Chapter V: Vegetables (2)

It is economy to use three pounds in the kettle, clarifying the fat when it is put away. To clarify Crisco, take that which has been used for deep frying and when it has cooled, but not solidified, strain through a double thickness of cheese cloth, replace kettle on stove, drop several slices of potato into the Crisco and reheat. When the potatoes are golden brown, take out and pour the Crisco back into the tin. With this little care, fish, oysters, onions, chops, fritters, doughnuts, etc., may be fried over and over again in the same Crisco.

The dry or saute method of frying is less satisfactory, in that it is difficult even after much practice to produce a uniformly colored surface. A small quantity of fat only is needed, and where the fat, i.e., the heat, ends, a crack is formed in the outer coat, through which flavor escapes and fat enters; the appearance also is rendered unsightly. Flat fish can be fried fairly well by this method, or, indeed, almost any thin substance, as thin edges are not affected in this way. For pancakes and other articles of similar nature it is the best method. It rarely is possible to use the fat from the dry method a second time, except for dishes of the same kind, as the fat always is more or less flavored by the food cooked in it. The most digestible fat for frying and the best for results undoubtedly is Crisco.

Steaming

Steaming is a process very similar to boiling, for it is cooking in the heated vapor of water. This practice as a means of cookery is largely adopted in hotels, clubs, schools and hospitals, and other large institutions; also frequently applied in ordinary home cookery for particular articles of food requiring a very slow process of cooking. An ordinary kitchen steamer, with a close-fitting lid is generally all that is required for simple household cookery on a small scale. The articles of food which are to be steamed are prepared in exactly the same manner as for boiling. Many puddings, some meats, and some vegetables are considered better if cooked by steam, and inasmuch as the process of cooking is a very slow one, there is no fear of the food being destroyed by too fierce a heat, as the temperature in steaming never reaches beyond 212° F. Fish, meat and poultry cooked by steam are as a rule tender, full of gravy and digestible. By steaming, watery vegetables are made drier; tough meats are softened and made tender; while farinaceous mixtures and puddings develop a totally different flavor when baked or fried.

Braising

Braising is a combination of roasting and stewing small joints of meat in a shallow stewpan. It is a favorite method of cooking with the French, and is supposed to bring out an unusually fine flavor and aroma. The pan in which a braise is to be made always should be lined with slices of bacon, carrot, onions and herbs, upon which the meat is placed. It usually is moistened with stock or stock and wine. The more delicate meats, such as sweetbreads, fillets, fowls and turkeys sometimes are covered with buttered paper; this is done to prevent the heat from the top of the pan scorching or imparting too much of a roast flavor to the meats which are to be braised. Occasional basting during the process of this method of cooking is essential. When done, the meat is taken up, the fat removed from the vegetables and gravy, which latter is then reduced, strained and blended with some kind of gravy or thin sauce.

Poaching and Marinating

Poaching is the name usually given to the process of cooking an article by placing it for a few minutes in boiling water. Marinating or pickling is a process with a formidable name with a simple meaning. To marinate simply is to soak meat in a mixture for some hours, or even days, with the idea of improving its flavor of softening its fibres and making it tender. Vinegar, oil, pepper and salt are mixed together and the meat packed in the mixture; sometimes a sliced onion and herbs are added. The meat, of course, should be wiped first, but not washed.

Cooking in Earthenware

Stone or earthenware cooking appliances are used to very great advantage for various forms of preparing food. For the homely _pot-au-feu_ the French housewife has used fireproof earthenware dishes for generations, and does so today. But besides soups, various savory dishes, and all sorts of stews are cooked in stoneware pots. Indeed, so much has this form of cookery come into fashion that many dishes are sent to table in the pots in which they are cooked. Cooking in stoneware has no equal where slow cooking is aimed at, and there are many dishes which one would do well to refrain from attempting unless cooked in this fashion. These cooking pots are inexpensive, and certain foods taste decidedly better if cooked in this way. For braising, pot roasting, or stewing fruit and other articles which need to be cooked slowly under close cover, the application of a moderate, even heat produces far better results than if quick heat is applied. For such cases the use of earthenware cooking pots is recommended.

_Time Table for Cooking_

Baking

Beef, loin or ribs, rare, per lb. 8 to 10 minutes
Beef, loin or ribs, well done, per lb. 12 to 16 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, rare 12 to 15 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, well done 15 to 18 minutes
Beef, fillet, rare 20 to 30 minutes
Beef, fillet, well done 60 minutes
Mutton, leg, rare, per lb. 10 minutes
Mutton, leg, well done, per lb. 14 minutes
Mutton, forequarter, stuffed, per lb. 15 to 25 minutes
Lamb, well done, per lb. 15 to 20 minutes
Veal, well done, per lb. 18 to 22 minutes
Pork, well done, per lb. 20 minutes
Venison, rare, per lb. 10 minutes
Chicken, per lb. 15 to 20 minutes
Turkey, nine lbs. 3 hours
Goose, nine lbs. 2-1/2 hours
Duck, domestic 1 to 1-1/4 hours
Duck, wild 20 to 30 minutes
Grouse 25 to 30 minutes
Ham 4 to 6 hours
Fish, 3 or 4 lbs. 45 to 60 minutes
Small fish and fillets 20 minutes
Beans with pork 6 to 8 hours
Bread, white loaf 45 to 60 minutes
Graham loaf 35 to 45 minutes
Baking powder biscuits 12 to 15 minutes
Gems 25 to 30 minutes
Quick doughs 8 to 15 minutes
Cookies 8 to 10 minutes
Gingerbread 20 to 30 minutes
Sponge cake 45 to 60 minutes
Cake, layer 20 to 30 minutes
Cake, loaf 40 to 60 minutes
Fruit cake 2 to 3 hours
Cake, wedding 3 to 5 hours
Cakes, small 15 to 25 minutes
Batter puddings 35 to 45 minutes
Pies 30 to 50 minutes
Tarts 15 to 20 minutes
Patties 15 to 25 minutes
Vol-au-vent 50 to 60 minutes
Muffins, yeast 30 minutes
Muffins, baking powder 20 to 25 minutes
Indian pudding 2 to 3 hours
Rice or tapioca pudding 1 hour
Bread puddings 45 to 60 minutes
Scallop dishes 15 to 20 minutes
Custard 35 to 45 minutes
Custard in cups 20 to 25 minutes

