THE RUDIMENTS OF COOKERY.

The commonly received idea, that what goes under the denomination of “good plain living”—that is, joints of meat, roast or boiled—is best adapted to all constitutions, has been proved to be a fallacy. Many persons can bear testimony to the truth of Dr. Kitchener’s remark, that “elaborate culinary processes are frequently necessary in order to prepare food for the digestive organs.” It may be truly said, that many persons ruin their health by over-indulgence in food rendered indigestible by being badly cooked.

It is our intention to endeavour to correct the prejudice in favour of a family joint—by showing, that it is not only very often improperly cooked, but that the same quantity of meat, if dressed in different ways, still retaining a certain degree of simplicity, will be more pleasant to the palate, more healthful, and quite as economical, if brought to the table, as two or three dishes instead of one.

In French cookery, those substances which are not intended to be broiled or roasted, are usually stewed for several hours at a temperature below the broiling point; by which means the most refractory articles, whether of animal or vegetable origin, are more or less reduced to a state of pulp, and admirably adapted for the further action of the stomach. In the common cookery of this country, on the contrary, articles are usually put at once into a large quantity of water, and submitted, without care or attention, to the boiling temperature; the consequence of which is, that most animal substances, when taken out, are harder and more indigestible than in the natural state.

Diet and Digestion.—From Dr. Beaumont’s Tables it appears that the following articles are digested in the times indicated:

H. M.

Rice, boiled soft 1 0

Apples, sweet and ripe 1 30

Sago, boiled 1 45

Tapioca, Barley, stale Bread, Cabbage with Vinegar, raw, boiled Milk and Bread, and Bread and Milk, cold 2 0

Potatoes, roasted, and Parsnips, boiled 2 30

Baked Custard 2 45

Apple Dumpling 3 0

Bread, Corn, baked, and Carrots, boiled 3 15

Potatoes and Turnips, boiled; Butter and Cheese 3 30

Tripe and Pigs’ Feet 1 0

Venison 1 35

Oysters, undressed, and Eggs, raw 2 3

Turkey and Goose 2 30

Eggs, soft boiled; Beef and Mutton, roasted or broiled 3 0

Boiled Pork, stewed Oysters, Eggs, hard boiled or fried 3 30

Domestic Fowls 4 0

Wild Fowls; Pork, salted and boiled; Suet 4 30

Veal, roasted; Pork, and salted Beef 5 30

When the powers of the stomach are weak, a hard and crude diet is sure to produce discomfort by promoting acidity; while the very same article when divided, and well cooked upon French principles, or rather the principles of common sense, can be taken with impunity, and easily digested.

There are only a few persons—with the exception, perhaps, of those who take violent exercise, or work hard in the open air—who can dine heartily upon solid food without suffering from its effects; yet in order to escape indigestion, plain roast or boiled meat should be very sparingly consumed.

The foundation of all good cookery consists in preparing the meat so as to render it tender in substance, without extracting from it those juices which constitute its true flavour; in doing which, the main point in the art of making those soups, sauces, and made-dishes of every sort, which should form so large a portion of every well-ordered dinner, as well, also, as in cooking many of the plain family joints—is boiling, or rather stewing, which ought always to be performed over a slow fire. There is, in fact, no error so common among English cooks as that of boiling meat over a strong fire, which renders large joints hard and partly tasteless; while, if simmered during nearly double the time, with less than half the quantity of fuel and water, and never allowed to “boil up,” the meat, without being too much done, will be found both pliant to the tooth and savoury to the palate.

For instance. The most common and almost universal dish throughout France, is a large piece of plainly-boiled fresh beef, from which the soup—or “potage,” as it is there called—has been partly made, and which is separately served up as “bouilli,” accompanied by strong gravy and minced vegetables, or stewed cabbage. Now this, as constantly dressed in the French mode, is ever delicate both in fibre and flavour; while, in the English manner of boiling it, it is almost always hard and insipid. The reason of which, as explained by that celebrated cook, Carême, who superintended the kitchen of His Majesty George IV., is this:—“The meat, instead of being put down to boil, as in the English method, is in France put in the pot with the usual quantity of cold water, and placed at the corner of the fire-place, where, slowly becoming hot, the heat gradually swells the muscular fibres of the beef, dissolving the gelatinous substances therein contained, and disengaging that portion which chemists term ‘osmazome,’ and which imparts savour to the flesh—thus both rendering the meat tender and palatable, and the broth relishing and nutritive; whilst, on the contrary, if the pot be inconsiderately put upon too quick a fire, the boiling is precipitated, the fibre coagulates and hardens, the osmazome is hindered from disengaging itself, and thus nothing is obtained but a piece of tough meat, and a broth without taste or succulence.”

