Chapter VIII: Introduction (7)

1 quart of milk, 6 oz. of ground rice, 1 egg, and any kind of jam. Boil the milk, stir into it the ground rice previously smoothed with some of the cold milk. Let the mixture gook gently for 5 minutes, stir frequently, draw the saucepan to the side, and when it has ceased to boil add the egg well whipped, and mix well. Pour half of the mixture into a pie-dish, spread a layer of jam over it, then pour the rest of the pudding mixture over the jam, and let it brown lightly in the oven.

_MENU III._

CARROT SOUP.

4 good-sized carrots, 1 small head of celery, 1 fair sized onion, a turnip, 3 oz. of Allinson breadcrumbs, 1-1/2 oz. of butter, 1 blade of mace, pepper and salt to taste. Scrape and wash the vegetables, and cut them up small; set them over the fire with 3 pints of water, the butter, bread, and mace. Let all boil together until the vegetables are quite tender, and then rub them through a sieve. Return the mixture to the saucepan, season with pepper and salt, and if too thick add water to the soup, which should be as thick as cream. Boil the soup up, and serve.

CURRIED RICE AND TOMATOES.

1/2 lb. of Patna rice, 1 dessertspoonful of curry powder, salt to taste, and 1 oz. of butter. Wash the rice, put it over the fire in cold water, let it just boil up, then drain the water off. Mix 1 pint of cold water with the curry powder, put this over the fire with the rice, butter, and salt. Cover the rice with a piece of buttered paper and let it simmer gently until the water is absorbed. This will take about 20 minutes. Rice cooked this way will have all the grains separate. For the tomatoes proceed as follows: 1 lb. of tomatoes and a little butter, pepper, and salt. Wash the tomatoes and place them in a flat tin with a few spoonfuls of water; dust them with pepper and salt, and place little bits of butter on each tomato. Bake them from 15 to 20 minutes, according to the size of the tomatoes and the heat of the oven. Place the rice in the centre of a hot flat dish, put the tomatoes round it, pour the liquid over the rice, and serve.

APPLE CHARLOTTE.

2 lbs. of cooking apples, 1 teacupful of mixed currants and sultanas, 1 heaped-up teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, 2 oz. of blanched and chopped almonds, sugar to taste, Allinson wholemeal bread, and butter. Pare, core, and cut up the apples and set them to cook with a teacupful of water. Some apples require much more water than others. When they are soft add the fruit picked and washed, the cinnamon, and the almonds and sugar. Cut very thin slices of bread and butter, line a buttered pie-dish with them. Place a layer of apples over the buttered bread, and repeat the layers of bread and apples until the dish is full, finishing with a layer of bread and butter. Bake from 3/4 of an hour to 1 hour.

_MENU IV._

RICE SOUP.

3 oz. of rice, 4 oz. of grated cheese, 1 breakfastcupful of tomato juice, 1 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the rice till tender in 2-1/2 pints of water, with the butter and seasoning. When quite soft, add the tomato juice and the cheese; stir until the soup boils and the cheese is dissolved, and serve. If too much of the water has boiled away, add a little more.

HOT-POT.

2 lbs. of potatoes, 3/4 lb. of onions, 1 breakfastcupful of tinned tomatoes or 1/2 lb. of sliced fresh ones, 1 teaspoonful of mixed herbs, 1-1/2 oz. butter, pepper and salt to taste. Those who do not like tomatoes can leave them out, and the dish will still be very savoury. The potatoes should be peeled, washed, and cut into thin slices, and the onions peeled and cut into thin slices. Arrange the vegetables and tomatoes in layers; dust a little pepper and salt between the layer, and finish with a layer of potatoes. Cut the butter into little bits, place them on the top of the potatoes, fill the dish with hot water, and bake the hot-pot for 2 hours or more in a hot oven. Add a little more hot water if necessary while baking to make up for what is lost in the cooking.

CABINET PUDDING.

