Reform Cookery Book (4th edition)
by Mrs. Mill · English · Gutenberg #11067 · 293,883 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Reform Cookery Book (4th edition)
Author: Mrs. Mill
Release date: February 1, 2004 [eBook #11067]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11067
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REFORM COOKERY BOOK (4TH EDITION) ***
WHERE TO MARKET.
When difficulty is experienced in procuring any of the articles mentioned in
this book, the name of the nearest Agent can be obtained by sending a post
card to the Maker. The following stock a selection of these goods:--
EDINBURGH, HEALTH FOODS DEPOT, 40 Hanover St. _Health Foods and
Specialties, including all "Wallace" Goods._
RICHARDS & Co., 73 N. Hanover Street.
GLASGOW, THE HEALTH FOOD SUPPLY Co., 363 New City Rd., 73 Dundas St.,
& 430 Argyle St. _Wholesale, Retail, and Export Manufacturers and Dealers
in every description of Vegetarian Health Foods._
THE "ARCADIAN" FOOD REFORM RESTAURANT AND HEALTH FOOD STORES, 132 St.
Vincent Street.
CRANSTON'S TEA ROOMS, Ltd., 28 Buchanan Street and 43 Argyll Arcade.
ABERDEEN, JOHN WATT, 209 Union Street.
DUNDEE, J.P. CLEMENT & CO., 256-258 Hilltown.
J.F. CROAL, Crichton Street.
PEEBLES BROTHERS, Whitehall Crescent.
THOMAS ROGER & SON, Newport-on-Tay.
GREENOCK, CLYDESIDE FOOD STORES, 13-15 Charles St. With Branches at
Helensburgh, Dunoon, Rothesay, Largs, and at 35 Causeyside, Paisley.
BIRMINGHAM, PITMAN STORES, 121-131 Aston Brook St.
R. WINTER, City Arcades and New Street.
BRISTOL, HEALTH FOOD STORES, St James', Barton.
LEEDS, "HEALTH" STORES, 124 Albion Street.
HEALTH FOOD STORES, 48 Woodhouse Lane.
MANCHESTER, VEGETARIAN STORES, 257 Deansgate.
MAPLETON'S NUT FOOD CO., Ltd., Paget Street, Rochdale Road.
WARDLE (LANCS.) MAPLETON'S NUT FOOD CO., Ltd. Pioneers and Inventors
of Nut Cream Butters. List of 150 varieties of Nut Goods on application.
LIVERPOOL, CHAPMAN'S HEALTH FOODS DEPOT, Eberle Street.
LONDON, THE WALLACE BAKERY, 465 Battersea Park Road, S.W.
* * * * * *
THE HEALTH FOOD SUPPLY CO.,
GLASGOW.
_THE FIRST IN THE FIELD_
We manufactured Health Foods eight Years Ago in London, and
to-day are the Largest Dealers in and Manufacturers of Vegetarian
Foods in North Britain.
Our VEGETABLE MEATS are the Original, and are unequalled in quality
or prices.
Our "ARTOX" BREAD and BISCUITS are our Leading Lines in Baking.
Call or write for our Free Booklet List on Healthful Vegetarianism at
our City Depot, 73 DUNDAS STREET,
OR
WEST END STORES, 363 New City Road, GLASGOW
* * * * * *
HOVIS
A Health Bread.
[Illustration]
SOME FACTS,
HOVIS Strengthens: Contains 11.13% Proteid.
HOVIS Promotes Energy: Contains 42.34% Carbohydrates, and 2.11% Fat.
HOVIS Builds Bones: Contains 1.62% mineral matter.
HOVIS is Pure: Contains no adulterants.
HOVIS is Digestive: Contains Cerealin, a valuable digestive ferment.
HOVIS is Pleasant: The large proportion of germ renders it sweet and
nutty.
HOVIS is Uric-Acid-Free: Thus Best Brown Bread for Gouty Subjects.
Dr Gordon Stables says, in "Fresh Air Treatment for
Consumption"--"The bread I use is Hovis; I am enthusiastic on it."
FOR HOME USE.
Hovis Flour can be obtained from most bakers. It makes delicious
Scones, Pastry, Puddings, and gem Pan Rolls.
[Illustration]
ALL PARTICULARS FROM
The Hovis Bread Flour Co.,
MACCLESFIELD.
See Recipes on pages 105, 108, 109.
* * * * * *
_Entered at Stationers' Hall._
REFORM COOKERY.
* * * * * *
WHY HESITATE?
Thousands of grateful consumers by their daily use of Vejola, F.R. Nut.
Meat, Meatose, Nutmeatose, and Nutvejo, &c., endorse the verdict
of the best judges that there are no other Nut Meats equal to them for
Roasts, Stews, Pies, Hashes, Sandwiches, Chops, Steaks, and Rissoles.
Sample of any one of these sent for 8d., post free.
TRY A TIN TODAY.
Idealists will also find an ideal food in Nut Cream Rolls and
Biscuits. They are made from choice nuts converted into a rich cream,
mixed with a finely stone-ground wheatmeal, containing all the nutritious
elements of the golden wheatberry. This makes them the most nourishing and
concentrated food obtainable. Made in 30 varieties. Assorted sample 1/-
post free. Procure a packet now,
THEN YOU WILL ACT
LIKE OLIVER TWIST
Also get samples of the L. N. F. Co.'s Nut and Fruit Cakes, Genoa Cakes,
Malted Nut and Fruit Caramels, Chocolate Nut and Fruit Dainties, and our
wonderful new Savoury Nut Meat, NUTTORIA, which you will enjoy
AND ASK FOR MORE.
Samples of above five last-named foods sent for 2/6 post Free.
SOLE MANUFACTURERS:
The London Nut Food Co.,
465, Battersea Park Road, London, S.W.
* * * * * *
REFORM COOKERY BOOK.
UP-TO-DATE HEALTH COOKERY FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
BY
Mrs MILL.
OVER 300 RECIPES
NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION, COMPLETING 20,000.
_"We could live without poets, we could live without books,
But how in the world could we live without cooks."_
PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION.
Still the Food Reform movement goes on and expresses itself in many ways.
New developments and enterprises on the part of those engaged in the
manufacture and distribution of pure foods are in evidence in all
directions. Not only have a number of new "Reform" restaurants and depots
been opened, but vegetarian dishes are now provided at many ordinary
restaurants, while the general grocer is usually willing to stock the more
important health foods.
Then the interest in, and relish for a non-flesh dietary has, during the
past year, got a tremendous impetus from the splendid catering at the
Exhibitions, both of Edinburgh and London. The restaurant in Edinburgh,
under the auspices of the Vegetarian Society, gave a magnificent object
lesson in the possibility of a dietary excluding fish, flesh, and fowl. The
sixpenny dinners, as also the plain and "high" teas, were truly a marvel of
excellence, daintiness, and economy, and the queue of the patient "waiters,"
sometimes 40 yards long, amply testified to their popularity.
One is glad also to see that "Health Foods" manufacturers are, one after
another, putting into practice the principle that sound health-giving
conditions are a prime essential in the production of what is pure and
wholesome, and in removing from the grimy, congested city areas to the
clean, fresh, vitalising atmosphere of the country, not only the consumers
of these goods, but those who labour to produce them, derive real benefit.
The example of Messrs Mapleton in exchanging Manchester for Wardle, has been
closely followed up by the International Health Association, who have
removed from Birmingham to Watford, Herts.
J. O. M.
NEWPORT-ON-TAY, _April 1909._
"Economy is not Having, but wisely spending." _Ruskin._
"I for my part can affirm that those whom I have known to submit to this
(the vegetarian) regimen have found its results to be restored or improved
health, marked addition of strength, and the acquisition by the mind of a
clearness, brightness, well-being, such as might follow the release from
some secular, loathsome detestable dungeon.... All our justice, morality,
and all our thoughts and feelings, derive from three or four primordial
necessities, whereof the principal one is food. The least modification of
one of these necessities would entail a marked change in our moral
existence. Were the belief one day to become general that man could
dispense with animal food, there would ensue not only a great economic
revolution--for a bullock, to produce one pound of meat, consumes more than
a hundred of provender--but a moral improvement as well."--_Maurice
Maeterlinck._
"Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one's
self, so to have somewhat left to give, instead of being always prompt to
grab."--_Emerson._
Foreword.
"Diet cures mair than physic."--_Scotch Proverb._
"The first wealth is health."--_Emerson._
"Of making books there is no end," and as this is no less true of cookery
books than of those devoted to each and every other subject of human
interest, one rather hesitates to add anything to the sum of domestic
literature. But while every department of the culinary art has been
elaborated _ad nauseam_, there is still considerable ignorance
regarding some of the most elementary principles which underlie the food
question, the relative values of food-stuffs, and the best methods of
adapting these to the many and varied needs of the human frame. This is
peculiarly evident in regard to a non-flesh diet. Of course one must not
forget that there are not a few, even in this age, to whom the bare idea of
contriving the daily dinner, without the aid of the time-honoured
flesh-pots, would seem scarcely less impious than absurd, as if it
threatened the very foundations of law and order. Still there is a large
and ever increasing number whose watch word is progress and reform, who
would be only too glad to be independent of the _abattoir_ (I will not
offend gentle ears with the coarse word slaughter-house), if they only knew
how. In summertime, at least, when animal food petrifies so rapidly, many
worried housekeepers, who have no prejudice against flesh-foods in general,
would gladly welcome some acceptable substitute. The problem is how to
achieve this, and it is with the view of helping to that solution that this
book is written.
Now, as I said, while there is no lack of the stereotyped order of domestic
literature, there seems to be a wide field over which to spread the
knowledge of "Reform" dietary, and how to adapt it to the needs of different
people, and varying conditions. And while protesting against all undue
elaboration--for all true reform should simplify life rather than complicate
it--we should do well to acquire the knowledge of how to prepare a repast to
satisfy, if need be, the most exacting and fastidious.
Another need which I, as a Scotswoman, feel remains to be met, is a work to
suit the tastes and ideals of Scottish people. Cosmopolitan as we now are,
there are many to whom English ways are unfamiliar. Even the terms used are
not always intelligible, as is found by a Scotswoman on going to live in
England, and _vice-versa_. We could hardly expect that every London
stoneware merchant would be able to suit the Scotch lass, who came in asking
for a "muckle broon pig tae haud butter;" but even when English words are
used, they may convey quite different ideas to Scottish and English minds.
Indeed, several housewives have complained to me that all the vegetarian
cookery books, so far as they can learn, are intended solely for English
readers, so that we would hope to overcome this difficulty and yet suit
English readers as well.
Before starting to the cookery book proper, I would point out some of the
commonest errors into which would-be disciples of food reform so often fall,
and which not unfrequently leads to their abandoning it altogether as a
failure. Nothing is more common than to hear people say most emphatically
that vegetarian diet is no good, for they "have tried it." We usually find
upon enquiry, however, that the "fair trial" which they claim to have given,
consisted of a haphazard and ill-advised course of meals, for a month, a
week, or a few days intermittently, when a meat dinner was from some reason
or other not available. One young lady whom I know, feels entitled to throw
ridicule on the whole thing from the vantage-ground of one day's
experience--nay, part of a day. It being very hot, she could not tackle
roast beef at the early dinner, and resolved with grim heroism to be
"vegetarian" for once. To avoid any very serious risks, however, she
fortified herself as strongly as possible with the other unconsidered
trifles--soup, sweets, curds and cream, strawberries, &c., but despite all
her precautions, by tea-time the aching void became so alarming that the
banished joint was recalled from exile, and being "so famished" she ate more
than she would have done at dinner. Next day she was not feeling well, and
now she and her friends are as unanimous in ascribing her indisposition to
vegetarianism, as in declaring war to the knife--or _with_ the knife
against it evermore.
Now, there are certainly not many who would be so stupid or unreasonable as
to denounce any course of action on the score of one spasmodic attempt, but
there are not a few who are honestly desirous to follow out what they feel
to be a better mode of living, who take it up in such a hasty, ill-advised
way as to ensure failure. It is not enough merely to drop meat, and to
conclude that as there is plenty food of some or any sort, all will be
right, unless it has first been ascertained that it will contain the
essential elements for a nourishing, well-balanced meal. It is not the
quantity, however, which is so likely to be wrong as the proportions and
combination of foods, for we may serve up abundance of good food, well
cooked and perfectly appointed in every way, and yet fail to provide a
satisfactory meal. I would seek to emphasise this fact, because it is so
difficult to realise that we may consume a large amount of food, good in
itself, and yet fail to benefit by it. If we suffer, we blame any departure
from time-honoured orthodoxy, when, perhaps we ought to blame our wrong
conception or working out of certain principles. It is never wise,
therefore, to adopt the reform dietary too hastily, unless one is quite sure
of having mastered the subject, at least in a broad general way; for if the
health of the household suffers simultaneously with the change, we cannot
hope but that this will be held responsible. Other people may have "all the
ills that flesh is heir to" as often as they please. A vegetarian dare
hardly sneeze without having every one down upon him with 'I told you so.'
