Ladies' Column. How to Cook Tomatoes.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1860, 7 June 1884, Page 6

Ladies' Column. How to Cook Tomatoes.

No r.E\r>nn cC this paper will, I am suro, deny the wholesomoness of tormuoes ; but many people aie ignorant ot tho various modes of cooking them ; heuco they receive bat little attention, far les^ than they deierve. A well-known vegetarian authority says tha<; " tho bast and ruo«ft palate bla way of eating the tomato is in ita natural state, without salt, or pepp ir, or even peeling it, just as one would eat an apple." I can't say that I agree with him that they are best minus seasoning, but I will giva my own recipes both for fiesh and tinned tomatoes; then, after trial, my readers can judge for themselves. To commence, then, with fresh ones. Nover scald them for the purpose of loosening their skin ; it injures their flavor, and reduces the crispness after they are cooked; so if they are not ripe enough to skin easily they should hs pared, or the skin loft on. A delicious dish (especially suitable with cutlets, steaks, broiled ham, or anything nerved without gravy) may be made by cutting tomatoes into thin slices, and grilling them over a sharp fire for ten minutes, or thereabout 3; they should then ba coated with a mixture of bread-crumbs, fresh butter, mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar (proportions according to taste), and returned to tho gridi.on, or put into a hot oven to crisp. I Another enjoyable dirfh may be had from tomatoes treated as follows : — Out them in hal f , and dip the cut side in flour, then into beaten egg, and finally coat with breadcrumbs, to which have been added pepper, Halt, a pinch oE sugar, some fresh parsley finely chopped, and a little sage or thyme. Fry biown, or cook before a sharp fire, or in a-Jiot, oven. Whon veal atufling is handy spread a little over tho tamatoes cut through ; bake them, and serve with roast joints. Spanish onions, finely chopped and friend, may bo spread ove; cooked tomatoes when their flavor is liked. Curried Tomatoes aie well vrorth a trial, a delicious and novel dish being a certain result. Grate an apple and chop an onion — of equal size — and fiy them until tender ; add a teaspoonful of good curry ponder (not the fiery compound of a few years ago ; there is now no lack of good brands in the market), mixed wifch a little gravy, or milk ivill' do ; simmer for a few minutes, and ppread the tomatoes — Gist cut and fried, or baked — with the mixture ; seno with boiled rico. This curry mixture car be varied in many ways. Sti/fjed Tomatoes will be relished, and any scraps of meat, ham, or bacon will answer tho purpose. Divide the fruit, remote the pips, and mix the pulp vrith bread-crumbs and meat, or whatever is U39d, finely minced and nicely seasoned ; do not omit herbs of some kind ; fill the tomatoes with the mixtuie, put a bit or two of butter or dripping on each halt, and bake and fry brown. Tomatoes whole, or stuffed as abovo, are very nice stewed gently for an hour or so in some gravy, that made from bones of joints, game, or poultry, to which should be added herbs and spices, with a bit of gravy beof, milt, or kidney, and a spoonful of saucesuch as Yorkshire lelish — salt to taste, and a pinch of sugar. The gravy is best thickened with " brown roux," or, failing that, browned flour. Tomato Piquant is another appetising dish. Cut half a dozen tomatoes into slices, fry them in a very little butter just to brown them, and add a tablespoon ful of white vinegar, the same of cayenne or chili, and a few drops of tarragon or cucumber vinegar, a saltspoonful of salt, and the same of sugar ; sunnier lor twenty minutes. Tomato Dumplings find favor in America. "In the manner of composition proceed as for .