Chapter 22 assembled 20jy02
Hors-d'oeuvre are meant to be appetizers at the beginning of the meal to stimulate the flow of digestive juices and help digest the food which will follow. If this is their purpose they should be well seasoned, colourful, and attractively served in small portions. If they contain fish, meat, and eggs they add body-building foods to the meal and if they include vegetables they contribute towards the total of the protective foods.
Savouries are also mainly valuable for stimulating the flow of digestive juices, and should be small, attractive, and well flavoured.
Although in the home it is not practical to serve the restaurant type of hors-d'oeuvre of a dozen or more different foods, yet a small one of four or five dishes is easily prepared, and is a useful and pleasant beginning to a meal. Hors-d'oeuvre are generally served in place of soup, and if you have no suitable small dishes for serving the foods separately, a selection can be arranged attractively on individual plates ready for each person.
Only small amounts of each kind of food should be served, and they should be well seasoned. The range of suitable foods is almost unlimited, but the following are a few suggestions using foods which are generally available.
Anchovy fillets are sold ready for use, and may be served as they are with a little chopped parsley sprinkled over, or used to decorate potato or cauliflower salad, or served on a bed of shredded lettuce.
Cooked or canned asparagus is served with French Dressing, #116.
These are boiled as described in #494, drained and served cold with Vinaigrette Sauce, #117.
This is boiled in the usual way and served cold. It may be sliced and dressed with salt, pepper, and vinegar or made into the following pickle. Cut 2 medium-sized beetroot into dice and mix with 2 Tbs. grated horseradish and 6 peppercorns. Cover with cold vinegar and store in jars for 2 or 3 weeks before using.
Soak the fish in equal parts of milk and water for 2 hours. Remove the heads, and skin and fillet the fish. Cut in thin strips and serve raw.
Boil the cauliflower in small sprigs, as in #416. Allow to cool, and dress with French Dressing, #116, or Mayonnaise, #112. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or decorate with anchovy fillets.
Cut it in slices and serve raw with French Dressing, #116; or boil it as in #384, drain and serve cold with dressing, OR chop raw celery and mix with sliced cooked beetroot and serve with French dressing.
Cucumber. See Cucumber Salad, #505.
Cut in thin slices and serve without cooking. Sprinkle with lemon juice or vinegar and freshly ground pepper.
Cut in halves and mask with Mayonnaise, #112, or stuff as in #193.
Slice and boil in a little water, as in #384. Serve cold with French Dressing, #116.
Soak 2 salt herrings or bloaters in cold water for 12 hours. Drain and fillet, cutting the fillets in ¼-inch [6mm] strips, diagonally. Put in a shallow dish and sprinkle with 2 Tbs. chopped onion, a pinch of pepper, and 1 Tbs. brown sugar. Pour over 3-4 Tbs. vinegar or enough to cover and allow to stand 5-6 hours before serving.
Cut in half and boil in a little water, as in #434.
Drain well and serve cold with Vinaigrette Sauce, #117.
Serve with vinegar or lemon and chopped parsley.
Shell as described in #289, and serve very cold, decorated with parsley and lemon.
Wash well and cut off the roots. Trim the tops but retain about 2 inches [50mm] of the leaves to hold them by.
Serve pickled red cabbage sprinkled with grated horseradish.
Serve whole, decorated with parsley and lemon.
Serve in very thin slices with lemon and cayenne pepper.
Slice tomatoes thinly and serve with French Dressing, #116. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or fresh tarragon.
3 hard-boiled eggs
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 Tbs. wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. chopped spring onions
Measures level. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks. Mash them in a small bowl with the salt and pepper. Work in the vinegar and oil and beat well. Add the chopped whites and the onions and pile in a glass dish. Decorate with parsley.
