PART II RECIPES (continued 2)

BEEF-TAPIOCA SOUP

¼ Cup of granulated tapioca. 1½ Cups of water. 1 Pint of strong beef broth. ½ Teaspoon of salt. ½ Teaspoon of mixed sweet herbs. 1 Teaspoon of minced onion. A little black pepper.

Soak the tapioca for twenty minutes in a half cup of cold water, then set it to cook in a double boiler with the rest of the water (one cupful). When the grains become soft and begin to look transparent, put in all the other ingredients and cook until the tapioca is completely dissolved. This will require two or three hours. Strain it, and return it to the fire to boil for five minutes, when it is ready to serve. This soup may be made with the ordinary stock from a stock-kettle. A little chicken broth is an improving addition, and really makes a most savory soup.

CHICKEN PANADA

A panada is a dish the foundation of which is bread. For chicken panada there will be needed:

1 Cup of chicken meat. ½ Cup of bread soaked in milk. 1 Pint of chicken liquor or broth. ½ Teaspoon of salt. ¼ Saltspoon of pepper.

The chicken may be obtained from a cold roast, the bones, gristle, and tendons of which should be boiled for the broth, or a fowl may be used on purpose for it.

Put the bread-crumbs to soak in enough milk to cover them. Cut the chicken into small pieces, leaving out everything which is not clear meat, and chop it in a chopping-tray until it is very fine. Press the bread-crumbs through a coarse wire strainer into it, pour in the broth (from which the fat has been removed by skimming with a spoon), and add the pepper and salt. Boil for one minute. The panada should be about the consistency of thick gruel. It may be varied by seasoning it with either celery-salt or curry-powder. Two tablespoons of sweet cream is also a desirable addition.

CONSOMMÉ

3 Quarts of cold water. ½ of a good fowl. 2 Pounds of lean beef, or 2½ pounds of beef and bone. ¼ Pound of lean ham. 1 Tablespoon of chopped carrot. 1 Tablespoon of chopped turnip. 1 Teaspoon of minced onion. 1 Tablespoon of celery. 3 Cloves. 3 Peppercorns. 1 Tablespoon of mixed sweet herbs.

Wipe but do not wash the beef, unless, of course, it is very dirty. Cut it into small slices, and fry it in a hot frying-pan to brown it and to develop the flavor of the meat. Then divide the slices into small pieces, so as to expose as large a surface as possible to the action of the water. Put it, with the chicken (after it has been cleaned and cut into small pieces), into a porcelain-lined or granite-ware soup-digester, with the piece of ham and three quarts of cold water. Let it slowly reach the boiling-point, and simmer it gently for six hours. Boiling briskly dissipates the flavors by separating certain subtle substances which are perceptible to the sense of smell, and if they are in the air they cannot also be in the broth.

When it has been cooking for three hours, fry the carrot, turnip, and onion together in a little butter until they are brown, and put them with the cloves, sweet herbs, peppercorns, and celery into the soup. If these are cooked with the meat from the beginning, the flavor is not so good.

At the end of the six hours, when the meat is in rags, strain the liquid into a china bowl, and set it away to cool until all the fat rises and forms in a cake on the top. It is a good plan to cool it overnight when there is plenty of time. Every particle of fat must be removed, and it is not possible to do this unless the soup is cooled. To clear consommé return it to the fire, and as soon as it becomes liquid break into it two eggs, and stir slowly until the soup begins to steam and the albumen of the eggs is coagulated. The coagulum will entangle all the insoluble matter; then strain the liquid through a napkin, salt it, and heat it just to the boiling-point, when it is ready to serve.

It should be perfectly clear, and of a golden-brown color like sherry wine. If the color is not dark enough, a little caramel (burnt sugar) may be added.

The above quantity of meats and flavoring should give a quart of consommé.

BOUILLON

Make a plain beef broth according to the rule on page 78. To a quart of this add a pinch each of thyme, sage, sweet marjoram, and mint (or enough to make in all what will fill a teaspoon), and a teaspoon each of chopped onion and carrot. Boil all together until the broth is reduced to one pint. Strain, season with salt and pepper, and serve very hot in covered cups.

APPLE SOUP

2 Cups of apple. 2 Cups of water. 2 Teaspoons of corn-starch. 1½ Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of cinnamon. A bit of salt.

Stew the apple in the water until it is very soft. Then mix together into a smooth paste the corn-starch, sugar, salt, and cinnamon with a little cold water. Pour this into the apple, and boil for five minutes. Strain it into a soup-tureen, and keep hot until ready to serve. This is very good eaten with hot buttered sippets.

OYSTERS

Oysters are a highly prized food, though why it is difficult to say, as they are neither very easy of digestion nor very nutritious. But they possess a delicate insinuating flavor that is generally acceptable to most palates, and probably are really valuable for the salts which they contain.

The composition of oysters (Payen's analysis) is as follows:

Nitrogenous matter14.010%

Fat1.515%

Saline substances2.695%

Water80.385%

Non-nitrogenous matter and waste1.395%

————

Total100.000

According to Professor Mott's Chart of the Composition, Digestibility, and Nutritive Value of Foods, from actual experiment the time required for the digestion of oysters is as follows:

Hours.Minutes.

Raw oysters255

Roasted oysters315

Stewed oysters330

This shows that they require a longer time than do most kinds of fish, venison, beefsteak, tripe, soused pig's feet, eggs, and roast beef, all of which are digested in varying times less than those mentioned.

Oysters are found in greatest perfection in the Eastern States, and in the cooler waters of the western Atlantic. The choicest varieties in the world come from the shores of Long Island, and from the Providence River. Chesapeake Bay is noted for the abundance of its oysters.

Oysters are in season from September to May; during the rest of the year they are insipid and unfit for food, although they are sometimes used.

Convalescents often begin with fresh, sound oysters, before they venture to try other kinds of solid animal food.

Oysters may be used in a variety of ways, but served raw and broiled slightly in the shells are perhaps the two most desirable ways with which to begin. Afterward stews and soups are recommended on account of their liquid form and warmth, warm foods being always so much more desirable than cold.

There are some points to be carefully observed in preparing oysters for the sick. (1) Make every effort to have the oysters alive when used. If this is impossible, buy salt-water oysters as fresh as they can be obtained of a reliable dealer. Many serious cases of illness, and even death, have been caused by eating oysters so long dead that poisonous substances had formed in them. (2) Remember that oysters contain an albuminous juice which increases in hardness with an increase of temperature, just as the albumen of an egg does. When oysters are cooked with reference to this juice alone, they are also cooked in the best possible manner with reference to their other ingredients; therefore subject them to a low temperature, and for a short time, bearing in mind that 160° Fahr. is the cooking temperature of albumen.

RAW OYSTERS

Wash and scrub the shells well under a stream of water, with a vegetable brush. With a hammer break the thin edges of the shell so that a knife may be inserted to sever the muscle which holds the two parts of the shell together; when this is cut remove the upper half, and wipe the edges free from any grains of sand. Then sever the muscle which joins the oyster to the other half, so that it may be easily lifted out, without the necessity of cutting. Arrange them on an oyster-plate, and serve with salt, black pepper, and lemon-juice. A half or a quarter of a lemon may be placed in the center of the plate, which usually has a groove on purpose for it.

OYSTERS ROASTED IN THE SHELL

Wash the shells very carefully with a brush. Put them in a wire broiler over glowing coals, the round side of the shell down so as to hold the juice. Cook them quickly, turning once or twice until the shells open. They may also be done in a hot oven. When done, remove the upper half of the shell; season them quickly with salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of butter, and vinegar, if liked, and serve them while they are very hot. The true oyster flavor is delightfully developed by preparing in this way. They may also be served with melted butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice.

OYSTER SOUP

See recipe under Soups, on page 134.

OYSTER STEW

1 Cup of oysters. 1 Cup of rich milk. 2 Saltspoons of salt. A little white pepper. ¼ Teaspoon of butter.

Set the milk in a saucepan on the fire to heat. Prepare the oysters by pouring over them a cup of cold water to wash them, from which lift them out with a fork, and search for bits of shell which sometimes adhere when they are opened. Then lay them on a napkin or a piece of clean cloth, to drain off as much as possible of the water. Unless oysters are just taken from the shells, the liquor is not of much value. Just as the milk reaches the boiling-point, put the oysters into an omelet-pan, which has been previously set on the stove to heat, and cook them for a minute, or until they become plump, turning them every ten seconds with a fork. The moment the edges or frills begin to curl, drop them into the milk and remove it immediately from the fire. Now add the seasoning and butter, and the stew is ready to serve—which should be done as soon as possible.

Oyster stew may also be made by preparing the oysters as above and then dropping them into boiling-hot milk, which should remain for one or two minutes on the fire before removal.

CREAMED OYSTERS

Clean a pint of oysters according to the directions in the previous rule. After drying them on a napkin, spread them on a plate and season them with salt, pepper, and a suspicion of cayenne.

Make a rich cream sauce with one pint of cream, one tablespoon of butter, and two tablespoons of flour.

When the sauce is cooked, roll into it the seasoned oysters, put them in individual scallop-dishes, or a dish such as might be used for scalloped oysters, or any shallow baking-dish that is good enough to serve; then bake them in a hot oven, on the grate, for ten minutes if in small dishes, or for fifteen if in a single large one. This gives time enough for the oysters to become cooked but not hardened. The mixing of the oysters and sauce should be done quickly, so that the sauce may not become cold before they are put into the oven; for if there is much delay, it will take longer to cook them than the time given.