'That's what comes of no meat.'
A frequent mistake, then, is that of making a wrong selection of foods, or
combining them unsuitably, or in faulty proportions. For example, rice,
barley, pulses, &c., may be, and are, all excellent foods, but they are not
always severally suitable under every possible condition. Rice is one of
the best foods the earth produces, and probably more than half of the
hardest work of the world is done on little else, but those who have been
used to strong soups, roast beef, and plum pudding will take badly with a
sudden change to rice soups, rice savoury, and rice pudding. For one thing,
so convinced are we of the poorness of such food, that we should try to take
far too much, and so have excess of starch. Pulse foods, again,--peas,
beans, lentils--are exceedingly nutritious--far more so than they get credit
for, and in their use it is most usual to heavily overload the system with
excess of nitrogenous matter. One lady told me she understood one had to
take enormous quantities of haricot beans, and she was quite beat to take
_four_ platefuls! 'I can never bear the sight of them since,' she
added pathetically. Another--a gentleman--told me vegetarianism was 'no
good for him, at any rate, for one week he swallowed "pailfuls of swill,"
and never felt satisfied!' While yet a third--no, it was his anxious wife
on his behalf--complained that 'he could not take enough of "that food" to
keep up his strength.' He had three platefuls of the thickest soup that
could be contrived, something yclept "savoury"--though I cannot of course
vouch for the accuracy of that definition--a substantial pudding, and fruit.
He 'tried' to take two tumblers of milk, but despite his best endeavours
could manage to compass only _one_! I sympathised heartily with the
good lady's anxiety, and urged that they go back to their "morsel of meat"
without delay, and dispense with the soup, the "savoury," the milk, and
either the fruit or the pudding. In reply to her astonished look, I gravely
assured her that it was evident vegetarianism would not do for them, and her
look of relief made it clear that she never suspected the mental
reservation, that the tiny bit of meat was invaluable if only to keep people
from taking so much by way of compensation.
Another mistake to be guarded against, is that of reverting too suddenly to
rather savourless insipid food. It is certainly true that as one perseveres
in a non-flesh diet for a length of time, the relish for spices and
condiments diminishes, and one begins to discern new, subtle, delicate
flavours which are quite inappreciable when accustomed to highly seasoned
foods. As one gives up these artificial accessories, which really serve to
blunt the palate, rarer and more delicious flavours in the sweet natural
taste come into evidence. But this takes time. There is a story told of
some Londoners who went to visit at a country farm, where, among other good
things, they were regaled with new-laid eggs. When the hostess pressed to
know how they were enjoying the rural delicacies, they, wishing to be polite
yet candid, said everything was very nice, but that the eggs had not "the
flavour of London ones!"
It were thus hopeless to expect those who like even eggs with a "tang" to
them, to take enthusiastically to a dish of tasteless hominy, or macaroni,
but happily there is no need to serve one's apprenticeship in such heroic
fashion. There is at command a practically unlimited variety of vegetarian
dishes, savoury enough to tempt the most fastidious, and in which the
absence of "carcase" may, if need be, defy detection. Not a very lofty
aspiration certainly, but it may serve as a stepping-stone.
When the goodman, therefore, comes in expecting the usual spicy sausage,
kidney stew, or roast pig, do not set before him a dish of mushy barley or
sodden beans as an introduction to your new 'reform bill' of fare, or there
may be remarks, no more lacking in flavour than London eggs. Talking of
sausage, reminds me that one of the favourite arguments against vegetarian
foods is that people like to know what they are eating. What profound faith
these must have in that, to us cynical folks, 'bag of mystery,' the sausage!
But then, perhaps, they do know that they are eating----!
Now, I fear most of the foregoing advice on how to "Reform" sounds rather
like Punch's advice to those about to marry, so after so many "don'ts" we
must find out how to _do_. And to that end I would seek rather to set
forth general broad guiding principles instead of mere bald recipes. Of
course a large number of the items--puddings, sweets, &c., and not a few
soups, are the same as in ordinary fare, so that I will give most attention
to savouries, entrees, and the like, which constitute the real difficulty.
As people get into more wholesome ways of living, the tendency is to have
fewer courses and varieties at a meal, but just at first it may be as well
to start on the basis of a three-course dinner. One or other of the dishes
may be dispensed with now and then, and thus by degrees one might attain to
that ideal of dainty simplicity from which this age of luxury and fuss and
elaboration is so far removed.
"Now good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both."--_Shakespeare_.
SOUPS.
The following directions will be found generally applicable, so that there
will be no need to repeat the several details each time. Seasonings are not
specified, as these are a matter of individual taste and circumstance. Some
from considerations of health or otherwise are forbidden the use of salt.
In such cases a little sugar will help to bring out the flavour of the
vegetables, but unless all the members of the household are alike, it had
best not be added before bringing to table. Where soup is to be strained,
whole pepper, mace, &c., is much preferable to ground, both as being free
from adulteration, and giving all the flavour without the grit. The water
in which cauliflower, green peas, &c., have been boiled, should be added to
the stock-pot, but as we are now recognising that all vegetables should be
cooked as conservatively as possible--that is, by steaming, or in just as
much water as they will absorb, so as not to waste the valuable salts and
juices, there will not be much of such liquid in a "Reform" menage. A stock
must therefore be made from fresh materials, but as those are comparatively
inexpensive, we need not grudge having them of the freshest and best.
Readers of Thackeray will remember the little dinner at Timmins, when the
hired _chef_ shed such consternation in the bosom of little Mrs Timmins
by his outrageous demands for 'a leg of beef, a leg of veal, and a ham', on
behalf of the stock-pot. But the 'Reform' housekeeper need be under no
apprehension on that score, for she can have the choicest and most wholesome
materials fresh from the garden to her _pot-au-feu_, at a trifling
cost. Of course it is quite possible to be as extravagant with vegetarian
foods as with the other, as when we demand forced unnatural products out of
their season, when their unwholesomeness is matched only by their cost. No
one who knows what sound, good food really is, will dream of using
manure-fed tomatoes, mushrooms at 3s. per lb.; or stringy tough asparagus,
at 5s. or 10s. a bunch, when seasonable products are to be had for a few
pence.
The exact quantities are not always specified either, in the following
recipes, as that too has to be determined by individual requirement, but as
a general rule they will serve four to six persons. The amount of
vegetables, &c., given, will be in proportion to 3 pints, i.e. 12 gills
liquid. Serve all soups with croutons of toast or fried bread.
White Stock.
The best stock for white soups is made from small haricots. Take 1 lb. of
these, pick and wash well, throwing away any that are defective, and if
there is time soak ten or twelve hours in cold water; put on in clean
saucepan--preferably earthenware or enamelled--along with the water in which
soaked (if not soaked scald with boiling water, and put on with fresh
boiling water), some of the coarser stalks of celery, one or two chopped
Spanish onions, blade of mace, and a few white pepper-corns. If celery is
out of season, a little celery seed does very well. Bring to boil, skim,
and cook gently for at least two hours. Strain, and use as required.
Clear Stock.
For clear stock take all the ingredients mentioned above, also some carrot
and turnip in good-sized pieces, some parsley, and mixed herbs as preferred,
and about 1/2 lb. of hard peas, which should be soaked along with the
haricots. Simmer very gently two to three hours. Great care must be taken
in straining not to pulp through any of the vegetables or the stock will be
muddy, or as we Scotch folks would say "drumlie." If not perfectly clear
after straining, return to saucepan with some egg-shells or white of egg,
bring to boil and strain again through jelly-bag. A cupful of tomatoes or a
few German lentils are a great improvement to the flavour of this stock, but
will of course colour it more or less.
Brown Stock.
Take 1/2 lb. brown beans, 1/2 lb. German lentils, 1/2 lb. onions, 1 large
carrot, celery, &c. Pick over the beans and lentils, and scald for a minute
or two in boiling water. This ensures their being perfectly clean, and free
from any possible mustiness. Strain and put on with fresh boiling water
some black and Jamaica pepper, blade mace, &c., and boil gently for an hour
or longer. Shred the onion, carrot, and celery finely and fry a nice brown
in a very little butter taking great care not to burn, and add to the soup.
Allow all to boil for one hour longer, and strain. A few tomatoes sliced
and fried along with, or instead of the carrot, or a cupful of tinned
tomatoes would be a great improvement. This as it stands is a very fine
Clear Brown Soup,
but if a thicker, more substantial soup is wanted, rub through as much of
the pulp as will give the required consistency. Return to saucepan, and add
a little soaked tapioca, ground rice, cornflour, &c., as a _liaison_.
Boil till that is clear, stirring well. Serve with croutons of toast or
fried bread. This soup may be varied in many ways, as by adding some finely
minced green onions, leeks, or chives either before or after straining and
some parsley a few minutes before serving.
White Windsor Soup.
Take 4 breakfast cupfuls white stock or water, add 6 tablespoonfuls mashed
potato and 1 oz fine sago. Stir till clear and add 1 breakfast cup milk and
some minced parsley. Let come just to boiling point but no more. If water
is used instead of stock some finely shred onion should be cooked without
browning in a little butter and added to the soup when boiling. Rub through
a sieve into hot tureen.
White Soubise Soup.
Melt in lined saucepan 2 oz. butter, and into that shred 1/2 lb. onions.
Allow to sweat with lid on very gently so as not to brown for about half an
hour. Add 1-1/2 pints white stock and about 6 ozs. scraps of bread any
hard pieces will do, but no brown crust. Simmer very gently for about an
hour, run through a sieve and return to saucepan with 1 pint milk. Bring
slowly to boiling point and serve. To make
Brown Soubise Soup
toast the bread, brown the onions, and use brown stock.
Almond Milk Soup.
Wash well 1/4 lb. rice and put on to simmer slowly with 1-1/2 pints milk
and water, a Spanish onion and 2 sticks of white celery. Blanch, chop up
and pound well, or pass through a nut-mill 1/4 lb. almonds, and add to them
by degrees another 1/2 pint milk. Put in saucepan along with some more milk
and water to warm through, but do not boil. Remove the onion and celery
from the rice (or if liked they may be cut small and left in), and strain
the almonds through to that. See that it is quite hot before serving.
NOTE.--For this and other soups which are wanted specially light and
nourishing, Mapleton's Almond Meal will be found exceedingly useful. It is
ready for use, so that there is no trouble blanching, pounding, &c.
Brazil Soup.
Put 1 lb. Brazil nuts in moderate oven for about 10 minutes, remove shells
and brown skin--the latter will rub off easily if heated--and grate through
a nut-mill. Simmer gently in white stock or water with celery, onions, &c.,
for 5 or 6 hours. Add some boiling milk, pass through a sieve and serve. A
little chopped parsley may be added if liked.
Chestnut Soup.
Chop small a good-sized Spanish onion and sweat in 1 oz. butter for twenty
minutes. Add 2 to 3 pints stock and 1 lb. chestnuts previously lightly
roasted and peeled. Simmer gently for one hour or more, pass through a
sieve and return to saucepan. Bring to boil, remove all scum, add a cupful
boiling milk or half that quantity of cream, and serve without allowing to
boil again.
Plain White Soup.
Into enamelled saucepan put 2 ozs. butter, and as it melts stir in 2 ozs.
flour. Add very gradually a breakfast cup milk, and stir over a slow heat
till quite smooth. Add 3 or 4 breakfast cupfuls white stock, bring slowly
to boil and serve.
Velvet Soup.
Prepare exactly as for Plain White Soup, but just before serving beat up the
yokes of 2 or 3 eggs. Add to them a very little cold milk or cream, and
then a little of the soup. Pass through strainer into hot tureen, strain
through the rest of the soup, and mix thoroughly.
Parsnip Soup.
Take 1/2 lb. cooked parsnips or boil same quantity in salted water till
tender, pass through a sieve and add to a quantity of Plain White Soup or
Stock. Bring to boil, and if sweet taste is objected to add strained juice
of half a lemon.
Turnip Soup.
is made in exactly the same way as Parsnip Soup, substituting young white
turnips or "Golden Balls" for the parsnips, and many people will prefer the
flavour. A little finely chopped spring onion or chives and parsley would
be an improvement to both soups. These--except the parsley--should be
boiled separately and added just before serving.
