Original White House Cookbook

Canned mushrooms may be served with good effect with game and even with beefsteak if prepared in this way: Open the can and pour off every drop of the liquid found there; let the mushrooms drain, then put them in a saucepan with a little cream and butter, pepper and salt; let them simmer gently for from five to ten minutes, and when the meat is on the platter pour the mushrooms over it. If served with steak, that should be very tender and be broiled, never in any case fried. MUSHROOMS FOR WINTER USE. Wash and wipe free from grit the small fresh button mushrooms. Put into a frying pan a quarter of a pound of the very best butter. Add to it two whole cloves, a saltspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. When hot add a quart of the small mushrooms, toss them about in the butter for a moment only, then put them in jars ; fill the top of each jar with an inch or two of the butter and let it cool. Keep the jars in a cool place, and when the butter is quite firm add a top layer of salt. Cover to keep out dust. The best mushrooms grow on uplands or in high open fields, where the air is pure. TRUFFLES. The truffle belongs to the family of the mushrooms ; they are used principally in this country as a condiment for boned turkey and chicken, scrambled eggs, fillets of beef, game and fish. When mixed in due proportion, they add a peculiar zest and flavor to sauces that cannot be found in any other plant in the vegetable kingdom. ITALIAN STYLE OF DRESSING TRUFFLES. Ten truffles, a quarter of a pint of salad oil, pepper and salt to taste, one tablespoonful of minced parsley, a very little finely minced garlic, two blades of pounded mace, one tablespoonful of lemon juice. After cleansing and brushing the truffles, cut them into thin slices and put them in a baking-dish, on a seasoning of oil or butter, pepper, salt, parsley, garlic and mace in the above proportion. Bake them for nearly an hour, and just before serving add the lemon juice and send them to table very hot. TRUFFLES AU NATUREL. Select some fine truffles ; cleanse them by washing them in several waters with a brush until not a particle of sand or grit remains on them ; wrap each truffle in buttered paper and bake in a hot oven for quite an hour; take off the paper, wipe the truffles and serve them in a hot napkin. MACARONI MACARONI A LA ITALIENNE. Divide a quarter of a pound of macaroni into four-inch pieces. Simmer fifteen minutes in plenty of boiling water, salted. Drain. Put the macaroni into a saucepan and turn over it a strong soup stock, enough to prevent burning. Strew over it an ounce of grated cheese ; when the cheese is melted, dish. Put alternate layers of macaroni and cheese, then turn over the soup stock and bake half an hour. MACARONI AND CHEESE. Break half a pound of macaroni into pieces an inch or two long ; cook it in boiling water, enough to cover it well ; put in a good teaspoonful of salt ; let it boil about twenty minutes. Drain it well and then put a layer in the bottom of a well-buttered pudding-dish, upon this some grated