Chapter II: Part 2

This is more especially a ladies’ meal. If one gives a lunch party, ladies alone are generally invited. It is an informal meal on ordinary occasions, when every thing is placed upon the table at once. A servant remains in the room only long enough to serve the first round of dishes, then leaves, supposing that confidential conversation may be desired. Familiar friends often “happen in” to lunch, and are always to be expected.

Some fashionable ladies have the reputation of having very fine lunches--chops, chickens, oysters, salads, chocolate, and many other good things being provided; and others, just as fashionable, have nothing but a cup of tea or chocolate, some thin slices of bread and butter, and cold meat; or, if of Teutonic taste, nothing but cheese, crackers, and ale, thus reserving the appetite for dinner.

In entertaining at lunch, the dishes are served in the same manner as for dinner. Each dish is served as a separate course. It may be placed on the table before the hostess, if the lunch party is not very large; but it is generally served from the side. The table is also decorated in the same manner as for dinner, with a centre-piece of flowers or of fruit, and with various _compotiers_ around the centre, containing fruits, _bonbons_, little fancy cakes, Indian or other preserves, etc. Other ornaments, in Dresden china, majolica ware, Venetian or French glass, etc., filled with flowers, are often seen. Little dishes of common glass in different shapes, as crosses, quarter-moons, etc., about an inch high (see cuts, page 58), are also filled with flowers, and placed at symmetrical distances. As the last-mentioned decorations are very cheap, every one may indulge in them, and consider that there are no more beautiful ornaments, after all.

The lunch-table is generally covered with a colored table-cloth.

The principal dishes served are _patés_, croquettes, shell-fish, game, salads--in fact, all kinds of _entrées_ and cold desserts, or I may say dishes are preferred which do not require carving. _Bouillon_ is generally served as a first course in _bouillon_ cups, which are quite like large coffee-cups, or coffee or tea cups may be used, although any dinner soup served in soup-plates is _en regle_. A cup of chocolate, with whipped cream on the top, is often served as another course.

I will give five bills of fare, reserved from five very nice little lunch parties:

_Mrs. Collier’s Lunch_ (February 2d).

Bouillon; sherry. Roast oysters on half-shell; Sauterne. Little vols-au-vent of oysters. Thin scollops, or cuts of fillet of beef, braised; French pease; Champagne. Chicken croquettes, garnished with fried parsley; potato croquettes. Cups of chocolate, with whipped cream. Salad--lettuce dressed with tarragon. Biscuits glacés; fruit-ices. Fruit. Bonbons.

_Mrs. Sprague’s Lunch_ (March 10th).

Raw oysters on half-shell. Bouillon; sherry. Little vols-au-vent of sweet-breads. Lamb-chops; tomato sauce; Champagne. Chicken croquettes; French pease. Snipe; potatoes à la Parisienne. Salad of lettuce. Neuchâtel cheese; milk wafers, toasted. Chocolate Bavarian cream, molded in little cups, with a spoonful of peach marmalade on each plate. Vanilla ice-cream; fancy cakes. Fruit.

_Mrs. Miller’s Lunch_ (January 6th).

Bouillon. Deviled crabs; olives; claret punch. Sweet-breads à la Milanaise. Fillets of grouse, currant jelly; Saratoga potatoes. Roman punch. Fried oysters, garnished with chow-chow. Chicken salad, or, rather, Mayonnaise of chicken. Ramikins. Wine jelly, and whipped cream. Napolitaine ice-cream. Fruit. Bonbons.

_Mrs. Wells’s Lunch._

Bouillon; sherry. Fried frogs’ legs; French pease. Smelts, sauce Tartare; potatoes à la Parisienne. Chicken in scallop-shells; Champagne. Sweet-bread croquettes; tomato sauce. Fried cream. Salad; Romaine. Welsh rare-bit. Peaches and cream, frozen; fancy cakes. Fruits.

_Mrs. Filley’s Lunch._

Mock-turtle soup; English milk-punch. Lobster-chops; claret. Mushrooms in crust. Lamb-chops, en papillote. Chetney of slices of baked fillet of beef. Chocolate, with whipped cream. Spinach on tongue slices (page 145), sauce Tartare. Roast quail, bread sauce (page 185). Cheese; lettuce, garnished with slices of radishes and nasturtium blossoms, French dressing. Mince-meat patties; Champagne. Ices and fancy cakes. Fruit.

GENTLEMEN’S SUPPERS.

As ladies have exclusive lunches, gentlemen have exclusive suppers. Nearly the same dishes are served for suppers as for lunches, although gentlemen generally prefer more game and wine. Sometimes they like fish suppers, with two or three or more varieties of fish, when nightmare might be written at the end of the bill of fare.

If one has not a reliable cook, it is very convenient to give these entertainments, as the hostess has a chance to station herself in the _cuisine_, and personally superintend the supper.

One bill of fare is given for a fish supper:

1st Course.--Raw oysters served in a block of ice (page 113). [The
ice has a pretty effect in the gas-light.]

2d Course.--Shad, maître d’hôtel sauce, garnished with smelts.

3d Course.--Sweet-breads and tomato sauce.

4th Course.--Boiled sardines, on toast.

5th Course.--Deviled chicken, Cunard sauce.

6th Course.--Fillets of duck, with salad of lettuce.

7th Course.--Mayonnaise of salmon, garnished with shrimps.

8th Course.--Welsh rare-bit.

9th Course.--Charlotte Russe.

10th Course.--Ice-cream and cake.

EVENING PARTIES.

If people can afford to give large evening parties, it is less trouble and more satisfactory to place the supper in the hands of the confectioner.

