Suppers

Chafing Dish Suppers-Chafing Dish Cooking and Serving-Chafing Dish Chat-A Chafing Dish Supper-A Chafing Dish Party-Over the Chafing Dish.

In serving the most simple of chafing-dish suppers, it would seem as though the novice had a million things to remember and a thousand duties to follow in quick succession. She is the cynosure of all eyes. With what grace and tact she may discharge her pretty duties, or with what awkwardness and evident distaste, none but a "chafing" audience can really appreciate. Charming and at home on every other occasion, the most finished society woman frequently feels completely lost in this unwonted dipping into domestic service.

Perhaps one of the most embarrassing moments is when, the company assembled, unconsciously expectant and usually most flatteringly interested, the hostess prepares to fill and light the little lamp whose flickering flame begins the ceremony. If the hostess is wise and conversation seems to flag at this interesting moment, she will promptly start the ball rolling and relieve the tension by some extemporaneous remark, some light jest that will at least temporarily distract the attention of the merry assemblage. But this over, there is still the inconvenient delay before the water heats, the butter splutters and the real preparing of the supper is begun, and remembering this and the embarassing interval, even at the most informal supper the chafing-dish course should be preceded by a little appetizer, or, to speak more correctly, diverter, which will form a pleasant interlude, occupy in part the attention of the guests and tend to promote the success of her favorite dish by allowing her to proceed in its preparation undisturbed by haste or excitement.

For this purpose something most appropriate to the supper must be served, in order that, as according to the customs in ancient Rome, the piece de resistance may be emphasized and the appetite whetted, not cloyed by the introductory viands.

Before the favorite Welsh rarebit, so rarely thought of in any combination but with ale and indigestion, anchovy sandwiches garnished with water cress will be found delicious, or sardines, chilled in lemon juice, and offered with inch wide sandwiches of buttered Boston brown bread may be served. Iced shaddock pulp, flavored with Maraschino, is an excellent introduction to creamed chicken. Egg lemonade, clam cocktail, raw oysters with stuffed mangoes, or some such light course can all be easily prepared beforehand, and should be served most daintily, individually, in order that no rapacious collegiate may inadvertently regale himself with a second helping, and thereby too early spring the epicurean trap so adroitly set for later refections.

The lamp lighted and this first course passed, the hostess may at least be sure of a short interval in which to make her preparations. Have everything ready beforehand-the rest is easy. Why there should be so much excitement over the cooking of an ordinary rarebit, a creamed chicken, a souffle of oysters or all this terrible excitement about a lobster Newberg or a simple cheese fondue is beyond comprehension.

The first ambition of the young hostess seems to be a rarebit, possibly because its frequent introduction at stag suppers makes it a great favorite with her men friends. Rarebits are avowedly hard to make, and the recipes are legion, but whatever formula you use, whether you use cream, ale, beer, curry or Tobasco, never fail to add two half-beaten eggs for each pound of cheese, and serve the minute it reaches a creamy consistency. This principle followed, your rarebit woes will vanish, and the fame of your chafing dish will be heralded abroad.

Unless you are really an experienced cook, it is unwise to attempt too complicated a dish, but a little practice will soon put you quite at ease, and a little thought will enable you to serve your Sunday-night supper or a midnight lunch quite as easily this way as any other.

We are most of us familiar enough with simple cooking to prepare any ordinary dish, and without entering into a list of formul?, the following suggestions will be found all sufficient:

Ham, oyster, bacon, cheese, potato, jelly, celery or preserved fruit omelets; scrambled eggs; curried oysters or chicken; minced ham or minced tongue souffle; fried shad roe, calves brains, chops, sausages or sardines; creamed chicken with mushrooms, creamed sweetbreads, liver, bacon, lobster, oysters, cold boiled fish of all kinds; fried oyster, clam, corn, pineapple, peach, orange or banana fritters (fried in butter); cheese fondue, Welsh rarebit, sardines in cheese sauce, or any other simple little dish your fancy may dictate. With such an array as this to choose from, and a hundred other equally simple dishes in reserve, is it possible for any one to despair over the impossibilities of the chafing dish and its limited qualifications for a quick, hot supper?

