CHEESE
The shells of Edam, or pine-apple cheese, after all the available cheese
has been scooped out, will be used as a baking dish for stewed spaghetti
or macaroni or rice. If care is taken, one shell may be used for three or
four bakings. Boil the macaroni in plain water until tender; then drain,
cut it into small pieces and add it to cream sauce. Pour this into the
cheese shell, stand the shell on a piece of oiled paper in a baking pan
and run into a moderate oven for fifteen or twenty minutes. Lift the shell
carefully, put it on to a heated dish, and send at once to the table.
After the macaroni has been taken out, the shell will be cleaned and put
aside in a cold place for the next baking. There is just enough cheese
imparted by the toasting of this shell to give ah agreeable flavor to the
macaroni. Plain boiled rice may be heaped into the shells and steamed, or
baked in the oven for a few moments.
Any scraps or bits of common cheese, when too hard and dry to serve on the table should be grated, put into a jar and put aside for cheese balls to serve with lettuce, cheese soufflé, for baked macaroni, or spaghetti, or for croquettes, cheese sauce, or Duchess soup.
Cheese Soufflé
Put one cup of stale bread crumbs with a gill of milk over the fire for just a moment; take from the fire, add the yolks of three eggs, six tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of red pepper; stir in the well-beaten whites of the eggs; put into individual baking dishes; bake in a quick oven about eight minutes and send at once to the table.
Cheese Balls
Grate or chop sufficient common cheese to make a half pint; add to it one pint of stale bread crumbs, a half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of red pepper and the whites of two eggs slightly beaten. Form these into small balls the size of an English walnut; dip in egg and then in bread crumbs and fry in smoking hot fat. These may also be made into small cylinder-shaped croquettes, and served with cream sauce.
Duchess Soup
Put two tablespoonfuls of butter and a sliced onion in a saucepan; cook until the onion is soft and yellow; add to this two tablespoonfuls of flour, mix, and then add one quart of milk, a level teaspoonful of salt and a palatable seasoning of red pepper. Add six tablespoonfuls of grated cheese; stir in a double boiler until it is smoking hot; press through a fine sieve; reheat and send at once to the table.
Cheese Pudding
Toast slices of stale bread until a golden brown and crisp to the center. This is best done in the oven. Put a layer of this toasted bread in the bottom of a baking dish; put over a quarter of a cup of grated or chopped cheese, sprinkle with salt and red pepper; then another layer of bread, another of cheese and the last of bread. Pour over sufficient milk to moisten the bread; bake in a quick oven fifteen minutes, and serve at once.