For card parties or small companies of thirty or forty persons, to meet some particular stranger, or for literary reunions, the trouble need not be great. People would entertain more if the trouble were less.

If one has a regular reception-evening, ices, cake, and chocolate are quite enough; or for chocolate might be substituted sherry or a bowl of punch.

For especial occasions for a company of thirty or forty, a table prettily set with some flowers, fruit, chicken salad, croquettes or sweet-breads and pease, one or two or more kinds of ice-cream and cakes, is quite sufficient. Either coffee and tea, Champagne, a bowl of punch or of eggnog, would be sufficient in the way of beverage.

SOMETHING ABOUT ECONOMY.

I am indebted to a French girl living in our family for the substance of this chapter. Her parents being obliged to live in a most economical way in St. Louis, still had an uncommonly good table. One resource was a little garden, in which small compass were raised enough onions, tomatoes, carrots, and a few other vegetables, to nearly supply the family. A small bed of four feet square, surrounded by a pretty border of lettuce, was large enough for raising all necessary herbs, such as sage, summer savory, thyme, etc. Little boxes in the kitchen windows contained growing parsley, ever ready for use.

I give receipts for three of their soups--the onion, vegetable _purée_, and potato soups being most excellent, and costing not over from five to ten cents each. One of their dinner dishes was a heart (10 cents) stuffed, baked two or three hours, and served with a brown gravy and an onion garnish (see receipt). Still another was a two-pound round-steak (20 cents), spread with a bread and sage stuffing, then rolled, tied, floured, seasoned on top, then baked, basting it often. It was a pretty dish, with tomato sauce around it. Sometimes a cheap fish was cut in slices, egged and bread-crumbed, fried, and garnished with fried potatoes. They had always a salad for dinner, prepared from their border of lettuce, some cold potatoes, cold beans, or other vegetable. A fine breakfast dish was of kidneys (5 cents). Few Americans know how to cook kidneys, and butchers often throw them away; yet in France they are considered a great delicacy.

Their _répertoire_ of cheap dishes was large; so there was always a change for, at least, each day of the week. A crumb of bread was never wasted. All odd morsels were dried in the oven, pounded, and put away in a tin-box, ready for breading cutlets cut from any pieces of mutton or veal, and for many other purposes.

Any pieces of suet or drippings were clarified and put one side, to be used for frying. Remains of cooked vegetables of any kind were saved for soups and sauces. Not a slice of a tomato nor leaf of a cabbage was thrown away.

If they had butter that was not entirely sweet, they added more salt, a little soda, brought it to a boil on the stove, and then put it away in a little crock. By allowing the settlings to remain at the bottom, the butter became entirely sweet, and not too salt for cooking purposes.

Chickens, cutlets, etc., were larded at this table. Now, just to mention the word “larding” is to overwhelm a common cook; and to require it, is to rivet in the minds of most housewives the entire impracticability of a whole receipt in which it is an item. Pieces of salt pork or breakfast bacon should always be kept in the house. A pound of it, which is not expensive, may last a long time, as it requires very little for flavoring many things; then, if one has any idea of sewing, or what it is to push a needle through any thing, one can lard. It only requires a larding-needle, which costs fifteen cents, and which should last a century. By placing little cut strips of pork in the end of the needle, as is explained among “directions,” then drawing the needle through parts of the meat, leaving the pork midway, this wonderfully difficult operation is accomplished. It is only a few minutes’ pastime to lard turkeys, chickens, birds, cutlets, sweet-breads, etc., which gives to them flavor and style.

Limited in fortune as were this family, they were never without stock at hand. Their meat for croquettes, patties, etc., had served a duty to the soup-kettle. If a chicken was to be boiled for the table, it was thrown into the stock-pot while the soup was simmering, and thus it and the chicken were both benefited.

Their meat dishes were often garnished with little potato-balls, cooked _à la Parisienne_, or simply boiled. This seemed extravagant; but as a French vegetable-cutter only costs twenty-five cents, and the balls can be cut very rapidly--all the parings boiled and mashed serving another time as potato-cakes--there was nothing wasted, and little time lost.

In short, this household (and it is a sample of nearly all French families of limited means) lived well on little more than many an American family would throw away.

Let me give five bills of fare of their dinners, the second of which is partly prepared from the remains of the first day:

Beef soup (soup bone), 10 cents. Veal blanquette and boiled potatoes (knuckle of veal), 15 cents. Salad of sliced tomatoes, 2 or 3 cents. Boiled rice, with a border of stewed small pears (green, or of common variety), 10 cents. Onion or bean soup, 5 cents. Fish (en matelote), 15 cents. Croquettes (made of the remains of the cold beef-soup meat, and rice), with a tomato sauce. Salad of cold boiled potatoes. Fried bread-pudding.

* * * * *

Potato soup. Round steak, rolled (page 140), with baked, parboiled onions, 25 cents. Salad of lettuce. Apple-fritters, with sirup.

* * * * *

Tomato soup. Beef à la mode, with spinach, 40 cents (enough for two dinners). Salad of potatoes and parsley. Rice-pudding.

* * * * *

Noodle soup. Mutton ragout, with potatoes, 25 cents. Noodles and stuffed tomatoes. Cheese omelet.

DIRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS.

BOILING.

Fowls or joints should be tied or well skewered into shape before boiling.

Every thing should be _gently_ simmered, rather than fast boiled, in order to be tender. The water should never be allowed to stop simmering before the article is quite done. A pudding is thus entirely ruined.

The kettle should be kept covered, merely raising the cover at times to remove the scum. Boiled fowl, with a white sauce, is a favorite English dish, and very nice it is if properly prepared.