8 oz. [225g] potatoes
1 Tbs. wine vinegar
2 eggs, hard-boiled
2 Tbs. olive oil
A tsp. salt
1 Tbs. chopped onion
Pinch of pepper
2 Tbs. chopped gherkins
Measures level. New potatoes or waxy old ones are the best. Scrub and boil them in their jackets. Peel and cool. Shell the eggs and separate the whites and yolks. Mash the yolks in a basin and add the salt and pepper, vinegar, and oil. Beat well and add the onion and gherkins. Slice the potatoes or cut in small cubes. Add the chopped whites and pour over the dressing. Mix well.
8 oz. [225g] tomatoes
2 canned or cooked sweet peppers
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp. salt
Pinch of pepper
½ Tbs. wine vinegar
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
Measures level. Slice the tomatoes. Remove the seeds, peel, and slice the peppers. Put in a dish with the onion. Mix the seasoning, vinegar, and oil and pour over. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Cut cold, cooked tongue or beef in very thin, small slices. Pour over French Dressing, #116, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Mash the sardines, including the skin and bone. Beat in an equal weight of softened margarine or butter. Beat until quite smooth, seasoning highly with salt and pepper. Press into a small glass dish and serve very cold with thin, crisp toast.
Remove any skin and cut in very thin slices, Arrange in a shallow dish and decorate with parsley or radishes.
Drain from the pickling liquid and serve in a small glass dish.
Serve with lemon-juice and brown bread-and-butter.
1 Tbs. Roquefort cheese
Black pepper
½ Tbs. Cream
1 C. chopped celery
¼ pt. [140ml] Mayonnaise, #112 (½ c.)
Measures level. Mash the cheese and cream together until very smooth. Add the mayonnaise, and season highly with pepper. Mix with the chopped celery.
4 lb. [1800g] Morello cherries
1 pt. [570ml] vinegar (2 c.)
2 lb. [900g] brown or white sugar (4 c.)
3-inch [75mm] stick of cinnamon
4 pieces of root ginger
6 cloves
Measures level. Stone the cherries or slit the skins to allow the syrup to penetrate. Boil the other ingredients for 10 minutes with the lid on the pan. Remove the spices and add the cherries. Simmer for 5 minutes. Drain from the liquid and pack loosely into warm jars. Boil the liquid until syrupy and pour over the cherries. Seal down while hot and keep for a few weeks before using. They will keep at least 12 months, and improve with keeping.
Use small trout about the size of herrings. Clean and remove the fins, but leave the heads on. Poach as described in #228, using ⅓ vinegar and ⅔ water. Allow to cool in the liquid. Drain and serve with a little of the liquid. Garnish with slices of lemon.
Serve slices of ice-cold melon, and hand separately some castor sugar or ground ginger, or both.
1 doz. eggs
1 qt. [1140ml] vinegar (4 c.)
½ oz. [15g] black peppercorns
½ oz. [15g] allspice
½ oz. [15g] whole root ginger
Hard boil the eggs and shell them. Boil the other ingredients together for ½ hour. Add the eggs and boil gently for 10 minutes. Put the eggs in a jar and pour the vinegar and spices over. Cover and store in a cool place. They will be ready for use in 4 days, but will keep several weeks.
2 oz. [55g] plain flour (½ c.)
Pinch of salt
Few grains cayenne pepper
2 oz. [55g] butter or margarine (4 Tbs.)
3 oz. [85g] grated cheese (¾ c.)
1 egg-yolk
Measures level. Sift the flour and seasonings together and rub in the fat. Add the cheese, using some Parmesan. Mix to a stiff dough with the egg-yolk, adding a little cold water if it is needed. Roll out to about ⅛ inch [3mm] and cut in very narrow strips, about ¼ x 4 inches [6x100mm]. Cut some rounds with a 2-inch cutter and stamp out the centres with a 1½-1¾ inch [40-45mm] cutter to give rings. Place on baking-trays and cook in a hot oven, watching them carefully, as they burn very easily. To serve, put bundles of the straws through the rings. Serve hot.