Meat loses, by cooking, from one-fifth to one-third of its whole weight. More is lost by roasting than by boiling meat. In calculating for a family, one pound per day for each individual is a general allowance for dinner.

Meat that is not to be cut till cold must be well done, particularly in summer.

The use of skewers in joints should be avoided as much as possible, as they let out the gravy; twine will answer better.

In every branch of cookery much must be left to the discretion of the cook and knowledge of the family’s taste; particularly in force-meats and seasonings.

Suet.—When sirloins of beef, or loins of veal or mutton, are brought in, part of the suet may be cut off for puddings, or to clarify. Chopped fine and mixed with flour, if tied down in a jar, it will keep ten days or a fortnight. If there be more suet than will be used while fresh, throw it into pickle, made in the proportion of one quarter pound of salt to a quart of cold water, and it will be as good afterwards for any use, when soaked a little.

To remove the taint of meat, wash it several times in cold water; then put it into plenty of cold water, into which throw several pieces of red-hot charcoal. If you fear meat will not keep till the time it is wanted, par-roast or par-boil it, that is, partly cook it; it will then keep two days longer, when it may be dressed as usual, but in rather less time.

When meat is frozen it should be brought into the kitchen and laid at some distance from the fire, early in the morning; or soak the meat in cold water two or three hours before it is used; putting it near the fire, or into warm water, till thawed, should be avoided.

Meats become tenderer and more digestible, as well as better flavoured by hanging. In summer two days is enough for lamb and veal, and from three to four for beef and mutton. In cold weather, the latter may be kept for double that time.

Legs and shoulders should be hung knuckle downwards.

An effectual way of excluding the fly is by using a wire meat-safe, or by covering the joints with a long loose gauze or some thin cloth, and hanging them from the ceiling of an airy room. Pepper and ginger should be sprinkled on the parts likely to be attacked by the fly, but should be washed off before the joint is put to the fire.

A larder should always be placed on the north side of the house; the window may be closed with canvas, but wire is preferable. There should be a thorough draft of air through the room.

Articles that are likely to spoil should not be kept in or laid upon wood.

Warm, moist weather is the worse for keeping meat; the south wind is very unfavourable, and lightning very destructive; so that after their occurrence meat should be especially examined.

Boiling.—This is the most simple of all processes of cooking. Regularity and attention to time are the main secrets.

Much less heat is requisite to keep liquids boiling in copper and iron saucepans than in those made of tin.

There is frequently a great waste of fuel in cooking, which arises from boiling liquids fast, when they only require to boil slowly. Count Rumford (the inventor of the Rumford stove) states, that more than half the fuel used in kitchens is wasted in the above manner.

It is a sad waste to put fuel under a boiling pot. There is a degree of heat in water called the boiling point; and all the coals or wood in the world cannot make water hotter in an open vessel; it can but boil. By this waste, the cook not only loses time but spoils the cookery.

The average time for boiling fresh meat is from eighteen to twenty minutes for every pound: thus, a joint weighing six pounds will require from one hour and three-quarters to two hours boiling. Salted meat requires rather more boiling, and water; fresh killed meat longer time: and all meats longer in cold than warm weather. It is, however, better to be guided, for time, by the thickness of the joint than by its weight.

Dried or salted fish and meats require soaking in cold water before boiling.

Meat and poultry will lose their flavour and firmness, if left in the water after they are done; as will also fish, which will break to pieces.

The water in which fish, meat, or poultry has been boiled, should be saved; this pot-liquor, as it is called, may be made into soup.

Slow boiling is very important for all meats, to ensure their tenderness; fast boiling always makes them hard and tough, less plump, and of darker colour, than when they are boiled gradually.

Skimming the pot will alone ensure the good colour and sweetness of the meat; a little cold water and salt will aid in throwing up the scum: milk put into the pot does good in few cases only; and wrapping in a cloth is unnecessary, if the scum be carefully removed.

The lid of the saucepan should only be removed for skimming; and, before taking off the lid, be careful to blow from it any dust or blacks from the fire or chimney.

The joint should always be covered with water; above this quantity, the less water the more savoury will be the meat.

In some few instances, however, it may be necessary to boil the articles in a much larger quantity of water; a quart of water is mostly a good proportion to a pound of meat.

If meat be put into cold water, it should be heated gradually, so as not to cause it to boil in less than forty minutes; if it boil much sooner, the meat will shrink and be hardened, and not so freely throw up the scum.

Four skewers, or a plate, inside downwards, should be laid on the bottom of the saucepan, especially for large joints and puddings; so that they may be equally done, and escape burning or adhering to the saucepan.