FRYING.

Frying means cooking by _immersion_ in hot fat, butter, or oil. There is no English word for what is called frying in a spoonful of fat, first on one side, and then on the other. _Sauté_ is the French word, and should be Anglicized. Ordinary cooks, instead of frying, invariably _sauté_ every thing. Almost every article that is usually _sautéd_ is much better and more economical _fried_; as, for instance, oysters, fish, birds, cutlets, crabs, etc.

The fat should always be tested before the article is immersed. A little piece of bread may be thrown in, and if it colors quickly, the fat is ready, and not before. The temperature of hot grease, it will be remembered, is much greater than that of boiling water, which can not exceed a certain degree of heat, whether it boil slow or fast. Hot grease reaches a very high degree of heat, and consequently the surface of any thing is almost instantaneously hardened or crisped when thrown into it. The inside is thus kept free from grease, and is quickly cooked. An article first dipped in egg and bread-crumbs should be _entirely_ free from grease when thus cooked, as the egg is hardened the instant it touches the hot grease, and the oyster, croquette, cutlet, or sweet-bread is perfectly protected. The same fat can be used repeatedly for frying the same thing. The fat in which fish is fried should not be again used for any thing except fish. Professional cooks have several frying-kettles, in which fat is kept for frying different things. A little kettle for frying potatoes exclusively should always be at hand.

One will see that this style of cooking is economical, as there is very little waste of fat; and then fried articles need no other dressing.

After frying fish, meat, or vegetables, let the fat stand about five minutes; strain, and then return it to the kettle, which should always be kept covered, after it is once cold.

Beef suet, salted, is quite as good for frying as lard, and is much cheaper. It is well to purchase it by the pound, and have it rendered in the kitchen.

TO PREPARE GREASE FOR FRYING (_Professor Blot_).

Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or cooked, and free of fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones; chop it fine; add to it whatever you may have of fat skimmed off the top of meat soup; put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; set it on a moderate fire; boil gently for fifteen minutes; skim it well during the process; take from the fire, leave it five minutes, and then strain it; after which, put it in pots, and keep them in a dry and cool place; cover the pots well every time you have occasion to use, but never cover them while the grease is warm. This grease is as good, if not better than any other to fry fish, fritters, and other similar things, which require to be entirely covered with grease.[A]

BROILING.

I did not appreciate the nicety of broiling until, upon an occasion, a gentleman invited a dinner company to a private dining-room of one of our large restaurants, to eat a certain kind of fish, which he considered especially fine. The host was quite out of humor to see the fish come to the table baked, when he had ordered it broiled. The proprietor afterward explained that, for some reason, his French cook was absent for that day, and he had no other who could broil so large a fish. I at once realized that, after all, it must be a delicate and difficult thing to broil a large fish, so that the centre would be well done, and the surface not burned. The smaller and thinner the article, the hotter should be the fire; the larger the article, the more temperate the fire, or, rather, the greater distance it should at first be placed from it. The fish, in this case, should have been wrapped in oiled or buttered paper. It should have been placed rather near the fire for the first few moments; then removed farther away, or placed on another more moderate fire. A large baking-pan should have covered the top of the fish, to hold the heat. When nearly done, the paper should have been removed, to allow the surface to brown.

Always grease the gridiron well, and have it _hot_, before the meat is placed on it. Any thing egged and bread-crumbed should be buttered before it is broiled. Fish should be buttered and sprinkled with flour, which will prevent the skin from adhering to the gridiron. Cutlets, and in fact every thing, are more delicate buttered before broiling. A little lemon-juice is also often a nice addition. Birds, and other things which need to be halved, should be broiled, _inside_ first.

Remember that a hot, clear fire is necessary for cooking all small articles. They should be turned often, to be cooked evenly, without being burned.

Never put a fork in the lean part of meat on the gridiron, as it allows the juice to escape.

Always cover the gridiron with a tin pan or a baking-pan. The sooner the meat is cooked without burning, the better. The pan holds the heat, and often prevents a stray line of smoke from touching the meat.

If the fire should be too hot, sprinkle salt over it.

ROASTING.

There is little use to talk about roasting, as but few will attempt it, always considering it easier to bake instead. Indeed, there is so little demand in many sections for stoves and ranges suited to the purpose that they are difficult to obtain. Of course, there is no comparison between these modes of cooking. Beef, mutton, turkeys, ducks, or birds--in fact, any kind of meat is tenfold better roasted than baked. In Europe, all these articles are roasted; and people there would have great contempt for a piece of beef or a turkey baked. In New York and Philadelphia, also, at the finer establishments, the meats are generally roasted. The trouble is little greater than to bake. It is only necessary to have the range or stove constructed for roasting, and a tin screen, with a spit and jack, to place before the coals. Some of the roasters are arranged with a spring-jack. The meat is placed on the spit, and the spring wound up, which sets the meat to revolving slowly before the fire.

In roasting, the meat should at first be placed near the coals, so as to quickly harden the surface; then it should be removed back a little distance, to be cooked through, without burning. The oftener it is basted, the better it is. If the roast of meat is very large, it should be surrounded with a buttered paper.

Just before the meat is done, it should be basted with a little butter or drippings, then sprinkled with flour, and placed nearer the fire, to brown nicely, when it will take a frothy appearance.

Much depends upon the management of the fire. It should be made some time before the meat is placed for roasting, so that the coals may be bright and hot. It should also be strong enough to last, with only the addition of an occasional coal at the top. In fine establishments abroad, a grate for burning coal, charcoal, or wood is made in the kitchen, for the purpose of roasting only. This is convenient, but more expensive than roasting in ranges or stoves, where the same fire may serve for cooking every thing.

