FoodNetArchive

The complete cook book

1900

Page 63 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
mushrooms, put them into a basin of water with a little lemon juice. Take them from the water, put into a stewpan with the above ingredients. Cover the pan closely and let them stew gently twenty minutes. If the mushrooms are not perfectly tender, stew them five minutes longer; remove every particle of butter which may be floating on top, and serve. BEANS AND PEPPY. "Dear me! What shall I get for supper?" said mamma; then, suddenly the perplexed look on her face vanished, and she laughed aloud. Constance looked up quickly. " What are you laugh- ing at, mamma?" she asked smiling. She never med- dled with frowns, but when mamma laughed she wanted to know all about it, so that she could laugh too. Mamma laughed again. "I was thinking how often I've heard my mother say that very same thing, 'What shall I get for supper?' and no matter how mL,ny times she said it, if Sammy was around he'd always pipe up 'beans and peppy.' He was very fond of baked beans, and he liked a lot of pepper on them; and he always spoke of the two things together. ' ' "Did grandmother's baked beans taste like the ones we have now-'days?" asked Constance, deeply inter- ested. Like many other children, she was always in- terested in good things to eat. "No," replied her mother, "I haven't baked any beans mother's way for a longtime, but I believe I will to-morrow; shall I?" "Oh, yes, mamma, do! Eix 'em just ezactly as your mother used to for Sammy, and I want to see how you do it." That night mamma put three cupfuls of small white beans in cold water to soak all night. Next morning she put them into fresh water and boiled them for two hours, stirring in a small lump of soda before taking them from the stove. Then, with a long-handled skim- mer she took them out into a big, shallow baking dish. She had ready a long, narrow piece of thick salt pork, streaked with lean— about half a pound in weight — 134 The Complete Cook Book. which she had washed and soaked in cold water. With a sharp knife she scored the rind in narrow, even strips. "What do you do that for?" asked Constance, who was carefully watching her every movement. "When the beans are done the pork rind will be so hard and crisp I can't cut it nicely, so I have to do it beforehand," replied her mother. Then she pushed the pork right down into the mid- dle of the dish of beans, so that only the rind was in sight, and sprinkled a little salt, pepper, and two tea- spoonfuls of white sugaBaked Beansr over the whole. Lastly, she filled the dish nearly full of water and set it into the hot oven. "It'll take two hours to bake 'em," she said to Con- stance, "and it won't hurt them to bake a good deal longer, if only the oven isn't hot enough to burn them. This water will mostly boil out, and when they're done they'll be all brown and crisp on top, and rich and juicy underneath." And so they were. Mamma set the baking dish right on the table, so as not to disturb the tempting sur- face. "That's the way mother used .to do," she re- tnarked, smilingly. And CDnstanoe ate her first plateful without a word, and passed her plate for more, abstractedly. For she was fancying herself back in those wonder- ful old times of "mother and we children," and she was little Sammy; and mother had "beans and peppy" for supper, and she had peppered her beans well. And when the dream was done, she leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh: "Well," she remarked, "I don't wonder that Sammy always said to have 'beans and peppy, ' if this is the way grandmother baked her beans !" WINTER DISH OF BAKED BEANS AND PORK. This is a very heavy dish, but nourishing, and it is well to know how to cook it, as it is economical. Pick the beans, wash them, and put them to soak over night in plenty of water. In the morning pour this water off and put the beans in a kettle of cold water ; place them The Complete Cook Book. 135 Winter Dish of Baked Beans and Pork