Quantities for 2 dozen:
Flaky Pastry, #717, using 4 oz. [110g]flour
½ tsp. salt
Few grains cayenne pepper
½ c. cottage cheese
2 Tbs. bottled tomato sauce
24 walnut halves
Measures level. Roll the pastry about ⅛ inch [3mm] thick and cut in rounds with a 1-inch [25mm] cutter. Bake in a hot oven until lightly browned. Mash the cheese and mix to a smooth paste with the other ingredients. Put a little on top of each round of pastry and press a walnut half on top.
Trim the rind from thin slices of streaky bacon. Wrap an oyster or mussel (fresh or canned) in each slice of bacon, and secure with a tooth-pick or thread several on a skewer. Grill or bake in a hot oven until the bacon is crisp. Serve on rounds of toast with Tomato Sauce, #92, or serve plain.
Dip soft roes in seasoned flour and fry them for a few minutes in a little butter or margarine. Fry some chopped mushrooms separately. Prepare some small rounds of hot buttered toast. Place one soft roe on each with chopped mushrooms on top. Serve at once.
4 pork sausages
6 rashers bacon
2 small rounds of toast
Chutney and made mustard
Half cook the sausages by grilling or frying, and cut each into three pieces. Remove the rind from the bacon and cut each rasher in half, lengthwise. Spread with chutney and mustard and wrap each round a piece of sausage. Fasten on skewers and grill or bake in a hot oven until the bacon is cooked. Place each on a piece of hot toast and serve at once.
Allow 5 sardines per roll.
4 oz. [110g] flour made into Flaky Pastry, No. 717, will make 12 rolls.
Roll the pastry to 1/8 inch [3mm] and cut in strips the width of the sardines. Sprinkle the fish with lemon-juice or grated cheese Or curry powder and roll each in pastry in the same way as for sausage rolls. Brush with egg and bake until brown. Serve hot.
10 large prunes
10 rashers streaky bacon
Soak the prunes in cold water until soft. Remove the stones. Roll each prune in a strip of bacon and thread the rolls on skewers or fasten with tooth-picks. Grill or bake in a hot oven until the bacon is crisp. Serve hot.
4 oz. [110g] flour made into Flaky Pastry, #717
4 olives
2 Tbs. thick cream
Salt, pepper, and mustard to taste
2 hard-boiled eggs
? Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
Measures level. Roll the pastry ⅛ inch [3mm] thick and cut in very small rounds with a fluted cutter. Prick well with a fork, and bake in a hot oven until light brown. Chop the olives finely and rub them through a sieve. Mix all the ingredients together and season highly. When the pastry is cold sandwich together with the filling.
2-3 slices toast
½ c. grated cheese
½ tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. vinegar
Few drops anchovy essence
Measures level. Mix all the ingredients to a smooth paste and spread on the hot toast. Cut in fingers and serve hot.
Cheese Straw recipe, #872
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 oz. [30g] butter or margarine (2 Tbs.)
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
Anchovy essence to taste
Few grains of cayenne pepper
Measures level. Cut the cheese-straw mixture into small biscuits with a fluted cutter and bake in the usual way. Sieve or mash the eggs with the other ingredients, seasoning to taste. Sandwich the biscuits together in pairs with the mixture. Heat in the oven before serving.
Temperature 450 F. [232°C] Mark 8.
4 oz.[110g] flour made into Flaky Pastry, #717, or Puff Pastry, #718
1 egg-white
2 oz.[55g] grated Parmesan cheese (½ c.)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Measures level. Roll the pastry ⅛ inch [3mm] and cut in small rounds. Brush with stiffly beaten egg-white and sprinkle three-quarters of the number with cheese and seasoning. Put these together in pairs and top with a plain one, so that each puff consists of three layers of pastry. Bake in a hot oven until lightly brown and cooked through. Serve hot.
Blanch the almonds by pouring on boiling water. Leave for a few minutes, and then plunge in cold water. Squeeze gently to remove the skins. Dry on a clean cloth. Fry golden brown in butter or oil, turning frequently; or bake in a moderate oven with butter, turning frequently. Drain on absorbent paper and sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper while they are still hot. Serve cold.