SAUTÉING.

As I have already said, frying implies immersing in fat or oil; but _sautéing_ means to cook in a spider or _sauté_ pan, with just enough hot fat to keep the article, while being cooked, from sticking. The fat should always be quite hot before placing on it any thing to cook.

BRAISING.

A braising-kettle has a deep cover, which holds coals; consequently, the cooking is done from above as well as below. It is almost air-tight, thus preventing evaporation, and the article to be cooked imbibes whatever flavor one may wish to give it.

The article is generally cooked in stock or broth (water may be used also), with slices of bacon, onion, carrot, etc., placed around the meat. It is a favorite mode of cooking pigeons. An ordinary cut of beef may be made very savory cooked in this manner, and the juice left makes a good gravy when freed from fat.

If a braising-pan is not at hand, a common, tight-covered saucepan answers very well without the upper coals. Except for coloring larding on the top of the article to be braised, I do not appreciate the value of the upper coals, anyway; and the coloring may be accomplished with the salamander or hot shovel as well.

LARDING.

Cut the firmest bacon fat, with a heated or very sharp knife, into square lengths of equal size. Placing one end in a larding-needle, draw it through the skin and a small bit of the meat, leaving the strip of pork, or lardoon, as it is called, in the meat. The two ends left exposed should be of equal length. The punctures for the lardoons should be in rows, of equal distance apart, arranged in any fanciful way that may suit the cook. The usual form for larding, however, is as shown in cut (page 57).

BONING.

Boning is not a difficult operation. It only requires time, a thin, sharp knife, and a little care. Cut off the neck, and also the legs at the first joint. Cut the skin in a line down the middle of the back. Now, taking first one side and then the other of the cut in the fingers, carefully separate the flesh from the bones, sliding the knife close to the bone. When you come to the wings and legs, it is easier to break or unjoint the bones at the body-joint; cutting close by the bone, draw it, turning the flesh of the legs and wings inside out. When all the bones are out, the skin and flesh can be re-adjusted and stuffed into shape. As the leg and wing bones require considerable time to remove, they may be left in, and the body stuffed with lamb or veal force-meat. See receipt for boned chicken (page 174). It is a very pretty and delicious dish.

EGG AND BREAD CRUMBING.

Always sift the bread or cracker crumbs. Whenever there are spare pieces or trimmings of bread or broken crackers, dry them at once in the oven, and after pounding and sifting, put them away in a tin can, for future use. In preparing for use, beat the eggs a little. If they are to be used for sweet dishes, such as rice croquettes, sweeten them slightly. If they are to be used for meats, sweet-breads, oysters, etc., always salt and pepper them, and for a change, finely chopped parsley may be added. Add a small proportion of milk to the eggs, say a half-cupful for two of them, or for one of them, if intended for fish or cutlets. Have the eggs in one plate, and the bread-crumbs in another; roll the article first in the crumbs, then in the egg, then in the crumbs again. In the case of articles very soft, like croquettes, it will be more convenient for one person to shape and roll them in the eggs, and another, with dry hands, to roll them in the bread-crumbs.

Pounded and sifted cracker-crumbs can be purchased by the pound, at bakeries and large groceries, for the same price as whole crackers. However, it will never be necessary to purchase cracker-crumbs, if all scraps of bread are saved and dried. It is deplorable for a cook to throw them away. It shows that she is either too indolent to ever learn to cook, or too ignorant of the uses of scraps of bread to be tolerated. If she saves them for purposes of charity, let her give fresh bread, which will be more acceptable, and save the scraps, which are equally useful to her. Yet if the bread-crumbs when pounded and sifted are not very fine, they are not as good as the cracker-dust.

TO COOK PUDDINGS IN BOILING WATER.

Wet and flour the cloth before adding the pudding. In tying in the pudding, leave room enough for it to swell. If cooked in a mold, do not fill the mold quite full. Never let the water stop boiling. As it wastes away in boiling, replenish the kettle from another containing boiling water.

It is better to cook these puddings (plum-puddings as well) in a steamer than in boiling water. The principle is really the same, and there is no water soaked.

DRIED CELERY, PARSLEY, ETC., FOR WINTER USE.

Celery, parsley, thyme, summer savory, sage, etc., should all be prepared for winter use. After drying and pulverizing, put them in tin cans or glass jars. Celery and parsley are especially valuable for soups and gravies.

SEEDS FOR SOUPS.

If the fresh or dried vegetables are not at hand, seeds, such as celery, carrot-seed, etc., can be substituted for a flavoring.

TO FLAVOR WITH LEMON ZEST.

Never use the white part of the peel of a lemon for flavoring. It is bitter. The little globules of oil in the surface of the rind contain all the pleasant flavor of the peel. It may be thinly pared off, avoiding the white pulp. Professional cooks, however, rub loaf-sugar over the surface. The friction breaks the oil-ducts, and the sugar absorbs the oil. It is called zest. The sugar is afterward pounded fine for certain dishes, such as creams, _meringues_, etc.; or it can be simply melted in custards and beverages.

THE COOK’S TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

1 quart of sifted flour = 1 pound. 1 quart of powdered sugar = 1 pound and 7 ounces. 1 quart of granulated sugar = 1 pound and 9 ounces. 1 pint of closely packed butter = 1 pound. Butter, size of an egg = about 2 ounces. 10 eggs = 1 pound. 3 cupfuls of sugar = 1 pound. 5 cupfuls of sifted flour = 1 pound. 1 heaping table-spoonful = ⅙th of a gill. 4 gills = 1 pint; 2 pints = 1 quart; 4 quarts = 1 gallon.