Palestine Soup.
A very fine soup is made thus:--Pare and boil 2 lbs. Jerusalem Artichokes
in milk and water with a little salt till quite soft, then pass through a
sieve or potato masher, and add to quantity required of Velvet Soup.
Westmoreland Soup.
Put in soup pot some very plain stock, or water will do quite well. Add 1
lb. lentils, 1/2 lb. onions, small carrot, piece of turnip, and a stick or
two of celery, all chopped small, also a teacupful tomatoes. Boil slowly
for two hours, pass through a sieve and return to soup pot. Melt a
dessert-spoonful butter and stir slowly into it twice as much flour, add
gradually a gill of milk. When quite smooth add to soup and stir till it
boils.
This is a very good soup and might be preferred by some without straining
the vegetables. The lentils might be boiled separately and put through a
sieve before adding.
The foregoing are all varieties of White Soup and these could be extended
indefinitely; but as such variations will suggest themselves to everyone, it
is not necessary to take up space here. I might just mention that a most
delicious
Cauliflower Soup
can be made by adding a nice young cauliflower, all green removed, cut in
tiny sprigs, and boiled separately to the quantity required of Plain White
Soup. The water in which boiled should be added also.
White Haricot Soup
is made by substituting haricot or butter beans for the cauliflower. These
should be slowly cooked till tender and passed through a sieve or masher.
Celery Soup.
For this use a large well-blanched head of celery. Either chop small when
cooked, or pass through sieve before adding to White Soup.
Asparagus Soup.
Take a bunch tender asparagus. Set aside the tops. Blanch stalks in salted
boiling water for a minute or two, then drain and simmer till tender in a
little milk and water. Pulp through sieve and add to White Soup when
boiling. Cook the tops separately in salted boiling water. Drain and add
to soup in tureen. Tinned asparagus makes very good soup. It requires
little or no cooking, only to be made quite hot. Pulp stalks and put in
tops whole.
Clear Soups.
It is unnecessary to give every recipe in detail for these also, if a rich
clear stock has been prepared according the directions, page 11. These of
course may be varied according to taste or convenience, and all the
ingredients specified are by no means indispensable. Some may be left out
and others added as they are at hand or in season. When celery is not to be
had celery seed or celery salt gives a good flavour. A hasty stock may be
contrived at anytime with chopped onions, shred carrot, and some
lentils--green or yellow or both. The vegetables should be lightly fried in
a little butter, the lentils scalded or washed well, and all boiled together
for an hour or even less with the required quantity of water. Strain
without any pressure. Then a still more hasty stock can be had with any of
the excellent "Extracts" which are on the market. Their flavour will be
appreciated by all, and the fact that they are manufactured from pure,
wholesome cereals--barley, chiefly, I believe--should go a long way to
commend them to those who have no favour for the uric acid products of
"Animal" Extracts.
Well, then, if a good, clear stock is prepared, all that is necessary to
convert it into
Clear Soup a la Royale
is to prepare a savoury custard with two yolks and either a cup of stock,
diluted "Extract," or milk. Steam in shallow, buttered tin, cut in small
squares, diamonds, &c., and put in tureen along with the boiling stock.
Julienne Soup.
Cut different vegetables--carrot, turnip, celery, &c., in thin strips about
1 inch long, boil in salted water, and add to boiling clear stock.
Spring Vegetable Soup.
Have an assortment of different young vegetables comprising as many distinct
and bright colours as possible--green peas, French beans trimmed and cut
diamond-wise, cauliflower in tiny sprigs, carrots, turnips, cooked beetroot
stamped in fancy shapes or cut in small dice, and leeks, chives, or spring
onions shred finely. Cook the vegetables separately, drain, and add while
hot to boiling clear stock in tureen.
Thick Soups.
Most of the thick soups are so well-known that they need not be repeated
here. Suffice it to say that they will gain both in purity and flavour by
substituting vegetarian stock for that usually made by boiling meat, ham
bones, and the like. Great care should be taken with such soups as lentil,
split-pea, potato soup, &c., to avoid a coarse "mushy" consistency. This
can be done by rubbing the peas, &c., through a sieve when cooked, and
adding such vegetables as carrot, turnip, onions, &c., finely chopped, to
the strained soup. Perhaps, however, I ought to give at least one typical
recipe for
"Reform" Pea Soup,
and if nicely made it will be quite possible to allure some unsuspecting
victims who have always declared they never could or would touch pea soup,
into asking for another helping of "that delicious--ahem--what-do-you-
call-it-soup."
Have ready a good-sized-soup pot with amount of water required boiling
fast, and into this throw 1/2 lb. split-peas for every 2 pints water. The
"Giant" variety is best as they are BO easily examined and cleaned. Rub in
a coarse cloth to remove any possible dust or impurity. This is much better
than washing or scalding, as the peas "go down" so much more quickly when
put dry into the fast boiling water. Such a method will seem rather
revolutionary to those who have been accustomed to soak peas over night, but
a single trial is all that is needed to convince the most sceptical. Add
1/2 lb. onions, cut up-these may first be sweated for 10 minutes with a
little butter in covered pan. Simmer gently but steadily 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Rub through a sieve and return to saucepan. When boiling add some turnip in
tiny dice and some carrot in slices as thin as sixpence, also finely chopped
spring onion, leeks or chives, according to season, and a little finely
minced parsley five minutes before serving. Stock may of course be used for
this soup, but is not at all necessary. With stock or even a little
extract, a very good lentil or pea soup may be made at a few minutes' notice
by thickening with
"Digestive" Pea Flour
or lentil flour, as the case may be. Such soups can be taken by those of
weak digestion. No vegetables should be added in that case, or if so they
should be strained out.
Mulligatawny Soup.
Chop up 2 apples and 1 Spanish onion and stir over the fire with 2 ozs.
butter till quite brown, but not burnt. Add 1 oz. flour (and if wanted
somewhat thickened, one or two spoonfuls "Digestive" lentil or pea flour), 1
teaspoonful curry powder, and a cupful of milk, previously mixed together.
Stir till smooth and boil up, then add some good stock--brown would be
best--and simmer for half an hour longer, removing the scum as it rises.
Serve with boiled rice, handed round on a separate dish.
Hotch-Potch.
This soup is to be had in perfection in the summer months when young, tender
vegetables are to be had in great variety and abundance. The more different
kinds there are the better, but care must be taken to give each just the
proper amount of cooking and no more, or the result will be that by the time
certain things are done, others will be mushy and insipid. Bring to boil
the necessary quantity of clear stock--water will do. Have ready a cupful
each of carrots and turnips in tiny dice--the smaller ends of the carrots
being in thin slices--a cauliflower in very small sprigs, one or two crisp,
tender lettuces finely shred, cupful green peas, some French beans trimmed
and cut small, a dozen or so of spring onions, 2 tablespoonfuls each of
lentils and rice, and any other seasonable vegetable that is to be had. Add
each in their turn to the boiling stock, the time required being determined
by age and condition. If very young and fresh, the carrots will require
only 30 to 40 minutes, the turnips and spring onions rather less, and the
cauliflower less still. French beans require about 20 minutes, peas and
lettuce 15 minutes, while the rice and lentils should have about half an
hour. Much must be left to the discretion of the cook, but one point I
would emphasise is, don't over-boil the vegetables. There seems to be an
idea that a safe rule for vegetables is the more you cook them the better,
but the fact is they lose in flavour and wholesomeness every five minutes
after they are done. This is why "second day's" soup so often disagrees
when the first has been all right. A few slices of tomato may be added.
They should be fried in a little butter, cut small, and added shortly before
serving, also some chopped parsley.
Winter Hotch-Potch.
This also may be very good. All the vegetables will require much longer
cooking. Some will not be available, but in their place will be celery,
parsnips, Brussels sprouts, leeks, &c. Dried green peas, soaked for 12
hours, can be used, or a good canned variety, and I may say that many
delicious vegetables are now to be had in tins, or, better still, in glass
jars.
Scotch Broth.
For this wash well a cupful good fresh _pot_ barley, bring to boil in
plenty of water, pour that off and put on with clean cold water. Simmer for
2 hours and then add a selection of vegetables given for Hotch-Potch.
Mock Cock-a-Leekie
or Leek Soup (_maigre_) is an excellent winter soup. Take a dozen or
more crisp fat leeks--flabby, tough ones are no use--trim away all coarse
pieces, chop up the tender green quite small and simmer in covered pan with
a little butter. Add to quantity required of either white stock or plain
white soup, which should be boiling. Shred down the white of the leeks, fry
in a little more butter, and add twenty minutes later. Cook till quite
tender. If stock is used, some well-washed rice should be added about 30
minutes before serving. If white soup is prepared, it is best to cook the
leeks thoroughly before adding, then merely bring to boil and serve.
Green Pea Soup.
This is a delicious summer soup. Have a clear stock made with fresh green
vegetables, such as lettuce, green onions, spinach, bunch parsley, sprig
mint, &c., the shells wiped clean and about half of the peas--about 2 lbs.
will be needed--reserving the finest. Rub through a sieve, return to
saucepan and bring to boil. Add remainder of peas, boil 15 minutes, and
pour into tureen over an ounce or so of butter. Some may prefer cream in
place of butter, in which case add just before serving, and do not allow to
boil up.
Mock Hare Soup.
Prepare a rich well-flavoured brown stock, rubbing through the greater part
of the German lentils, &c., to make it of a thick creamy consistency. The
flavour will be best if such vegetables as carrot and onion are sliced and
fried brown before boiling. Toast two tablespoonfuls oatmeal and one of
flour to a light brown, mix with it a teaspoonful ground Jamaica pepper and
smooth with a little cold water. Add to the boiling soup and stir till it
boils up again. Mushroom ketchup, a few fried mushrooms, some piquant
sauce, "Extract," &c., &c., may be added or not at discretion.
German Lentil Soup.
Scald 1/2 lb. German lentils for a minute in boiling water, drain and put
on with quantity of boiling water required. Fry some onions, celery, and
tomatoes--if to be had--in a little butter till brown, and add. Simmer
about 2 hours, and rub through a sieve. Add a little ground rice,
cornflour, &c., to keep the pulp from settling to the bottom. A little milk
or cream or ketchup may be added if liked.
Butter Peas Soup.
Cook butter peas as for stew, [Footnote: See page 35. [Butter Peas or
"Midget" Butter Bean, below]] pulp through a sieve and add to quantity of
liquid required, which may be white stock or milk and water, and should be
boiling. Add a small white cauliflower, cut in tiny sprigs (or any tender
fresh vegetables cut small and parboiled separately). Simmer till
cauliflower is just cooked, add some chopped parsley, and serve.
Mock Turtle Soup.
Prepare a quantity of strong, clear, highly-flavoured stock of a
greenish-brown colour. The colour can be obtained by boiling some winter
greens or spinach along with the other things. A few chopped gherkins,
capers, or chillies will give the required piquancy. Have 4 ozs. tapioca
soaked overnight, add to the boiling stock and cook gently till perfectly
clear. Some small quenelles may be poached separately and put in tureen.
Tomato Soup.
When this soup is well made it is a general favourite, but it must be well
made, for it is impossible to appreciate the greasy, yellow,
dish-water-looking liquid which is sometimes served in that name.
Put in a saucepan 2 ozs. butter, and into that shred finely 1/2 or 1 lb.
onions. Add half or more of a tin of tomatoes or about 1 lb. fresh ones
sliced, and a cup of water or stock. Simmer very gently for an hour and rub
through a wire sieve, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon to get all
the pulp through. _Everything_ should go through except the skin and
seeds. Return to clean saucepan with stock or water, and two tablespoonfuls
of tapioca, previously soaked for at least an hour. Stir till it boils and
is quite clear. This soup may be varied in many ways, as by substituting
for the tapioca, crushed vermicelli, ground rice, cornflour, &c. Some
chopped spring onions, chives or leeks, added after straining are a great
improvement, also chopped parsley, while many people like the addition of
milk or cream.
SAVOURIES.
"We live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest."
We come now to consider the middle courses of dinner in which lies the crux
of the difficulty to the aspirant who wishes to contrive such without
recourse to the flesh-pots. This is where, too, we must find the answer to
those half-curious wholly sceptical folks who ask us, "Whatever _do_
you have for dinner?" Most of them will grant that we _may_ get a few
decent soups, though no doubt they retain a sneaking conviction that at best
these are "unco wersh," and puddings or sweets are almost exclusively
vegetarian. But how to compensate for that little bit of chicken, ox, or
pig--no one now-a-days owns to taking much meat!--is beyond the utmost
efforts of their imagination. Of course we can't have everything. When a
"reformed" friend of mine was asserting that we could have no end of
delicacies, one lady triumphantly remarked "Anyhow, you can't have a leg of
mutton." That is true, but then we must remember that it's not polite to
speak of "legs," especially with young ladies learning cooking. Liver or
kidneys are not particularly nice things to speak about either, and I am
sure if we reflected on what their place is in the economy of the body, we
should think them still less nice to eat.