This is a good way to cook oysters for the sick, for the sauce made according to the rule for such sauces (page 130) is easily digested, nutritious, and of good flavor.

BROILED OYSTERS

Select large oysters. Drain them on a cloth or napkin, turning them from one side to the other, to make them as dry as possible. Meanwhile soften some butter, and season some cracker-crumbs with salt and pepper. Then, holding each oyster on a fork, dip it into the crumbs, then into the melted butter, and again into the crumbs. Arrange them in an oyster-broiler (which differs from ordinary broilers by having the wires closer together), and broil over a hot fire for about two minutes, turning the broiler every few seconds. They should not be shriveled, but plump, soft, tender, and juicy. The salt and pepper in the crumbs will sufficiently season them.

FANCY ROAST OR PAN-BROILED OYSTERS

Eight oysters will be enough for one person. Drain the oysters on a cloth or napkin, making them as free from moisture as possible. Heat an omelet-pan, with a small piece of butter in it, very hot; then drop the oysters one by one into the pan, turning each before the next is put in. One should work quickly, otherwise the first will be overdone before the last is put in. When the pan is full, shake it a moment, lift it from the fire, and turn the oysters quickly into a square covered dish, with toast-points in the corners. Season them with salt, pepper, and a bit of butter, and serve them as quickly as convenient.

Each oyster should be cooked so quickly that its juices are shut into itself and do not ooze out into the pan. There is usually a very little juice with the butter, but if it is considerable, one may know that the oysters have not been cooked in a sufficiently high temperature. Oysters are very nice done in this way, but it takes a skilful worker to do them without letting the juice ooze out, or, on the other hand, over-cooking them. The toast-points are made by cutting small squares of bread diagonally across.

OYSTER BROTH

Chop a dozen oysters in a chopping-tray until they are quite fine. Turn them into a small saucepan with a cup of cold water, and let them slowly approach the boiling-point, and then simmer them for five minutes, the object being to get as much as possible of the flavor of the oysters into the water. Then strain out the oysters, season the liquor with a bit of salt, and serve.

A broth with milk may be made by putting in less water, and adding milk three or four minutes before the broth is taken from the fire.

OYSTERS COOKED IN A CHAFING-DISH

Chafing-dishes are generally made of silver, and are much used just at present for cooking oysters at the table. A chafing-dish consists of a covered dish resting in a frame, and heated from below with an alcohol lamp. It is brought to the table with the lamp lighted and the raw oysters ready to be cooked. Some member of the family takes it in charge, and the result is a much more satisfactory dish than could be otherwise obtained, for it requires intelligence and a cultivated taste to cook and season these delicious bivalves.

Uses of the Chafing-dish. It may be used for broth, stew, soup, and fancy roast, the treatment being exactly the same as with a saucepan or an omelet-pan on a stove.

EGGS

Eggs, next to milk, are the most valuable form of food for those who are very ill. They contain in excellent proportion most of the elements necessary to nourish the body; but being a concentrated form of food, it is well to associate with them milk or some other liquid, and such starchy foods as bread, potatoes, etc.

According to Lawes and Gilbert the composition of egg is as follows:

ShellCarbonate of lime10.00%

{Nitrogenous matter16.00%

{Fatty matter30.70%

Yolk{Saline matter1.30%

{Water52.00%

———

Total100.00%

{Nitrogenous matter20.40%

White{Saline matter1.60%

{Water78.00%

———

Total100.00%

A large proportion of both yolk and white is albumen.[35] It has been found by experiment (page 25) that when white of egg is subjected to a temperature of 134°-140° Fahr. little white threads appear in it; that if the temperature be increased to 160° Fahr., the whole mass becomes a white, but tender, easily divided substance; that if the heat be raised to 200° Fahr. it loses its tender, jelly-like consistency, and becomes firm and tenacious; and that with continued rise of temperature the toughness increases until at from 300°-350° Fahr. it becomes so hard that it is used as a cement for marble.

From these statements it will at once be inferred that the proper cooking temperature of eggs is not that of boiling water, but 52° lower. Eggs cooked the customary three minutes in boiling water will be overdone in the part nearest the shell, and not cooked at all in the center of the yolk, as three minutes is not long enough for the heat to penetrate to that point. The yolk, though not injurious in this condition, is not as palatable as when it is cooked. The condition of the white, however, is of grave importance, as even well persons are sometimes made ill by eating it.

It is generally agreed that although albumen will coagulate at a temperature somewhat lower than 160° Fahr., the degree of firmness obtained by exposing it to this temperature is the most desirable for food. Therefore we speak of 160° Fahr. as its cooking temperature. An egg cooked ideally would be subjected to that temperature for a sufficient time to allow the heat to penetrate and act upon all portions of it. The time required is half an hour. Cooked according to this method, the white would be opaque and firm, but tender and delicate, the yolk not liquid and lukewarm, but thick and almost firm. The flavor of both is delicious.

A knowledge of the proper temperature necessary to bring about this change is absolutely essential to any one who would cook eggs, and dishes which contain them, such as creams, puddings, etc., as they should be cooked. A great deal of the philosophy of cooking depends upon this knowledge, for nearly all kinds of meat, fish, oysters, milk, and other albuminous foods contain as one of their most valuable nutrients the substance known as albumen. When they are cooked with reference to this alone, we find that they are also done in the best-known way with reference to their other ingredients.

Practically with our present kitchen appliances it is exceedingly difficult to maintain for half an hour a steady temperature of 160°, but excellent results may be obtained by the following method.

SOFT-COOKED EGGS

Pour enough boiling water into a saucepan to more than cover whatever number of eggs are to be cooked; then put in the eggs, and let them stand for ten minutes on the hearth or any place where the water will not lose its warmth too quickly. Remember that it is the heat in the water which is to do the cooking. The saucepan should remain uncovered. Practically this is an excellent way to do, for the amount of heat in the water will not fall below 160° Fahr. in the ten minutes, and that time is sufficient for it to penetrate to the center of the egg. Moreover, if the egg be forgotten, and remains in the water for a longer time, it will not become hard unless the temperature of the water be raised.

Theoretically an egg should be cooked at 160° Fahr., but practically this would involve a considerable waste of time and necessitate the use of a thermometer. Almost the same result is obtained in an easy and convenient way by the above method, although it is not an exact one. The proportion of boiling water for each egg which will insure cooking in the time given is one pint, but somewhat less will do if many are to be cooked; for instance, eight eggs will do in six pints, as comparatively less heat is lost in warming the pan.

POACHED OR DROPPED EGGS

From a thin, even slice of home-made bread cut out a round piece with a biscuit-cutter; toast it a delicate brown.

Pour some boiling water into a small saucepan and salt it, using a saltspoon of salt to a cup of water; place it on the stove to boil. Break a fresh egg into a cup, and when the water is boiling slip it gently into the pan. At first the egg will cool the water below the boiling-point, but should the water again begin to boil, withdraw the pan to a cooler part of the stove. When the white is firm, or at the end of about two minutes, lift out the egg by means of two spoons or a skimmer (being careful not to break the yolk), and place it on the round of toast. The egg should not be trimmed. Season it with a speck of salt, a little pepper, and a bit of butter placed on the middle of the yolk. This is a dainty and easy way of preparing eggs for the sick, and one is always sure of the condition of the eggs, which is not the case when they are cooked in the shell.

A layer of minced ham or of minced chicken laid on the toast makes a palatable variation.

Egg-poachers, or little tin cups with perforated bottoms set in a frame, may be bought for poaching eggs, but in those that the author has seen the raw albumen runs into the little holes and makes it difficult to remove the egg after it is done without breaking it. Muffin-rings may also be used.

SCRAMBLED EGGS. No. 1

Break two eggs into a plate, and sprinkle on a little pepper and a saltspoon of salt; beat them with a fork for one minute, add two tablespoons of milk or, better, thin sweet cream; beat again and pour the mixture into a buttered pan; stir it gently, letting it cook slowly for about two minutes, or until the albumen of the egg is coagulated. It should be soft and tender, not hardened. Serve it on toast, or in a small, square covered dish.

SCRAMBLED EGGS. No. 2

Beat two eggs, a saltspoon of salt, and a sprinkle of white pepper in a bowl with a Dover egg-beater until quite light; add two tablespoons of sweet cream or of milk, and turn the mixture into a double boiler to cook, stirring it constantly until the albumen is just coagulated. A delicate and easily digested dish is the result. It is a safer way to use the double boiler rather than an omelet-pan. If no double boiler is at hand, one may be improvised with a bowl or dish set into a kettle of hot water.

OMELETS

Omelets may be made in a great variety of ways, the kind depending not upon a difference in mixing the eggs, but upon the ingredients which are added. Spanish omelet is ordinary omelet with onion. Truffles, mushrooms, chopped oysters, rum, and tomato make other varieties. Flour should never be used in them, as it cannot be properly cooked in the short time that should be given to the eggs. If it should happen that an omelet is to be made, and there is no milk at hand, water may be substituted, but an omelet should never be made without one or the other.

CREAMY OMELET

Beat four eggs slightly with a fork until you can take up a spoonful; add two saltspoons of salt, half a saltspoon of pepper, four tablespoons of milk or cream, and mix well. Butter an omelet-pan, and before the butter browns turn in the mixture. Then with the point of a fork pick or lift up the cooked egg from the center, and let the uncooked egg run under. This leaves the butter on the pan, and is better than stirring. Continue the lifting until the whole is of a soft creamy consistency, then place it over a hotter part of the fire and brown slightly, fold and turn out as usual. (Adapted from Mrs. D. A. Lincoln's "Boston Cook Book.")

