Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

If there is no gravy on hand, make some as follows : — Put one tablespoonful each of butter and flour in a saucepan, and stir them over the fire until they are light brown ; then gradually stir in a pint of- boiling water, season the gravy palatably with salt and pepper, let it boil for a minute, and then use it. EGG-PLANT FRIED IN BUTTER. Peel and slice the egg-plant, let it lie in salt for an hour, and then roll the slices in dry flour seasoned with salt and pepper ; put a large pan over the fire with enough butter to cover the bottom to the depth of half an inch thick when melted; when the butter is smoking hot, put in the eggplant, fry it brown on both sides, and serve it hot. EGG-PLANT FRIED IN BATTER. Peel, slice, and salt the egg-plant as directed in the recipe for egg-plant fried in butter ; also have ready the frying-kettle half full of hot fat ; mix together in a large bowl four tablespoonfuls of salt, a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, the yolk of a raw egg, and a tablespoonful of salad-oil or melted butter ; in another bowl beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth ; when ready to fry the egg-plant, put the white of the egg into the batter, dry the slices of egg-plant on a clean cloth, dip them in the batter, and fry them brown in the hot fat; when they are done, put them on brown paper for a moment to free them from grease, and then serve them hot. SCALLOPED EGG-PLANT. Peel an egg-plant of medium size, slice it quarter of an inch thick, sprinkle each shce with salt, lay them in a deep bowl, and let them stand in a cool place for an hour. Soak a pint-bowl full of stale bread in cold water. Fry the eggplant in a large frying-pan containing smoking-hot fat half an inch deep ; when one side is brown, turn the slices, and brown the other side ; when each slice is brown, remove it from the frying-pan with a skimmer, and lay it on a dish. When all the egg-plant is fried, put four tomatoes, peeled and sliced, into the same frying-pan, adding two tablespoonfuls of fat if there is not that quantity in the pan, and fry them for five minutes ; then squeeze the bread in a colander to remove any excess of water, add it to the tomatoes, season the mixture highly with salt and pepper, using also a little cayenne-pepper, and stir it over the fire until it is scalding hot. If fresh tomatoes are not at hand, tomatosauce or canned tomatoes can be used. When the bread and tomatoes are scalding hot, put them into a baking-dish in layers with the fried egg-plant, dust some bread-crumbs or cracker-dust over the top, season them with salt and pepper, put over them in small pieces about a tablespoonful of butter, and set the dish in a very hot oven until the crumbs are brown ; then serve it hot. Cold fried egg-plant can be used for this dish. BAKED EGG-PLANT. Cut a medium-sized egg-plant in halves, score it deeply on both sides, and rub plenty of salt and pepper into the cuts ; put it into a pan with a heaping tablespoonful of butter spread over it, and bake it until it is tender ; serve it with the gravy it yields poured over it.