoon of molasses and two tablespoons of vinegar. Let this boil, lay in the slices of tongue and boil up for a few minutes.

Filled tongue
Take a pickled tongue, cut it open; chop or grind some corned beef; add one egg; brown a little onion, and add some soaked bread; fill tongue with it, and sew it up and boil until done.

Smoked tongue
Put on to boil in a large kettle, fill with cold water, enough to completely cover the tongue; keep adding hot water as it boils down so as to keep it covered with water until done. Keep covered with a lid while boiling and put a heavy weight on the top of the lid so as not to let the steam escape. (If you have an old flat iron use it as a weight.) It should boil very slowly and steadily for four hours. When tongue is cooked set it outdoors to cool in the liquor in which it was boiled. If the tongue is very dry, soak overnight before boiling. In serving slice very thin and garnish with parsley.

Smothered tongue
Scald tongue, and then skin. Season well with salt and pepper and slice an onion over it. Let it stand overnight. Put some drippings in a covered iron pot, and then the tongue, with whatever juice the seasoning drew. Cover closely and let it cook slowly until tender—about three hours.

Pickled beef tongue
Select a large, fresh beef tongue. Soak in cold water one-half hour. Crush a piece of saltpetre, size of walnut, one teacup of salt, one teaspoon of pepper, three small cloves of garlic cut fine; mix seasoning. Drain water off tongue. With a pointed knife prick tongue; rub in seasoning. Put tongue in crock; add the balance of salt, etc.; cover with plate and weight. Allow to stand from four to five days. Without washing off the seasoning, boil in fresh water until tender.