But joking apart, there is a growing tendency to get as far away as we can
from their origin in the serving of meat dishes. The old-time huge joints,
trussed hares, whole sucking pigs, &c., are fast vanishing from our tables,
and the smart _chef_ exerts himself to produce as many recherche and
mysterious little made dishes as possible. Not a few of these are quite
innocent of meat, indeed, that is the complaint urged against them by those
who believe that in flesh only can we have proper sustenance. But little
research is needed, however, to show that apart from flesh foods there are
immense and only partially developed resources in the shape of cereals,
pulses, nuts, &c., and, it is to these that we must look for our staple
solid foods. In a small work like this it is impossible to do much more
than indicate the lines upon which to go, but I shall try to give as many
typical dishes as I can, and to suggest, rather than detail, variations and
adaptations.
We must first study very briefly the various food elements, and learn the
most wholesome and suitable combination of these. In an ordinary
three-course dinner we must arrange to have a savoury that will fitly follow
the soup and precede the sweets. Thus, if we have a light, clear, or white
soup, we shall want a fairly substantial savoury, and if the soup has been
rather satisfying it must be followed by a lighter course.
The lightest savouries are prepared mostly from starch foods, as rice,
macaroni, &c., while for the richer and more substantial we have recourse to
peas, beans, lentils, and nuts.
The first set of savouries given are of the lighter description, and are
well suited to take the place of the fish course at dinner.
LIGHT SAVOURIES.
Fillets of Mock Sole.
Bring to boil 1/2 pint milk and stir in 2 ozs. ground rice or 3 ozs.
flaked rice. Add 1 oz. butter, teaspoonful grated onion, and a pinch of
mace. Add also three large tablespoonfuls of potato which has been put
through a masher or sieve, mix, and let all cook for 10 to 20 minutes. As
the mixture should be fairly stiff this can best be done in a steamer or
double boiler. When removed from the fire add 1 egg and 1 yolk well beaten.
Mix thoroughly and turn out on flat dish not quite 1/2 inch thick, and allow
to get quite cold. Divide into fillet-shaped pieces, brush over with white
of egg beaten up, toss in fine bread crumbs and fry in deep smoking-hot fat.
Drain, and serve very hot, garnished with thin half or quarter slices of
lemon, and hand round Dutch sauce in tureen.
Fillets of Artichoke.
Boil some Jerusalem Artichokes till tender, but not too soft, cut in neat
slices, and egg, crumb, and fry as above.
Chinese Artichokes.
Salsify, Scorzonera, &c., may be done in same way. Serve with Dutch or
tomato sauce. A variety is made by simply boiling or steaming in milk and
water. Drain, and serve with parsley or other sauce poured over.
Celery Fritters.
Get a good-sized head of well-blanched celery, trim and cut in small pieces,
put in salted boiling water for a few minutes, then drain. Into a stewpan,
or much better a steamer or double boiler, put 1/2 oz. butter, and into
that shred a very small Spanish onion or a few heads of spring onion or
shallots. Add the drained celery, one or two spoonfuls milk, salt, white
pepper, and pinch mace. Allow to cook till quite tender then pour over a
slice of bread free from crust and crumbled down. If the bread is not moist
enough add a little hot milk. Allow to stand for a time, then drain away
any superfluous moisture. The difficulty is to get this dry enough, and
that is why a double saucepan is much better than an open pan, in which it
is scarcely possible to cook dry enough without burning. Make a sauce with
1/2 oz. butter, 1/2 oz. flour, and 1/2 gill milk, and when it thickens add
the panada, celery, &c. Stir over gentle heat till the mixture is quite
smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the fire and mix in one
or two beaten eggs. Turn out to cool, shape into fritters, and fry as mock
sole.
Cauliflower Fritters
are made same as above, with cauliflower in place of celery.
_Note._--The eggs in this and mock sole may be left out, though they
are an improvement and help to bind the mixture together. Variety can be
obtained by varying the seasonings, adding a little lemon juice or Tarragon
vinegar, &c., either to the mixture or to the sauce.
Macaroni Omelet.
Boil 2 ozs. short cut macaroni in salted boiling water, and drain. Put 3
dessertspoonfuls flour in a basin, smooth with a little cold milk, and pour
a breakfast-cupful boiling milk over it, stirring vigorously all the time.
Add one or two spoonfuls of cream--or a little fresh dairy butter or nut
butter beat to a cream--2 beaten eggs, teaspoonful minced parsley, same of
grated onion, the macaroni, a large cup bread crumbs, seasoning of pepper,
salt, &c. Mix very well. Put in buttered pie-dish and bake 30 to 40
minutes in brisk oven. Turn out and serve with brown or tomato sauce. Some
grated cheese may be added if liked.
Macaroni Cutlets.
Boil 3 or 4 ozs. macaroni in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain, and stew
or steam till very tender along with some shred onion and tomatoes
previously fried together, without browning, in 1 oz. butter. If too dry
add a very little milk. When quite tender mix in enough bread crumbs to
make a rather stiff consistency, also 1 or 2 ozs. grated cheese. Mix well
over the fire. Add a beaten egg, pinch mace, and any other seasoning. Mix
well again, turn out to cool, form into pear-shaped cutlets, egg, crumb, and
fry in usual way.
Macaroni Egg Cutlets
are made by adding 2 finely chopped hard boiled eggs to the above mixture.
Add when macaroni is cooked, along with crumbs, raw egg, seasoning, &c.
Celery Egg Cutlets
are made by adding the hard-boiled eggs to the mixture for celery fritters.
Both of these are specially delicious, and this forms an excellent way of
using up cold cooked stuff--savoury rice, vermicelli, &c.--so that one can
have a dainty savoury with very little trouble. This is of no little
importance in an age when so many demands are made upon the time and energy
of the average housewife, and one would do well to study while preparing any
dish requiring a good deal of care and labour, to have sufficient over to
make a fricassee of some sort for another time.
Rice and Lentil Mould
comes in very handy in this way. Put 1 oz. butter in saucepan and shred
into it very finely a large Spanish onion or an equal quantity white of
small onions or leeks. Cover, and allow to sweat over gentle heat for 10
minutes. Some finely shred white celery along with the onions is a welcome
addition, but is not indispensable. Pick and wash well 1/4 lb. yellow
lentils and bring to boil in water to cover. Do the same with 3 ozs. rice.
The lentils and rice may be boiled together, but are nicer done separately.
Add to onion, &c., in saucepan, along with seasoning to taste of curry
powder, &c. Some tomato pulp or chutney is very good. Mix lightly so as
not to make it pasty. Remove from fire, add a beaten egg, and press into a
plain buttered mould. Tie down with buttered paper and steam for one hour.
Turn out and serve with tomato sauce. It may also be garnished with slices
of hard-boiled egg, beetroot, fried tomatoes, &c.
Kedgeree.
A very good kedgeree is made with much the same ingredients as above. The
lentils may be left out, and chopped tomato or carrot flaked (on one of
those threesome graters is best) and fried along with the onion, may be used
instead. The rice must be boiled as for curry and made very dry. Boil 2 or
3 eggs hard, chop finely, and mix with the other ingredients in saucepan.
Make all very hot, and serve piled up on hot dish with any suitable garnish
and curry or tomato sauce. A spoonful finely chopped parsley would be an
improvement to both this and rice mould. Fried parley and thin slices of
lemon make a suitable garnish for this and similar dishes, while parsley
fried in fat at a low temperature, 200 degrees, crushed and sprinkled over a
mould, cutlets, &c., both looks and tastes good. Any kedgeree that is left
over will make excellent cutlets for breakfast, &c.
Macaroni Mould
is made by using cooked macaroni instead of rice in recipe for rice mould.
Macaroni Timbale.
Boil 6 ozs. long pipe macaroni--in as long pieces as convenient--in salted
boiling water 20 to 25 minutes, and drain. Have a plain mould--a small
enamel pudding basin is best--butter it well, and line closely round it with
the macaroni. Fill in with any savoury mixture, such as lentils, tomatoes,
mushrooms, celery, carrots, &c. Put more strips of macaroni or a slice of
buttered bread on the top. Cover with buttered paper and steam 1-1/2 hours.
Turn out and serve with sauce. Garnish suitably, cooked tomatoes, &c.
Roman Pie
Boil 4 ozs. macaroni and drain. Butter a pie-dish and put in half the
macaroni. Scald 4 or 5 tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, when
the skin will come off easily. Boil 2 eggs hard and slice. Have 2 ozs.
cheese grated, and sprinkle half of it over the macaroni, then put half of
the eggs and half the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and a little
grated onion (I keep an old grater for the purpose). Take 8 or 10
medium-sized flap mushrooms, if to be had, clean and trim, removing the
stalks. Add a layer of them, and repeat as before, but put the mushrooms
before the tomatoes. Cover the top thickly with bread-crumbs. Make a stock
with the trimmings of mushrooms and tomatoes. Put dessertspoonful butter in
saucepan, stir in _half_ teaspoon flour, same of made mustard, and
perhaps a little ketchup. Add the stock--there should be about a
teacupful--stir till it boils, and pour equally over the pie. Dot over with
bits of butter, and bake one hour in fairly brisk oven.
In case this pie may be voted rather elaborate by some, I may say that it is
excellent with several of the items left out. The eggs, mushrooms,
cheese--any one of these, or all three may be dispensed with, and what may
be lost in richness and flavour will be compensated in delicacy and
digestibility. Any of this pie that is left over may be made into cutlets,
so that one can have a second dish with little extra trouble.
NOTE.--When fresh tomatoes are not to be had tinned ones will do.
Tomato and Rice Pie.
Wash well a teacupful good rice--Patna is best for this dish as it does not
become so pulpy as the Carolina--and put on with cold water to cover and a
little salt. Allow to cook slowly till it has absorbed all the water. Add
a little more if too dry, but do not stir. Peel 1 lb. tomatoes, cut in 1/2
inch slices and put a layer in buttered pie-dish. Put in the rice--or as
much of it as wanted--sprinkle with curry and seasoning to taste. Put rest
of tomatoes on top, more seasoning, and layer of bread-crumbs. Put plenty
of butter on top and bake 3/4 hour.
_Note_.--Tinned tomatoes may be used when fresh ones are not at hand.
Any of the dishes with tomatoes, rice, &c., may have grated cheese or
hard-boiled eggs added at discretion, and in this way the several dishes may
be varied and adapted to suit different tastes and requirements.
Casserole of Rice.
Wash well 6 ozs. whole rice and drain. Melt in saucepan 2 ozs. butter or
1-1/2 ozs. Nut Butter. Put in rice with as much white stock or water as
will cover it, a little salt, pinch mace if liked, and allow to simmer very
slowly or steam in double boiler till quite soft. Stir well, and if too
stiff add a little more water, but it must not be 'sloppy.' Beat well till
quite smooth and set aside to cool. Butter plain mould and line with rice
nearly an inch thick. Fill in with any savoury materials, such as tomatoes,
mushrooms, onions, celery, fried slices of carrot, lentils, &c. An hour
before dinner cover with buttered paper and steam. Turn out on hot dish,
cut a round off the top, and either serve as it is with garnish and sauce,
or brush over with beaten egg, sprinkle with fine crumbs, and brown in brisk
oven.
Vegetable Goose.
Put 2 teacupfuls crumbs in basin and pour boiling water or milk over. Let
soak for a little, then press out as much moisture as possible. Add
dessertspoonful grated onion, teaspoonful chopped parsley, pinch herbs or
mace, salt, white pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful "Extract," and some mushroom
ketchup. Mix all well, and add a beaten egg to bind. If too stiff add a
little milk, stock, or gravy. Put in flat well-buttered baking-tin, and
bake for about an hour, basting occasionally with butter or vegetable fat.
Serve with fried tomatoes or any suitable sauce.
Celery Souffle.