For an invalid's use take half the quantities mentioned above—that is, use two eggs, two tablespoons of milk or cream, a saltspoon of salt, and a bit of pepper; and instead of having the omelet-pan hot, have it just warm enough to melt the butter; otherwise the first layer of egg which is cooked may be overdone and hardened.

FOAMY OMELET

Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs, and put them into bowls. To the yolks add a saltspoon of salt and one fourth of a saltspoon of pepper. Beat with a Dover egg-beater until light. Then add two tablespoons of milk. Beat the whites until stiff, but not as stiff as possible, and fold, not beat them into the yolks, so that the whole shall be very light and puffy. Pour the mixture into a buttered omelet-pan, and cook slowly until the under side begins to change color and become brown, or for about two minutes. Then put the pan on the grate in the oven for about one minute, to cook the upper surface. One must endeavor to avoid both over and under cooking. If the omelet is not done enough, the raw egg will ooze out after it is folded; on the other hand, if it is cooked too much, it will be dry and tough. When it seems to be coagulated on the upper surface, run a case-knife under it to separate it from the pan, and fold one half over the other. Take the platter which is to receive it in the right hand, lay it against the edge of the pan, and tip the omelet out. Serve immediately.

An omelet is a dainty and delicate way of serving eggs, and may be well made by any one who will bear in mind that the cooking temperature of albumen is 160° Fahr., and that if exposed to a very much higher degree of heat for many minutes, it will be spoiled,—rendered both unpalatable and indigestible.

OMELET WITH HAM. No. 1

Broil a thin, small slice of ham until thoroughly well done. Lay it between the folds of an omelet. Either creamy or foamy omelets may be used.

OMELET WITH HAM. No. 2

Mince a piece of cooked ham until it is fine. Stir it into an omelet in the proportion of one teaspoon to an egg, or it may be sprinkled over the surface just before folding. When seasoned with a little mustard, it makes a very piquant addition. Either creamy or foamy omelets may be used.

OMELET WITH JELLY

Spread a tablespoon of grape or currant jelly over the middle of the upper surface of a two-egg omelet just before folding it.

OMELET WITH CHICKEN

Chop fine the cooked white meat of a piece of chicken. Season it with salt and pepper, and sprinkle it over an omelet, or stir it into the egg before cooking, in the proportion of one teaspoon to an egg, as is done with ham.

OMELET WITH TOMATO

Prepare thin slices of very ripe tomatoes, by removing the skin and seasoning slightly with salt. Lay them on that part of the omelet which is to be the lower half, and fold; or the tomato may be tucked into the omelet after folding.

OMELET WITH PARSLEY

Wash some parsley. Break off the stems and roll the rest into a little ball; then, holding it firmly in the left hand, cut slices from it, or chop it on a board. Stir it into the omelet mixture before it is cooked, in the proportion of one teaspoon for each egg.

SPANISH OMELET

To an omelet mixture add two drops of onion-juice for each egg, or half a teaspoon of very finely minced onion.

ORANGE OMELET

"The thinly grated rind of one orange and three tablespoons of the juice, three eggs, and three teaspoons of powdered sugar. Beat the yolks, add the sugar, rind, and juice, fold in the beaten whites, and cook. Fold, turn out, sprinkle thickly with powdered sugar, and score in diagonal lines with a clean red-hot poker. The burnt sugar gives to the omelet a delicious flavor.

"This is a convenient dessert for an emergency, and may be prepared in ten minutes if one has the oranges." (From Mrs. D. A. Lincoln's "Boston Cook Book.")

POTATOES

Next to wheat flour, potatoes are our most common form of starch food. The potato is a tuber, a native of America, and may be said to have been discovered to the civilized world by the Spaniards, who found it growing in Chili and Peru. Thence it was carried to Spain, and from there to other parts of Europe, some time in the sixteenth century. Potatoes were at first used as luxuries, but are now almost ranked among the necessities of life.

The composition of potatoes (Letherby) is as follows:

Water75.00%

Starch18.80%

Nitrogenous matter2.00%

Sugar3.00%

Fat.20%

Salts1.00% [36]

From this we see that starch is the principal nutrient, therefore potatoes in use for food should be associated with nitrogenous substances, such as eggs, meat, fish, and milk. The potash salts which potatoes contain are very valuable. According to Letherby, an average of thirty-one analyses of the ash of potatoes gave 59.8 per cent. of potash, 19.1 per cent. of phosphoric acid, the other ingredients being in exceedingly small proportions. These salts are necessary to a healthy condition of the blood. Potatoes are a valuable antiscorbutic.

According to Mattieu Williams, scurvy prevailed in Norway to a very serious extent until the introduction of the potato; and Lang, with other good authorities, testifies that its disappearance is due to the use of potatoes by a people who formerly were insufficiently supplied with salts-giving vegetable food.

The salts of the potato are most abundant in or near the skin, and the decision of the question as to whether potatoes shall be pared or not before cooking is somewhat aided by this fact. For persons who eat but few other fresh vegetables by all means leave the skins on, but for those who have access to a good kitchen garden and have plenty of other vegetables and fruits from which to get their salts, it makes no important difference whether the skins are removed.

The potato is eminently a starch food, and this knowledge indicates the method of treatment in cooking. Since starch is its principal ingredient (the amount of nitrogenous matter being very small), if it is cooked with reference to that alone, it will be done in the best possible manner.

Starch, in order to be rendered most digestible and acceptable to the human system, must be subjected to a high temperature in the presence of some liquid. At 401° Fahr. (see pages 33 and 34) it is converted into dextrine. This change, if not performed outside the body, will be done in the ordinary processes of digestion after the starch is eaten; therefore the nearer we approach to it in cooking, the more perfectly is the food prepared which contains it.

Usually the first vegetable prescribed by the physician for a sick person who is beginning to use solids, is a baked potato. A baked potato, however, may be no better than a boiled potato unless it is cooked in so high a temperature that the starch is affected. Boiled potatoes cannot be subjected to a higher temperature than 212° Fahr. Baked potatoes may be done in such a way that they are but little better than boiled—for instance, done in a slow oven. On the other hand, if they are put into a temperature of 380° or 400° Fahr., or a hot oven, they will be done in such a manner that the conversion of starch will in a degree take place, and they will be consequently both palatable and easily digested.

Potatoes roasted in hot ashes or embers are delicious, and for the same reason. But it must not be understood that by cooking potatoes in a high temperature the starch which they contain is all changed into dextrine. This does not usually take place except in slight degree, but by the high temperature it is better prepared for this change in the processes of digestion. Probably what does take place is a sort of hydration of the starch, resulting in the complete swelling and final bursting of the granules, with possibly an intermediate change between this and dextrine. Just at the moment when potatoes are done they should be immediately taken from the fire and served at once. The potato is capable of being made into a variety of dishes, and when properly prepared has a delicate flavor which is very acceptable to most people. It is one of the most easily digested forms of starch-containing food.

BOILED POTATOES

For boiled potatoes, if they are to be served whole, select those of the same shape and size. Wash them under a stream of water with a vegetable brush. Pare carefully so as not to waste the potato, and evenly, that they may look smooth and shapely. Cook them in a granite-ware kettle or covered saucepan, in enough salted boiling water to just cover them. If cold water is used, there is a greater loss of potash salts by solution, because of the longer time of exposure to the action of the liquid. The proportion of salt should be one teaspoon to a quart of water.

Potatoes being already hydrated, it makes no great difference whether they are put into hot or cold water, except in the time which will be required to boil them and the slight loss of salts. For medium-sized potatoes from thirty to forty minutes will be necessary after they begin to boil. The moment they feel soft when pierced with a fork they are done. Take them at once from the fire, drain off all the water, and dry them by gently moving the pan back and forth over the top of the stove for a minute. Serve as quickly as possible. Unless they are to be eaten at once, it is better to mash them, and keep them in the oven until needed.

MASHED POTATOES

For mashed potatoes the uneven sizes may be used; the large ones should be cut into small pieces. Prepare according to the foregoing rule, and when they are cooked and dried, add salt, butter, pepper, and cream, in the following proportions:

1 Pint of potatoes. 1 Teaspoon of butter. ½ Teaspoon of salt. ½ Saltspoon of pepper (white). 2 Tablespoons of sweet cream or of milk.

Put into the potatoes the butter, salt, and pepper, and mash them on the stove, in the dish in which they were boiled, to keep them hot. Use an open wire potato-masher, and mash quickly so that they may be light and dry, not "gummy." Last put in the cream, mix for a moment, and serve immediately in a covered vegetable-dish. If it is necessary to keep them for a time, arrange them like a cake in the dish in which they are to be served, smooth over the top, dot it with little bits of butter, or brush it over with milk or the beaten white of egg, and brown them a delicate golden color by placing the dish on the grate in the oven.

BAKED POTATOES

For baked potatoes, select those which are of uniform size and not very large. Scrub them thoroughly in a stream of water from the faucet, to wash off every particle of sand, for many like to eat the outside. Bake them in a hot oven for from forty-five to fifty minutes. If the potatoes are of medium size, and do not cook in that time, it indicates that the oven is not of the proper temperature.