4 slices of Allinson bread toasted, 1-1/4 pints of milk, 8 eggs, 1 oz. of butter, sugar to taste, 2 oz. of chopped almonds, 1 teacupful of mixed currants and sultanas and any kind of flavouring--cinammon, lemon, vanilla, or almond essence. Crush the toast in your hands, and soak it in the milk. Whip the eggs up, melt the butter, and add both to the soaked toast. Thoroughly mix all the various ingredients together. Butter a pie-dish and pour the pudding mixture into it; put a few bits of butter on the top, and bake the pudding for 1 hour in a moderately hot oven.

_MENU V._

LEEK SOUP.

2 bunches of leeks, 1-1/2 pints of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 lb. of potatoes, pepper and salt to taste, and the juice of 1 lemon. Cut off the coarse part of the green ends of the leeks, and cut the leeks lengthways, so as to be able to brush out the grit. Wash the leeks well, and see no grit remains, then out them in short pieces. Peel, wash, and cut up the potatoes, then cook both vegetables with 2 pints of water. When the vegetables are quite tender, rub them through a sieve. Return the mixture to the saucepan, add the butter, milk, and seasoning, and boil the soup up again. Before serving, add the Lemon juice; serve with sippets of toast or Allinson rusks.

MUSHROOM SAVOURY.

4 slices Allinson bread toast, 8 eggs, 1 pint of milk, 3 oz. of butter, 1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 small onion chopped fine, and pepper and salt to taste. Crush the toast with your hand and soak it in the milk; add the eggs well whipped. Peel, wash, and out up the mushrooms, and fry them and the onion in the butter. When they have cooked in the butter for 10 minutes add them to the other ingredients, and season with pepper and salt. Pour the mixture into a greased pie-dish and bake the savoury for 1 hour. Serve with green vegetables, potatoes, and tomato sauce.

CHOCOLATE MOULD.

1 quart of milk, 2 oz. of potato flour, 2 oz. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 heaped-up tablespoonful of cocoa, 1 dessertspoonful of vanilla essence, and sugar to taste. Smooth the potato flour, wheatmeal, and cocoa with some of the milk. Add sugar to the rest of the milk, boil it up and thicken it with the smoothed ingredients. Let all simmer for 10 minutes, stir frequently, add the vanilla, and mix it well through. Pour the mixture into a wetted mould; turn out when cold, and serve plain or with cold white sauce.

_MENU VI._

ARTICHOKE SOUP.

1 lb. each of artichokes and potatoes, 1 Spanish onion, 1 oz. of butter, 1 pint of milk, and pepper and salt to taste. Peel, wash, and cut into dice the artichokes, potatoes, and onion. Cook them until tender in 1 quart of water with the butter and seasoning. When the vegetables are tender rub them through a sieve. Return the liquid to the saucepan, add the milk and boil the soup up again. Add water it the soup is too thick. Serve with small dice of bread fried crisp in butter or vege-butter.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

4 eggs, 1/2 lb. of Allinson fine wheatmeal, 1 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste, 1 oz. of butter. Thoroughly beat the eggs, make a batter of them with the flour and milk, and season it. Well butter a shallow tin, pour in the batter, and cut the rest of the butter in bits. Scatter them over the batter and bake it 3/4 of an hour. Serve with vegetables, potatoes, and sauce. To use half each of Allinson breakfast oats and wheatmeal flour will be found very tasty.

BAKED CARAMEL CUSTARD.

1-1/2 pints of milk, 5 eggs, vanilla essence, 4 oz. of castor sugar for the caramel, and a little more sugar to sweeten the custard. Heat the milk, whip up the eggs, and carefully stir the hot milk into the beaten eggs; flavour with vanilla and sugar to taste. Meanwhile put the castor sugar into a small enamelled saucepan and stir it over a quick fire until it is quite melted and brown. Add about 2 tablespoonfuls of hot water to the caramel, stir thoroughly, and pour it into a tin mould or a cake tin. Let the caramel run all round the sides of the tin; pour in the custard, and bake it in a moderate oven, standing in a larger tin of boiling water, until the custard is set. Let it get cold, turn out, and serve. This is a very dainty sweet dish.