Chafing Dish Chat.

While recipes for chafing dish cookery abound, the little hints which make all the difference between success and failure in the concoction of any given dish are usually omitted.

The chafing dish novice is usually obliged to learn them by that hardest of all teachers, experience.

To ameliorate this difficulty, the following suggestions are given:

Have plenty of alcohol on hand to avoid the possibility of the lamp's going out just before some dish is completed, otherwise, if you are a man, you may be tempted to use language almost warm enough to cook the ingredients.

If your chafing dish lamp has not been used for some time, pour only a little alcohol into it at first, let it stand, and then fill it up.

If obliged to refill the lamp in the process of cooking, do not do it while the lamp is very hot, as the igniting point of alcohol is low.

Do not fill up your lamp until ready to use it, as alcohol evaporates very rapidly.

Have a metallic tray underneath the chafing dish.

Do not blow the flame to extinguish it, or it may fly back at you and scorch your eyebrows and lashes. Put it out with a little extinguisher that comes with the lamp.

Almost everything can be cooked without the hot water pan, and thus one-half the time can be saved in making your dish.

Raise the pan from the flame if it becomes too strong.

Never leave the alcohol bottle uncorked, on account of the odor of the alcohol and also to avoid the possibility of its catching fire.

Should the contents of the bottle ignite, clap your hand over its mouth. This will extinguish the fire at once.

Use wooden spoons for stirring, as they do not scratch the dish.

Almost anything that can be cooked in a sauce pan on the stove can be cooked in the chafing dish.

Have everything you need for your dish on the table before you begin to cook, and if possible have every ingredient, except the seasonings, measured.

One level tablespoonful of butter when melted is usually enough to cover the bottom of the chafing dish.

Do not use too much sherry in making Lobster Newberg, for alcohol, when used in cooking, tends to make fish or flesh tough.

Remember in measuring out the sherry that you are preparing a dish, not concocting a drink.

The sherry should not be instantly recognized; there should be just a hint of its flavor.

When your dish is completed, serve it from the chafing dish. If, however, you prefer turning it out on a platter, garnish the edges of the same with watercress or parsley.

Last, but not least, save the best and brightest story you have heard during the week, to relate at the chafing dish supper.

A Chafing Dish Supper.

A chafing dish supper menu must necessarily be confined to those dishes which are the hosts' or hostess' specialty-Welsh rarebit, panned or creamed oysters, shellfish, eggs or meats. The very informality of a chafing dish supper is its charm, the guests sitting at the table while the dishes are prepared. Decide upon the chief dish and have everything possible prepared in the kitchen and ready to use at the table, the cheese or meat cut into dice, the bread or crackers toasted, the ingredients measured and in glasses or cups and all utensils ready to use. Decorate the table with centerpiece and plate mats or large white cloth with bowl of flowers or fruits in the center. Do not have many candles or decorations on the table as these will interfere with the preparation of dishes. Have the chafing dish or dishes at one end of the table and some hostesses have a higher chair in which to sit while they preside over the chafing dish. Have the salad, trays or platters with sandwiches and coffee machine if you make coffee at the table, placed conveniently by those who prepare these articles of food. Suppose you are to serve panned oysters, on squares of toast, lettuce salad, bread and butter sandwiches and coffee, or Welsh rarebit, potato salad and coffee and sandwiches. Any of these is a good menu as you will not want sweets or ice cream at such a supper.

For safety place your chafing dishes on metal trays and do not fill the lamp too full. Many hostesses prefer to have their ingredients on the table in bowls which will not break and on Japanese trays and use wooden spoons for stirring as they do not become hot, and do not scratch the dishes. As food is served directly from the chafing dish to the plates and the object is to have everything very hot, garnishings are not necessary. The water pan placed under the cooking pan will keep things hot after the flame is extinguished. Two chafing dishes come in very handy in keeping the toast and hot water hot while the main dish is being prepared.