When a pot boils, remove it nearly off the fire, but let the lid remain on; a very little heat will then keep up the boiling.

The time of boiling should be reckoned from the time bubbles begin to rise on the surface of the liquid; as the boiling continues, the water will evaporate, and in some cases it may be requisite to fill up the saucepan with boiling water.

Vegetables and meat are sometimes steamed: that is, they are put into vessels resembling cullenders, and being placed over boiling water, the steam from it rises through the holes of the vessel, and then through the vegetables and meat, which are thus as effectually boiled as if they were put into the boiling water.

Roasting.—The success of every branch of cookery depends upon the good management of the kitchen fire: roasting, especially, requires a brisk, clear, and steady fire; if made up close to the bars of the grate.

The spit being wiped clean, the joint to be roasted should be carefully spitted even, and tied tight; and if it will not turn round well, balance skewers, with leaden heads, should be used; for, if the meat be not evenly spitted, it will probably be burned on one side, and not done on the other. Avoid running the spit through the prime parts of joints. Cradle spits answer best.

A leg of mutton should never be spitted, as the spit lets out the gravy, and leaves an unsightly perforation just as you are cutting into the pope’s eye.

Make up the roasting-fire three or four inches longer than the joint, else the ends of the meat will not be done.

In stirring the fire, be careful to remove the dripping-pan, else dust and ashes may fall in. On no account let the fire get dull and low, as a strong heat is requisite to brown the meat.

A thin joint requires a brisk fire; a large joint, a strong, sound, and even fire. When steam rises from the meat, it is done.

Large joints should be put at a moderate distance from the fire, and gradually brought nearer; else the meat will be over-done half-way through the joint, and be nearly raw at the bone.

Such meat as is not very fat should have paper placed over it, to prevent it from being scorched.

Do not sprinkle the meat with salt when first put down, as the salt draws out the gravy.

Old meats require more cooking than young. The longer the meat has been killed, the less time it requires to roast it. Very fat meat requires more time than usual.

The general rule is to allow fifteen minutes to a pound for roasting with a good fire, and ten or twenty minutes over, as the family like it well done or not.

Baste the meat first with fresh dripping, and then with its own fat or dripping: and within the last hour of roasting, take off the paper, and sprinkle the meat with salt and flour, to brown and froth it; but some cooks dredge the meat with flour earlier, so that it may imbibe the gravy, a practice which should be specially avoided.

The spit should be wiped dry immediately after it is drawn from the meat, and washed and scoured every time it is used.

Perfection in roasting is very difficult, and no certain rules can be given for it, as success depends on many circumstances which are continually changing: the age and size (especially the thickness) of the pieces, the quality of the coals, the weather, the currents of air in the kitchen, the more or less attention of the cook, and the time of serving, are all to be considered. Hence, epicures say of a well-roasted joint, “It is done to a turn.”

Roast meats should be sent to table the moment they are ready, if they are to be eaten in perfection.

Broiling.—Broiling requires a brisk and clear fire, proportioned to the article to be broiled; for example, mutton chops require a clear rather than a brisk fire, else the fat will be wasted before the lean is warmed through; but for a beef-steak, the fire can neither be too brisk nor clear, if the gridiron be placed at the proper distance. Fish requires a steady fire; as also does under-done meat.

Much, however, depends on the substance of the article to be broiled; if it be thick, it must be placed at a greater distance, at first, to warm it through; if thin, the fire must be brisk, else the meat will not be of a good colour.

The gridiron should be wiped clean after it has been used, so that the bars may be kept bright on top; they should be allowed to get hot before the article is laid on them, but not too hot, else they will burn the meat or fish; the latter, especially. To prevent this, the bars should be rubbed with fat.

A charcoal fire is best for broiling.

To prevent the fat dripping into the fire, set the gridiron aslant.

For turning the broiling article, use tongs, as a fork will let out the gravy. When the article is done, it will feel firm if touched with the tongs; by no means cut the meat to ascertain if it be done, as that will let out the gravy.

Frying—is “to scorch something solid in fat, or oil,” or butter. Lard, clarified suet, or dripping, are well adapted for fish, eggs, potatoes, and meat generally. Olive oil is much used for fish; and the same oil will serve for more than one frying. Butter is used, but it is not as well adapted for frying as either of the other articles.

Be careful that the fat or oil is fresh, clean, and free from salt, else what you fry in it will be of a bad colour and flavour; salt will prevent it from browning.

Fat or oil, to be used again, should be strained through a sieve before it is set aside.

Fat becomes richer from having meat fried into it, and may be used repeatedly; but the fat that has been used for fish cannot be used again for meat.