_MENU VII._

POTATO SOUP.

2 lbs. of potatoes, 1/2 a stick of celery or the outer stalks of a head of celery, saving the heart for table use, 1 large Spanish onion, 1 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, a heaped-up tablespoonful of finely chopped Parsley, and pepper and salt to taste. Peel, wash, and cut in pieces the potatoes, peel and chop roughly the onion, prepare and cut in small pieces the celery. Cook the vegetables in 8 pints of water until they are quite soft. Rub them through a sieve, return the fluid mixture to the saucepan; add the milk, butter, and seasoning, and boil the soup up again; if too thick, add more water. Mix the parsley in the soup just before serving.

BREAD AND CHEESE SAVOURY.

1/2 lb. of Allinson bread, 3 oz. of grated cheese, 1 pint of milk, 3 eggs, pepper and salt to taste, a little nutmeg, and some butter. Cut the bread into slices and butter them; arrange in layers in a pie-dish, spreading some cheese between the layers, and dusting with pepper, salt, and a little nutmeg. Finish with a good sprinkling of cheese. Whip up the eggs, mix them with the milk, and pour the mixture over the bread and cheese in the pie-dish. Pour the custard back into the basin, and repeat the pouring over the contents of the pie-dish. If this is done two or three times, the top slices of bread and butter get soaked, and then bake better. This should also be done when a bread and butter pudding is made. Bake the savoury until brown, which it will be in about 3/4 of an hour.

ORANGE MOULD.

The juice of 7 oranges and of 1 lemon, 6 oz. of sugar, 4 eggs, and 4 oz. of Allinson cornflour. Add enough water to the fruit juices to make 1 quart of liquid; put 1-1/2 pints of this over the fire with the sugar. With the rest smooth the cornflour and mix with it the eggs well beaten. When the liquid in the saucepan is near the boil, stir into it the mixture of egg and cornflour. Keep stirring the mixture over a gentle fire until it has cooked 5 minutes. Turn it into a wetted mould and allow to get cold, then turn out and serve.

A WEEK'S MENU

Nutritive Value and Chemical Composition of Various Fruits, Nuts, Grains, and Vegetables.

(Analysis of the _edible portion_.)

PROFESSOR ATWATER'S ANALYSIS.

Proteid Calories
per cent. in one lb.
FRUIT--FRESH.

Apples .4 290 Apricots 1.1 270 Bananas 1.3 460 Blackberries 1.3 270 Cherries 1.0 365 Cranberries .4 215 Currants 1.5 265 Figs 1.5 380 Grapes 1.3 450 Huckleberries .6 345 Lemons 1.0 205 Musk-melons .8 90 Nectarines .6 305 Oranges .8 240 Pears .6 295 Persimmons .8 630 Pineapple .4 299 Plums 1.0 395 Pomegranates 1.5 460 Raspberries 1.0 255 Strawberries 1.0 180 Water-melons .4 140 Whortleberries or Wimberries .7 390

FRUIT--DRIED.

Apples 1.6 1350 Apricots 4.7 1290 Citron .5 1525 Currants 2.4 1495 Dates 2.1 1615 Figs 4.3 1475 Grapes 2.8 1205 Pears 2.8 1635 Prunes 2.1 1400 Raisins 2.6 1605 Apricots (canned) .9 340 Marmalade .6 1585 Pears (canned) .3 355 Pineapple " .4 715