Have a pile of hot plates at hand and have someone place the toast on the plate and hand it to the hostess who serves from the chafing dish. While she is doing this, have someone at the other end of the table mix a plain French dressing and toss the lettuce leaves in it in a large bowl and serve the lettuce salad, or serve the potato salad which should be already prepared on small fancy plates. If coffee is made at the table assign this task to one guest and appoint two or three waiters to see that the sandwiches, coffee, salad and the chafing dish product are handed about. Dill pickles are popular for chafing dish suppers, and so are wienerwursts, rye bread and Swiss cheese. The main idea of such a supper is to keep everyone busy helping and seeing that the supper does not lag.

A Chafing Dish Party.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat's in the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon,

The little dog laughed to see the sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Start in with a spelling match and spell each other down in good old-fashioned style. As soon as any one misses two words he or she is dropped out. Finally when only one is left, award a prize, a little water color, painted by the hostess, and framed passe-partout, to the "unabridged dictionary" as the winner might be called. The one who fails and retires first from the field receives a toy chafing dish. In the dining room the polished table is daintily set with doilies under the olive and almond dishes, and under the plates and glasses. The supper is a very simple one. Make creamed oysters in the chafing dish and serve them in home-made pate shells. Then have celery sandwiches made of thin slices of bread rolled around tender splintered stalks of celery, and dainty lettuce sandwiches with the lettuce crisp and cold and the mayonnaise of good stiffness and small cups of coffee.

To divert the attention while the hostess is cooking the oysters put at each plate a large oyster shell with a verse painted upon it in the form of a recipe which brings out little characteristics of each one of the guests. One man who is very clever and a dabbler in verse may receive the following:

"For this wonder culinary

Take a pound of dictionary,

Philosophy, perhaps a cup-

Beat three epics, mix them up,

With a measure of blank verse

Season with oratory terse,

Sprinkle in a bunch of rue

-- looms into view."

A girl who has a record of alleged broken hearts to her account, is exploited in this style:

"Take an ounce of fickleness,

Remorse, perhaps a grain or less;

Stir this into ready wit,

A Siren's smile to leaven it;

A laugh of wondrous catchiness

This is little --"

Over the Chafing Dish.

Recipes for cooking with this dish of dishes are more than plentiful, yet new ones are always sought; and these will all be found most excellent.

Sweetbreads with Peas.

Can of peas; three small sweetbreads; one teaspoonful butter; one-half pint of stock broth; celery leaf; salt; white pepper; one-half teaspoonful brown flour. Stand the sweetbreads in cold water for an hour. Then parboil and remove rough edges, membranes, sinews, etc. Put in cold water and keep on ice until wanted. Put into the chafing dish the butter and the sweetbreads. When the butter has been absorbed, add one-half pint of stock and the celery leaf, chopped fine, the salt, pepper and browned flour. Turn the sweetbreads. When the same is reduced one half it is ready. While the sweetbreads are cooking open a can of green peas. Warm thoroughly in the chafing dish. Put in salt, pepper and tablespoonful of butter. Serve peas and sweetbreads together.

Lobster a la Newberg.

Meat of a boiled lobster, cut into large dice; good-sized lump butter; one gill of sherry; one pint of cream; yolks of two eggs; glass of sauterne.

Put the lobster into the chafing dish with a good-sized lump of butter and stir gently until the butter is melted and the lobster heated through. Mix the sherry with the cream and yolk of eggs, first blending the latter with enough cream to make them thick as mayonnaise. Pour the mixture into the dish over the lobster. Let it simmer a moment, then pour the sauterne over the whole and serve hot.

Welsh Rarebit.

One pound chopped American cheese; one-half glass ale; yolk of an egg; one teaspoonful dry mustard; one teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce and butter; a dash of red and one or two of black pepper; a few drops of Tabasco. If cheese is fresh add salt. Into the chafing dish put a few small lumps of butter. After it has simmered a bit put in the cheese. Stir constantly and gradually add the ale. When the cheese and ale are well blended stir in the condiments prepared as follows: To the yolk of the egg broken into a cup, add the dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce, red and black pepper and Tabasco. Let it have one more heating and pour over toast or toasted biscuit.

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