The fat must have left off bubbling and be quite still before you put in the articles.

To prepare crumbs for frying, dry thoroughly in a warm oven, or before the fire, any waste pieces of bread; then pound them in a mortar and sift them, and put them away till wanted. This is much better than grating bread as it is needed, or using oatmeal, &c.

When you wish fried things to look as well as possible, do them twice over with egg and crumbs.

If eggs be very dear, a little flour and water may be substituted for them in preparing fish to fry.

In frying, use a slice to lift the articles in and out of the pan, and drain them.

To make batter for frying: melt two ounces of butter in a little warm water, and pour it upon half a pound of flour; stir it and add water enough to form a batter, thick enough to adhere to whatever is put into it; but it should run freely: add some salt and the beaten whites of two eggs.

A small shallow frying-pan, or sauté pan, as it is called, is very useful to fry articles to be stewed: this method differs from common frying, as it only requires butter enough to keep the article from sticking to the pan and burning.

The fire for frying should be free from smoky coals, sharp, and even. Charcoal makes the best frying fire.

The fat should be carefully drained from all fried articles; indeed, they should be so dry as scarcely to soil a cloth. Fish is best drained by wrapping it in soft white-brown paper, by which it will so dry as not to soil the napkin upon which it is served.

Stewing.—All articles to be stewed should first be boiled gently, then skimmed and set aside in an even heat: on this account, charcoal makes the best fire for stewing.

All stews, or meat dressed a second time should be only simmered, as the meat should only be made hot through.

A stewpan is the most advantageous vessel in which stews, hashes, soups, or gravies, can be made; indeed, for all purposes of boiling, a stewpan is preferable to a deep saucepan, as, in the former, the articles are exposed to more even heat than when they are placed one upon another in the saucepan, and are likely to be broken in stirring.

The best stewpans are made of copper or iron; they should be kept covered as much as possible, unless you wish to reduce the gravy.

Be careful not to fry in a stewpan; or, if so, with great care, and sufficient butter to save the tinning from melting.

Most of the directions for making soups and gravies apply also to this branch of cookery.

Baking.—Baking is the least advantageous mode of cookery; for by it meat loses about one-third of its weight.

Iron ovens are ill-adapted for baking meat or meat-pies; fruit-pies, pastry, and puddings, may, however, be baked in them.

Larding.—Have ready larding-pins of different sizes, according to the article to be done; cut slices of bacon into bits of proper length, quite smooth, and put on a larding-needle to suit it, with which pierce the skin and a very little of the meat, leaving the bacon in, and the two ends of equal length outwards. Lard in rows the size you think fit.

The same effect with regard to flavour, may be produced by raising the skin and laying a slice of fat bacon beneath it.

Doubing consists in passing bacon through meat, while larding is on the surface only.

Braising.—Put the meat you would braise into a stewpan, and cover it with thick slices of fat bacon: then lay round it six or eight onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, some celery, and if to be brown, some thick slices of carrots, and trimmings of any fresh meat-bones you have, with a pint and a half of water, or the same quantity of stock, according to what the meat is, and add seasoning. Cover the pan close, and set it over a slow stove; it will require two or three hours, as its size and quality may direct. Then strain the gravy; keep the meat quite hot; take the fat off by plunging the basin into cold water, which will cause the fat to coagulate; and boil it as quickly as you can till it thickens. If, however, you wish the gravy to adhere to the meat; it must be still further thickened; then with a brush kept for the purpose do over the meat, and if that has been larded, put it into the oven for a few minutes. This is called “glazing,” and is much in use for made-dishes.

Glazing is done by brushing melted glaze or jelly over the article, and letting it cool; in some cases it is requisite to cover the articles with two or three coats of glaze, allowing each to cool as it is laid on. The glaze should be of a clear yellow brown, and as thick as good treacle.

If you have not the glaze ready, sift a little sugar over the article to be glazed, and finish in the oven, with a salamander, or red-hot shovel.

Boning.—In disengaging the flesh from the bones, work the knife always close to the bone, and take care not to pierce the outer skin. Minute directions are given in other parts of the work for boning fowls, &c.

Blanching makes the article plump and white, and consists in putting it into cold water over the fire, allowing it to boil up, and then plunging it into cold water, where the article should remain until cold.

Danger from Copper Saucepans.—The precise danger from the use of copper saucepans, or stewpans, imperfectly tinned, is far from rightly understood. It appears that the acid contained in stews and other made-dishes, as lemon-juice, though it does not dissolve copper by being merely boiled in it a few minutes, nevertheless, if allowed to cool and stand in it for some time, will acquire poisonous matter, as verdigris, in the form of a green band, or crust, inside the vessel. It has likewise been proved that weak solutions of common salt, such as are daily made by adding a little salt to boiling vegetables, fish, or meat, act powerfully on copper vessels, although strong solutions or brine would not affect them.

