Put a layer of peanuts about one half inch deep into a dripping pan, and place on a perforated shelf in a mod- erate oven. Allow them to bake slowly for about one hour✪ Nut Butter, until they are a light brown or straw-color. Shake the pan or stir the peanuts every few minutes. When the ker- nels begin to crack and pop, they brown very quickly, and should be watched closely. (309) 310 VEGETAEIAN COOK BOOK A satisfactory way to cook the nuts is to fill a tight covered dish about two thirds full, place in the oven, and shake occasionally. Cooked this way, they are not so liable to bum, and they retain their flavor better. When they have cooked sufficiently, spread them out at once. When they have become quite cool, blanch. This can be done by rubbing them in the hands, or what is better, in a coarse bag, or with a piece of cloth with the ends folded together, forming a bag. Another good device is a screen made of coarse wire. Rub them until the skins are loose. The chaff can be removed by using a fan, or by pouring from one dish to another where the wind is blowing. Look the nuts over carefully, removing defective ones and foreign substances. Grrind when fresh cooked, as they do not make good butter when left a day or two after they are cooked. PROCESS NO. 2 Thoroughly heat the nuts in an oven, but do not let them brown. Allow them to cool, then blanch as described in process No. 1. Boil them from three to four hours, until they are tender. Drain, spread out on tins, and thoroughly dry them; then grind them through a mill. ALMOND BUTTER Almond butter is more difficult to make than peanut butter, on account of the difficulty in removing the skins. Dry heat does not loosen the skins of almonds as it does those of peanuts. To blanch almonds, soak them in boiling NUT PREPAEATIONS 311 water from two to five minutes ; then the skins become loose and can be pinched off by pressing on the nut with thumb and finger; the skins will crack and the kernel pop out. Dry the kernels in a slow oven until they become thor- oughly dry and crisp, taking care not to burn them. Then grind them through a loosely adjusted miU. Place on tins or on a cloth stretched over the stove, until perfectly dry. Then grind in the nut butter mill tightly adjusted. This makes excellent butter if the almonds are first-class. PEANUT MEAL £^ Heat the peanuts sufficiently to remove the skins, but do not brown them. Blanch and look over. Boil or steam them until tender, taking care to have them quite dry when done. Drain off aU the water possible, and put them through a colander. Put on tins suspended over the stove, or in a slow oven with the door open, taking care not to brown them. When perfectly dry and hard, grind through the mill loosely adjusted. If it is not fine enough, spread out to dry, and afterward pass through the mill again more tightly adjusted. If the mill is too tight it will grind the nuts into butter. A good plan is to rub the meal through a flour sieve. NUT BUTTER FOR THE TABLE l^ Put into a bowl one half the amount of butter required for the meal, and dilute with an equal quantity of water, adding a little at a time, beating it thoroughly with a fork until it is smooth and light. Enough water should be used 312 VEGETARIAN COOK BOOK

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Put a layer of peanuts about one half inch deep into a dripping pan, and place on a perforated shelf in a moderate oven. Allow them to bake slowly for about one hour, until they are a light brown or straw-color. Shake the pan or stir the peanuts every few minutes. When the kernels begin to crack and pop, they brown very quickly, and should be watched closely. (309) A satisfactory way to cook the nuts is to fill a tight covered dish about two thirds full, place in the oven, and shake occasionally. Cooked this way, they are not so liable to bum, and they retain their flavor better. When they have cooked sufficiently, spread them out at once. When they have become quite cool, blanch. This can be done by rubbing them in the hands, or what is better, in a coarse bag, or with a piece of cloth with the ends folded together, forming a bag. Another good device is a screen made of coarse wire. Rub them until the skins are loose. The chaff can be removed by using a fan, or by pouring from one dish to another where the wind is blowing. Look the nuts over carefully, removing defective ones and foreign substances. Grrind when fresh cooked, as they do not make good butter when left a day or two after they are cooked. PROCESS NO. 2 Thoroughly heat the nuts in an oven, but do not let them brown. Allow them to cool, then blanch as described in process No. 1. Boil them from three to four hours, until they are tender. Drain, spread out on tins, and thoroughly dry them; then grind them through a mill. ALMOND BUTTER Almond butter is more difficult to make than peanut butter, on account of the difficulty in removing the skins. Dry heat does not loosen the skins of almonds as it does those of peanuts. To blanch almonds, soak them in boiling NUT PREPARATIONS 311 water from two to five minutes ; then the skins become loose and can be pinched off by pressing on the nut with thumb and finger; the skins will crack and the kernel pop out. Dry the kernels in a slow oven until they become thoroughly dry and crisp, taking care not to burn them. Then grind them through a loosely adjusted miU. Place on tins or on a cloth stretched over the stove, until perfectly dry. Then grind in the nut butter mill tightly adjusted. This makes excellent butter if the almonds are first-class. PEANUT MEAL £^ Heat the peanuts sufficiently to remove the skins, but do not brown them. Blanch and look over. Boil or steam them until tender, taking care to have them quite dry when done. Drain off aU the water possible, and put them through a colander. Put on tins suspended over the stove, or in a slow oven with the door open, taking care not to brown them. When perfectly dry and hard, grind through the mill loosely adjusted. If it is not fine enough, spread out to dry, and afterward pass through the mill again more tightly adjusted. If the mill is too tight it will grind the nuts into butter. A good plan is to rub the meal through a flour sieve. NUT BUTTER FOR THE TABLE l^ Put into a bowl one half the amount of butter required for the meal, and dilute with an equal quantity of water, adding a little at a time, beating it thoroughly with a fork until it is smooth and light. Enough water should be used

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Vegetarian Cook Book