Boiling

MEATS 2 to 6 hours
Corned meat 4 to 6 hours
Ox tongue 3 to 4 hours
Ham, 12 to 14 lbs 4 to 5 hours
Turkey, 10 lbs 3 to 3-1/2 hours
Fowl, 4 to 5 lbs 2 to 3 hours
Chicken, 3 lbs 1 to 1-1/2 hours
Fish, 2 to 5 lbs 30 to 45 minutes
Lobster 25 to 30 minutes
Cod, 3 to 5 lbs 20 to 30 minutes
Haddock, 3 to 5 lbs 20 to 30 minutes
Halibut, thick piece, per lb 15 minutes
Salmon, thick piece, per lb 10 to 15 minutes
Asparagus 20 to 30 minutes
Beans, shell or string 1 to 3 hours
Beets, young 50 minutes
Beets, old 3 to 4 hours
Brussels Sprouts 15 to 20 minutes
Cabbage 35 to 60 minutes
Carrots 1 hour
Cauliflower 25 to 30 minutes
Corn 12 to 20 minutes
Macaroni 20 to 35 minutes
Turnips 30 to 45 minutes
Onions 45 to 60 minutes
Parsnips 30 to 45 minutes
Spinach 15 to 20 minutes
Tomatoes, stewed 15 to 20 minutes
Rice 20 to 30 minutes

Broiling

Steak, 1 inch thick 4 to 10 minutes
Steak, 1-1/2 inches thick 8 to 12 minutes
Lamb or mutton chops 6 to 10 minutes
Chicken 20 minutes
Quails 8 minutes
Squabs 10 to 12 minutes
Shad, whitefish and bluefish 15 to 20 minutes
Fish slices 12 to 15 minutes
Liver 4 to 5 minutes

Frying

Smelts and other small fish 3 to 5 minutes
Breaded chops 5 to 8 minutes
Potatoes, raw 4 to 8 minutes
Fish balls and croquettes 1 minute
Muffins, fritters, and doughnuts 3 to 5 minutes

Weights and Measures

27-1/3 grains 1 dram
16 drams 1 ounce
16 ounces 1 pound
1 teaspoonful 60 drops
3 teaspoonfuls 1 tablespoonful
4 tablespoonfuls 1 wineglass, 1/2 gill, or 1/4 cup
16 tablespoonfuls 1 cup
2 gills 1 cup
2 cups 1 pint
2 pints 1 quart
4 quarts 1 gallon
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 ounce
2 tablespoonfuls salt 1 ounce
2 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 ounce
4 tablespoonfuls flour 1 ounce
1 tablespoonful liquid 1/2 ounce
1 square chocolate 1 ounce
1/3 cupful chopped nut meats (blanched) 1 ounce
1 cupful currants 1/4 pound
1 cupful crumbs 1/4 pound
4-1/3 cupfuls coffee 1 pound
3-1/2 cupfuls confectioners' sugar 1 pound
4-1/2 cupfuls graham flour 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls oatmeal 1 pound
5 cupfuls rolled oats 1 pound
4-1/3 cupfuls rye meal 1 pound
1-7/8 cupfuls rice 1 pound
2-1/3 cupfuls dry beans 1 pound
2 cupfuls granulated sugar 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls brown sugar 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls powdered sugar 1 pound
1 cupful (volume) 8 ounces
1 cupful water 8-1/3 ounces
1 pint butter 1 pound
1 quart-flour 1 pound
10 small or 9 medium eggs 1 pound

All materials are measured level, i.e., by filling spoon or cup more than full and leveling with a case knife.

To measure meal, flour, sugar and similar ingredients, sift lightly into the measure, then level.

Standard measuring cups made of tin, aluminum or glass holding half a pint always should be used. Coffee and teacups vary so much that correct proportions can not be obtained by using them.

To measure a spoonful of dry material, fill the spoon heaping, then level. To measure a half-spoonful, fill and level the spoon, then divide in half lengthways; for quarter-spoonfuls, divide the halves crossways.

_Use level measurements in all recipes in this book._

_The Art of Carving_

Carving is an art, and one which anybody, with a knowledge of a few general directions, can acquire easily.

A proper set of carving tools is almost indispensable, and should comprise: a good thin, sharp-bladed knife, a solid two or three pronged fork, and a pair of carving scissors. Anything that needs to be carved at table should be placed on a dish sufficiently large to allow the joint to be turned without moving the dish from its position. The dish should be placed close in front of the carver. Such joints as beef, veal and ham should be cut very thin; while lamb, mutton, and pork should be cut a trifle thicker.

_To carve a fowl_, begin by sticking the fork into the pinion and draw it towards the leg; and then, passing the knife underneath, take off the wing at the joint. Next slip the knife between leg and body, to cut through the joint; and with the fork turn leg back, and joint will give way. Then take off other wing and leg. After legs are taken off, enter knife into the top of breast, and cut under merrythought or wishbone so as to loosen it, lifting it with the fork. Afterwards cut slices from both sides of breast. Next, take off collarbones, which lie on each side of wishbone and then separate side bones from the back. The breast and wings are considered the most delicate parts; the back as the least desirable, generally is left on platter.