GREEN VEGETABLES

Artichoke 2.6 365 Asparagus 2.1 220 Beetroot 1.6 215 Cabbage 1.6 145 " (Curly) 4.1 215 " (Sprouts) 4.7 215 Carrots 1.1 210 Cauliflower 1.8 140 Celery 1.1 85 Corn (green) 3.1 470 Cucumber .8 80 Dandelion 2.4 285 Egg Plant 1.2 130 Horseradish 1.4 230 Kohl Rabi 2.0 145 Leeks 1.2 150 Lettuce 1.2 90 Mushrooms 3.5 210 Olives (green) 1.1 1400 " (ripe) 1.7 1205 Onions 1.6 225 Parsnips 1.6 300 Potatoes (boiled) 2.5 440 " (chipped) 6.8 2675 " (raw) 2.2 385 " (sweet) 1.8 570 Pumpkins 1.3 135 Radishes 1.0 120 Rhubarb .6 105 Spinach 2.1 110 Tomatoes .9 105 Turnips 1.3 185

NUTS--SHELLED.

Acorns 8.1 2620 Almonds 21.0 3030 Beechnuts 21.9 3075 Brazil Nuts 17.0 3265 Butternuts 27.0 3165 Chestnuts (dried) 10.7 1875 " (fresh) 6.2 1125 Cocoanuts 5.7 2760 " desiccated 6.3 3125 Filberts (Hazels) 15.6 3290 Hickory 15.4 3345 Peanuts 25.8 2560 Peanut Butter 29.3 2825 Pecans 9.6 3435 Pine Kernels 34.0 2845 Pistachios 22.3 2995 Walnuts 18.0 3300 " Black } " Californian} 27.6 3105

GRAIN FOODS, ETC.

Barley Meal 10.5 1640 " Pearled 8.5 1650 Buckwheat Flour 6.4 1620 Corn Flour 7.1 1645 Corn Meal (granular) 9.2 1655 " Popped 10.7 1875 Hominy 8.3 1650 Oatmeal 16.1 1860 Oats (rolled) 16.7 1850 Rice 8.0 1630 Rye Flour 6.8 1630 " Meal 13.6 1665 Wheat Flaked 13.4 1690 " Flour, or Wholemeal 13.8 1675 " Germs 10.5 1695 " Gluten 14.2 1665 " Self-raising 10.2 1600 Macaroni 13.4 1665 " Spaghetti 12.1 1660 " Vermicelli 10.9 1625 Beans, small White 21.9 1675 " Lima or Butter 18.1 1625 Lentils 25.7 1620 Peas (dried) 24.6 1655 " (green) 7.0 465 Arrowroot --- 1815 Corn-starch --- 1675 Sago 9.0 1635 Tapioca --- 1650

CAKES.

Cake, Fruit 5.9 1760 " Gingerbread 5.8 1670 " Sponge 6.3 1795

BISCUITS.

All kinds, average 10.0 1800 Water 11.7 1835

BREAD.

Buns, Currant 6.7 1515 " Hot Cross 7.9 1275 Corn, Indian 7.9 1205 Cheap Bread 10.9 1255 Gluten 9.3 1160 Home-made Bread 9.1 1225 White Bread 9.2 1215 Whole-wheat Bread 9.7 1140 Rolls, Plain 9.7 1470 " Vienna 8.5 1300 " Water 9.0 1300 Rye 9.0 1180

VARIOUS.

Chocolate 12.9 2860 Cocoa 21.6 2320 Candy --- 1785 Honey --- 1520 Molasses (cane) 2.4 1290

INVALID COOKERY

BARLEY.

The plants _Hordeum Distichon_ and _Hordeum Vulgare_ supply most of the barley used in this country. Barley has been used as a food from time out of mind. We find frequent mention of it in the Bible, and in old Latin and Greek books. According to Pliny, an ancient Roman writer, the gladiators were called Hordearii, or "barley eaters," because they were fed on this grain whilst training. These Hordearii were like our pugilists, except that they often fought to the death. Barley has been used from very ancient days for making an intoxicating drink. In Nubia, the liquor made from barley was called Bouzah, from which we get our English word "booze," meaning an intoxicating drink. The first intoxicant drink made in this country was ale, and it was made from barley. Hops were not used for beer or ale in those days. Barley is a good food, and was the chief food of our peasantry until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Barley contains about 7 per cent. of sugar, and its flesh-forming matter is in the form of casin the same as is found in cheese. This casin is not elastic like the gluten of wheat, so that one cannot make a light bread from barley. Here is the chemical composition of barley meal:--

Flesh formers 7.5
Heat and force formers (carbon)[A] 76.0
Mineral matters 2.0
Water 14.5
-----
100.0

[Footnote A: There is 2.5 per cent. of fat in barley, and 7 per cent. of sugar.]