This is exceedingly good if nicely made and served. Clean 1/2 lb. white
crisp celery and cut small. Simmer in enamel pan or steam with as little
milk as possible till tender, then boil rapidly to reduce the liquid. Rub
through a sieve and set aside to cool. Beat 1 oz. fresh butter to a cream
and add yolks of 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well in, also barely 1 oz.
grated cheese and seasoning to taste. Mix well. Beat whites of 3 eggs
quite stiff and mix in very lightly. Butter souffle tin and tie band of
buttered paper round, to come 2 inches above the rim. Fill in mixture--not
more than three-fourths full, and steam very gently in barely an inch of
water for 1 hour. Turn out on _very_ hot dish and serve immediately,
or slip off paper band and pin hot napkin round. If allowed to stand any
time it will be quite flat before serving. A rather daintier if more
troublesome way is to fill small souffle cases three-fourths full with the
above mixture. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese and celery, salt on
the top, and bake in hot oven 10 minutes. Arrange tastefully on hot napkin.
NOTE.--Very dainty souffle cases are now to be had in white fluted
fire-proof china. These can come straight to table without any trouble of
swathing with napkins, paper collars, and the like.
Celery Cream
is another delicacy well suited to a special occasion. Prepare and cook
celery as for souffle, drain and rub through sieve. Have enamelled or
earthenware saucepan on the table, rub the bottom with a little butter, and
break in 2 large eggs or 3 small ones. Season with white pepper, celery
salt, lemon juice, mace, &c., and beat slightly. Take 1/2 gill cream and
same of milk, drained from the celery, and add to eggs, &c. Place over a
slow fire, or better still, a gas stove turned low, and stir till the
mixture thickens, but it must not boil, then add the celery and mix. Have
one large timbale mould or 8 to 10 small ones well buttered, fill in with
the cream, cover with buttered paper, and steam very gently till set--30
minutes if large mould--10 minutes if small ones. If a large one turn out
and fill in centre with tomatoes, mushrooms, &c. If small ones arrange
round ashet with baked tomatoes, spinach, green peas, &c., in the centre of
the dish.
* * * * * *
A PERFECT NUT FAT!
PURE :: WHITE :: TASTELESS
PREPARED FROM FINEST NUTS ONLY
NUTTENE
Unsurpassed for all kinds of Pastry and Confectionery.
NUTTENE was exclusively used at the Vegetarian Schools, Melrose and
Penmaenmawr, and Vegetarian Restaurants, Dublin and Edinburgh Exhibitions.
Send for complete New Price List, with Recipes,
to the Manufacturers:
Chapman's Health Food Stores,
EBERLE STREET, LIVERPOOL.
* * * * *
A FEW OF "PITMAN" 1001 DELICIOUS
HEALTH FOODS
In place of Meat, and Free from its Dangers.
BRAZOSE MEAT.--Made from Brazils. Quite different to all other Nut
Meats. Makes splendid Sandwiches, Sausage Rolls, Savoury Roasts, and Irish
Stews. Per tin--1/2-lb., 10d.; 1-lb., 1/6; 1-1/2-lb.,
2/1; sample, 4d.
VIGAR BRAWN.--The Superb Cold Dish. Tomato or Clear. Per mould,
1/-
TOKIO BAKED BEANS, with Tomato and Nut Sauce. Hot or cold, makes a
splendid Dinner Dish. Per Jar, 1/-; sample jar, 4d.
BAKED BEANS, with Tomato Sauce. Per tin, 9d.; sample tin,
2d.
CURRIED BEANS, with Savoury Sauce. Per tin, 9d.; sample tin,
2d.
VEGETABLE SOUPS.--In 12 varieties. Per tin, 2-1/2d. Each tin
makes a pint. Per doz., 2/6
NUTMARTO POTTED PASTE.--Far superior to Meat and Fish Pastes. Per
tin, 3-1/2d.; per glass jar; 5-1/2d.
VIGAR GRAVY ESSENCE.--Delicious flavour. Add but a few drops to
water. Per bottle, 6d., 1/-, and 1/6; sample,
2d.
One Penny Packet Health Wafers With Two Ripe Bananas,
INSURE
a Perfect Meal.
All those interested in Health Foods and Perfect Health should read "PITMAN"
Health, from Food Library, No. 1 to 8. One Penny each, post free 1-1/2d.;
or the 8 for 10. Full Catalogue of Health Foods, with "Diet Guide," post
free one stamp. A wise selection of Health Foods will give you
PERFECT HEALTH
and Digestion, and so enable the system to perform the Maximum
amount of Work--both mental and physical--with the Minimum
amount of Fatigue.
Ask your Stores for them: or assorted Sample Orders of 5/- value,
carriage paid, from the Sole Manufacturers:
"PITMAN" HEALTH FOOD STORES,
155 Aston Brook St., Birmingham.
_(The Largest Health Food Dealers in the World.)_
* * * * *
Asparagus Cream
is prepared in the same way, putting tender cooked asparagus in place of the
celery.
Celery or Asparagus Quenelle
is made much in the same way. To every teacupful celery or asparagus pulp
allow 2 cupfuls fine white bread crumbs. Beat up two or three eggs, add,
and mix well. Steam in large or small moulds, or divide into spoonfuls,
shape round, and poach in boiling water, stock, or milk. Serve with cooked
tomatoes or sauce, or they may be put in tureen with clear or white soup.
Many toothsome variants of the foregoing recipes will suggest themselves as
one goes along, so that it is needless to detail each at length. Thus,
fritters, moulds, quenelles, &c., may be varied at pleasure by substituting
cauliflower, the white of spring onions or leeks, &c., for the celery or
other ingredients mentioned. By the way, we do not appreciate the food
value of leeks as much as we ought. A dozen or so of the thickest
Leeks Stewed or Steamed
in milk or stock, and served with the liquor made into a white sauce, is a
dish as delicious as it is wholesome and blood-purifying.
Needless to say, everything should be the best of its kind and absolutely
fresh. To ensure this we should make a point of using as far as possible
those which are in season at the time, as however well preserved they may
be, vegetables, especially the finer sorts, lose in flavour and
wholesomeness every hour between the garden and pot.
Substantial Savouries.
We come now to the more substantial savouries which form the staple part of
the ordinary family dinner. These, along with soup and pudding, will
furnish an excellent three-course meal, and where time--or appetite--is
limited, as in the rush to and from school or business, two sources will be
found ample.
German Lentil Stew.
Among the various pulse foods, of which there are fifty or sixty different
kinds, though only some half-dozen are at all well-known, German lentils are
one of the most valuable. In this country they are but little used, but
they only need be known to be heartily appreciated. As far as my experience
goes, every one who has once sampled them is loud in their praises. Even in
those households where meat is used they might come as a change and variety,
and help to solve the problem of that typical, much-to-be-pitied housekeeper
who so pathetically wished there might be "a new animal" discovered!
Well, "to return to our"--ahem--lentils. These German or Prussian lentils
are quite different from the ordinary yellow kind. They are green or olive
coloured, much larger, and of a flat tabloid shape. They are exceedingly
savoury, and--if that is any recommendation--so "meaty" in flavour that it
is almost impossible to convince people that they are quite innocent in that
respect. They are usually sold at about double the price of yellow lentils,
and even then are very cheap; but this is a fancy price, charged because of
their being a novelty, and I may say that I get the very finest quality,
perfectly clean and free from grit, at the extremely low price of 2d. per
lb.
To make a stew, which is the basis of a number of other dishes, take 1/2 lb.
German lentils and scald for a minute or two in boiling water to make sure
that they are thoroughly clean. Drain, and put in good-sized saucepan with
plenty of fresh boiling water, and allow to simmer _very gently_ for an
hour. In another stewpan melt 1 oz. butter, and into that shred very
finely two or three onions. Cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes to bring out
the flavour. They may brown or not as preferred, but there must not be the
least suspicion of burning. Turn the lentils into this pan, add some
chopped celery if at hand--it is very good without, but to my taste most
dishes are improved by celery--and allow to simmer an hour longer. See that
there is plenty of water--there should be a rich brown gravy. Add seasoning
to taste of salt, pepper, Jamaica pepper, parsley, &c. A few tomatoes may
be added, or carrots, turnips, &c. A few ozs. macaroni, par-boiled in
salted boiling water and added an hour or less before, will make one of the
many pleasing varieties of this dish. Serve like a mince, garnished with
sippets of toast or fried bread, or toasted Triscuits.
Savoury Pot-Pie.
Line a pudding basin with suet paste [Footnote: See pastry.], and
fill in with lentils cooked as above, and tomatoes, or any vegetables, such
as carrots, turnips, cauliflower, beetroot, &c., to keep the mixture from
being too heavy, for whatever may be thought to the contrary, there is a
much larger proportion of solid nutriment to the bulk in pulse foods than in
the "too, too solid flesh" which we esteem so highly. And, at the risk of
wearying readers with reiteration, I must say again that herein lies the
danger. Quite a number of people have told me that they would like such
foods, but _they_ could not take enough to keep up their strength, and
were reproachfully incredulous when, ignoring the gentle insinuation as to
_other_ people's capacity, I told them the great difficulty was to take
little enough! But we must finish the pot-pie. Put a thin round of paste
on the top. Wet the edges and press together, tie down with greased paper,
and steam 2 to 3 hours. Turn out and send to table with suitable hot
garnish.
The same paste may be made into little balls or flat cakes and put to cook
with lentil stew, but great care must be taken to see that there is plenty
gravy, and that they cook very gently, for if they "catch" ever so slightly
they are spoiled. All danger of this can be avoided by steaming in a basin
or jar instead of cooking in open pan.
Savoury Brick.
Take about 2 teacupfuls cooked German lentils--not too moist. Put in a
basin and add a cupful fine bread crumbs, and a cupful cold boiled rice or
about half as much mashed potatoes. Add any extra seasoning--a little
ketchup, Worcester sauce, Marmite or Carnos Extract, &c.--also a spoonful of
melted butter. Mix well with a fork and bind with one or two beaten eggs,
reserving a little for brushing. Shape into a brick or oval, and press
together as firmly as possible. Brush over with beaten egg, put in buttered
tin, and bake for half-an-hour. Or it may be put in saucepan with 1 oz.
butter or Nut Butter that has been made very hot. Cover and braize for 10
minutes. Turn and cook for another 10 minutes. Add a little flour and
seasoning to the butter, and then a cupful boiling water, stock, or diluted
"Extract," and allow to simmer a little longer. Serve with garnish of
beetroot or tomatoes.
This can also be made into a delicious
Cold Savoury.
Bake or braize as above. Remove to the ashet on which it is to be served.
Allow to get quite cold, then glaze. [Footnote: See Glaze.]
Sausages
are made of the same ingredients as savoury brick. Pound well in a basin,
so as to have all the materials nicely blended, or put in a saucepan over
gentle heat, and mash well with a wooden spoon. See that the seasoning is
right. Some chopped tomatoes and mushrooms are an improvement, also some
grated onion, ketchup, and "Extract." These should be put in saucepan with
a little butter until lightly cooked, then the lentils, &c., should be
added, the whole well mixed and turned out to cool. When quite cold, flour
the hands and form into small sausages. Brush over with beaten egg and fry,
or put on greased baking tin and bake till a crisp brown. They may need a
little basting, or to be turned over to brown equally.
The filling for
Sausage Rolls
is compounded exactly as above, but should be rather moister, and have more
butter added to prevent their being too dry. Have quantity required of
rough puff pastry. [Footnote: See Pastry.] Roll out and divide into 9 or
10 4-inch squares. Put a little sausage meat in centre, wet the edges and
fold over. Press the edges lightly together with pastry cutter, if you have
one, brush all over with beaten egg except the edges. Place on oven plate
and put at once in hot oven. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. They may be served
either hot or cold, but are best hot. They can easily be re-heated in oven
at any time.
Fifeshire Bridies
may have the same filling put in plain short crust, or raised pie-crust,
rolled very thin and cut in oval or diamond shapes. Fold over, and turn up
the under edge all round. Brush over with egg and bake--if raised pie
crust--in rather a slower oven.
Rissoles.
Roll out rough puff or short crust very thin, stamp out into rounds, put a
little of the mince on one, wet edges and put another on top, press very
firmly together, brush over with egg and fry in deep, smoking-hot fat.
German Pie.
Take an ordinary pie-dish, such as used for steak pie. Have one or two
large Spanish onions half-cooked, remove the centres, and put in pie-dish.
This will serve both to keep up the paste and to hold gravy. Fill up the
dish with partially stewed German lentils, and either sliced tomatoes or
pieces of carrot and turnip first fried in a little butter. There should
also be plenty of chopped onions put in the bottom of the dish, which should
be buttered. Fill nearly up with well-seasoned stock, "Extract," gravy, or
water, cover with rough puff paste, and bake for an hour or longer,
according to size. There should be a hole in top of pastry, covered with an
ornament, which could be lifted off, and some more gravy put in with a
funnel. Serve very hot. If to be used cold, a little soaked tapioca should
be cooked with it, or some vegetable gelatine might be dissolved in the
gravy.