■ipple-dumplingo, taking care not to break the Iruit when skinning it ; . . . . the steam* m% they receive in their dough envelope increases in a very high degree that delicate spicy flavor which in their uncooked state makes them such fa\orite<? with the epicure." Tomato Salad, like most other kinds, should be dieseed only just before serving ; and, for variety, cucumbers, Spanish onions, or both, may be mixed with the tomatoes. For the dressing use three-fourths oil to one of vinegar, white or the best pale brown; season with pepper, salt, sugar, and mustard. Spiced vinegar is a new commodity, clear and of delicious flavor, very useful for salads. Toaiaioes baked ia a gentle oven for an hour or mors are a wholesome accompaniment to toast joints, and especially good with pork, tending to correct tho richness of the dish ; and by stewing them with a very little water, seasoning, and nibbing through a sieve, a good substitute for apple sauce is easily obtained. For a better cla^s Tomato Sauce, or Puree, cook tho fruit in some nice brown gravy, and " eieve " aa before ; if for brown meats, game, &0., a spoonful of red currant jelly will improve it ; but if for white meats — such as veal, calf's head, and the like — add an equal quantity 01 cream or milk thickend with flour and butter ; then rub altogether through the sieve. Tomato Soup is very acceptable, and if some green peas are added, say half a pint to each (iuart of soup, and the whole, after boiling until tender, is rubbed through a sieve, a gieat improvement will be the result ; or a cucumber, lettuce, or vegetable marrow may lake the place of the peas, by way of a change. I can recommend the following as most excellent recipes : — Put half a dozen tomatoes, a sliced carrot, an onion, and four ounces of veal, ham, or beef, into a stewpan ; add two ounces of butter, and steam them for ten minutes; then pour over a quart of stock made from bones, with salt, pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs ; simmer for half an hour, and pulp through a sieve ; a little catsup or sauce will improve it. For Tomato and Pea Soup, the peas should be steamed in butter with the tomatoes and meat, and the shells boiled in the stock for an hour before it ia strained over the vegetables ; do not omit a pinch of sugar, and those who like milk soups may substitute milk for stock : sieve as before. When cucumbers arc used, the fruit should be thinly sliced, and fried in butter as before directed. Leicestershire Medley Pics, which are usually composed of pork, bacon, apples, and onions (by no means unpalatable when nicely made), may be very agreeably varied if tomatoes take the place of apples ; a few eggs boiled hard, and cut into slices, are also an improvement to these pies. A very excellent Chutnee or Store Sauce can be made from tomatoes. Let them be fully ripe and of good color, and after baking in a stone jar, in a slow oven until reduced to pulp, to each two pounds — after straining through a sieve— add a pound of brown su^ar, and a pint of vinegar, and boil for half an hour ; then, when cold, stir into it eight ounces of sultana raisins, one ounce of mustard-seed, one of ground ginger, half an ounce of gaiho, two ounces of salt, and half an ounce of cayenne pepper, all pounded. Stir well daily for three days, then bottle securely in small bottles for use; the corks must be waxed to exclude the air. Lastly, a few words on tinned tomatoes, of which there are two kinds, viz., those that arc what I may term pulped, therefore only fit for sauce or soup, and when they are ueed less water or stock is required, as they only need a very short time to cook, consequently the liquor is not so much reduced ; they may be added with advantage to vegetable soups generally. The other and better kind are " whole in juice ; " they may be baked,< fried, stewed, &c, just in the same way as fresh ones, with this exception, they must be left whole, for being so soft they present a better appearance than if cut ; so forcemeat— when it is used — must be Epread over the entire surface, and if they are fried plenty of breadcrumbs must bo used ; or they may be dipped into a' thick batter; but in any case the crispness of the fresh fruit is lacking, though they are an excelleut substitute when that is oat of season. The juice may be reduced by boiling, so as to thicken it, nicely seasoned, and served with them ; or it may be used for soups or stews; it need neyer be wasted. > * 1

? ne very good way of utilising it ia in sauce *or boiled veal or mutton: mix a tablespconful of flour and an ounce of butter in a stewpan ; add half a pint of juice, the sarae of water, a few chopped capers, and o, little par 4oy, with seasoning to t&3te ; (bring to the boil, and it i 3 ready to serve. In conclusion, I trust that the bints I have given may sorve as an incentive to those who have banished this vegetable from thsir tables hitherto, simply from tack of knowledge of the number of dainty dishes that may bo made from it. — L. Hciitagc, in Cassel's Magazine.