From this analysis we can judge that barley contains all the constituents of a good food. In it we find casin and albumen for our muscles; starch, sugar, and fat to keep us warm and give force; and there is a fair percentage of mineral matter for our bones and teeth.

Allinson's prepared barley may be eaten as porridge or pudding (see directions), and is much more nourishing than rice pudding; it is also good for adding to broth or soup, and to vegetable stews, and is most useful for making gruel and barley water. Barley water contains a great deal of nourishment, more than beef tea, and it can be drunk as a change from tea, coffee, and cocoa. During illness I advise and use barley water and milk, mixed in equal parts, and find this mixture invaluable.

BARLEY FOR BABIES.

Put 1 teaspoonful of Allinson's barley into a breakfast cup; mix this perfectly smooth with cold milk and cold water in equal parts, until the cup is full. Pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time to prevent it getting lumpy.

BARLEY GRUEL.

Mix 1 large tablespoonful of Allinson's barley with a little cold water, add to this 1 pint of boiling milk and water, boil together a few minutes, take from the fire, let cool, then eat. A little nutmeg gives a pleasant flavour.

BARLEY FOR INVALIDS AND ADULTS.

Use 3 teaspoonfuls of Allinson's barley to 1/2 pint of milk and water, and prepare as "Barley for Babies."

BARLEY JELLY.

Wash, then steep, 6 oz. of pearl barley for 6 hours, pour 31/2 pints of boiling water upon it, stew it quickly in a covered jar in a hot oven till perfectly soft and the water absorbed. When half done, add 6 oz. of sugar and a few drops of essence of lemon. 21/2 hours is the correct time for stewing the barley, and it is then a better colour than if longer in preparation. Pour it into a mould to set.

BARLEY PORRIDGE.

Take 3 tablespoonfuls of Allinson's barley, mix smoothly with 1/2 pint of cold water, add 1/2 pint of boiling milk, and boil 5 to 10 minutes. Pour on shallow plates to cool, then eat with Allinson wholemeal bread, biscuits, rusks, or toast, or stewed fruits.

BARLEY PUDDINGS.

Take 2 tablespoonfuls of Allinson's barley, mix smoothly with a little milk, pour upon it the remainder of 1 pint of milk, flavour and sweeten to taste, boil 2 or 3 minutes, then add 2 eggs lightly beaten, pour into a pie-dish, and bake to a golden brown. Eat with stewed, fresh, or dried fruits.

BARLEY WATER.

Mix smoothly 2 tablespoonfuls of Allinson's barley with a little cold water, then add it to 1 quart of water in a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Pour into a jug, and when cool add the juice of 1 or 2 oranges or lemons. A little sugar may be added when permissible.

BLACK CURRANT TEA.

1 large tablespoonful of black currant jam, 1 pint boiling water. Stir well together, strain when cold, and serve with a little crushed ice if allowed.

BRAN TEA.

Mix 1 oz. of bran with 1 pint of water, boil for 1/2 hour, strain, and drink cool. A little orange or lemon juice is a pleasant addition. When this is used as a drink at breakfast or tea, a little sugar may be added to it.

BRUNAK.

Take 1-1/2 or 2 teaspoonfuls of Brunak for each large cupful required, mix it with sufficient water, and boil for 2 or 3 minutes to get the full flavour, then strain and add hot milk and sugar to taste. Can be made in a coffee-pot, teapot, or jug if preferred. May be stood on the hob to draw; or if you have any left over from a previous meal it can be boiled up again and served as freshly made.

COCOA.