Baked potatoes, not being exposed to the solvent action of a liquid, lose none of their potash salts in cooking, as boiled potatoes do. The same is true of those roasted, and of those fried raw in deep fat.

ROASTED POTATOES

Bury medium-sized potatoes in the embers or ashes of an open fire for a half hour or more, according to their size. At the end of that time dust off the ashes with a brush. Burst the shells by squeezing them in the hand, and serve at once with salt, and butter or cream. Either baked or roasted potatoes are delicious eaten with sweet cream, salt, and pepper.

CREAMED POTATOES

Left-over potatoes may be used for this dish, or potatoes may be boiled on purpose for it. Whichever is used, cut them into half-inch dice, put them in an omelet-pan, season them with salt and pepper, and pour in milk until it is even with the surface of the potato; then simmer gently until all the milk is absorbed, or for about half an hour. For every pint of potatoes make a pint of white sauce, season it with a saltspoon of salt and a teaspoon of chopped parsley, and pour it over. Potatoes are very nice done in this way, if care is taken in simmering them in the milk. Unless this is done according to the rule, they will have the cold-potato taste, which is not at all palatable.

A little chopped onion may replace the parsley with good effect.

DUCHESS POTATOES

1 Pint of potatoes. 1 Teaspoon of butter. ½ Teaspoon of salt. 1 Egg. ¼ Teaspoon of white pepper.

Wash, pare, and boil the potatoes. Drain out every drop of water, and dry them in the usual way. When dry and mealy, put in the butter, salt, and pepper, and mash them thoroughly and quickly. If potatoes are mashed for a long time slowly, they become waxy, so endeavor to do it quickly and as lightly as possible. Then add the egg, well beaten, and the cream; mix, and form it into a flat cake (on a board) about half an inch thick. Cut it into oblongs or squares, or shape it into rounds or balls, brush over with the beaten white of egg, or milk, and bake in a hot oven until a delicate brown. Serve the cakes on a platter as soon as they are done.

MEATS

(BROILED)

Of the different ways of cooking the flesh of animals, especially for the sick, broiling is at once the most delicious and the most difficult.

The difference between broiled meat and meat cooked in water is that the broiled meat is cooked in its own juices, while the other is not. The albumen is coagulated in both cases, and the gelatinous and fibrinous tissues are softened by being heated in a liquid. In broiling or roasting meat the juices are retained, while in stewing they go more or less into the water, and the loosening of the fibers and solution of the gelatin and fibrin may be carried further, on account of the longer exposure to heat and the larger amount of solvent. In broiling, as the meat is to be cooked in its own juices, it is evident that these must be retained as completely as possible; and in order to succeed in this, we have to struggle with a dry heat, which may not only cause rapid evaporation, but may volatilize or decompose some of the flavoring principles.[37]

We should, therefore, endeavor to have such a temperature as shall at first be sufficiently high to quickly coagulate, even harden, the albumen in the outside surface, and thus form a layer or protecting coat over the whole, and then to so modify and regulate the heat afterward that the interior shall be raised to such a temperature as shall properly cook it without loss of its nutritive properties.

The time of exposure will be different for different kinds of meat—beef and mutton requiring a shorter time than lamb, chicken, or game. Beef and mutton are best when cooked rare; lamb, chicken, and some kinds of game are best when well done. Game with white flesh should be well done; all other kinds, generally speaking, may be rare.

Much of the science of cooking depends upon a knowledge of the effects of heat; and as many changes in food are due to the dissociation caused by heat, the degree of change depending upon the temperature, the value of a sound knowledge of the subject cannot fail to be seen.

To illustrate: aside from the evaporation of juices and coagulation of albumen in a piece of steak, the chemical separation of its constituents, especially of the outside shell or sheath, will vary with the degree of heat in which it is cooked.

Not only for meats, but for most animal foods, a cooking temperature less than 212° but above 160° is most advisable. This applies particularly to milk, eggs, oysters, meats, and fish. Of course in broiling we partially sacrifice the outside by cooking in a high temperature for the sake of preserving the inner portions.

BEEF

Beef is, without doubt, our most valuable kind of meat. It is nutritious, of excellent flavor, and comparatively easy of digestion. It contains many of the substances necessary to nourish the body—water, fat, albumen, gelatin, fibrin, salts, and flavoring properties. The direct nutrients which it contains are fat and protein.

The quality of beef varies with the age of the animal and the manner in which it has been fattened. It requires a considerable amount of study to be able to select a good roast or steak. If the fat be of light, golden color, firm and thick, and the lean be streaked with fine lines of fat, it is one indication of a well-nourished animal. A reliable dealer may be of great service in aiding one to distinguish between good and poor qualities.

The best portions for steak are from the loin, top of the round, and rump. The cut called "porterhouse" is from near the middle of the loin, and is the best portion of the animal. It has a rich, fine flavor, and contains a section of tenderloin. Sirloin steak is from the loin, and is also very nice. The first and second cuts from the top of the round are excellent, containing much well-flavored juice. The composition of a round steak free from bones is as follows (in 100 parts):

{Protein, gelatin, fibrin, etc.23.00%

Nutrients{Fats9.00%

{Mineral matters1.30%

Water66.70%

———

Total100.00%

Atwater.

The time given below for the digestion of beef is taken from calculations by Dr. Beaumont:

Hours.Minutes.

Beefsteak broiled3

Beef, fresh, lean, roasted330

Beef fried4

VALUE OF BEEF

As material for muscle19

As heat-giver14

As food for brain and nervous system2

Water65

Atwater.

To Broil Steak. Select a steak from the loin, top of the round, or rump. Have it cut an inch and a half (or, better, two inches) thick. If there is a great deal of fat, trim off part of it, and wipe the steak with a clean, wet cloth. A fire of glowing red coals is necessary to do broiling well. Place the steak in a wire broiler, and put it as near the coals as possible (one writer says plunge it into the hottest part of the fire), count ten and turn it, count again and turn again until it has been turned five or six times so as to quickly cook a thin layer all over the outside, to shut in the juices of the meat, and to form a protecting sheath of coagulated albumen over the whole. Then lift the broiler away from the coals and do the rest of the process slowly,—that is, in a lower temperature, that the heat may have time to penetrate to the center of the piece and raise the juices to a sufficiently high temperature to soften the fibers, but not so high as to hornify the albumen or char the outside. Turn it every half minute until done.

If the fat melts and flames, do not lift up the broiler; it will do no harm, and the black deposit which results is only carbon. This carbon is not injurious; the color is not especially attractive, but the taste will be good. The cautious cook who does not appreciate this will lift up the broiler, thus cooling the meat, and will perhaps blow out the flame, a proceeding which is open to question as a point of neatness.

As coal fires are never twice alike, and the amount of heat sent out is variable, it is constantly necessary to judge anew as to where the broiler shall be placed. A certain amount of practice is required to be able to broil with even fair success. When done a steak should be brown on the outside, pink and juicy inside, and plump, not shriveled. Steak should be at least an inch thick, otherwise the proportion of surface exposed to the heat will be so great in proportion to the amount of meat as to cause the loss by evaporation of most of the juice, thus making the steak tough and dry.

From five to seven minutes will be required to cook a steak an inch thick; if an inch and a half thick, from eight to ten minutes. Serve the steak on a hot platter after having seasoned both sides of it with salt and pepper, but no butter. If it is desirable to use butter, serve it with the steak rather than on it.

HAMBURG STEAK. No. 1

(SCRAPED BEEF)

Cut a piece of tender steak half an inch thick. Lay it on a meat-board, and with a sharp knife scrape off the soft part until there is nothing left but the tough, stringy fibers. Season this pulp with salt and pepper, make it into little flat, round cakes half an inch thick, and broil them two minutes. Serve on rounds of buttered toast. This is a safe and dainty way to prepare steak for one who is just beginning to eat meat. When it is not convenient to have glowing coals, these meat-cakes may be broiled in a very hot omelet-pan.

HAMBURG STEAK. No. 2

Pound a thin piece of beefsteak until the fibers are broken; season it with salt and pepper, fold and pound again; then broil it three or four minutes over a clear hot fire. Serve at once.

TENDERLOIN STEAK

Broil a tenderloin steak, and at the same time a small piece of round steak, which usually contains a great deal of well-flavored juice. Cut the round steak into small pieces, and squeeze the juice from it over the tenderloin. Tenderloin steak is tender, but usually neither juicy nor particularly well flavored. By this method one gets a delicious steak.

BEEFSTEAK À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Broil a steak, place it on a platter, and season it with salt and pepper; sprinkle it with finely chopped parsley, drops of lemon-juice, and some little bits of butter. Set it in the oven long enough to soften the butter. A steak done in this way may be made quite attractive by garnishing it with hot mashed and seasoned potatoes which have been squeezed through a potato-strainer. A colander may be used in lieu of a strainer. The potato loses some of its heat in the process, so care must be taken to have the dish very hot or to place it in the oven until it becomes so.

A steak may always be garnished with parsley, water-cress, or slices of lemon.

CHICKEN

(BROILED)

For broiling, select a young chicken—one from three to eight months old. Singe it. Split it down the back, and free it from all refuse, such as pin-feathers, lungs, kidneys, oil-bag, windpipe, and crop (the latter is sometimes left in when the chicken is drawn). Wash it quickly in cold water, fold it in a clean cloth kept for the purpose, and clap gently between the hands until all the water is absorbed. Separate the joints—the lower joint of the leg and the upper joint of the wing—by cutting the flesh on the under side and severing the white tough tendons. Soften some butter until it runs, then dip the chicken into it, season it with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and broil it in a wire broiler for from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the size.