In my receipts, I prefer, generally, the use of terms of measure to those of weight, because the former are more convenient for the majority of housekeepers.

TO CHOP SUET.

Sprinkle flour over it while chopping, which will prevent the pieces from adhering.

RISING-POWDER PROPORTIONS.

To 1 quart of flour, use 2½ tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder; or,

To 1 quart of flour, use 1 tea-spoonful of soda, and 2 tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar; or,

To 1 quart of flour, use 1 cupful of sour milk, and 1 tea-spoonful of soda.

TO MAKE ROUX.

A _roux_ is a mixture of butter and flour _cooked_. It is generally added, uncooked, to thicken a sauce or a soup; but the flavor is much better if it is first cooked, and the sauce or soup is added to _it_. Professional French cooks always manage it in this way. When the butter is first brought to the boiling-point, in a small stew-pan or cup, the sifted flour is sprinkled in, and both are mixed well together over the fire with an egg-whisk, until the flour is well cooked; a part of the sauce or soup is then stirred in until it becomes smooth and thin enough to add to the main sauce or soup. If the _roux_ is intended for a white sauce, it is not allowed to color; if for a brown sauce, it may color a little, or browned flour may be used.

COOKING UTENSILS.

_The Bain Marie._--This is an open vessel, to be kept at the back of the range or in some warm place, to be filled with hot (not _boiling_) water. Several stew-pans, or large tin cups with covers and handles, are fitted in, which are intended to hold all those cooked dishes desired to be kept hot. If there are delays in serving the dinner, there is no better means of preserving the flavor of dishes. The _bain marie_ is especially convenient at any time for keeping sauces, or vegetables for garnish, which can not always be prepared at the last minute.

_The Braising-pan._--The use of this pan will be found by referring to the article on “braising.”

_The Fish-kettle._--The fish is placed on the perforated tin sheet, which is then put into the kettle of water. The fish is thus taken out of the water at will, without breaking. When done, it is placed for a minute over an empty iron kettle on the fire, to drain well and steam. It is then carefully slipped on a napkin in the hot platter in which it is to be served.

_The Custard-kettle._--This is an iron utensil, the inside kettle being lined with block-tin. Although there are cheaper custard-kettles made of tin, it is better economy to purchase those of iron, which are more durable. The inside kettle containing the custard is placed in the larger one, which is partly filled with boiling water.

_The Sauté-pan._--This pan may either be used for _sautéing_, or for an omelet pan.

_Sieve for Purées._--This is a substantial arrangement, the sides being made of tin. It is invaluable for bean, pea, or any of the _purée_ soups, which should be forced through the sieve. It is also used for bread or cracker crumbs--in fact, for any thing which requires sifting.

_The Steaming-kettle._--The article to be cooked is placed in the pan perforated with holes. It is put in the long kettle, which is partly filled with boiling water, then covered with the close-fitting cover. This is an invaluable kettle for cooking vegetables, puddings, and, in fact, almost any thing that is usually immersed in boiling water. A cabbage, with salt sprinkled among the leaves, is cooked much quicker in this way than when immersed, and is much more delicate. It is especially nice for plum-puddings, which then can not become water-soaked. Cooks generally manage to let the water stop boiling for some minutes when boiling puddings, which is just long enough to ruin them. This kettle is no less valuable for cooking chickens or rice.

_The Saratoga Potato-cutter._--The screws at the sides adjust a sharp knife, so that, by rubbing the potato over the plane, it may be cut as fine or as coarse as may be desired. The plane is also used for cutting cabbage, or for onions to serve with cucumbers. Cabbage, however, should not be cut too thin, as it is thereby less crisp. Cost, 50 cents.

_The Can-opener._--This is the best and cheapest pattern. The handle, knife, and square piece are all made together of pressed iron. Cost, 25 cents.

_The Cream-whipper._--The handle _A_ is placed inside the tube _B_. The tube is dipped into a bowl of sweetened and flavored cream. By churning and pressing it through the perforated holes, the cream becomes a light froth, which is skimmed off the top, and put on a sieve, as soon as a few table-spoonfuls of it are formed. Cost, 25 cents.

_The Wire-basket, for Frying._--Articles to be fried are placed in the basket, which is immersed in boiling fat. It facilitates frying, as the articles are all cooked, lifted out, and well drained at the same time. It is especially nice for frying smelts or for boiling eggs.

_The Egg-poacher._--The eggs are carefully broken into the little cups, and placed in the stand. The stand is then dipped into well-salted water, which is merely simmering. When done, each cup (formed like a shell) is taken out from the stand, and carefully tipped over a piece of buttered toast, leaving the egg with the pretty form of the cup on top.

_The Fish-stand._--Fried smelts are hung by catching them to the sharp points of the stand. The intervening places are filled with parsley or leaves, and the whole served in form of a pyramid.

_The Butter-roller._--The wooden squares are dipped into cold water. A small piece of butter (enough for one person at table) is placed on one square, then rolled around with the other one held in the other hand. A little ball is formed with a net-work surface. A number of balls are thus formed of the same size, and piled on the butter-dish, as in cut.

_Butter or Mashed-potato Syringe._--The butter is placed in the tube, and pressed through the round holes in the end on to the butter-dishes. It forms a pretty effect of fillets of butter, resembling vermicelli. Potatoes boiled, seasoned, and mashed may also be pressed through the tube around beef, venison, or almost any meat or fish dish, making a pretty decoration.