It is, however, in vain to hope that cooks will attend to the nice distinctions by which copper stewpans may be rendered safe; the general advice given by prudent physicians is, therefore, against their use at all.

The kettles in which the soups are made should be well tinned, and kept particularly clean, by being washed in hot water and rubbed dry before they are put away. If they are not kept well tinned, the taste as well as the colour of the soup will be liable to be affected by the iron; and if the soup-kettle be made of copper, and the tinning not quite perfect, everything cooked in it will be more or less poisonous, as everything which is sweet, salt, or sour, extracts verdigris from copper.

HOW TO TOAST WELL.

In toasting bread, we wish to get out the water that remains, and which makes the bread cold, waxy, and heavy of digestion. Perhaps we shall be best understood if we first explain what makes bad toast of a piece of bread, or rather no toast at all, but merely a piece of bread with two burned surfaces, more wet and waxy in the heart than ever; and which not a particle of butter will enter, and if put by for an hour or two and allowed to cool, will get as tough as possible. If the slice of bread is brought into close contact with a strong fire, the surface becomes covered with, or rather converted into charcoal, before the heat produces any effect on the interior of the slice. This being done, the other side is turned, and has its surface converted into charcoal in the same manner. The consequence of this will be, that not a particle of butter will enter such a piece of toast, but only remain upon the surface, and if vexed with additional fire, turns to a rancid oil of the most unwholesome description. Charcoal, as every one knows, is a very bad conductor of heat, and as such is used between the cylinders and casings of steam engines; it is no consequence whether the said charcoal be formed of wood, of flour, or any other substance, for its qualities are in every case the same. Now, when the surfaces of the slice of bread are over-charred in this manner, there is an end to all toasting, as no heat can be communicated to the interior, and not one drop can be evaporated or drawn away. In this state the slice of bread may be wholly burned to charcoal; but until it is altogether so burned, the unburned part will become more and more wet and unwholesome. Hence, if you would have a slice of bread so toasted as to be pleasant to the palate, and wholesome and easily digested, never let one particle of the surface be charred. Chesnut brown is even far too deep for a good toast; and the colour of a fox is rather too deep. The nearer it can be kept to a straw colour, the more delicious to the taste, and the more wholesome it will be. The method of obtaining this is very obvious. It consists in keeping the bread at the proper distance from the fire, and exposing it to a proper heat, for a due length of time; or it may be done, placed on edge the same way as dry toast is brought to table, in a rack, in an iron or brick oven of a proper heat. For those who “make the toast,” especially if a large quantity be required, it is generally a tedious process, and for this reason it is commonly hurried. But if the toasting fork was discarded, and its place supplied by a small apparatus made of wire, long enough to hold three or four pieces at a time, and so contrived as to slide in or out to any required distance from the fire, the bread might be placed in it, and the process of toasting carried on, while the servant was at liberty to do her other work. Of course, the “Toast Holder” would require to be made differently, to suit particular shaped grates and fire-places.

If not cut too thin, if placed at the proper distance from the fire, and continued long enough, care being taken that not a single black, or even dark brown spot, makes its appearance on the surface, the slice of bread may be toasted through and through; and it is this operation which makes properly toasted bread so much more wholesome than bread which is not toasted, and still more preferable to bread burned on the surface and sodden in the interior. By this means the whole of the water may be drawn out of it, and it may be changed from dough, which has always a tendency to undergo the acetous fermentation in the stomach, to the pure farina of wheat, which is in itself one of the most wholesome species of food we have, not only for the strong and healthy, but more particularly so for the delicate and diseased. As it is turned to pure farina, the tough and gluey nature is gone, every part can be penetrated, all parts are equally warm, and no part is so warm as to turn the butter into oil, which, even in the case of the best butter is invariably turning a wholesome substance into an injurious substance. There is another circumstance regarding the buttering of a rightly toasted slice. The dough, being a compound of water, repels the butter, which is an oil; but the dried farina allows the butter to penetrate the whole slice equally through. There is more advantage in this than some may suppose. Butter in masses (whatever may be its quality) is too heavy for the stomach; though butter divided with sufficient minuteness, and not suffered to pass into an oil, makes a most valuable addition to many kinds of food. The properly toasted bread absorbs the butter, but does not convert it to oil: and both butter and farina are in a state of very minute division, the one serving to expose the other to the free action of gastric fluid in the stomach; and that this fluid shall be able to penetrate the whole mass of the food, and act upon it in small portions, is the grand secret of healthful digestion; so that when a slice of toast is rightly prepared, there is, perhaps, not a lighter article in the whole vocabulary of cookery. Unfermented brown bread, treated in this way, forms an excellent substitute for biscuits, and is in some respects superior, as it may be eaten with impunity by those persons with whom biscuits may disagree.