The same principle holds in broiling chicken as in steak. The first part of the process should be done in a high temperature to coagulate the juices of the outer layers, and the last part very slowly. Care must be taken that it is thoroughly done at the thick joints of the wing and leg. Serve hot.

To Buy a Chicken. The best chickens have yellow skin, but one may be deceived if guided by this alone, for fowls often have yellow skin also. The flexibility of the end of the breast-bone is always a sure means of deciding as to the age of the bird. If it be soft, easily bent, and if it feels like cartilage, the chicken is young. Sometimes dealers break the bone for the purpose of deceiving buyers, but it does not take a great deal of intelligence to decide between a broken bone and one that is easily bent. If the bone be hard and firm, it is an indication of age. For broiling, of course, the chicken should be young, the flesh of good color and well nourished, and, as in the buying of beef, one may rely upon the judgment of a good dealer. The way in which chickens are fed has much to do with the flavor of the meat.

BIRDS

Various kinds of birds, such as squab, partridge, plover, snipe, pheasant, etc., are particularly appropriate food for the sick, partly because we associate them with the dainty things of life, but more on account of the valuable nutrient properties which they contain. They are especially rich in salts (particularly the phosphates), which are so much needed by a system exhausted by disease.

Birds which feed mostly on grains, such as the partridge and the pheasant, will bear transportation, and will keep, in cold weather, a long time. Birds with dark flesh, which live mostly on animal food, decay quickly.

A general rule for the cooking of game is this: that with white flesh should be well done, that with dark should be rare, and usually is only properly cooked when served so, as in the case of woodcock, duck, and snipe.

When in Season. Some birds, such as reed-birds, partridge, and plover, have a season which varies slightly in different parts of the country, according to the game laws of different States. In Maryland, the following birds may be found in market according to the time stated:

SquabsAll the year.

PartridgeNovember 1—December 25.

SnipeSeptember—December.

PloverSeptember—November.

PheasantsOctober—January.

WoodcockAugust—February.

Rice- or reed-birdsSeptember—Middle October.

Field-larksSummer and early autumn.

Grouse (prairie-hen)All the year.

PigeonsAll the year.

The cleansing and preparation of birds is in general carried out in the same manner as with chickens. When there is any variation from this, it will be mentioned under the rule for each.

SQUABS

Squabs are young domestic pigeons. The Philadelphia market supplies nearly all of those used in the eastern part of the United States.

Remove the feathers, and all pin-feathers; cut off the head and legs, and split the bird down the back carefully with a sharp knife. Lift out carefully the contents of the body, which are contained in a little sac or delicate membrane; they should be taken out without breaking. Do not forget the windpipe, crop, lungs, and kidneys. Wash, and prepare the squab in the same manner that chicken is done, except the dipping in butter and dredging with flour; this may be omitted, as squabs are generally fat and do not require it. Broil from twelve to fifteen minutes, according to the size of the bird and the intensity of the fire. It should be well done. Serve on hot buttered toast.

PARTRIDGE

The partridge is a white-fleshed bird. It may be broiled or roasted.

To Broil. Follow the same rule as that given for squab, except dip in melted butter and dredge with flour.

To Roast. Prepare in the same manner as for broiling, except dip in butter and dredge twice. Do not forget the salt and pepper. Then skewer the body so that it will resemble a whole bird, and look as if it had not been split down the back. Spread a teaspoon of butter on the breast, and bake it in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes. Partridge done in this way is delicious, for the butter enriches the meat, which is naturally dry. It should be served well done, not rare, on hot buttered toast, with currant jelly.

The season for partridges is in most States during the last part of the autumn, and generally the laws in regard to them are rigid. Nevertheless, they can be bought from the middle of October until May, or the beginning of warm weather. The partridge is a bird that keeps well, bears transportation, and is sent from one part of the country to another, many coming from the West when the season is over in the Eastern States. It is a medium-sized bird, with mottled brown feathers, which are black at the ends, especially those on the back, and mottled brown and silver-gray on the breast.

SNIPE

Snipe may be both prepared and cooked as partridges are—that is, broiled and roasted. The snipe has rich, dark meat, and therefore will not need to be dipped in butter for either broiling or roasting. It is about the same size as a squab, but as it is to be cooked rare (it is more tender and of nicer flavor so), ten minutes is sufficient time for broiling, and from twelve to fifteen minutes for roasting in a hot oven. Serve it with currant jelly on hot buttered toast.

The snipe has a long bill, from two to two and a half inches in length. It is about the size of a squab, with dark, almost black, wing-feathers tipped with white, and the feathers of the back are intermingled with flecks of golden brown. The under sides of the wings are pearl-gray, and the breast is white.

PHEASANTS

Pheasants may be broiled or roasted. As the meat is dry, they should be well rubbed with soft butter and dredged with flour. It is a good way, after putting on the salt and pepper, to dip the bird into melted butter, then dredge it with flour, then lay on soft butter and dredge a second time; or, when it is skewered and ready for the oven, it may be spread thickly over the breast with softened butter. Care must be taken that the very thick portion of the breast be cooked through, as pheasant should be well done, and from one half to three quarters of an hour will be necessary for this.

WOODCOCK

The woodcock is about the size of a partridge, with mottled dark brown and gray feathers, except on the breast, where they are a sort of light salmon brown. It has a long slender beak, somewhat like that of a snipe.

Prepare woodcock like squab, only do not cut off the head, as the brain is considered a dainty by epicures. Remove the skin from the head, and tie or skewer it back against the body. Use salt and pepper for seasoning, but neither flour nor butter, as the woodcock has dark, rich flesh. Broil from eight to ten minutes. Serve rare on toast.

REED-BIRDS

Reed-birds are to be prepared after the general rule for dressing birds. Although they are sometimes cooked whole, it is better to draw them. Split them down the back, remove the contents of the body, and after washing and wiping them, string three or four on a skewer, pulling it through their sides, so that they shall appear whole. Roast in a shallow pan in a hot oven, from eight to ten minutes; or, before roasting, wrap each one in a very thin slice of fat pork and pin it on with a skewer (wire).

Broiled. Prepare as for roasting, except peel off the skin, taking the feathers with it. Broil from two to four minutes. Serve on toast.

It is a good plan to skin all small birds.

The reed-bird is the bobolink of New England, the reed-bird of Pennsylvania, and the rice-bird of the Carolinas.

GROUSE

The grouse or prairie-hen is in season all the year, but is at its best during the fall and winter.

To Prepare. Clean, wash, and wipe it. Lard the breast, or fasten to it with slender skewers a thin slice of salt pork. Grouse has dry flesh, consequently it will be improved by rubbing softened butter over it, as well as by using pork. Sprinkle on a little salt, dredge it with flour, and cook in a quick oven for thirty minutes.

Grouse are also very nice potted. After they are made ready for cooking, fry a little fat pork and some chopped onion together in a large deep spider for a few minutes, then lay in the grouse, cover the spider, and fry until the outside of each bird is somewhat browned, or for twenty minutes, slowly. Then put them into a granite-ware kettle and stew until tender, which will take from one to two hours. When they are done, lift them out, thicken the liquid slightly with flour, and season it with salt and pepper for a gravy. Serve the grouse on a deep platter with the gravy poured around, or simply season the liquid and cook tiny dumplings in it, which may be served around the birds. Then thicken the liquid and pour over. The amount of onion to be fried with the pork should not exceed half a teaspoon for each bird, and of pork the proportion of a cubic inch to a bird is enough.

Pigeons potted according to these directions for grouse are excellent.

FIELD-LARKS

Field-larks and robins may be prepared and cooked in exactly the same way that reed-birds are done. Robins are good in autumn.

VENISON

Venison is in season during the late autumn and winter. When "hung" for a proper length of time, it is the most easily digested of all meats. For this reason it is a favorite with epicures who eat late suppers. According to Dr. Beaumont it is digested in one hour and thirty-five minutes.[38]

Steaks may be taken either from the loin or the round. Broil them according to the rule for beefsteak, and serve very hot with a slice of lemon or a little claret poured over.

Venison will not please an epicure unless it is hot and rare when served. To accomplish this in a perfectly satisfactory manner, it has become the fashion in families to have the broiling done on the table, in a chafing-dish, each person attending to his own steak, and cooking it according to his particular fancy.

MUTTON

A good piece of meat freed from refuse,—that is, indigestible portions such as bone, etc.,—if neatly prepared and properly cooked, is practically entirely digested. If carelessly handled and cooked so that its juices are evaporated, and its natural flavors undeveloped or destroyed, there will be more or less waste in the process of digestion.

Mutton requires more care in cooking than beef, or, in other words, it is more easily spoiled in that process; but when done with due consideration, it is a most acceptable meat. A thick, carefully broiled, hot, juicy mutton chop just from the coals is a very delicious morsel. The same piece with the adjectives reversed,—that is, done without thought, perhaps raw in the middle, charred on the outside, and cold,—is far from being acceptable to even a healthy person.

Just inside of the outer skin of the sheep there is a thick, tough membrane enveloping the whole animal; the peculiar flavor called "woolly," which makes mutton disagreeable to many, is given to the meat largely by this covering. It is supposed that the oil from the wool strikes through. An important point in the preparation of the meat for cooking is the removal of this skin, for otherwise the unpleasant taste will be very strong, and the chop or roast consequently far from as delicate as it might be.