_A turkey_ is carved in same manner, except that the legs and wings, being larger, are separated at lower joint. Lower part of leg (or drumstick) being hard, tough, and stringy, usually is allowed to remain on platter. First cut off wing, leg, and breast from one side; then turn turkey round and cut them off from the other.

_To carve a goose_, separate leg from body by putting fork into small end of leg, pressing it close to body, and then passing knife under, and turning leg back as you cut through joint. To take off wing, put fork into the small end of wing, and press it closely to body, then slip knife under and separate the joint. Next, cut under wishbone and take it off, and cut slices from breast. Then turn and dismember the other side. Take off upper side bones next to wings, then two lower side bones. The breast and legs of a goose are considered the most choice. If a goose is old, there is no fowl so tough.

_Quails_ merely are split down the back, as also are pigeons, giving a half to each person.

_To carve loin of mutton,_ a portion is cut through, beginning at the best end. If kidney be in it, a slice should be served as far as it will go to each portion. Care must be taken that the bone is well jointed. The butcher chops the loin between each vertebra. When big mutton is carved it gives a large chop, oftentimes more than the amount desired, but a chop cannot be divided without waste, or one portion being all the inferior end. It is therefore a good plan to joint a loin of mutton with a small meat saw, cutting any thickness desired. In this case the actual bone will often have to be sawn through. The result will be more economical, and the servings more agreeable. The loin also can be boned entirely, stuffed or not, as preferred, the flap end folded and fastened over the fillet portion. Then the meat can be carved across any thickness.

_To carve leg of mutton,_ stand joint the inner part of the leg uppermost and cut across center to bone, towards carver, then cut rather thick slices on either side. To serve the meat equally, unless any special part is desired, a portion of the knuckle is served with a slice of the thick end. The prime fat is the kernel of fat at the thick end.

_To carve forequarter of mutton or lamb._ The forequarter of mutton usually is not served whole unless the mutton be very small. The forequarter of lamb frequently is served whole. Before cooking it must be jointed through the chine of bone at the back, to enable this portion being served in chops, twice across the breastbones the entire length, and at short intervals at the edge of the breast. Before serving it is usual to separate the shoulder by pressing the fork in by the knuckle, then passing knife round shoulder, crossing about center of joint, raising shoulder without cutting too much meat off breast. Leave shoulder in position on joint; a second dish is sent to table on which to lay it while the other part is being carved.

_To carve rabbit or hare._ In either case first separate legs and shoulders; then cut the back part across, into two parts. This is accomplished best by inserting the knife into joint, and raising up the back by means of the fork. The back or fillet part is considered the best portion of a hare or rabbit.

_To carve sirloin of beef,_ a sirloin should be cut into thin slices with a sharp, firm cut from end to end of the joint. At the upper portion the cut should be clean and even; then use point of knife to loosen slices from bones. In carving undercut, remove superfluous fat, and cut slices from end to end in same manner as upper portion. Be careful always to cut down straight to the bone of a sirloin or rib of beef; by so doing you will not spoil appearance of joint, and what remains will look tidy.

_To carve ham._ Ham should be cut through to the bone first from center or near thin end. Slices must be cut thin. Always commence cutting from upper side. The fairest way by far, so as to serve fat and lean evenly, is to begin cutting from center of thickest part, and to cut thin circular slices; by this means the flavor of the ham is far better, and it will prove to be the more economical way of serving.

_To carve ox-tongue._ Commence cutting from middle of tongue; cut slices not too thin and take them from each side being careful not to cut slices through to bottom part of tongue. Extreme end of the tip and the lower part of tongue generally are used up for chopping in salpicons, etc. A little of the fat should be put on each plate. When rolled tongue is served it must be cut horizontally into rather thin slices.

_To carve fish._ A silver sheer or trowel should be used for this purpose; a steel knife applied to fish often spoils the delicacy of its flavor. Great care must be taken to prevent breaking the flakes, which ought to be kept as entire as possible. Short-grained fish, such as salmon, etc., should be cut lengthwise, not crosswise.

Six Hundred and Fifteen Tested Recipes

"Calendar of Dinners"

by Marion Harris Neil

SOUPS

An economical housewife may supply good gravy and thick soups at very little, if any, addition to the weekly expenses, as soups are an excellent method of using up scraps and bones from joints and vegetables that otherwise are wasted. Soup, if taken as the primary course of a substantial dinner, if well flavored and warm, acts as a stimulant in the stomach, exciting the gastric glands, and generally enabling that organ to perform its functions more easily. For this object the soup should be thin and not too much of it partaken, otherwise it dilutes the digestive juices too much. If it is to form the chief part of the meal, the soup will be more nutritious if thickened, especially so, if pulse--i.e. peas, beans, and lentils--is used as the thickening medium.

Stock is the liquid in which meat, bones, or vegetables have been cooked, and which contains an extract from these substances. It is used for soups, sauces, and gravies. Fresh or cooked bones or meat may be used. A stock pot may be kept on the stove, into which are put any scraps of meat, bones, gristle, or vegetable; at the end of the day it is strained, and all fat taken off. Bones and meat for stock must be broken into small pieces. Cold water should be used, and a little salt to extract the nutriment. The whole must be brought slowly to the boiling point; then, the temperature lowered, the fat and scum taken off. When wanted for clear soups the vegetables should be cleaned, but not cut up, or with the long cooking they may mash and thicken the soup. In hot weather it is better to leave out the vegetables, as the stock turns sour more quickly if vegetables have been used in its preparation. They can be cooked separately and added when using the stock.