By way of variety, a few force-meat balls may be put in; also mushrooms when
in season.
Haricot Pie
is made much the same as above, substituting Butter Beans or Giant Haricots
for the German lentils. They should be soaked all night and nearly cooked
before using. Put in a layer of beans, sprinkle in a little tapioca, then
put a layer of sliced tomatoes and repeat. Fried beetroot may be used
instead of tomatoes, and crushed vermicelli or bread crumbs instead of
tapioca.
Haricot Raised Pie,
which is very good to eat cold for pic-nic luncheon, &c., is made as
follows:--Soak 1/2 lb. large beans all night, when the skins should come
off easily, and put to stew or steam with butter, shred onions, and a very
little stock or water till soft, but not broken down. Set aside to cool.
Prepare a raised pie case [Footnote: See Pastry.], put in half the beans, a
layer of sliced tomatoes, and a layer of hard-boiled eggs. Repeat. Put on
lid, which should have hole in centre, and bake in a good, steady oven for
an hour. Meanwhile, have some strips of vegetable gelatine soaking, pour
off the water, and bring to boil in a cupful well-seasoned stock, "Extract,"
gravy, &c. Stir till gelatine is dissolved, and when the pie is removed
from the oven, pour this in. When cold this should be a firm jelly, and the
pie will cut in slices. If tomato or aspic jelly is prepared, some of that
would save trouble. Melt and pour in.
There are many other toothsome ways of serving haricot and butter beans. In
every case they should first be well washed, soaked, and three-parts cooked
with stock or water, butter, onions, and seasoning.
Savoury Haricot Pie.
This is made without paste. Put a layer of beans in buttered pie-dish, then
pieces of carrot and turnip--previously par-boiled--to fill up the dish.
Pour in a little gravy. Cover with a good white sauce, well seasoned with
made mustard, chopped parsley, &c., and coat thickly with bread crumbs. Dot
over with bits of butter, and bake 30 or 40 minutes.
Many variations will suggest themselves--cauliflower, parsnips, vegetable
marrow, sliced tomatoes, beetroot, &c., instead of the other vegetables. Or
the same ingredients as in the first haricot pie might be used, with the
crumbs instead of pastry.
Haricot Ragout.
Half pound soaked beans boiled till tender in one pint water, with butter
and sliced onions. Drain, but keep the liquor. Slice some carrots and
turnips thin, fry lightly, and then simmer in the liquor for half-an-hour.
Put a little butter in stewpan, slice and cook two onions in that, with the
lid on, stir in a tablespoonful flour, and add the haricots, vegetables, and
the liquor. Simmer gently till all are quite cooked, and serve. Some
tomatoes or a little extract may be added, and it can be varied in many
other ways.
Golden Marbles.
Take nearly a teacupful of haricots pulped through a sieve, and add to this
2 ozs. bread crumbs. Same of mashed potatoes; a shallot finely minced, or
a spoonful of grated onion. Beat up an egg and add, reserving a little.
Mix thoroughly, and form into marbles. Coat with the egg, toss in fine
crumbs, and fry in smoking-hot fat till golden brown in colour.
Haricot Kromeskies
can be made with the same mixture as for marbles. Some chopped tomatoes,
beetroot, or mushrooms may be added. If the mixture is too moist add a few
more crumbs; if too dry add a little ketchup, milk, tomato juice, &c. Form
into sausage-shaped pieces or small flat cakes. Dip into frying batter, and
drop into smoking-hot fat. When a golden brown lift out, and drain on
absorbent paper. Serve them, as also the golden marbles, on sippets of
toast or fried bread with tomato or parsley sauce.
Haricot Croquettes or Cutlets
are of course made with any of these mixtures. Shape into cutlets, egg,
crumb, and fry in the usual way.
There are an immense number more dishes which can be made with pulse foods,
for which I have not space here. There are also a number of new varieties
of pulses being put upon the market, which can be used with advantage to
vary the bill of fare and enlarge its scope.
Giant Split Peas
are especially good, and might be used in any of the foregoing recipes in
place of haricots. One advantage is that they do not require soaking. If
scalded with boiling water, drained, and put to cook in fresh boiling water,
they will be quite soft in little over an hour.
The best quality of butter beans also need no soaking. After scalding for a
few minutes the skins come off quite easily. There is also a new variety
called
Butter Peas, or "Midget" Butter Beans,
which I can heartily recommend. In appearance they resemble the small
haricots, but are much finer and boil down very quickly. They make a very
rich white soup, and may, of course, be used for any of the savouries for
which recipes are given. Scald with boiling water (or they may merely be
rubbed in a clean coarse cloth), plunge into more boiling water--the
quantity proportioned to the purpose for which intended, soups, stews,
&c.--and simmer till just tender, but not broken down.
Though they can be made up in a host of ways they are perhaps nicest as a
simple stew. When just cooked--and great care must be taken not to
_over_cook, for much of the substance, as well as the delicacy of
flavour, is lost if we do--have a saucepan with some shred onions, sweated
till tender, but not in the least coloured, in a little butter. Stir in a
spoonful of flour, and when smooth a gill of milk, or the stock from the
butter peas. Stir till it thickens and add the peas themselves, and any
extra seasoning required. See that all is quite hot, and serve garnished
with sippets of toast.
Brown Lentils
also furnish us with unlimited possibilities for new dishes. They are as
yet rather difficult to procure, but need only to be known to become very
popular. They somewhat resemble German lentils, but are much browner and
smaller. Being so small, extra trouble must be taken to see that they are
clean and free from grit. They can be used in place of German lentils for
any of the soups or savouries for which recipes are given. They cook very
quickly, and care must be taken with them also not to waste any of their
goodness up the chimney.
Toad-in-a-Hole.
Make the sausages the same as in previous recipe, only using brown lentils
instead of German lentils. Put in a buttered pie-dish and pour over the
following
Batter.
Beat up one or two eggs. Add 3 tablespoonfuls flour, and by degrees two
gills milk, also seasoning of grated onion, chopped parsley, white pepper,
"Extract," &c. While
Fresh Green Peas or Beans
are to be had, one need not be confined to the dried pulses. Cook the peas,
broad beans, or French beans, as directed in "Vegetables." Serve with
poached or buttered eggs, fried or baked tomatoes, &c.
One might go on _ad infinitum_ to suggest further combinations and
variations of the different pulse foods, but these must be left to suggest
themselves, for I must now pass on to another class of foods.
NUT FOODS.
We are only beginning very slowly to recognise the valuable properties of
nuts and their possibilities in the cuisine. Indeed, there is a rather
deep-rooted prejudice against them as food, people having been so long
accustomed to regard them as an unconsidered trifle to accompany the wine
after a big dinner, and as in this connection they usually call up visions
of dyspepsia, many people regard the idea of their bulking at all largely in
a meal with undisguised horror. I remember a lady saying to me that she was
quite sure a meal composed to any extent of nuts would _kill_ her, for
if she took even one walnut after dinner it gave her such pain. That rather
reminds one of the story of a half-witted fellow who used to go about the
country doing odd jobs, and asking in return a meal and a shake-down of
straw or hay.
He always expressed astonishment at folks being able to sleep on feather
beds, his aversion being founded on the fact that he had one night lain down
on the hard ground with a single feather under him. "An' if I had sic a
sarkfu' o' sair banes wi _ae_ feather," he argued, "what like maun it
be wi' a hale bed?"
Well, I can assure readers that whatever may be the troubles of a solitary
nut in an oasis of good things, it is very different when nuts are taken
alone or in a suitable and simple combination. Most of our digestive
troubles are due to an excess of proteid matter, which clogs up the system,
and either lodges in the body in the shape of some morbid secretion, or
tries to force its way out in an abnormal way, as by the skin. Now, nuts
are very rich in proteid, or flesh-forming matter, and it stands to reason,
that if we superimpose them on an already full, or overfull, meal, the
result is surfeit, and however wholesome or digestible this excess matter
may be in itself, it may, and usually does, work harm in more or less
obvious ways.
But curiously enough, this does not always work out with mathematical
directness. Most things in the physical, as in the metaphysical, world work
out as Ruskin says "not mathematically, but chemically." Though this may
seem a far-fetched simile in connection with our dinner, it is a true one.
To get back to our nuts. If after a meal of several courses, rich in
quality and variety, highly-spiced and flavoured, and perhaps interspersed
with little piquant relishes, serving to whet the appetite for the next
course, one takes only a very few nuts, or an apple, or a banana, the
probability is that "these last" will give the most direct trouble. The
gastric juices may be already exhausted, and the nuts, therefore, lie a hard
undigested mass on the stomach; or the apple digesting very quickly, and
being ready to leave the stomach some hours before its other contents, but
having to bide their time, ferments and gives off objectionable gases.
Thus, the innocent fruit gets the blame, and the fish, game, or meat go
free. Another way in which fruits may prove indigestible, through no fault
of their own, is because of the unsuitable combination in which they are
eaten. Most nuts, with the exception of chestnuts, which are largely
composed of starch, consist almost entirely of fat, which, unless it meets
with an alkali to dissolve it, is digested with great difficulty. The uric
acid in flesh tends to harden this fat, and so retards digestion.
The medical faculty now recognise the nutritive properties of nuts, as also
their wholesomeness and freedom from all toxic elements, and at all
sanatoria for the treatment of rheumatic and gouty affections a nut and
fruit diet is the established regime. We need not, however, go to an
expensive sanatorium to enjoy this food, but may cure, or better, prevent
these diseases in our own homes.
They are, I believe, best in their natural state, along with fresh fruits,
salads, and the like, but there are also many dainty dishes, in the
composition of which they may be used with advantage.
Mock Chicken Cutlets
only require to be known to be appreciated. Grate 1/4 lb. shelled
walnuts--this is best and easiest done by running through a nut-mill, but
these are not expensive, as they may be had from 1s. 6d.--or Brazil nuts,
and add to them two teacupfuls bread crumbs, mix in 1/2 oz. butter,
spoonful onion juice, and a little mace, white pepper, salt or celery salt.
Melt 1/2 oz. butter in saucepan. Mix in a teaspoonful flour, and add by
degrees a gill of milk. When it thickens add the other ingredients. Mix
well over the fire. Remove and stir in a beaten egg and teaspoonful lemon
juice. Mix all thoroughly and turn out to cool. Form into cutlets, egg,
crumb, and fry. Serve with bread sauce or tomato sauce.
Brazil Omelet.
Take 2 ozs. shelled Brazil nuts and rub off the brown skin. If they are
put in slow oven for 10 minutes, both shell and skin will come off easily.
Flake in a nut-mill or pound quite smooth. Add the yolk of hard boiled egg,
a teaspoonful ground almonds, or almond meal, and make into a paste. Then
add some grated onion, a tablespoonful baked or mashed potato, the same of
bread crumbs, and seasoning to taste. Mix well, and add the yolks of two
eggs beaten up, and after mixing thoroughly, stir in lightly the two whites
beaten quite stiff, butter a shallow tin or soup-plate, and pour in the
mixture. Cover and bake gently, till set--about an hour. When cool, cut
into neat shapes, egg, crumb, and fry. The same mixture will also make a
delicious
Brazil Souffle.
Add another white of egg stiffly beaten, and steam gently for 30 minutes.
Brazilian Quenelles.
Add another two tablespoonfuls bread crumbs, and leave out the potato; use
three eggs, but beat yolks and whites together. Butter one large or a
number of small moulds, fill with the mixture, and steam gently for 20 to 40
minutes, according to size; turn out, and serve, if large, with slices of
tomatoes baked or fried, arranged round. If small ones, have tomatoes piled
up in centre and quenelles placed round.
A number of other savouries, in which nuts form a part, can be made by
substituting grated walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, almond meal, Barcelonas,
&c., for peas, beans, lentils, &c., in the previous recipes. As they are
highly nutritive and concentrated, they must be used sparingly, however,
along with plenty of bread crumbs, rice, and the like. There is no need to
detail these, but I will give one to show what I mean.
Walnut Pie.
Run 4 ozs. shelled walnuts through the nut-mill--this will give about a
teacupful. Have some whole rice boiled as for curry, and put a layer of
that in buttered pudding dish. Put half of the grated nuts evenly on the
top, then a layer of tomatoes seasoned with grated onion, parsley, salt,
pepper, pinch mace, ketchup, &c. Repeat. Cover thickly with bread crumbs,
pour some melted butter over and bake till a nice brown. If rather dry,
pour some tomato sauce, diluted extract, gravy, &c., over. Serve with
tomato or other sauce.
