Page:Hill - Salads, Sandwiches, and Chafing-Dish Dainties.djvu/36

Salads. then stamp out in fanciful shapes with French cutters. Use in decorating a mould for aspic jelly.

How to Use Garlic or Onion in Salads.

The salad-bowl may be rubbed with the cut surface of a clove of garlic, or a chapon may be used. A chapon, according to gastronomic usage, is a thin piece of bread rubbed on all sides with the cut surface of a clove of garlic and put into the salad-bowl before the seasonings. It is tossed with the salad and dressings, to which it imparts its flavor. It may be divided and served with the salad. Oftentimes, instead of one piece, several small cubes of bread are thus used.

After a slice of onion has been removed, the cut surface of the onion may be pressed with a rotary motion against a grater and the juice extracted; or a lemon-squeezer kept for this special purpose may be used.

How to Shell and Blanch Chestnuts.

Score the shell of each nut, and put into a frying-pan with a teaspoonful of butter for each pint of nuts. Shake the pan over the fire until the butter is melted; then set in the oven five minutes. With a sharp knife remove the shells and skins together.

How to Blanch Walnuts and Almonds.

Put the nut meats over the fire in cold water, bring quickly to the boiling-point, drain, and rinse 12