The soup should simmer for five or six hours to extract the gelatinous matters. If the stock is skimmed occasionally it will be much clearer. Keep the lid on the stock pot to prevent loss by evaporation. The bones can be cooked again next day for a second stock, but the vegetables must be taken out. Care must be taken that nothing doubtful in freshness be put into the stock pot. Meat and bones should be well wiped with a damp cloth before using them. If onions be put in the soup unpeeled, simply washed and the root end cut off, they will help to color the soup. When using eggs for other dishes, if the shells be washed before breaking them and added to the stock pot they will help to clear the soup. For clear soups care must be taken that nothing of a floury nature be added to the stock pot. Stock always should be strained before cooling. Never allow it to stand in stock pot all night. Clear gravy soup consists of the extractives, flavoring matters, and gelatine of meat and bones.

Consommé is a good stock made from beef, veal, and often fowl, and flavored with vegetables, cooled, freed from fat. It is clarified with whites and shells of eggs, and chopped raw lean beef, and strained through a cloth. It should be brilliantly clear and of a pale brown color. Any fat floating on the stock may be removed by passing a piece of kitchen or blotting paper over the surface. Soup left from a meal will keep better if strained from the vegetables that have been served in it. In hot weather, stock left over must be boiled each day, and poured into a clean basin to prevent its turning sour. In warm weather, soups with milk in their composition should have a pinch of baking soda added.

Thickenings for soup consist usually of yolks of eggs and cream beaten together in a basin, the boiling soup poured on slowly, stirring well at the same time. Soups thus thickened should not be allowed to boil again, otherwise they will curdle. Instead of eggs and cream, cornstarch and milk may be used to thicken the soup.

Asparagus Soup

40 heads asparagus
3 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful cream
1 quart white stock
1 bunch herbs
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley
2 egg yolks
1 blade mace
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 onion

Take heads off asparagus, and put aside. Cut up stalks in slices, also onion, put these into saucepan with Crisco, herbs, parsley, bay leaf, and mace, and fry gently for fifteen minutes, add flour, then stock, and simmer slowly for 1-1/2 hours. Rub through sieve, add cream, yolks of eggs, and seasonings, reheat, but take care not to boil soup. Just before serving throw in asparagus tops, which should be first cooked in a little boiling stock.

Cheese Soup

4 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
3 quarts clear soup stock
1-1/2 cupfuls flour
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 cupfuls cream
2 eggs
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Finely grated cheese

Put flour into double boiler, add gradually cream, Crisco, 4 tablespoonfuls of grated cheese and paprika to taste, stir over fire till a smooth paste. Break in eggs, mix well, cook two minutes longer and allow to cool. Roll into balls, when they are all formed, drop into boiling water and cook gently five minutes. Drain and put into soup tureen. Pour over boiling stock and serve with dish of finely grated cheese.

Cream of Tomato Soup

2 tablespoonfuls flour
1-1/2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful milk
2-1/2 cupfuls strained tomato juice
1 teaspoonful celery salt
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Pinch baking soda
1 tablespoonful tomato catsup

Blend Crisco and flour together in saucepan over fire, add milk and bring to boiling point. Heat tomato juice, tomato catsup and add soda and seasonings. Just before serving add Crisco mixture to tomato juice and stir till boiling. Serve hot. Another method, is to cook 1 quart can of tomatoes with 1 quart of water twenty minutes, then rub through sieve. Blend 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco with 2 tablespoonfuls flour, add 1 tablespoonful sugar, salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste, and 1 tablespoonful tomato catsup. Add pinch of baking soda to tomatoes, then add gradually to Crisco mixture. Just bring to boiling point and serve with tablespoonful whipped cream on top of each plate.

Fish Soup

1 lb. cod, or other white fish
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart white stock, or half milk and half water
1 small carrot
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
3 parsley sprigs
1 blade mace
2 egg yolks
1/2 cupful cream
1 lemon
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

Dry toast

Wash and dry fish and cut into small pieces. Put into saucepan with stock, vegetables cut in small pieces, parsley and mace. Let these simmer for half hour, then strain off liquid. Melt Crisco in pan, stir in flour, then add fish liquor and stir till it boils. Draw it to the side of fire and let cool slightly. Beat yolks of eggs with cream, and, when soup has cooled, strain them in. Reheat soup without boiling it, to cook eggs. Season, and add few drops lemon juice and chopped parsley. Serve with small pieces of dry toast.

Lentil Soup

1 cupful lentils
2 cupfuls milk
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 pints stock or water
1 onion
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoonful flour
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cupful cream
Croutons

Wash lentils; soak twenty-four hours; drain well. Cut onion, carrot and celery into small pieces, then put them into a saucepan with Crisco, cover, and cook gently for fifteen minutes. Add stock and simmer 2 hours, then rub through sieve. Return to pan, add milk, seasonings, and bring to boil. Moisten flour with 1/2 cupful milk or stock, add it to soup and simmer five minutes. Season to taste and add cream. Serve with croutons of fried or toasted bread.

Lentils are a small leguminous seed, not so generally known as beans, but an excellent nitrogenous food, containing about 25 per cent. protein, more than 50 per cent. starch, with over 2 per cent. fat. They are not used as much as they ought to be.

Croutons are made by cutting bread into tiny cubes and browning through and through in hot oven or putting into a frying pan with 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco and browning well. If latter is used great care must be used as the croutons will brown easily.