The same ingredients may be put in a buttered mould and steamed, or the
whole may be mixed together, a beaten egg added, then made into one large or
a number of small rolls, place in baking tin, put some butter on the top and
bake, basting and turning now and then.
Prepared Nut Meats.
Of late years since the food value of nuts has been recognised, the
attention of specialists has been turned in their direction with very
practical results. Quite a number of excellent "Nut Meats" are now upon the
market, and each year adds to their variety, so that one's storeroom can be
supplied in a way that was impossible only a few years ago. For a cold
luncheon dish Mapleton's Fibrose, Almond Nut Meat, and
Savoury Nut Meat
Are very good. The latter is put up in air-tight glass dishes. Tomatoes or
any vegetable may be served with it. Then Meatose, Nut-Meatose, Vejola,
Nutvego, &c., are all excellent. The
"F.R." Meatose
Is specially fine. These "Meats" are all ready for use, and may be made up
in any of the ordinary recipes for Stews, Pies, Sausage Rolls, &c. One dish
which most people would like is
Curried Nut Meat.
Melt 1 oz. butter in stewpan, and into that put a tablespoonful finely
shred or grated onion, a few slices of tart apple or a little rhubarb, and,
if possible, some tomatoes--fresh ones peeled and sliced are best, but the
tinned ones will do very well. Stir in a dessert-spoonful flour and curry
powder to taste, and pour on boiling water, stock, or gravy as required.
Slice the nut meat and lay it in. Cover, and cook gently for about half an
hour. Serve with plain boiled rice.
I have not space to give further recipes, but would just add a word of
caution--use very sparingly. They are highly concentrated and nutritious
foods, and a large quantity is not only unnecessary, but harmful.
In addition to above, there are the products of the International Health
Association, "the pioneer manufacturers of health foods," who have within
the past year removed their works into the country (Stanborough Park,
Watford, Herts). Then Messrs Winter, Birmingham, "Pitman," Birmingham, and
Messrs Chapman, Liverpool, have a number of excellent nut meats, fuller
reference and recipes for which will be found in the chapter on "Health Food
Specialties" at end of book.
CHEESE SAVOURIES.
Many excellent cheese dishes, such as macaroni cheese, &c., are to be found
in the category of every household, so it will be needless to detail those
which are most generally known. Cheese is highly nutritious, and not
indigestible for those in ordinary health, if taken in moderation and
combined with other lighter and bulkier foods. Cheese with rice, bread
crumbs, macaroni, tomatoes, &c., is exceedingly good. It should be used
very sparingly, or not at all, in dishes which contain pulse, nuts, or eggs.
It should always be grated so that it can be mixed thoroughly with the other
ingredients.
Rice and Cheese.
Half teacupful rice, 2 ozs. grated cheese, one egg. Wash rice and put on
with cold water to barely cover, and pinch salt. When that is absorbed, add
milk enough to swell and cook the rice thoroughly without making it sloppy.
Remove from the fire and stir in the cheese, seasoning of salt, pepper, or
made mustard, pinch cayenne, and the egg beaten up. Turn into buttered
baking dish and bake gently till set and of a pale brown--cheese dishes must
never be done in too hasty an oven, as they acquire an unpleasant flavour if
in the least burnt. Turn out on hot ashet, and serve garnished with slices
of hard-boiled egg or fried tomatoes.
Cheese and Semolina.
Four ozs. cheese, breakfast cup milk, 1 oz. semolina, 2 eggs. Bring milk
to boil and stir in semolina. Cook till it thickens; remove from fire and
stir in the cheese, pinch cayenne, and yolks of eggs beaten up, beat up
whites stiffly, and mix in lightly. Turn into buttered pudding-dish and
bake gently till ready--about half-an-hour. This mixture, and the previous
one, may also be steamed for about 40 minutes. Serve with fried tomatoes or
tomato sauce.
I may say here that tomatoes go very well with cheese in almost any form. A
nice variety of rice and cheese can be contrived as follows:--Put half of
the cooked rice in pudding dish, put breakfastcupful tomatoes in saucepan
with a little butter, the cheese and seasoning, and just stir over the fire
till quite mixed. Put half over the rice, then the rest of the rice, and
the other half of the tomato mixture. Coat thickly with crumbs, put some
butter on top, and bake.
Cheese Souffle.
Two tablespoonfuls grated cheese, 2 eggs, 1-1/2 gills milk. Beat yolks of
eggs and mix in cheese, milk, pepper, salt, pinch cayenne, and, lastly, the
whites beaten quite stiff. Make souffle tin very hot, pour in mixture, and
bake in quick oven till set--15 to 20 minutes. Serve very hot.
Scotch Woodcock.
This is a favourite savoury in many non-vegetarian households. There are
numerous different recipes, which will doubtless be well known, but the
following is quite new and original. Prepare some slices of buttered toast
or fried bread, take about 1 lb. fresh tomatoes or a large cupful tinned
ones drained from the liquor, put in saucepan with a little butter and
grated onion, and stew gently till the tomatoes are pulped. If at all
stringy, put through a sieve. Add 2 ozs. grated cheese, seasoning to
taste, and stir over gentle heat till quite thick. Spread a layer of this
mixture on each slice of toast and pile on the top of each other. Reserve a
little of the mixture and to it add some tomato juice or milk, mushroom
ketchup, or diluted extract. Make very hot and pour right over, sprinkle
with chopped parsley, and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs--or these
might have the whites chopped up and the yolks grated over the top. Serve
very hot. A very tasteful effect is made by having the slices of toast,
which may be round, oblong, &c., graduating pyramid-wise from a large one at
the bottom to a small one at the top.
Cheese Straws (1).
Rub 2 ozs. butter into 4 ozs. flour. Add 2 ozs. grated cheese, a little
mustard and cayenne, and make into a stiff paste, with the yolks of 2 eggs
or one whole egg beaten up. Roll out thin, cut into straws, lift on to
baking sheet carefully with a knife, placing them a little apart, and bake a
pale brown--about 10 minutes in moderate oven. Another way is to break off
small bits of the paste and roll into thin pipes on a floured board.
Savoury
Cheese Biscuits
are made by cutting above paste, rolled very thin, into oblong or diamond
shapes, with pastry cutter. Bake in same way. Serve either hot or cold.
Spread with a little Marmite and savoury tomato mixture, or sandwich this
between two biscuits.
Cheese Straws (2).
Two ozs. cheese, same of batter, flour and fine white crumbs. Add
seasoning, and make into paste with one egg, roll out, stamp out a few
rings, make the rest into straws, bake and put a bundle of straws into each
ring.
Parmesan Puff Pie.
Prepare some cheese pastry, as for "Straws No. 1," and with it line a round
shallow tin or tart ring. Common short or puff pastry will do, but the
cheese pastry is nicer. Fill in with rice or crusts to keep in place. Bake
rather briskly, and remove from the tin. Fill in with the following
mixture:--In a saucepan melt 1 oz. butter, and into that stir 1 oz. flour
and 1 oz. flaked or ground rice. Add gradually a teacupful milk, and when
it thickens, 2 ozs. grated cheese and seasoning, cayenne, and made mustard.
Pour into pastry case. Sprinkle a few browned crumbs or shredded wheat
biscuit crumbs on the top. Dot over with bits of butter, and bake in
moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Put a little more grated cheese on the
top and serve very hot.
Small Cheese Tartlets
can be made by dividing same ingredients into a number of small cases or
patty tins. Ten minutes should be long enough to bake. Another very good
filling for these or the previous puff pie is the mixture given in recipe
for Scotch woodcock, while a novel and delicious
Welsh Rarebit
could be made with either of these mixtures, with perhaps a rather more
liberal supply of cheese and made mustard spread between slices of hot
buttered toast.
Mock Crab
is made with somewhat similar filling, but is best with fresh tomatoes.
Remove skin and seeds from 1/2 lb. firm, ripe tomatoes, and cut small;
grate 4 ozs. rich, well-flavoured Cheddar cheese. Add to tomatoes in basin
with teaspoonful made mustard, yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs, large spoonful
mushroom ketchup, a little extract, and a very little curry powder or paste.
Pound all together with back of a wooden spoon till quite smooth. Serve in
scallop shells, garnished with the white of egg.
These cheese tartlets, mock crab, patties, &c., can be most acceptably
varied by using
Shredded Wheat Biscuits
in place of pastry cases or scallop shells. Use any of the cheese mixtures
given for Scotch woodcock, mock crab, &c. With a sharp-pointed knife split
the biscuit open and place in buttered tin, with a bit of butter on the top
of each, in hot oven till crisp and brown. Remove to hot dish, fill in each
biscuit with the mixture made very hot, and pile up more on the top.
Dresden Patties.
Stamp out 6 or 8 rounds of bread, dip quickly in milk, gravy, or diluted
extract, and drain--on no account allow to soak. Brush over with egg, toss
in fine crumbs and fry. Drain and keep very hot. Prepare a cheese and
tomato mixture same as for "Scotch Woodcock," and while in saucepan add 1 or
2 hard-boiled eggs--the white chopped in small dice or tiny strips. Mix
lightly over the fire and pile up on centre of each round. Serve on hot
napkin, garnished with fried parsley. These patties may also be made with
shredded wheat biscuits.
* * * * *
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MISCELLANEOUS SAVOURIES.
Scotch Haggis.
"Fair fa' yer honest, sonsy face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin' race."
It is to be hoped the shade of Burns will forbear to haunt those who have
the temerity to appropriate the sacred name of Haggis for anything innocent
of the time-honoured liver and lights which were the _sine qua non_ of
the great chieftain. But in Burns' time people were not haunted by the
horrors of trichinae, measly affections, &c., &c. (one must not be too
brutally plain spoken, even in what they are avoiding), as we are now, so
perhaps this practical age may risk the shade rather than the substance.
For a medium-sized haggis, then, toast a breakfastcupful oatmeal in front of
the fire, or in the oven till brown and crisp, but not burnt. Have the same
quantity of cooked brown or German lentils, and a half-teacupful onions,
chopped up and browned in a little butter. Mix all together and add 4 ozs.
chopped vegetable suet, and seasoning necessary of ketchup, black and
Jamaica popper.
It should be fairly moist; if too dry add a little stock, gravy, or extract.
Turn into greased basin and steam at least 3 hours. An almost too realistic
imitation of "liver" is contrived by substituting chopped mushrooms for the
lentils. It may also be varied by using crushed shredded wheat biscuit
crumbs in place of the oatmeal. Any "remains" will be found very toothsome,
if sliced when cold, and toasted or fried.
Rolled Oats Savoury.
Put a teacupful Scotch rolled oats in a basin, and pour over 2 cupfuls milk
in which some onion has been boiled. Allow to soak for an hour, remove
onion, add pinch salt, &c., and a beaten egg. Steam in small greased basin
for an hour. May be served with a puree of tomatoes.
Irish Stew.
Pare and slice 2 lbs. potatoes, and about 1/2 lb. each carrots, turnips,
and onions. Fry all, except the potatoes, a nice brown in a little butter
or fat. Put in layers in saucepan with 2 ozs. fat, salt, pepper, and good
stock to barely cover. Simmer very gently for about 2 hours. It may also
be baked in pie-dish.
This may be varied in many ways, as by adding layers of forcemeat, pressed
lentils, &c. Then there are the various nut meats--Meatose, Vejola, Savoury
Nut Meat, &c.--which can be used to great advantage in such a stew.
Scotch Stew.
This is a most substantial and excellent dish. Wash well 1/4 lb.
_pot_ barley--the unpearled if it can be procured--simmer gently in 1
pint white stock for an hour, then add some carrots, scraped--and if large,
sliced lengthwise--2 or 3 small turnips cut in halves or quarters, or part
of a large one in slices, a Spanish onion sliced, or a few shallots, some
green peas, French beans, or other vegetables that may be in season; some
cauliflower in sprigs is a welcome addition. It or green peas should not be
added till 1/2 hour before serving. Simmer till all the vegetables are just
cooked, adding more stock if necessary. Serve with a border of boiled
pasties, potato balls, or chips.
Poor Man's Pie.
Pare and slice 2 to 3 lbs. potatoes. Slice 1 lb. onions; put half the
potatoes in pie-dish, then the onions, and sprinkle over 2 tablespoonfuls
tapioca and a little powdered herbs or parsley. Add the rest of the
potatoes, dust with pepper and salt, pour in water or stock to within 1/2
inch from top. Put 2 oz. butter or nut butter on the top, and bake in
moderate oven about 2 hours.