The value of mutton as a nutrient is practically the same as that of beef, as may be seen by comparing the following table with that of beef previously given.

As material for muscle21

As heat-giver14

As food for brain and nervous system2

Water63

DIGESTIBILITY OF MUTTON

Hours.Minutes.

Broiled3

Boiled3

Roasted315

MUTTON CHOPS

For the same reason that is given in the rule for beefsteak, mutton chops should be thick. When the fat is abundant and little lines of fat run through the flesh, it is an indication of a good quality of meat.

To prepare the chops for broiling, cut away the tough outside skin, trim off a part of the fat, but not all, and any portion of the spinal cord which may be attached. Broil in the same manner that steak is done—that is, close to the glowing coals—for about one minute, turning often, and at a distance from them for the rest of the time, which should be from four to six minutes for a chop an inch thick.

Mutton, like beef, should be served rare. Season chops with salt and pepper, but no butter, as the meat is rich in fat and does not require it. Tomato-sauce is an old-fashioned accompaniment of a chop, and may or may not be served with it. For breakfast it is better omitted.

CHOPS, PAN-BROILED

Chops are fairly good pan-broiled. The same principle is to be followed as in cooking over coals—that is, a high degree of heat at first, to sear over the outside before the juices escape, and a low temperature afterward; therefore heat the pan or spider exceedingly hot (use no fat), drop in the chop, count ten and turn, count again and turn again for about one minute, then draw the pan to the side or back of the stove and finish slowly. A chop one inch thick will be perfectly done in from five to seven minutes. If the pan is hot enough at first, there will be no loss of juice or flavor. Season and serve in the same manner as broiled chops.

FRENCH CHOPS

Trim a chop until there is nothing left but the round muscle at the thick end, with a little fat about it. Cut away all the meat from the bone, which will then look like a handle with a neat morsel at one end. Broil.

CHOPS IN PAPER

Spread a piece of paper evenly and thickly with butter. Lay upon it a nicely trimmed chop, and double the paper with the edges together. Fold and crease these edges on the three sides; then fold and crease again, so that the butter cannot run out. These folds should be half an inch wide. It will be necessary to have the sheet of paper (note-paper or thick brown paper will do) considerably more than twice as large as the chop. Broil over coals, not too near, turning often so that the temperature shall not get so high as to ignite the paper. A chop broiled in this way is basted in the butter and its own juices, and is very delicate. Be careful not to let the paper ignite, and yet do not have it so far from the coals that the meat will not cook. This is best accomplished by holding the broiler near the coals and turning often: that is, about once in twenty seconds. There is no danger that the paper will catch fire if the broiler is turned often enough. A chop three quarters of an inch thick will cook in five minutes, one an inch thick in eight. Should the paper catch fire, it need not destroy the chop. Take it out, put it into a fresh paper, and try again. The chop should be served very hot, seasoned with salt and pepper.

LAMB CHOPS

Lamb chops are very delicate and tender. They may be known by the lighter color of the flesh as compared with mutton chops, and by the whiteness of the fat. Prepare and broil them in the same way that mutton chops are broiled, except that they are to be well done instead of rare, and to accomplish this longer cooking by about three minutes will be required: for a chop an inch thick, from eight to ten minutes, instead of from four to six as for mutton.

STEWS

CHICKEN STEW

1 Cup of chicken meat. 1 Teaspoon of chopped onion. 2 Tablespoons of white turnip. 1 Saltspoon of curry-powder. ½ Teaspoon of salt. A little white pepper. 1 Tablespoon of rice.

Left-over broiled chicken or the cuttings from a cold roast will do for this dish. Divide the meat into small pieces, excluding all skin, gristle, tendons, and bone. Boil the bones and scraps, in water enough to cover them, for an hour. Then strain the liquor, skim off the fat, and put into it the chicken, onion, turnip (which should be cut in small cubes), curry-powder, salt, pepper, and rice. Simmer all together for an hour. Serve. The vegetables and curry flavor the meat, and a most easily digested and palatable dish is the result.

Potatoes may be substituted for the rice, and celery-salt, bay-leaves, or sweet marjoram for the curry. If herbs be used, tie them in a bag and drop it into the stew, of course removing it before carrying the dish to the table.

The above rule will make enough stew for two persons. By multiplying each item in it, any amount may be made.

BEEF STEW

Use for beef stew either cold beefsteak, the portions left from a roast, or uncooked meat.

1 Cup of beef cut into small pieces. 1 Teaspoon of minced onion. 2 Tablespoons of turnip. 2 Tablespoons of carrot. ½ Teaspoon of salt. ½ Cup of cut potatoes. A little black pepper.

If beefsteak is selected, free it from fat, gristle, and bone, and cut it into small pieces. Fry the onion, carrot, and turnip (which should be cut into small cubes) in a little butter, slowly, until they are brown. Add them to the meat, cover it with water, and simmer for one hour. Then skim off the fat, put in the potatoes (cut in half-inch cubes) and the salt and pepper. Boil for half an hour more. Serve in a covered dish with croutons.

The vegetables are fried partly to give the desirable brown color to the stew, and partly because their flavor is finer done that way. A beefsteak stew is a very savory and satisfactory dish. If fresh, uncooked meat is used, cut it into small pieces and fry it in a hot buttered pan for a few minutes, to brown the outside and thus obtain the agreeable flavor that is developed in all meats by a high temperature. Simmer two and a half hours before putting in the potatoes.

When the left-over portions of a roast are used, the meat should be freed from all gristle, bone, and fat; these may be boiled separately for additional broth.

MUTTON STEW

Exactly the same rule may be followed for mutton stew as for beef. Do not forget to trim the meat carefully. Use only clear pieces of the lean. If a roast is used and there are bones, boil them in water with the scraps for additional broth. Mutton stew is good made with pearl-barley instead of potatoes, in the proportion of one teaspoon of grain to a cup of meat; it should be put in at the beginning of the cooking. A half teaspoon of chopped parsley is a nice addition, or a few tablespoons of stewed and strained tomato.

SWEETBREADS

Sweetbreads are the pancreatic glands of the calf. They are good while the animal lives on milk, but change their nature when it begins to eat grass and hay, and are then no longer useful for food. The gland consists of two parts, the long, slender portion called the "neck" sweetbread, and the round, thick part known as the "heart" sweetbread. These are sometimes sold separately, but they should be together. Among epicures sweetbreads are considered a dainty, and are certainly a most acceptable form of food for the sick.

To Prepare. As soon as sweetbreads come from market, they should be cleaned and parboiled. Cut off any refuse,—such as pipes, fat, and all bruised portions,—and wash them quickly in cold water. Pour into a saucepan some boiling water, salt it, and add a little lemon-juice or vinegar (not more than a teaspoon to a pint of water); boil the sweetbreads in this for fifteen minutes if they are to be creamed, broiled, or baked, or again cooked in any way; but if they are to be served plain with peas, they should remain on twenty-five or thirty minutes. When done, drain off the water and set them aside to cool. Sweetbreads must always be parboiled as soon as possible after being taken from the animal, as they decay quickly. Sweetbreads may be made white by soaking them in cold water for half an hour; the flavor, however, is said to be injured by so doing.

CREAMED SWEETBREADS

Make a cream sauce with a cup of sweet cream, a tablespoon of flour, and half a tablespoon of butter. Then cut a sweetbread into half-inch cubes, salt it slightly, and sprinkle on a little white pepper. Mix equal quantities of it and the cream sauce together, put the mixture into individual porcelain patty-dishes or scallop-dishes, sprinkle the top with buttered crumbs, and bake on the grate in a hot oven for ten minutes. This will give sufficient time to finish the cooking of the parboiled sweetbread without hardening it.

The sauce may be made quite acceptably with milk, by using a tablespoon of butter instead of half that quantity. This is a good way to prepare sweetbreads, and one particularly desirable for the sick. They will be tender and delicate if care is taken not to overcook them in either the boiling or the baking.

FRICASSEED SWEETBREADS

Cut a parboiled sweetbread into half-inch cubes. Then make a sauce with half a teaspoon of flour, a teaspoon of butter, three fourths of a cup of strong chicken broth, and one fourth of a cup of sweet cream. Heat the broth. Cook the flour in the butter, letting the two simmer together until brown, then add the hot broth, a little at a time, stirring constantly, and last put in the cream. Season the sauce with a bit of salt, a little black pepper, half a teaspoon of lemon-juice, and a speck of curry-powder. Roll the cut sweetbread into it, simmer for five minutes, and serve on sippets, or on squares of dry toast in a covered dish. The chicken broth may be made by boiling the bones and cuttings of a roast, and milk may be substituted for the cream.

SWEETBREADS WITH PEAS

A favorite way of serving sweetbreads is with fresh peas. They should be boiled in salted water and arranged in the middle of a platter with the peas (cooked and seasoned) around them. Serve them with a cream sauce. Or the peas may be piled in the middle of a platter, the sweetbreads arranged as a border, and the sauce poured around the whole. Sweetbreads larded and baked may also be served in this way.

FISH

Fish fresh from the lakes or sea is excellent food. The point of freshness is a very important one, for all kinds spoil quickly, and, unless you can be quite sure how long they have been out of the water, it is better to find some other food for your invalid. Some shell-fish, such as crabs and lobsters, are especially dangerous, and should not be eaten by either sick or well, unless they are known to be in perfect condition. For the sick they had better not be used at all.