Lobster Bisque

1 can lobster
1 cupful breadcrumbs
1 quart milk
1 quart water
1 tablespoonful flour
1/4 cupful Crisco
Salt, pepper, red pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste
Squares fried bread
Thin lemon slices

Open a can of lobster of good quality, take out best pieces and cut into small squares without tearing; put them aside. Place remains of lobster in mortar or basin, and pound quite smooth with Crisco. Soak bread in water, adding flour, and seasonings, and put all on fire in soup pot with pounded lobster and Crisco; stir till it boils, and boil for fifteen minutes; then pass it through sieve, add milk and pieces of lobster, and return to the pot till it boils up. Serve with small squares of fried bread, and send thin slices of lemon to table with it. This is an excellent soup, and can of course be made with fresh lobster.

Norfolk Puree

1/2 cupful barley, pearl
1 quart water
3 pints white stock
1/2 cupful cream
1 yolk of egg
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
4 tablespoonfuls cooked carrot balls
4 tablespoonfuls cooked peas
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Diced toast or fried bread

Put barley into saucepan of cold water, bring to boil, let boil five minutes, then drain off water; this removes the slightly bitter taste. Now put barley into saucepan with Crisco and water, let these boil gently until barley is tender, drain, and rub through sieve. Add stock to this puree and let simmer ten minutes. Beat yolk of egg with cream and when soup has cooled slightly, strain them in. Stir soup over fire a few minutes to reheat; but be careful that it does not boil, or it will curdle. Season carefully, add carrot balls and peas, which should first be heated in a little stock or water. Serve with dice of toast or fried bread. If you do not possess a round vegetable cutter, cut the carrot into small dice. This is a particularly nourishing soup. If you prefer a slightly cheaper variety, use milk instead of cream, and if you have no white stock use milk and water in equal proportions instead, and cook a carrot, turnip and onion in milk and water for twenty or thirty minutes.

Soup Verte

4 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 quarts stock
1 bunch parsley
1 lb. spinach
1 bunch parsley
1 teaspoonful sugar
2 egg yolks
1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Put stock into saucepan; add spinach and parsley, picked and thoroughly washed; let all boil twenty minutes; strain, rubbing puree through sieve. Return it all to saucepan, add Crisco and flour mixed together with cupful of water, sugar and strained juice of a quarter of lemon. Let boil five minutes. Beat yolks of eggs with 1/4 cupful water, add them gradually to soup off fire, and stir near fire until cooked. Soup must not boil after yolks are added. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Thick Rice Soup

2 pints water or stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 small onions
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful rice
1 cupful canned tomatoes, or 4 fresh ones

Wash and drain rice. Heat Crisco in saucepan, add rice and stir constantly until a golden brown. Now add water or stock, onions and tomatoes cut in small pieces, and seasonings. Cook slowly for one hour.

FISH

Fish, though not quite so nutritious or so stimulating as butcher's meat, is an excellent article of diet, as it is light and easy of digestion and well suited to delicate persons and those following sedentary occupations, who generally do not take exercise in the fresh air. Fish contains a fair proportion of flesh forming and mineral matter, and the white kinds very little fat, hence their value in a sick diet. A few fishes are rich in fat, as salmon, mackerel, eels, and herrings; they are more satisfying as a meal, but usually more difficult to digest, except the latter, which is fairly easy to digest, and, being inexpensive, forms an economical food.

The digestibility will vary also with the quality of the fish and the methods of cooking. White fish when boiled is improved by being rubbed over with a cut lemon, or by adding a little vinegar to the water in which it is cooked to keep it white and firm. The fish should be put into hot, not boiling water, otherwise the higher temperature contracts the skin too quickly, and it breaks and looks unsightly. Salt fish may be placed in cold water, then boiled to extract some of the salt; if the fish has been salted and dried, it is better to soak it in cold water for about twelve hours before cooking.

Fish to be fried should be cooked in sufficient hot Crisco to well cover it, after having been dried and covered with batter, or with beaten egg and breadcrumbs. To egg and breadcrumb fish put a slice into seasoned flour, turning it so that both sides may be covered. Shake off all loose flour. Brush fish over with beaten egg. Raise fish out of egg with the brush and a knife, drain off egg for a second, and lay fish in crumbs. Toss these all over it, lift out fish, shake off all loose crumbs, lay the slice on a board, and press crumbs down, so that surface is flat. The thicker the fish the more slowly it must be fried after the first two minutes, or it will be raw inside when the outside is done.

_To bone fish._ The process of boning is known as filleting and is generally done by the fish dealer, but when this is not the case the single rule for boning must be strictly adhered to in order to keep the knife on the bone lifting the flesh with the left hand while the knife slips in between the bone and the flesh. Flat fish are divided down the middle of each side well into the bone, and the boning is begun at either side of the incision. Round fish are cut down the back, the flesh is laid open from one side and the bone is removed from the other. Occasionally round fish are boned readily, the whole fish minus the bones being returned to its proper shape, as in anchovies, sardines, herrings, haddocks, etc., in this case the fish would be split down the front, not the back, and stitched together after boning.

Fish stock is made from the bones, skin and trimmings of white fish. These are broken small and generally flavored with onion, parsley, herbs, and seasonings. The proportion of water used is rather larger, as the flavor is much stronger and also more easily extracted than from meat.

Baked Halibut

2 lbs. halibut
1 cupful tomatoes
2 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3/4 teaspoonful salt
1/8 teaspoonful pepper

Clean fish, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, place in Criscoed baking pan, pour over tomatoes, and dot with Crisco. Bake in a moderate oven, basting often.

Baked Salmon with Colbert Sauce

1 slice salmon, 1-1/2 lbs. in weight
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar
1 chopped shallot, gherkin and anchovy
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste and water

For Sauce

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
3 anchovies
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Pepper to taste
2 cupfuls fish stock, or milk and water

_For fish._ Mix Crisco with shallot, gherkin, anchovy, and seasonings, lay salmon in this mixture and let it "marinade," as it is called, for one hour. At the end of that time lift it out; do not shake off any ingredients that are sticking to it. Now lay it in a well Criscoed fireproof dish, cover it with a greased paper, and bake in moderate oven for thirty minutes.