SUGGESTIONS TO HOUSEKEEPERS.

The housewife should always, where it is possible, do her marketing herself, and pay ready-money for everything she purchases. This is the only way in which she can be sure of getting the best goods at the lowest price. We repeat, that this is the only way compatible with strict economy; because, if a servant be entrusted with the buying, she will, if she is not a good judge of the quality of articles, bring home those she can get for the least money (and these are seldom the cheapest), and even if she is a good judge, it is ten to one against her taking the trouble to make a careful selection. When the ready-money system is found inconvenient, and an account is run with a tradesman, the mistress of the house ought to have a pass-book, in which she should write down all the orders herself, leaving the tradesman to fill in only the prices. Where this is not done, and the mistress neglects to compare the pass-book with the goods ordered every time they are brought in, it sometimes happens, either by mistake, or the dishonesty of the tradesman or his shopman, or the servant, that goods are entered which were never ordered, and that those which were ordered are overcharged; and if these errors are not detected at the time, they are sure to be difficult of adjustment afterwards. Let the housewife, therefore, by all means avoid running accounts, and pay ready-money. By so doing she will escape a great deal of trouble and anxiety, besides saving the extra price which the tradesman charges upon all goods sold on credit, and to which he is justly entitled, both as interest for his money and to cover the losses to which the system sometimes subjects him.

In purchasing perishable goods, care should be taken to get everything as fresh and new as possible. This is absolutely necessary in the case of vegetables, ripe fruits, eggs, butter, and fish generally, as these cannot be used in too fresh a condition; but, as butcher’s meat requires to be kept some time, it may, where the butcher’s word can be trusted as to the day on which it was killed, be purchased ready for cooking. Indeed this must often be done when a small supply of cut meat, such as steaks or chops, is required. As, however, it is the butcher’s interest to sell off his meat while it is fresh, in order to avoid the loss arising from its spoiling on his hands, he will seldom have any prime pieces which have been kept long enough for immediate use, so that it is much safer, as a general rule, to ask for it fresh, and keep it at home. Perhaps the best plan is to ascertain which day of the week is the butcher’s regular “killing day,” and to buy upon that day only, a quantity sufficient to last some time,—which quantity must be determined by the season of the year; for, since meat keeps much longer in winter than in summer, a larger stock may be laid in then. Many a good dinner has been spoiled, and many a fine piece of meat wasted, and this not from ignorance of the time it ought to be kept, but from inattention to the above rule.

When it is ascertained where the best and cheapest articles are sold, it is as well to lay in as large a stock as can be afforded at one time, of those provisions which do not spoil by keeping. By so doing, the housewife will not only have a good supply of the best always at hand, but will also be allowed certain discounts from the price, which she would not otherwise obtain, besides saving much time and trouble in shopping. Not only will she have to go oftener to the shop for small supplies, but it may frequently happen that, when she applies for a second small quantity of an article that has been approved of, she may find the dealer’s stock of that particular commodity renewed, and the new supply not so good; and then she will either have to purchase an inferior article, or to wander from shop to shop in search of a better. Of course this rule must be disregarded when, at the time of purchase, there is reason to expect an immediate fall in the price. For instance, it would be absurd to buy a three months’ supply of tea at 4s., with the knowledge that within a month there might be such a reduction of duty upon it as would lower its price to 2s. Such cases, however, occur very rarely.

HOW TO COOK POTATOES.

The goodness of a potato materially depends upon the skill of the cook. We here introduce a few modes of preparing it for the table, not commonly in use:—

Potatoes Mashed with Onions.—Prepare some boiled onions, by putting them through a sieve, and mix them with potatoes.

Potato Snow.—Pick out the whitest potatoes, put them on in cold water; when they begin to crack, strain, and put them in a clean stewpan before the fire till they are quite dry and fall to pieces; rub them through a wire sieve or the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not disturb them afterwards.

Potato Scones.—Mash boiled potatoes till they are quite smooth, adding a little salt; then knead out with flour, or barley-meal, to the thickness required; toast on the girdle, pricking them with a fork to prevent them blistering. When eaten with fresh or salt butter, they are equal to crumpets—even superior, and very nutritious.