_French Vegetable-cutters._--The little cups of figures _A_ and _B_ are pressed into potatoes, or any bulbous vegetable, then turned around. The cutter _A_ will make little potato-balls, say an inch in diameter, which are fried, and called “potatoes _à la Parisienne_.” The figure _B_ will cut oblong forms. Smaller-sized cutters are preferable for cutting potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc., for garnishing _à la jardinière_.

_Tin Cutters, for cutting Slices of Bread to fry for decorating Dishes (croûtons), or to serve in Soups._--They may also be used for cutting slices of vegetables for decorations or for soups.

_Potato, Carrot, or Turnip Cutter._--This simple little instrument cuts the vegetables mentioned into curls. When the curl is cut, the vegetable is afterward cut from the outside to meet it, when it easily slips out. The handle is separate from the iron wire, and has to be taken off in order to remove the curl. The curls can be boiled in salted water, if of carrots; if of turnips, they are better cooked after the French receipt given; if of potatoes, they are generally fried in boiling lard, and sprinkled with a little salt as soon as done. They make a pretty garnish, or may be served alone.

_Fluted Knife, for cutting Vegetables into various fancy Forms for Decorations, or for Salads._--Some cut mushrooms with this knife, to give them a scolloped surface.

_French Cook’s Knife._--Made of best steel. It can easily be kept very sharp, and made of almost constant use in preparing dishes. It is especially useful for boning. It costs seventy-five cents, yet, with proper care, should last a life-time. These knives are so light, sharp, and easily handled, that, when once used, a person would consider it very awkward to cook without one.

_A Knife for Peeling._--The wire prevents the cutting of more than the skins of fruits or vegetables. The wire may be attached or detached at will, for cleaning it.

_Wire Skewers_ (Fig. A).--They are about three inches long, and may be of silver or plain wire. Fig. B is a skewer run through three smelts, with thin slices of bacon between. They are fried in boiling lard, and one skewerful is served to each person at table. The fish dish is garnished with lemon slices, one of which is placed on the top of each skewerful of fish when on the plate (see page 112). Fig. C, a skewer of alternate slices of egged and bread-crumbed sweet-breads and bacon, managed in the same manner as the smelts (see page 155).

_Knife for carving Poultry and Game._--Besides cutting the flesh, this knife disjoints or cuts the bones, which are often embarrassing, especially in ducks and geese.

_Meat-squeezer, for pressing out the Juice of Beef for Invalids._--A piece of round-steak (which yields more juice than other cuts) is barely heated through, when it is cut, and the juice pressed out at the angle _A_ into a warm cup, placed in a basin of hot water. The juice should be served immediately, and taken while still warm.

_Pancake-lifter._--This form, having more breadth than the ordinary square lifter, has the advantage of turning the pancakes with greater facility.

_Brush_, for rubbing whites of eggs over rusks, crullers, etc., or for glazing meats with clear stock, reduced by boiling to a stiff jelly.

_Larding-needles, Lardoons, and Manner of Larding._--See article on Larding, page 48.

_Apple-corer._--The larger tube is for coring apples; the smaller one for coring Siberian crab-apples, for preserving.

_Jelly-stand._--This is simply and cheaply made. Rings can be fastened to the ends of the cords, and slipped over the four top rounds, to hold the jelly-bag on the stand; or it may be tied. The jelly-bag should be made of flannel, or of Canton flannel. This arrangement is not only convenient for jellies, but for clear soups as well.

_Meat-pie Mold._--Fig. A represents the mold closed, the wires at each end fastening the two sides together. It is here ready to be buttered, the crust to be laid in, and pressed into the decorations at the sides, filled, the top crust to be fitted over, and baked. Fig. B, the wire is drawn out one side, the mold opened, and removed from the pie. Fig. C, the pie ready to be served at table.

_Paste-jagger._--Fig. A represents a paste-jagger, for cutting and ornamenting the edges of pie-crust. Fig. B is a plain circle of pie-crust cut with the jagger, to fit the pie-dish. Fig. C is part of a strip of pie-paste, which is cut with the jagger to lay around the edge of the pie. Fig. D, the strip laid around the edge. Fig. E, the pie placed upon a plate, ready to serve at table.

_Glass or Tin Flower Forms._--These are flat forms for decorating the table with flowers. They are filled with water or wet sand. The flowers are placed in, and may, or may not, conceal the tin form.

_Molds._--Fig. A, a circular tin mold for _blanc-manges_, jellies, etc. Fig. B, supposed to be a _blanc-mange_ filled with strawberries. These centres may be filled with any kind of berries, _compotes_, fresh fruits, creams, etc., and make exceedingly pretty dishes. With a small mold of this kind one can prepare a very dainty-looking dish for an invalid. It may be filled with _blanc-mange_, tapioca jelly, Irish moss, wine, or chicken jellies, etc., and filled with a _compote_, a whipped cream, beaten eggs, or any allowable relish. Fig. C, a circular mold, of more elaborate pattern, yet quite as easy to manage as the simple one. Fig. D, wine jelly, filled with whipped cream. Fig. E, a casserole mold. Fig. F, a casserole of rice or mashed potatoes, filled with fried (_sautéd_) spring chickens, with cream sauce, and surrounded with cauliflower blossoms. A pretty course for dinner, tea, or supper.

_Little Silver-plated Chafing-dish._--It is about four and a half inches square, for serving Welsh rare-bits, or for small pieces of venison-steak, with currant jelly. One is served to each person at table. The lower part is a reservoir for boiling-hot water. I have seen them also made with little alcohol-lamps underneath, when the thin slices of venison-steak can be partly or entirely cooked at table, in the currant jelly. At least, the preparation served is kept nicely hot.