"The flesh of good fresh fish is firm and hard, and will rise at once when pressed with the finger. If the eyes be dull or sunken, the gills pale, and the flesh soft and flabby, the fish is not fresh." (Mrs. Lincoln.)

Fish with red blood, such for instance as salmon, are highly nutritious but not easily digested, partly because of the amount of fat distributed through the flesh. Herring and mackerel belong to this class. White fish, such as cod, haddock, turbot, halibut, and flounder, contain comparatively little fat, and that mostly in the liver. They are easy of digestion, and possess a delicate flavor. When in season and just from their native element, these fish are delicious, and make excellent food for the sick, on account of the ease with which they are digested.

To Prepare. If fish be brought from market with the scales on, as is usually the case, it is a very easy matter to remove them. A large sheet of brown paper, or a newspaper, and a knife not very sharp, are all that are necessary. Spread the paper on the table, lay the fish upon it, and then with the blade of the knife held parallel with the body of the fish, or nearly so, not at right angles to it, push off the scales. They will come off easily, and will not fly unless you turn the edge of the knife too much. Should this happen, the paper will catch the scales, and when the fish is finished all the refuse can be rolled up in the paper and burned. After removing the scales, cut off the head, fins, and tail. Make a slit on the under side, and take out the contents of the cavity, clearing out everything that is not flesh. Then wash the fish quickly in a stream of cold water, wipe it, and set it in a cool place (a refrigerator if you have it) until it is required for cooking. Do not lay it directly on ice, for the juices of the fish are dissolved by the water which is formed as the ice melts, and its delicate flavor is thus impaired.

WHEN IN SEASON

CodAll the year.

HaddockAll the year.

CuskWinter.

HalibutAll the year.

FloundersAll the year.

SalmonMay to September.

ShadSpring.

BluefishJune to October.

WhitefishWinter.

SwordfishJuly to September.

SmeltsSeptember to March.

PerchSpring and summer.

MackerelApril to October.

OystersSeptember to May.

ClamsAll the year.

BROILED FISH

Small fish, such as perch, scrod (young cod), etc., are excellent broiled. After the fish is cleaned, washed out, and wiped, split it lengthwise if it be thick, sprinkle on salt and pepper, squeeze over it some drops of lemon-juice, dip it in melted butter, and broil over clear coals, quickly at first and then very slowly, allowing ten minutes for each inch of thickness. Serve with butter cream.

To Make Butter Cream. Cream some butter in a cup or bowl, season it with salt, Cayenne pepper, lemon-juice, and vinegar. A teaspoon of butter is enough for an ordinary small fish such as a perch, and to season it a speck of cayenne, a speck of salt, and a teaspoon of vinegar and lemon-juice (half of each), will be good proportions. Spread it on the fish, and let it melt and run over it, or serve it separately in a little ball on a glass butter-plate. A nice addition to the butter is a little finely minced parsley, or chopped pickle, such as cucumbers or olives, or the three mixed, if they are at hand.

CREAMED FISH

To make creamed fish, any white fish which flakes easily may be used. Cusk, cod, and haddock are especially recommended. Cook the fish fifteen or twenty minutes by gentle boiling. Then remove the flesh carefully from the bones, letting it separate into flakes; season it with pepper and salt, and a few drops of lemon-juice sprinkled over. For every pint of prepared fish make a rich cream sauce with four tablespoons of butter, two of flour, and a pint of milk in which a small slice of onion has been boiled. Pour the sauce over the seasoned fish, rolling them together gently so that the flakes may not be broken, arrange on a platter, sprinkle the top with buttered crumbs, and bake in a hot oven from twenty minutes to half an hour. A speck of cayenne is a good addition to make to the sauce. This is a delicious and wholesome dish. The butter is so thoroughly incorporated with the flour of the sauce that it becomes one of the few very easily digested forms of cooked fat.

BOILED FISH

Select any white fish—fresh cod for instance. Prepare it according to the directions given for cleaning fish, put it into a wire vegetable-basket, drop the basket into a dish of boiling salted water, and let it simmer for from fifteen minutes to three quarters of an hour according to the size of the fish (a cod weighing three pounds will require cooking a half hour). Do not allow it to boil rapidly at any time, or it will break. When it is done lift it out of the basket and serve it at once with drawn butter made in the following manner:

Put two tablespoons of butter and one of flour into a saucepan; let them simmer together for two minutes (count the time); then add, a little at a time, a pint of boiling water or of chicken broth, stirring constantly. This will give a smooth cream-like sauce which will be enough for two pounds of fish. Season it with parsley, grated yolks of hard-boiled eggs, a few drops of lemon-juice, a bit each of cayenne and mustard, and a few drops of onion-juice.

CUSTARDS, CREAMS, PUDDINGS, AND BLANC-MANGE

SOFT CUSTARD

(BOILED)

Soft custard is a nutritious dish made of yolk of egg and milk. It is frequently used as a sauce for puddings, but is very good, eaten by itself, for one who is confined to light or liquid diet.

1 Pint of milk. Yolks of two eggs. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt.

Put the milk into a saucepan, and set it on the stove to boil. Beat together the yolks of the eggs, the salt, and the sugar, in a bowl, and when the milk just reaches the boiling-point, pour it in slowly, stirring until all is mixed. Return it to the saucepan without delay, and cook for three minutes, meanwhile stirring it slowly. Carefully endeavor not to either overcook or undercook the custard, for if it is not cooked enough, it will have a raw, unpleasant, "eggy" taste, and if it is cooked too much, it will have the appearance of being curdled. If there is no unnecessary delay in pouring the milk into the egg so that not much of its heat is lost, and if it is returned immediately to the fire, three minutes' exposure to the heat will usually be long enough, but of course the time will vary according to the condition of the fire and the kind of pan used. When done, strain it at once into a cool dish, and flavor it with a teaspoon of vanilla. Soft custard may also be flavored with sherry wine, almond extract, cinnamon-bark, caramel, and nutmeg. It should be of a smooth and even consistency, and as thick as rich cream.

BAKED CUSTARD

(IN CUPS)

1 Pint of milk. 2 Eggs. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. ½ Square inch of cinnamon-bark.

Put the cinnamon and milk together in a saucepan, and set on the stove to heat. Break the eggs into a bowl, add the salt and sugar, and beat them until well mixed, but not light. When the milk boils, pour it on the beaten egg, stir slowly for a minute to dissolve the sugar, and then strain it into custard-cups. Place the cups in a deep iron baking-pan, and pour boiling water around, until it reaches almost to their tops. Bake in a hot oven twenty minutes.

The blue baking-cups which are small at the bottom and widen toward the top are good ones to use. They bear the fire well, and are pretty enough to serve.

By baking the custards in a dish of boiling water, the temperature cannot rise higher than 212° Fahr., and there is less danger of hardening the albumen in the more exposed portions before the middle is cooked enough, than if water is not used. The top is sacrificed—somewhat overcooked—for the sake of the pretty brown color which they should always have. Custards, when done, should be of a perfectly smooth, even, velvety consistence throughout, not curdled or wheyey.

To test them after they have been cooking twenty minutes, dip a pointed knife into water, and plunge it into the middle of the custard. If it comes out clean, the custard is done; if milky, it is not cooked enough, and should be put into the oven for five minutes longer. Do not try every one unless the cups are of different sizes, and make a small, narrow slit, so that their appearance will not be too much injured. This mixture may also be baked in a pudding-dish. Baked custards may be flavored with a variety of substances, among the best of which are grated nutmeg, almond extract, vanilla, and caramel.

To Make Caramel. Boil together one cup of sugar and one third of a cup of water until the color is a rich reddish brown, then add one cup of water, and bottle for use. Two tablespoons of this syrup will be required to flavor a pint of custard.

FRENCH CUSTARD

Make a custard mixture according to the above rule, omitting the cinnamon. Put into the bottom of the custard-cups in which it is to be baked, a teaspoon of raspberry jam. Then with a tunnel pour the custard in slowly. Bake twenty minutes. The jam, if firm, will not mix with the custard. It imparts a nice flavor to the whole, and is an interesting dish to many, who wonder how the jam can be kept from dissolving.

RENNET CUSTARD OR SLIP

Put into a glass pudding-dish a pint of milk, a tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of rennet. Stir to dissolve the sugar, cover it and place it on the stove-hearth, or any warm place, to heat sufficiently for the rennet to act upon the casein of the milk—that is, to about 98° Fahr. As soon as it is "set," or becomes solid, remove to a cool place, so that the separation of the casein shall not go too far and whey appear. When it is cool, serve it in glass dishes. Rennet custard may be flavored with nutmeg grated over the surface, or by stirring in with the rennet a teaspoon of vanilla, or of rose-water, or a tablespoon of wine. When brandy is added, it is called junket.

Liquid rennet is an extract of the inner lining of the stomach of the calf. It has the power of freeing the albuminous part of milk from its solution,—in other words, of coagulating it. Rennet custard is not of course strictly a custard; it is also called slip, and in Cape Cod it bears the graphic name of "Gap-and-swallow."

EGG CREAM

2 Eggs. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Juice and grated rind of half a lemon.

Separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, and beat them with the sugar in a bowl until both are well mixed. Then put in the lemon-juice and rind, and place the bowl in a dish of boiling water on the fire. Stir slowly until the mixture begins to thicken; then add the beaten whites of the eggs and stir for two minutes, or until the whole resembles very thick cream; then remove it from the fire, pour into a small pudding-dish, and set it away to cool. Serve in small pretty china cups, or small glass dishes, for a mid-afternoon lunch or for tea.

