Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Wash a cupful of rice in three waters, rubbing it well between the hands. Now put it in a stew-pan with two teaspoonfuls of salt and two cupfuls and a half of boiling water. Place it where it will boil rapidly for fifteen minutes ; then set the pan back where the rice will cook slowly for an hour or more. This mode gives a dish of rice that is sweet and dry. .^ . : «# * Turkish Rice. A cupful of rice, one of strained tomato, two of cold water, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, and two ounces of fine-chopped ham are the ingredients required. After washing the rice in three waters, put it into a stew-pan with the other materials, and set upon the stove. When the dish begins to boil, put the stew-pan back where its contents will hardly simmer during the next forty minutes. At serving-time turn the rice into a warm dish. Do not use a spoon in making this transfer, as that would be likely to break the grains and mar the appearance of the dish. Turkish rice is nice for serving with cold meat or fish or warmed-over meat. ••* Curry of Rice. For six or eight persons use one cupful of rice, two cupfuls and a half of boiling water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, two level teaspoonfuls of curry-powder, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of minced onion, and two table-spoonfuls of butter. Wash the rice in three waters, and then let it soak for two hours in fresh cold water. At the end of the two hours drain it thoroughly. Put the butter and onion in a stew-pan, and cook until the onion acquires a light straw-color. Now add the rice, and stir over a hot fire for five minutes. Draw the stew-pan aside, and add the curry-powder, pepper, and salt. Stir well, and then add the water. Cover the stew-pan, and let the contents boil rapidly for ten minutes ; then set back to a place where the cooking will go on slowly for forty or fifty minutes. This vegetable dish is nice with any kind of fish or meat that has been prepared in a sauce. * Baked Hominy. After washing a cupful of hominy in three waters, pour upon it a pint and a half of boiling water, and boil for twenty minutes ; then add a table-spoonful of butter, a scant table-spoonful of salt, and half a pint of milk. Butter a deep pudding-dish, and pour the mixture into it. Bake for forty minutes in a moderate oven. Prepared in this way, hominy answers either as a vegetable or as a pudding. * Baked Beans. It is rather singular that that particular section of the country which is credited with the greatest consumption of beans does not produce the vegetable in large quanti- . ties, but depends upon the Middle States for apart of the supply. No other vegetable has so great a food value, though peas and lentils are almost as nutritious; and despite the light manner in which reference is commp.nly.made to the bean, the country is much indebted to it as food for man and beast. One frequent failing in the preparation of beans is to allow too little time for cooking. The process of cooking them properly is a long and slow one, and forgetfulness in this respect is the reason why the dish is often unsatisfactory.