_For sauce._ Melt Crisco in small saucepan, stir in flour, add fish stock and stir until it boils and thickens. Rub anchovies through fine sieve, and add with seasonings. Serve in hot tureen with fish.

Baked Shad

1 shad weighing 4 lbs.
1/4 lb. mushrooms
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley
2 tablespoonfuls chopped chives
1 cupful breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt and white pepper
Salt pork
1 cupful cream
1 teaspoonful cornstarch

Clean, wipe and dry the shad. Melt Crisco, add breadcrumbs, chopped mushrooms, parsley, chives, egg well beaten, salt and pepper. Stuff fish with this forcemeat, then lay it in a greased pan, put thin strips of salt pork over it and bake in hot oven for forty minutes. Lay the fish on a hot platter. Pour cream into baking pan, add cornstarch and stir till boiling. Serve with the fish.

Cassolettes of Fish

1/2 lb. cold cooked fish or shrimps
1/2 cupful milk
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful water
2 tablespoonfuls cream 2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls flour
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
2 lbs. cooked potatoes

Rub potatoes through a sieve, add little salt and pepper, 1 egg well beaten, and 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco and mix well. Roll out on floured baking board to 1-1/4 inches in thickness. Cut into small rounds, brush over with remaining egg well beaten, toss in fine breadcrumbs, mark the center slightly with a smaller round cutter. Fry to golden color in hot Crisco. Remove lids, carefully remove bulk of potatoes from inside, fill with mixture, replace lids, and serve hot. For mixture, blend 2 tablespoonfuls of the Crisco with flour in a saucepan over the fire, add milk, water and seasonings and cook for a few minutes. Put in flaked fish and make hot. Add cream last. 1/2 teaspoonful of anchovy extract may be added if liked.

Sufficient for ten cassolettes.

Dressed Crab

1 good sized heavy crab
6 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
3 tablespoonfuls olive oil
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Crisp lettuce leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

If possible choose a crab with large claws. Boil crab in boiling salted water for thirty minutes, take up and break off large and small claws. Lay crab on its back, pull back the flap under its body, pull it right out and commence to remove flesh from shell. Take care that the little bag near head, usually full of sand, is taken out. Throw away all bone and finny pieces. The flesh is of two kinds, some firm and white, rest soft and dark. Separate former into little shreds with a fork, also the white meat from claws, which must be cracked in order to obtain it. Mix dark soft substance with crumbs, add oil, vinegar, and seasonings to taste. Toss shredded white meat also in a little seasoning, but keep the two kinds separate. When shell is empty wash and dry well. Fill shell with the two mixtures, arranging them alternately, so that they appear in dark and white stripes. Have it heaped a little higher in center. Decorate meat with lines of finely chopped parsley, and force the Crisco round edge with a forcing bag and tube. Place crab on some crisp lettuce leaves. Arrange some of the small claws in a circle round shell.

Curried Cod

2 lbs. cod
1/4 cupful Crisco
2 cupfuls white stock
1 tablespoonful flour
2 teaspoonfuls curry powder
1 medium-sized onion
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
2 cupfuls plain boiled rice
2 tablespoonfuls chopped cocoanut

Wash and dry the cod, and cut into pieces two inches square. Melt Crisco in a saucepan, fry cod lightly in it, then take out and set aside. Add sliced onion, flour, and curry powder to the Crisco in saucepan and fry ten minutes, stirring continuously to prevent onion becoming too brown, then stir in the stock and cocoanut, stir until it boils, and afterwards simmer for twenty minutes. Strain and return to saucepan, add lemon juice and seasonings to taste, bring nearly to boil, then put in fish, cover closely, and cook slowly for half hour. An occasional stir must be given to prevent the fish sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Turn out on hot platter and serve with rice. The remains of cold fish may be used, in which case the preliminary frying may be omitted.

Flounder a la Crème

1 flounder about 2 lbs.
2 cupfuls milk
1 tablespoonful cream
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 blade mace
6 whole white peppers
4 tablespoonfuls flour
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Skin flounder, and take fillets off neatly by sharply cutting down the middle of back, and pressing the knife close to the bones. This will produce 4 long fillets. Cut each of them in half lengthways, and tie up in pretty knot; sprinkle a little salt over and put them aside. Wash skin bones of fish, put them into a small saucepan with milk, mace, and whole peppers and simmer for half hour; strain milk into clean saucepan; add fillets, and allow to simmer for ten minutes. Lift them out, and add to milk the Crisco and flour beaten together; stir till it becomes quite smooth; add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste, and cream; put in fillets gently to warm through; dish neatly and pour the sauce over them. Serve very hot.

Flounder a la Turque

For Fish

1 large flounder
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
3 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 teaspoonful powdered herbs
1 pinch powdered mace
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1/2 cupful picked shrimps

For Sauce

1/2 lemon
1 egg
1/2 cupful melted Crisco
1 yolk of egg
1/2 teaspoonful mustard
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 pinch red pepper
1 tablespoonful vinegar
2 chopped gherkins

1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

_For fish._ Wash dry and trim flounder. On one side make cut down center from near head to near tail and raise flesh from the bones. Make a stuffing with Crisco, parsley, breadcrumbs, herbs, shrimps, lemon juice, seasonings, and nearly all the egg, and insert under the fillets of the flounder, leaving the center open. Dot with Crisco. Brush fish over with remaining egg, sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs, put on Criscoed baking tin, and bake thirty minutes. Serve with sauce.