VELVET CREAM

¼ Box of gelatine. ¼ Cup of cold water. ¼ Cup of sherry wine. 1 Teaspoon of lemon-juice. ½ Cup of sugar. 1¼ Cups of creamy milk, or 1½ Cups of sweet cream.

Soak the gelatine in the cold water in a bowl for half an hour; then pour in the wine, and set the bowl in a dish of boiling water on the fire. When the gelatine is dissolved, put in the lemon-juice and sugar, stir for a minute to dissolve the sugar, and then strain it through a fine wire strainer into a granite or other metal pan. Set the pan in a dish of ice and water to cool. As soon as it begins to thicken, or is about the consistency of molasses on a warm day, turn in the cream and stir regularly and constantly until it begins to thicken. Before it is quite as hard as it will become, turn it into a glass or pretty china dish, in which it may be served, and set it away in the refrigerator or back in the dish of ice and water until perfectly firm. Serve it in small glass or china dishes, with sweet cream poured over. This cream should be of a perfectly smooth, even consistency, hence the name "velvet cream."

COFFEE CREAM

¼ Box of gelatine. ¼ Cup of cold water. ½ Cup of strong coffee. ½ Cup of sugar. 1½ Cups of sweet cream, or 1¼ Cups of creamy milk.

Soak the gelatine in the cold water for half an hour. Then pour on the coffee, boiling hot, to dissolve it; add the sugar, stir until it is dissolved, and strain the liquid into a granite pan. Set it in iced water to cool; when it has become so, and is beginning to thicken, or is about the consistency of syrup or a little thinner, pour in the cream; stir regularly and evenly for about ten minutes, or until it is thick, but not hard; then turn it into a glass dish while it is still slightly soft, and it will settle into a smooth, even mass. It may be returned to the iced water, or put into a refrigerator, to stiffen.

Coffee cream is similar to velvet cream and the process is exactly the same for both. They are delicious creams, very nutritious, and to be recommended for their excellent nourishing properties and flavors.

To Make the Coffee. Mix two tablespoons of ground fresh Java, or Java and Mocha coffee mixed, with a little cold water and raw egg (either white or yolk) in a coffee-pot. Stir it to thoroughly mix the egg and coffee. Pour in a cup of boiling water, and set it to boil for five minutes. Then move the pot to a less hot part of the stove, where the coffee will barely simmer, for ten minutes, when it will be ready for use.

CHOCOLATE CREAM

2 Tablespoons of sugar. ½ Ounce (½ square) of Baker's chocolate. 1 Pint of cream. Whites of four eggs.

Cook the sugar, chocolate, and cream (sweet cream or, if that cannot be had, rich milk) together in a double boiler until the chocolate is perfectly dissolved. It will require occasional stirring, and should be, when done, entirely free from specks or flakes of chocolate. Then stir in, pouring slowly, the well-beaten whites of the eggs while the cream is still on the stove. Cook for three minutes, or until the albumen is coagulated, but not hardened. It should look creamy and smooth, not curdled. Turn into a pudding-dish and cool.

TAPIOCA CREAM

¼ Cup of granulated tapioca. ¼ Cup of cold water. 1 Pint of milk. 3 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 2 Eggs.

After the tapioca is picked over and washed, put it into a double boiler with the cold water, and let it stand until the water is absorbed. Then pour in the pint of milk, and cook until each grain is transparent and soft. It will take an hour. At this point, beat the eggs, sugar, and salt together until very light, and pour them slowly into the hot pudding, at the same time stirring rapidly, so that the two will be perfectly mixed. After the egg is in, continue to stir for about three minutes, or long enough to cook the egg as it is done in soft custard. The pudding should have the appearance of cream, as the name indicates, with flecks of tapioca all through it. Turn it into a china dish. Serve either hot or cold.

RICE CREAM

2 Tablespoons of rice. 2 Cups of milk. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 2 Eggs.

Cleanse the rice by washing it several times in cold water; cook it in a double boiler with the milk until the grains will mash. Three hours will generally be required to do this. Should the milk evaporate, restore the amount lost. When the rice is perfectly soft, press it through a coarse soup-strainer or colander into a saucepan, return it to the fire, and while it is heating beat the eggs, sugar, and salt together until very light. When the rice boils, pour the egg in rather slowly, stirring lightly with a spoon for three or four minutes, or until it coagulates and the whole is like a thick, soft pudding; then remove from the fire, and pour it into a pretty dish. By omitting the yolks and using the whites of the eggs only, a delicate white cream is obtained.

PEACH FOAM

(DELICIOUS)

Peel and cut into small pieces three or four choice and very ripe peaches (White Heaths are good), so that when done there will be a cupful. Put them into a bowl, with half a cup of powdered sugar, and the white of one egg. Beat with a fork for half an hour, when it will be a thick, perfectly smooth, velvety cream, with a delightful peach flavor, and may be eaten ad libitum by an invalid.

SNOW PUDDING

¼ Box of gelatine. ¼ Cup of cold water. 1 Cup of boiling water. 1 Cup of sugar. ¼ Cup of lemon-juice. Whites of three eggs.[39]

For the sauce:

Yolks of two eggs. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. ½ Saltspoon of salt. 1 Pint of milk. ½ Teaspoon of vanilla.

Divide a box of gelatine into fourths by notching one of the upright edges. Cut off one fourth of the box for a measure, which can afterward be used as a cover. When taking out a fourth, be sure to pack the measure as closely as it was packed in the box. Soak the gelatine in the cold water for half an hour. Then pour on the boiling water, add the sugar and lemon-juice, stir for a minute, and strain through a fine wire strainer into a granite pan; place the pan in iced water to cool. Meanwhile beat the eggs as light as possible, and as soon as the gelatine mixture begins to thicken, or is about as thick as honey, turn in the eggs, and stir slowly and regularly, with the back of the bowl of the spoon against the bottom of the pan, until the egg is mixed completely with the gelatine and the whole nearly stiff. Just before it becomes firm turn it into a melon-mold, and return it to the iced water to harden. It should be perfectly white, literally, like snow.

With the materials for the sauce make a soft custard, cool it, and serve with the pudding either in a pitcher, or poured around it in an ice-cream dish, or other shallow pudding-dish.

PRINCESS PUDDING

¼ Box of gelatine. ¼ Cup of cold water. ¾ Cup of boiling water. 1 Cup of sugar. ½ Cup of white wine (sherry). Juice of one lemon. Whites of three eggs.

For the sauce:

1 Pint of milk. Yolks of two eggs. 3 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 1 Teaspoon of rose-water.

The process is exactly the same as for snow pudding, and it is served in the same manner, with the soft custard for a sauce. Ordinary sherry wine may be used, although white sherry is better.

CORN-STARCH PUDDING

1½ Tablespoons of corn-starch. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 2 Tablespoons of cold water. 1 Pint of milk.

Put the milk on the stove to heat. Mix in a saucepan the corn-starch, sugar, and salt with the cold water, and when the milk has just begun to boil pour it in, slowly at first, stirring all the while. The corn-starch should become thick at once, when it may be poured into a clean double boiler and cooked thirty minutes. The time should be faithfully kept, as corn-starch is an unpalatable and indigestible substance unless thoroughly cooked. See to it that the water in the under boiler actually boils during the thirty minutes. At the end of that time beat one egg very light, and stir it in, pouring slowly, so that it may be mixed all through the hot pudding and puff it up. Then cook for one minute, turn it into a china pudding-dish, or into individual molds, and cool. Serve with cream.

Corn-starch pudding should have a tender consistency and a sweet and wholesome taste. The difficulty with many is that they are not thoroughly cooked, and are too stiff and hard when cool. When you find this to be the case, lessen the amount of corn-starch used. The proportion in this recipe may always be relied upon.

Other similar puddings may be made by substituting in the above recipe arrowroot, flour, or farina for the corn-starch.

BARLEY PUDDING

2 Tablespoons of Robinson's barley flour. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 1 Cup of water (boiling). ½ Cup of rich milk. Whites of three eggs.

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a saucepan with a little cold water. When smooth and free from lumps pour in the boiling water, slowly stirring meanwhile to keep it smooth; then set it on the fire to simmer for ten minutes, continuing the stirring until it is thick. To prevent burning, draw the pan to the side of the stove, unless the fire is very slow, for barley is a grain which sticks and burns easily. At the end of the ten minutes put in the milk, and strain all into a clean saucepan, through a coarse strainer, to make the consistency even. Beat the whites of the eggs until light but not stiff, and stir, not beat, them into the pudding, making it thoroughly smooth before returning it to the fire. Cook for five minutes, stirring and folding the pudding lightly until the egg is coagulated. Then pour it into a china pudding-dish. Serve cold with sweet cream. This is good for one who is just beginning to eat solid food.

CREAM-OF-RICE PUDDING

1 Quart of milk. ½ Cup of rice. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt.

Put the milk, rice, sugar, and salt together in a pudding-dish, stir until the sugar is dissolved, then place the dish in a pan of water, and bake in a slow oven for three hours, cutting in the crust which forms on the top once during the time. Should the pudding become dry, pour over it a little more milk, but this will not happen unless the fire is too hot. When done it ought to be creamy inside, with the grains of rice almost dissolved in the milk. The long exposure to heat changes both the sugar and the starch, and gives them an agreeable flavor.