_An Instrument for drawing Champagne, Soda, and other Effervescing Liquids at pleasure, leaving the last Glass as sparkling as the first._--The instrument D is driven through the cork in the bottle, the wire A is withdrawn, the button C turned, when the Champagne is drawn through the tube B. When enough is drawn, the button is again turned, and the wire replaced before the bottle is raised. The bottle should then be kept bottom side up. The instrument is a perfect success, and can be obtained of H. B. Platt & Co., 1211 Broadway, New York. It costs $1 85.

_Paper Cases for Soufflés, Chickens à la Bechamel, or for any thing that can be served scolloped, or en coquille._--These cases are easily and quickly made. They furnish a pretty variety at table, filled with any of the materials described among the receipts for articles to be served in paper cases or in shells. To make the paper cases, choose writing-paper: fold and crease it at the dotted lines in Fig. A, then cut the paper at the dark lines in Fig. B. By turning the corner squares, so that they may lap over the sides, the box is formed. Sew the sides together, all around the box, hiding the stitches under the small piece of paper at the top, lapped over the outside. They should be buttered just before filling. Fig. D is a case filled with a rice _soufflé_. Figs. E and F are small cases made of round pieces of paper (four inches in diameter), creased with a penknife. The top may be left unturned, as Fig. F, or turned twice, as Fig. E. These cases may be purchased already made; however, it is a pleasant diversion to make them.

_Paper Handles for Lamb-chops, Cutlets, etc._--A long strip of thin writing-paper is doubled, and cut half-way down with scissors, in as thin cuts as can be easily made (Fig. A, a fragment of the paper). One edge of the paper is then slipped a little distance farther than the corresponding edge, which gives the fine cuts a round shape, as in Fig. B. The edges can be held in this position, with the aid of a very little mucilage. Now roll the paper spirally over a little stick, about the size of a cutlet bone. Fasten the end with a little mucilage, and the paper handle is quite ready to slip over cutlet bones, just as they are about to be sent to the table. Larger-sized paper handles can be made in the same manner for boiled hams.

_Silver-plated Scallop Shell, for any thing served en coquille._--Articles served _en coquille_ make a pretty course for lunch or dinner. The shells in plated silver are quite expensive, costing sixty dollars a dozen at Tiffany’s. I imagine they could be made as well of block-tin, with a single coating of silver, and with the little feet riveted, so as to stand the heat of the oven.

_A Méringue Decorator._--The little tin tube A (one-third of an inch in diameter), or B, is put in the bottom of the bag. _Méringue_ (whipped whites of eggs, sweetened and flavored), or frosting for cakes, is put in the bag, and squeezed through the tube on puddings, lemon or _méringue_ pies, or on cakes, forming any design that may suit the fancy. If it is squeezed through the tube A, the line of frosting will be round; if through tube B, it will be scalloped, when leaves and flowers can easily be formed. The lady-fingers are shaped by pressing the cake batter through a tube half an inch in diameter. The bag is easily made with tightly woven twilled cloth. The little tin tubes can be made at the tinsmith’s, or at home, with a piece of tin, a large pair of scissors, and a little solder. With this little convenience, the trouble of decorating dishes is very slight, and their appearance is very much improved.

_Gravy and Sauce Strainer._--A sauce-strainer made of wire gauze of the form of cut presents so much surface for straining that the operation is much quicker accomplished than when using tin cups with a small circle of gauze or perforated holes at the bottom.

_An Egg-whisk._--Decidedly the best form for an egg-whisk is the one given in the cut. It is equally useful for making _roux_ and sauces. By holding the whisk perpendicularly, and vigorously passing it in the bottom of a saucepan, a small quantity of butter and flour or sauce can be thoroughly mixed.

BREAD, AND BREAKFAST CAKES.

It requires experience to make good bread. One must know, first, how long to let the bread rise, as it takes a longer time in cold than in warm weather; second, when the oven is just of proper temperature to bake it. Bread should be put in a rather hot oven. It is nearly light enough to bake when put in; so the rule for baking bread differs from that of baking cake, which should be put into a moderate oven at first, to become equally heated through before rising. As bread requires a brisk heat, it is well to have the loaves small, the French-bread loaves being well adapted to a hot oven. After the bread is baked, the loaves should be placed on end (covered) at the back of the table until they become cool.

TO MAKE YEAST.

Ingredients: A cupful of baker’s yeast; four cupfuls of flour; two large potatoes, boiled; one cupful of sugar, and six cupfuls of boiling water.

Mix the warm mashed potatoes and sugar together; then add the flour; next, add the six cupfuls of boiling water, poured on slowly: this cooks the flour a little. It will be of the consistency of batter. Let the mixture get almost cold, stirring it well, that the bottom may become cool also. It will spoil the yeast if the batter be too hot. When lukewarm, add the tea-cupful of yeast. Leave this mixture in the kitchen, or in some warm place, perhaps on the kitchen-table (do not put it too near the stove), for five or six hours, until it gets perfectly light. Do not touch it until it gets somewhat light; then stir it down two or three times during the six hours. This process makes it stronger. Keep it in a cool place until needed.

This yeast will last perpetually, if a tea-cupful of it be always kept, when making bread, to make new yeast at the next baking. Keep it in a stone jar, scalding the jar every time fresh yeast is made.

In summer, it is well to mix corn-meal with the yeast, and dry it in cakes, in some shady, dry place, turning the cakes often, that they may become thoroughly dry. It requires about one and a half cakes (biscuit-cutter) to make four medium-sized loaves of bread. Crumb them, and let them soak in lukewarm water about a quarter or half an hour before using.

TO MAKE THE BREAD.