_For sauce._ Put egg yolk into a bowl, and, with a wooden spoon stir a little; then add by degrees melted Crisco, stirring constantly; then add seasonings, vinegar, gherkins and parsley.

Fish Pudding

_(Kate B. Vaughn)_

For Pudding

2 lbs. cooked fish
1 cupful milk
1 tablespoonful flour
1 tablespoonful Crisco
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoonful onion juice
1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce
Cream sauce

For Sauce

3 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 slice carrot
1 slice onion
1 slice celery
1 blade of mace
1 bay leaf
6 whole peppers
1 sprig of parsley
1/4 teaspoonful salt

1 cupful thick cream

_For pudding._ Boil fish in boiling salted water till done. Shred or break in small pieces, and free from skin and bone. Blend Crisco and flour in a saucepan over fire, add milk and stir till boiling, remove from fire, add eggs well beaten, seasonings, and mix well. Turn into Criscoed fireproof dish, cover with greased paper, set in warm water, and bake in moderate oven for thirty minutes. Serve with the sauce, potato balls, and chopped parsley.

_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in a pan over fire, add vegetables, mace, bay leaf, peppers, parsley, milk, and simmer for thirty minutes. Strain, return to pan, add salt, allow to heat, then add cream and it is ready to serve.

Fried Fish

Fish
Crisco
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumbs
Sauce

Clean fish, season with salt and pepper. Dip in crumbs, brush over with beaten egg, and crumb again. Fry in deep Crisco and drain on brown paper.

_Sauce_. Blend 1-1/2 tablespoonfuls Crisco with 1 tablespoonful flour in saucepan over fire, add 1 cupful of milk or cream and bring to boil, cook for a few minutes over hot water. Cool and add 2 chopped green bell peppers and 6 medium-sized chopped sour pickles.

Fried Lobster with Horseradish Sauce

1 boiled lobster
Crisco for frying
1 egg
Breadcrumbs
1 cupful thick cream
Salt and paprika to taste
2 tablespoonfuls grated horseradish

Cut lobster meat into neat pieces, dip in beaten egg, toss in breadcrumbs and fry in hot Crisco to brown well. Whip up cream, season it well with salt and paprika and stir in horseradish; heap this sauce in the center of the serving dish and arrange the pieces of fried lobster round it. Serve hot.

Gateau of Fish

For Fish

1-1/2 lbs. cooked white fish
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful breadcrumbs
1/2 cupful milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful anchovy paste or extract
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon slices

Dutch or oyster sauce

For Sauce

2 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful milk
1/2 cupful oyster liquor
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
2 hard-cooked eggs

1 dozen small oysters

_For fish._ Cook fish; remove skin and bone, chop it, then put it in a basin, add breadcrumbs, parsley, seasonings, milk, eggs well beaten, and melted Crisco. Mix well, turn into a Criscoed mold, cover with greased paper and steam one hour. Serve with sauce poured over, and dish garnished with lemon slices.

_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in pan over fire, stir in milk, oyster liquor, stir till it boils for eight minutes, then add seasonings. Boil one minute, add eggs chopped, and oysters. Mix and serve.

Oyster Shortcake

2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
3/4 cupful milk
1 quart oysters
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls cornstarch
1/4 cupful cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoonful salt, then sift twice, work in Crisco with tips of fingers, add milk gradually. The dough should be just soft enough to handle. Toss on floured baking board, divide into two parts, pat lightly and roll out. Place in two shallow Criscoed cake tins and bake in quick oven fifteen minutes. Spread them with butter. Moisten cornstarch with cream, put into pan with oysters and seasonings and make very hot. Allow to cook a few minutes then pour half over one crust, place other crust on top and pour over rest of oysters. Serve at once.

Sufficient for one large shortcake.

Salmon Mold

1 can salmon
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful rolled crackers
3 eggs
1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

1 tablespoonful Crisco
1 tablespoonful flour
1 egg
1 cupful milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley

_For the mold._ Remove oil, skin and bone from the salmon. Rub salmon smooth, add eggs well beaten, crackers, and seasonings. Turn into a Criscoed mold, and steam for one hour. Turn out and serve with sauce.

_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in a saucepan over fire, add milk, and stir and boil for five minutes. Add egg well beaten, and seasonings, pour at once over salmon. Garnish with parsley.

Sufficient for one small loaf.

MEATS

Cookery is a branch of applied chemistry. To cook anything, in the narrower sense of the term, means to bring about changes in it by submitting it to the action of heat, and usually of moisture also, which will make it more fitted for food; and it is on the nature of this action on different materials that the _rationale_ of the cook's art chiefly depends. Good cooking can make any meat tender, and bad cooking can make any meat tough.

The substance in meat called albumen becomes tougher and more indigestible, the higher the temperature to which it is subjected reaches beyond a certain point. It is this effect of heat on albumen, therefore, which has to be considered whenever the cooking of meat is in question, and which mainly determines the right and the wrong, whether in the making of a soup or a custard, the roasting or boiling of a chicken or a joint, or the frying of a cutlet or an omelet.

We now will see to begin with, what are the special ways in which it bears on meat cookery. Take a little bit of raw meat and put it in cold water. The juice gradually soaks out of it, coloring the water pink and leaving the meat nearly white. Now take another bit, and pour boiling water upon it; and though no juice can be seen escaping, the whole surface of the meat turns a whitish color directly.