Potatoes Fried Whole.—When nearly boiled enough, put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter; or some clean beef dripping; shake them about often, to prevent burning, till they are brown and crisp; drain them from the fat. It will be an improvement if they are floured and dipped into the yolk of an egg, and then rolled in finely sifted bread crumbs.

Potatoes Escalloped.—Mash potatoes in the usual way; then butter some nice clean scallop shells, patty-pans, or tea-cups or saucers; put in the potatoes; make them smooth at the top; cross a knife over them; strew a few fine bread crumbs on them; sprinkle them with a paste-brush with a few drops of melted butter, and set them in a Dutch oven. When nicely browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells, and brown on the other side. Cold potatoes may be warmed up this way.

Potatoes Fried in Slices.—Peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them into shavings, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, and as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the slices of potato, and keep moving them until they are crisp; take them up, and lay them to drain on a sieve. Send to table with a little salt sprinkled over them.

Potato Pie.—Peel and slice the potatoes very thin into a pie-dish; between each layer of potatoes put some chopped onions; between each layer, sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh butter into bits, and lay them on the top; cover it close with paste. The yolks of four eggs may be added; and when baked, a table-spoonful of good mushroom ketchup poured in through a funnel.—Another method is to put between the layers small bits of mutton, beef, or pork. In Cornwall, turnips are added. This constitutes (on the Cornish method) a cheap and satisfactory dish for families.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING PASTRY.

IN making pastry or cakes, it is best to begin by weighing out the ingredients, sifting the flour, pounding and sifting the sugar and spice, washing the butter, and preparing the fruit. Sugar can be powdered by pounding it in a large mortar, or by rolling it on a paste-board with a rolling-pin. It should be made very fine and always sifted. All sorts of spice should be pounded in a mortar, except nutmeg, which it is better to grate. If spice is wanted in large quantities, it may be ground in a mill. The butter should always be fresh and very good. Wash it in cold water before you use it, and then make it up with your hands into hard lumps, squeezing the water well out. If the butter and sugar are to be stirred together, always do that before the eggs are beaten, as (unless they are kept too warm) the butter and sugar will not be injured by standing awhile. For stirring them, nothing is so convenient as a round hard stick, about a foot and a half long, and somewhat flattened at one end. The eggs should not be beaten till after the other ingredients are ready, as they will fall very soon. If the whites and yolks are to be beaten separately, do the whites first, as they will stand longer. Eggs should be beaten in a broad shallow pan, spreading wide at the top. Butter and sugar should be stirred in a deep pan with straight sides. Break every egg by itself, in a saucer, before you put it into the pan, that in case there should be any bad ones, they may not spoil the others. Eggs are beaten most expeditiously with whisks. A small quantity of white of egg may be beaten with a knife, or a three-pronged fork.—I have found the above directions of great use in my housekeeping, and I can confidently recommend them.—J. M.

TO MAKE BARLEY WATER PROPERLY.

Either Scotch or pearl-barley may be used. The former is much less expensive, and answers equally well. Soak an ounce in several waters; put it, with some lemon-peel, into a quart of boiling water and infuse it for an hour. Then strain. This will be of a sufficient thickness; but, if it be desired thicker, it is but varying the quantity of barley. This is a cooling drink, and admits of additions either for flavour or medicinal use. The juice and rind of lemons, with loaf sugar, are most agreeable.

Figs, raisins, liquorice root, honey, and gum arabic, are often used either for coughs, cold on the chest, confined bowels, strangury, &c. Powdered nitre is often used in feverish complaints, and given in barley water; a drachm to a quart is a good proportion.

The method of mixing either nitre or powdered gum arabic, is to rub the powder smooth with sugar or honey; then mix it with a spoonful or two of the barley water, and stir it in the whole while in a boiling state. As a nourishing drink, boil the barley in water till it thickens. When reduced, and quite thick, strain, and mix with an equal quantity of new milk; sweeten it to your taste. A bit of cinnamon, or two laurel leaves, may be boiled in it for flavour.

Thick barley water, with milk and a little salt and sugar, is a suitable food for infants, when they begin to take what is at all thickened. Barley may be used in broth or stew, or to make a pudding.

The valuable sanatory qualities of barley have long been known and appreciated. Providence designed it as an especial boon to mankind; for, of all the cultivated grains, it is perhaps that which comes to perfection in the greatest variety of climates, and is found over the greatest extent of the habitable world.

SCOTCH PORRIDGE.

For four persons. Boil three pints of water in a clean saucepan, add a tea-spoonful of salt, mix, very gradually, one pound of fine oatmeal, stirring round constantly while you put in the meal with a round stick about twelve inches long, called a “spirtle.” Continue the stirring for fifteen minutes, then pour into soup-plates. Allow them to cool for about ten minutes, then serve with half a pint of sweet milk to each person.