Put 1 teaspoonful of N.F. cocoa into a breakfast cup; make into a paste with a little cold milk. Fill the cup with milk and water in equal parts, pour into lined saucepan, and boil for 1 minute, stirring carefully. This is best without sugar, and should be given cool.

LEMON WATER.

Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a Lemon into a tumbler of warm or cold water; add just sufficient sugar to take off the tartness. Or the lemon may be peeled first, then cut in slices, and boiling water poured over them; a little of the peel grated in, and sugar added to taste.

OATMEAL PORRIDGE.

Most people, I think, may know how to make porridge; but it is useful to know that if you take 1 pint of water to each heaped-up breakfastcupful of Allinson breakfast oats, you have just the amount of water for a fairly firm porridge. When the water has boiled, and you have stirred in the oats, place the saucepan on the side of the stove on an asbestos mat. Only an occasional stirring will be required, and there is no fear of burning the porridge. If the porridge is preferred thinner, 1 even cupful to 1 pint of water will be found the proportion.

OATMEAL WATER.

This is very useful in cases of illness, and is a most pleasant drink in hot weather, when it can be flavoured with lemon juice and sweetened a little. To 1 quart of water take 3 oz. of coarse oatmeal or Allinson breakfast oats. Let it simmer gently on the stove for about 2 hours. Then rub it through a fine sieve or gravy strainer; rub it well through, adding a little more hot water when rubbed dry, so as to get all the goodness out of the oatmeal. If it is thick when it has been rubbed through sufficiently, thin it down with water or hot milk--half oatmeal water and half milk is a good mixture. Nothing better can be given to adults or children in cases of colds or feverish attacks. It is nourishing and soothing, and in cases of diarrhoea remedial.

RICE PUDDING.

Wash the rice, put it into a pie-dish, cover with cold water, and bake until the rice is nearly soft throughout. Beat up 1 egg with milk, mix with this a little cinnamon or other flavouring, and pour it over the rice; add sugar to taste, and bake until set.

Sago, tapioca, semolina, and hominy puddings are made after the manner of rice pudding.

DR. ALLINSON'S NATURAL FOOD

FOR BABIES.

(_To Prepare the Food_.)

Put 1 teaspoonful of the food into a breakfast cup; mix this perfectly smooth with 2 parts milk to 1 of water until the cup is full. Pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time to prevent it getting lumpy. It is best without sugar, and should be given cool.

FOR INVALIDS AND ADULTS.

Use 3 teaspoonfuls of the food to 1/2 a pint of milk and water, and prepare as above.

BLANCMANGE.

Mix 6 large tablespoonfuls of the food to a thin paste with a little cold milk, then add 1 quart of milk, flavour with vanilla, lemon or almonds, sweeten to taste; boil 2 or 3 minutes, and pour into wetted mould. Eat with stewed, fresh, or dried fruits, and you have a most nutritious and satisfying dish.

GRUEL.

Mix 1 large tablespoonful of the food with a little cold water, add to this 1 pint of boiling milk and water, boil together a few minutes, take from the fire, let cool, and then eat. A little nutmeg gives a pleasant flavour.

IMPROVED MILK PUDDINGS.

Mix 1 tablespoonful of the food with 1 of rice, sago, tapioca, or hominy, and make as above.

N.B.--The food nicely thickens soups, gravies, &c.

PORRIDGE.

Take 3 tablespoonfuls of the food, mix smoothly, with 1/2 pint of cold water, add 1/2 pint boiling milk, and boil 5 or 10 minutes. Pour on shallow plates to cool, then eat with Allinson wholemeal bread, biscuits, rusks, toast, or stewed fruits.

PUDDINGS.

Take 2 tablespoonfuls of the food, mix smoothly with a little milk, pour upon it the remainder of 1 pint of milk, flavour and sweeten to taste; boil 2 or 3 minutes, then add 2 eggs lightly beaten, pour into a pie-dish, and bake to a golden brown. Eat with stewed, fresh, or dried fruits.

WHOLESOME COOKERY