Lean meat is made up of bundles of hollow fibres within which the albuminous juices are stored. Wherever these fibres are cut through, the juice oozes out and spreads itself over the surface of the meat. If, as in our first little experiment, the meat is put in cold water, or even in warm water, or exposed to a heat insufficient to set the albumen, either in an oven or before the fire, the albuminous juices are in the first case drawn out and dissolved, and in the second evaporated. In either case the meat is deprived of them. But if the meat is put into boiling water or into a quick oven or before a hot fire, the surface albumen is quickly set, forms a tough white coating which effectually plugs the ends of the cut fibres, and prevents any further escape of their contents.

Here, then, we have the first principles on which meat cookery must be conducted; viz: that if we wish to get the juices out of the meat, as for soups and stews, the liquid in which we put it must be cold to begin with; while if we wish, as for boiled or roast meat, to keep them in, the meat must be subjected first of all to the action of boiling water, a hot fire or a quick oven. The meats of soups and stews must not be raw, and that of joints must not be tough; and the cooking of both one and the other, however it is begun, should be completed at just such a moderate temperature as will set, but not harden, the albumen. That is to say, the soup or stew must be raised to this temperature, after the meat juices have been drawn out by a lower one, while a joint or fowl must be lowered to it after the surface albumen has been hardened by a higher one.

All poultry or game for roasting should be dredged with flour before and after trussing, to dry it perfectly, as otherwise it does not crisp and brown so well. Unless poultry is to be boiled or stewed it never should be washed or wet in any way as this renders the flesh sodden and the skin soft. Good wiping with clean cloths should be quite sufficient. With the exception of ducks and geese, all poultry and game require rather a large addition of fat during roasting, as the flesh is dry. Chickens will cook in from twenty to thirty minutes; fowls take from thirty to sixty minutes when young and tender, the only condition in which they are fit to roast; turkeys take from one to two hours and even more if exceptionally large. Game takes longer in proportion to its size than poultry, and all birds require better and more cooking than beef or mutton.

Beef Collops

1 lb. hamburg steak
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful water or stock
1 tablespoonful flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful mushroom catsup or Worcestershire sauce
Sippets of toast or croutons
Mashed potatoes or plain boiled rice

Melt Crisco in saucepan, put in beef and onion and fry light brown, then sprinkle in flour, add water or stock, catsup or sauce, and seasonings. Cover pan and let contents simmer very gently forty-five minutes. Arrange collops on hot platter with border of sippets of toast or croutons, or border of hot mashed potatoes, or plain boiled rice.

Braised Loin of Mutton

3 lbs. loin mutton
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 celery stalk
1/2 teaspoonful whole white peppers
1 bunch sweet herbs
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 turnip
1 carrot
3 cloves
2 sprigs parsley
4 tablespoonfuls flour
12 button mushrooms
1 onion

Remove bone from mutton, rub with a little salt, pepper and red pepper mixed together; roll up and tie in neat roll with tape; cut up celery, onion, carrot and turnip, and lay them at bottom of saucepan with herbs and parsley; lay mutton on top of these, and pour enough boiling water to three parts cover it, and simmer slowly two hours; lift mutton into roasting tin with a few tablespoonfuls of the gravy; set in hot oven until brown; strain gravy and skim off fat, melt Crisco in saucepan, add flour, then add gravy gradually, seasoning of salt and pepper, mushrooms, and boil eight minutes. Set mutton on hot platter with mushrooms round, and gravy strained over.

Chicken a la Tartare

1 young chicken
1 egg
3/4 cupful Crisco
Breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Mixed pickles
Tartare sauce

Singe, empty, and split chicken in half; take breastbone out and sprinkle salt and pepper over. Melt 1/2 cupful Crisco in frying pan and fry chicken half hour, turning it now and then. Remove from pan and place between two dishes with heavy weight on top, till it is nearly cold. Then dip in egg beaten up, and roll in breadcrumbs. Melt remaining Crisco, then sprinkle it all over chicken; roll in breadcrumbs once more. Fry in hot Crisco to golden color. Serve at once with a garnish of chopped pickles, and tartare sauce.

Chicken en Casserole

1 tender chicken for roasting
1/2 cupful Crisco
Salt and pepper
1 pint hot water
1 cupful hot sweet cream
2 cupfuls chopped mushrooms
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

Clean chicken, split down back, and lay breast upward, in casserole. Spread Crisco over breast, dust with salt and pepper, add hot water, cover closely and cook in hot oven one hour. When nearly tender, put in the cream, mushrooms, and parsley; cover again and cook twenty minutes longer. Serve hot in the casserole. Oysters are sometimes substituted for mushrooms, and will be found to impart a pleasing flavor.

Curried Ox-Tongue

6 slices cooked ox-tongue
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 teaspoonfuls curry powder
6 chopped mushrooms
1 cupful brown sauce
1 dinner roll
1 egg
1 cupful boiled rice

_For tongue._ Cut slices of tongue, fry in Crisco, season with 1/4 teaspoonful salt and curry powder, then add mushrooms, and brown sauce, simmer ten minutes. Cut large dinner roll into slices, and toast them lightly on both sides; dip them in egg well beaten then fry in hot Crisco and drain. Dish up slices of tongue alternately with fried slices of roll, pour sauce round base, and serve with boiled rice.

_For brown sauce._ Melt 3 tablespoonfuls Crisco, add 1 chopped onion, piece of carrot, 2 mushrooms, and fry a good brown color; stir in 2 tablespoonfuls flour and fry it also; then add 1 cupful stock or water and few drops of kitchen boquet. Let all cook ten minutes, stirring constantly add seasoning of salt and pepper, and strain for use.

Sufficient for 6 slices.

Fried Chicken

Chicken
Crisco

Select young tender chickens and disjoint. Wash carefully and let stand over night in refrigerator.

A

_(Kate B. Vaughn)_