Ingredients: Flour, one and a half cupfuls of yeast, lukewarm water, a table-spoonful of lard, a little salt.

Put two quarts of flour into the bread-bowl; sprinkle a little salt over it; add one and a half cupfuls of yeast, and enough lukewarm water to make it a rather soft dough. Set it one side to rise. In winter, it will take overnight; in summer, about three hours. After it has risen, mix well into it one table-spoonful of lard; then add flour (not too much), and knead it half an hour. The more it is kneaded, the whiter and finer it becomes. Leave this in the bread-bowl for a short time to rise; then make it into loaves. Let it rise again for the third time. Bake.

MRS. BONNER’S BREAD.

This is a delicious bread, which saves the trouble of making yeast. Twenty-five cents’ worth of Twin Brothers’ yeast will last a small family six weeks. I would recommend Mrs. Bonner’s bread in preference to that of the last receipt. It is cheaper and better, at last, to always have good bread, which is insured by using fresh yeast each time.

For four loaves: At noon, boil three potatoes; mash them well; add a little salt, and two and a half cupfuls of flour; also enough boiling water (that in which the potatoes were boiled) to make rather a thin batter. Let it cool, and when it is at about blood-heat, add a Twin Brothers’ yeast-cake, soaked in half a tea-cupful of lukewarm water. One yeast-cake will be sufficient for four loaves of bread in summer; but use one and a half yeast-cakes in winter. Stir well, and put it in a warm place. At night it will be light, when stir in enough flour to make the sponge. Do not make it too stiff. If you should happen to want a little more bread than usual, add a little warm water to the batter. Let it remain in a warm place until morning, when it should be well kneaded for at least twenty minutes. Half an hour or more would be better. Return the dough to the pan, and let it rise again. When light, take it out; add half a tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a table-spoonful of water; separate it into four loaves; put them in the pans, and let it rise again. When light, bake it an hour.

FRENCH BREAD (_Grace Melaine Lourant_).

Put a heaping table-spoonful of hops and a quart of hot water over the fire to boil. Have ready five or six large boiled potatoes, which mash fine. Strain the hops. Now put a pint of boiling water (that in which the potatoes were boiled) over three cupfuls of flour; mix in the mashed potatoes, then the quart of strained hot hop-water, a heaping tea-spoonful of sugar, and the same of salt. When this is lukewarm, mix in one and a half Twin Brothers’ yeast-cakes (softened). Let this stand overnight in a warm place.

In the morning, a new process is in order: First, pour over the yeast a table-spoonful of warm water, in which is dissolved half a spoonful of soda; mix in lightly about ten and a half heaping tea-cupfuls of sifted flour. No more flour is added to the bread during its kneading. Instead, the hands are wet in lukewarm water. Now knead the dough, giving it about eight or ten strokes; then taking it from the side next to you, pull it up into a long length, then double it, throwing it down _snappishly_ and heavily. Wetting the hands again, give it the same number of strokes, or _kneads_, pulling the end toward you again, and throwing it over the part left in the pan. Continue this process until large bubbles are formed in the dough. It will take half an hour or longer. The hands should be wet enough at first to make the dough rather supple. If dexterously managed, it will not stick to the hands after a few minutes; and when it is kneaded enough, it will be very elastic, full of bubbles, and will not stick to the pan. When this time arrives, put the dough away again in a warm place to rise. This will take one or two hours.

Now comes another new process. Sprinkle plenty of flour on the board, and take out lightly enough dough to make one loaf of bread, remembering that the French loaves are not large, nor of the same shape as the usual home-made ones. With the thumb and forefinger gather up the sides carefully (to prevent doubling the meshes or grain of the dough) to make it round in shape. Flour the rolling-pin, press it in the centre, rolling a little to give the dough the form of cut.

Now give each puffed end a roll toward the centre, lapping well the ends. Turn the bread entirely over, pulling out the ends a little, to give the loaf a long form, as in cut.

Sprinkle plenty of flour on large baking-pans turned bottom side up, upon which lay this and the other loaves, a little distance apart, if there is room for two of them on one pan. Sprinkle plenty of flour on the tops, and set the pans by the side of the fire to again rise a little. It will take twenty-five or thirty minutes longer. Then bake.

Kneading bread in the manner just described causes the _grain_ of the bread to run in one direction, so that it may be pealed off in layers. Kneading with water instead of flour makes the bread moist and elastic, rather than solid and in crumbs.

PETITS PAINS

are made as in last receipt, by lightly gathering a little handful of dough, picking up the sides, and turning it over in the form of a ball or a biscuit. They are baked as described for French bread, placing them a little distance apart, so that they may be separate little breads, each one enough for one person at breakfast.

TOAST.

I have remarked before that not one person in a thousand knows how to make good toast. The simplest dishes seem to be the ones oftenest spoiled. If the cook sends to the table a properly made piece of toast, one may judge that she is a _scientific_ cook, and may entertain, at the same time, exalted hopes of her.

The bread should not be too fresh. It should be cut _thin_, evenly, and in good shape. The crust edges should be cut off. The pieces shaved off can be dried and put in the bread-crumb can. The object of toasting bread is to extract all its moisture--to convert the dough into pure farina of wheat, which is very digestible. Present each side of the bread to the fire for a few moments to _warm_, without attempting to toast it; then turn about the first side at some distance from the fire, so that it may slowly and evenly receive a _golden_ color all over the surface. Now turn it to the other side, moving it in the same way, until it is perfectly toasted. The coals should be clear and hot. Serve it the moment it is done, on a warm plate, or, what is better, a toast-rack; consequently, do not have a piece of bread toasted until the one for whom it is intended is ready to eat it.