Scotch porridge is one of the most nutritive diets that can be given, especially to young persons. They are sometimes made with milk instead of water, but the mixture is rather rich for delicate stomachs.

ECONOMY IN THE USE OF BUTCHER’S MEAT.

Of beef, the round is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts: it is usually boiled, and like most of the boiling parts of beef, is generally sold in London at a penny per pound less than the roasting joints.

The brisket is also a penny a pound less in price than the roasting parts: it is not so economical a part as the round, having more bone to be weighed with it, and more fat. Where there are children, very fat joints are not desirable, being often disagreeable to them, and sometimes prejudicial, especially if they have a dislike to it. This joint also requires more cooking than many others; that is to say, it requires a double allowance of time to be given for boiling it: it will, when served, be hard and scarcely digestible if no more time be allowed to boil it than that which is sufficient for other joints and meats. When stewed it is excellent; and when cooked fresh (i. e. unsalted), an excellent stock for soup may be extracted from it, and yet the meat will serve as well for dinner.

The edgebone, or aitch-bone, is not considered to be a very economical joint, the bone being large in proportion to the meat; but the greater part of it, at least, is as good as that of any prime part. It sells at a penny a pound less than roasting joints.

The rump is the part of which the London butcher makes great profit, by selling it in the form of steaks. In the country, as there is not an equal demand for steaks, the whole of it may be purchased as a joint, and at the price of other prime parts. It may be turned to good account in producing many excellent dishes. If salted, it is simply boiled; if used unsalted, it is usually stewed.

The veiny piece is sold at a low price per pound; but if hung for a day or two, it is very good and very profitable. Where there are a number of servants and children to have an early dinner, this part of beef will be found desirable.

From the leg and shin excellent stock for soup may be drawn; and if not reduced too much, the meat taken from the bones may be served as a stew with vegetables; or it may be seasoned, pounded with butter, and potted; or chopped very fine, and seasoned with herbs, and bound together by egg and bread crumbs; it may be fried in balls, or in the form of large eggs, and served with a gravy made with a few spoonfuls of the soup.

Of half an ox cheek excellent soup may be made; the meat, when taken from the bones, may be served as a stew.

Roasting parts of beef are the sirloin and the ribs, and these bear in all places the highest price. The most profitable of these two joints at a family table is the ribs. The bones, if removed from the beef before it is roasted, will assist in forming the basis of a soup. When boned, the meat of the ribs is often rolled up, tied with strings, and roasted: and this is the best way of using it, as it enables the carver to distribute equally the upper part of the meat with the more skinny and fatter parts at the lower ends of the bones.

Of Mutton, the leg and haunch are the most profitable joints, although in price higher than the shoulder or neck. But these last joints are sold at a less price per pound than others.

The loin and saddle (the two loins not separated) are expensive joints, not in price only, but in the great proportion of fat and bone belonging to them. They are considered to be prime parts.

Of Lamb, the hind quarter is more advantageous in use than the fore, but can scarcely be regarded as an economical part. In hot weather, and in a small family, the joints which the quarters form, when divided, are of so convenient a size as to render them much in request.

Of Veal, the leg, from which the fillet is taken, the shoulder, the neck, and the loin, are all in turn serviceable in a family. When the leg is purchased altogether, without dividing the knuckle from it, the butcher usually considerably remits the price. In summer, he is often willing to sell the leg altogether at twopence per pound less than he would sell the fillet alone.

HINTS ABOUT SALADS.

This is a point of proficiency which, with care, it is easy to attain. The main point is, to incorporate the several articles required for the sauce, and to serve up at table as fresh as possible. The herbs should be “morning gathered,” and they will be much refreshed by lying an hour or two in spring water. Careful picking, and washing, and drying in a cloth, in the kitchen, are also very important, and the due proportion of each herb requires attention. The sauce may be thus prepared:—Boil two eggs for ten or twelve minutes, and then put them in cold water for a few minutes, so that the yolks may become cold and hard. Rub them through a coarse sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a table-spoonful of water or cream, and then add two table-spoonfuls of fine flask oil, or melted butter; mix, and add by degrees, a tea-spoonful of salt, and the same quantity of mustard; mix till smooth, when incorporate with the other ingredients about three table-spoonfuls of vinegar; then pour this sauce down the side of the salad-bowl, but do not stir up the salad till wanted to be eaten. Garnish the top of the salad with the white of the eggs cut in slices; or these may be arranged in such manner as to be ornamental on the table. Some may fancy they are able to prepare a salad without previous instruction, but like everything else, a little knowledge in this case may not be thrown away.