then drain them, cut off the stalks, and gently
rub off the outer skin with a moist flannel dipped in salt; then boil
the vinegar, adding to each quart two ounces of salt, half a nutmeg
grated, a dram of mace, and an ounce of white pepper corns. Put the
mushrooms into the vinegar for ten minutes over the fire; then pour the
whole into small jars, taking care that the spices are equally divided;
let them stand a day, then cover them.
_Baked Mushrooms._--Peel the tops of twenty mushrooms; cut off a portion
of the stalks and wipe them carefully with a piece of flannel dipped in
salt. Lay the mushrooms in a tin dish, put a small piece of butter on
the top of each, and season with pepper and salt. Set the dish in the
oven and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. When done,
arrange them high in the centre of a very hot dish, pour the sauce
around them, and serve quickly and as hot as you possibly can.
_Mushrooms with Bacon._--Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having
cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry them
in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms
and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will
absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt
and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.
_Mushroom Pie._--A very good mushroom pie is made in the following
manner: Chop a quart of mushrooms into small pieces, season to taste,
and add one pound of round steak chopped fine and seasoned with a small
piece of onion. If the steak is lean, add a small piece of suet, unless
butter is preferred to give flavor. Put the chopped steak and mushrooms
in deep saucepan with cover, and stew slowly until tender. Make a crust
as for beefsteak pie and put in a deep earthern dish, lightly browning
the under crust before adding the stew, and cover with a crust lightly
punctured.
In some parts of Russia mushrooms form an important part of the diet of
the people, especially during the Lenten season, when the fast of the
Greek church is very strictly kept, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter are
forbidden.
Provision is made for this season in the securing of quantities of dried
and salted mushrooms, which are cut up in strips and made into salads
with a dressing of olive oil and vinegar. The poorer classes to whom the
olive oil is unattainable use the rape seed and other vegetable oils in
the cooking of their mushrooms.
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