Vegetable Roast Duck.
Take a good-sized vegetable marrow, pare thinly and remove a small
wedge-shaped piece from the side. Scoop out the seeds and water, fill in
with good forcemeat, replace the wedge, brush all over with beaten egg.
Coat with crumbs, put some butter over, and bake till a nice brown, basting
frequently. Serve with fried tomatoes.
An ordinary forcemeat of crumbs, onion, parsley, egg, &c., will do, or any
of the sausage mixtures given previously.
Esau's Pottage.
The following I have had given me as the original recipe for "Esau's
pottage," but I think it must be more elaborate than that set before the
hungry hunter.
One pint lentils and 2 quarts water boiled 2-1/2 hours, then add 1/2 lb.
onions, 2 lbs. tomatoes, a little thyme and parsley. Cook all together 3/4
hour longer and add 3 oz. butter and 1 oz. grated cheese just before
serving.
Dahl.
Wash well 1/2 lb. rice and allow to swell and soften in just as much water
or stock as it will absorb. Cook 1/2 lb. red lentils with stock or water,
some grated onion, pinch herbs, little curry powder, and any other seasoning
to taste. Make a border of the rice, pile the lentils high in the centre,
and garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. The lentils are best steamed,
as they can thus be thoroughly cooked without becoming mushy or burnt.
Mushroom and Tomato Pie.
For a fair-sized pie get 3/4 lb. medium-sized flap mushrooms, the meadow
ones are best, and 1 lb. good firm tomatoes, remove the stalks from the
mushrooms and wipe with a piece of clean flannel dipped in oatmeal or salt.
Unless very dirty, it is best not to wash them, as that somewhat spoils the
flavour. Pare and put a layer in pie-dish, along with slices of tomato,
pared and free from seeds. Put a little bit of butter on each, dust with
salt and pepper, and repeat till the dish is heaped up. Cover with a good,
rough puff paste, and bake till the paste is ready, about an hour. No water
should be put in, but the trimmings of the mushrooms and tomatoes should be
stewed in a little water, and this gravy may be added with a funnel after
the pie is ready.
Mushroom and Tomato Patties.
For these we require some richer puff paste. Prepare and trim a small
quantity of tomatoes and mushrooms. Cut rather small and cook gently, with
a little butter and seasoning, for 10 or 15 minutes. Allow most of the
moisture to evaporate in cooking, as this is much better than mixing in
flour to absorb it. When the pastry cases are baked, fill in with the
mixture. Good either hot or cold. If baked in patty pans, the mixture
should be cold before using. Line in the tins with puff paste, half fill,
brush edges with egg or water, lay on another round of paste, press edges
together and bake.
Vol-au-Vent.
A delicious vol-au-vent is made with exactly the same filling as above.
Mushroom Pie.
Put on stewpan with a piece of "Nutter" or other good vegetable fat. Cut up
one large Spanish onion very small, add to fat and brown nicely. Cover with
water and stew along with the contents of a tin or bottle of white French
mushrooms (including the liquid), also pepper and salt to taste. Stew till
the mushrooms are tender, then take out and chop. Dish along with other
contents of saucepan, and when cool add a cup of brown bread crumbs, and one
beaten egg. Cover with puff paste or short crust and bake. Serve with
brown sauce.
Shepherd's Pie.
Mushrooms same as for mushroom pie, but covered with nicely mashed potatoes,
adding pepper and salt to the latter. Beat well and cover, stroke with a
fork, and brown in the oven.
BREAKFAST DISHES--Porridge.
"The halesome parritch, chief o' Scotia's food."
In these days of tea and white bread it is to be feared that the "halesome
parritch" is now very far removed from the honoured place of chief, and it
must be more than a coincidence which connects the physical degeneracy of
the Scottish working people with the supplanting of the porridge-pot by the
tea-pot. Even in rural districts there is a great change in the daily fare,
and there too anaemia, dyspepsia, and a host of other ills, quite unknown to
older generations, are only too common. Certainly many people have given up
porridge because they found it did not suit them--too heavy, heating,
&c.--but we must remember that all compounds of oatmeal and water are not
porridge, and the fault may lie in its preparation. It is a pity that any
one, especially children and growing youths, should be deprived of such
valuable nutriment as that supplied by oatmeal, and before giving it up, it
should be tried steamed and super-cooked. It is only by steaming that one
can have the oatmeal thoroughly cooked and dextrinised, while of a good firm
"chewable" consistency, and not only are sloppy foods indigestible, but they
give a feeling of satiety in eating, followed later by that of emptiness and
craving for food. The custom, too, of taking tea and other foods after
porridge is generally harmful.
Now for the method by which many, who have long foresworn porridge, have
become able again to relish it, and benefit by it. Make porridge in usual
way, that is, have fast boiling water, and into that sprinkle the oatmeal
smoothly, putting about _twice_ as much oatmeal in proportion to the
water as is usual. Boil up for a few minutes, add salt to taste, and turn
into a pudding bowl or steamer. Cover closely and put in large pot with
about one inch water or in a steam cooker and steam for five to twelve
hours. Eat with stewed prunes, figs, &c., or with butter or nut
butter--almond cream butter is both delicious and wholesome. A mixture of
wheatmeal and oatmeal, or wheatmeal itself, may be found to suit some better
than oatmeal alone. I heard recently of a hopeless dyspeptic who recovered
health on a diet composed almost entirely of porridge made of three-parts
whole wheatmeal to one of oatmeal. I may add that one must be careful to
take a much smaller quantity of this firm, super-cooked porridge, as it
contains so much more nutriment in proportion to its bulk.
Porridge made with Scotch Rolled Oats also will be found easier of
digestion by some than ordinary oatmeal porridge. This also is best steamed
and super-cooked.
* * * * *
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Protose. The Standard Nut Meat.
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* * * * *
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One Pound of PLASMON contains the entire nourishment of 30 pints of fresh
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Most foods are deficient in proteid, which is required to support life.
PLASMON should be added to all foods because it supplies this element.
Foods mixed with PLASMON are therefore more nourishing than any others.
OF ALL GROCERS, CHEMISTS, AND STORES.
* * * * *
FOR HEALTH, STRENGTH, AND ENERGY
[Illustration]
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[Illustration]
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* * * * *
BREAKFAST SAVOURIES.
Most of the rissoles, toasts, &c., given in the earlier part of the book are
suited for breakfast dishes, but we may add a few more.
Savoury Omelets.
Separate the whites from the yolks of 3 eggs, or one for each person; beat
up the yolks, and add some grated onion, pepper and salt. Beat the whites
till very stiff and mix or rather fold in very lightly. Make a small piece
of butter very hot in small frying pan, pour in one-third of the mixture,
shake over gentle heat till set, easing it round the edges with a knife,
fold over and put on very hot napkin. Repeat till all are done and serve
very hot. A little hot lemon juice may be squeezed over, or a spoonful of
mushroom ketchup will give a nice relish.
Cheese Omelet
is made by mixing in grated cheese--a dessert spoonful for each egg. The
onion may be omitted if preferred without. A pinch cayenne and a little
made mustard go well with cheese.
Savoury Pancakes.
Take much the same ingredients as above, but beat yolks and whites together,
and add one tablespoonful milk, and a level dessert spoonful flour for each
egg. Mix all together some time before using. Make a bit of butter hot in
very small frying pan, pour in enough batter to just cover, and cook very
gently till set, and brown on the under side. Turn and brown on the other
side, or hold in front of hot fire or under the gas grill. Roll up and
serve very hot. Ketchup and water, or diluted extract, may be used instead
of the milk, and some finely minced parsley or pinch herbs is an
improvement.
These omelets and pancakes may be varied by adding tomatoes, mushrooms, &c.
Cook very lightly and either stir into the mixture before frying, or spread
on the top after it is cooked, and fold or roll up. A mixture of tomatoes
and mushrooms is especially good.
Mushroom Cutlets.
Remove stalks and skins from 1/2 lb. flap mushrooms. Clean, chop up, and
stew gently in a little butter. Melt 1 oz. butter in another saucepan,
stir in 1 oz. flour, and add by degrees a teacupful milk, tomato juice, or
extract. When smooth add the mushrooms and seasonings. Stir till smooth
and thick, and turn out on flat dish to cool. Shape into cutlets, egg,
crumb, and fry.
Asparagus, celery, artichokes, and many other vegetables may be used in the
composition of omelets, fritters, cutlets, &c.
If for an omelet, only a very small quantity must be used. One
tablespoonful of any of the finer cooked vegetables is enough in proportion
to two eggs. When a more substantial dish is wanted, it should take the
shape of cutlets or fritters.
Bread Fritters.
Put 6 ozs. fine bread crumbs in a basin and pour over 3 teacupfuls boiling
milk. Allow to stand for some time, then add seasoning to taste--grated
onion, parsley, ketchup, extract, &c.--and 2 beaten eggs, reserving a little
of the white for brushing. Mix and pour into buttered baking tin. Cover
and bake in good oven till set--about 1 hour. When cold, cut into nice
shapes, brush over with egg, toss in fine crumbs and fry. This may also be
served simply baked. In that case, put some bits of butter on top, and bake
a nice brown without cover.
Eggs
are, of course, invaluable in many ways besides the more familiar boiled,
poached, and scrambled.
Buttered Eggs.
Break number of eggs required in a bowl, melt a nut of butter to each egg in
saucepan, pour in the eggs, seasoning, &c., and stir one way over gentle
heat till set. About 2 minutes should do. Serve on toast or bread cutlets.
Tomato Eggs.
Have a quantity of tomato pulp made hot in frying pan, and slip in as many
eggs as required, gently, so as not to scatter. Allow to poach for about 3
minutes or till the whites are just set. Serve on toast or shredded wheat
biscuits. Another way is to cook the tomatoes, and put, with the eggs, on a
flat dish, in the oven till set. Serve on same dish, garnished with sippets
of toast or toasted triscuits.
Egg Cutlets (Mrs G. D.)
There are many different recipes for these, but the following is an
especially good one, for which I am indebted to an Edinburgh friend. Chop
very small two firmly boiled eggs, and 2 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs and the
same of grated cheese with a pinch of curry powder, pepper, and grated
nutmeg. Mix with the yolk of a raw egg. Shape into cutlets, brush over
with the white of the egg beaten up a little, toss in fine crumbs, and fry a
nice brown. Garnish with fried parsley.
Inverness Eggs.
Boil hard the number of eggs required, remove the shells, and rub each with
a little flour. Take a quantity of any of the varieties of sausage meat,
for which recipes are given, or a forcemeat, or quenelle mixture will do,
add some finely minced parsley, any other seasoning required, and a beaten
egg to bind. Mix thoroughly, flour the hands and coat each egg with the
mixture, rather less than 1/4 inch thick, and evenly, so that the shape is
retained, flour lightly and fry a nice brown. Cut in halves, and serve,
round ends up, with tomato sauce.
Toasts
of various kinds come in nicely for breakfast. They can be of ordinary
toast, fried bread, or shredded wheat biscuits. The latter are particularly
dainty, and may be prepared thus:--Put in buttered baking tin, with plenty
of butter on top of each, and place in brisk oven till crisp and
brown--about 10 minutes. Pile high with following mixture:--In an enamel
frying pan put a teaspoonful butter, and two tablespoonfuls diluted extract
or ketchup and water for each egg. When nearly boiling, break in the eggs
and stir gently round over a very moderate heat till just set. Season to
taste. A little of the sauce made hot might be first poured over the toast
or biscuits.
Bread Cutlets.
Have a number of neat pieces of bread about 1/2 inch thick. Dip in milk,
gravy, tomato juice, &c., and drain. Do not soak. Brush over with egg or
dip in batter, and fry. Serve as they are or with some savoury mince,
tomatoes, &c.
Stuffed Tomatoes.
Have number of tomatoes required, equal in size but not too large. With a
sharp knife take off a small slice from the stalk end. Scoop out a little
of the centre part, mix this with some forcemeat, or sausage mixture, beaten
egg, &c., and fill in the cavity. Put some butter on the top and bake. A
few chopped mushrooms with crumbs, egg, &c., make a delicious filling.
Cheese Fritters.
Mix 2 tablespoonfuls flour with 1/2 teacupful milk, 2 ozs. grated cheese,
teaspoonful made mustard, and the whites of 2 eggs stiffly beaten. Mix
well, and drop by small spoonfuls into hot fat. Fry a nice brown and serve
very hot.
One might go on indefinitely to detail breakfast dishes, but that is quite
unnecessary. It is a good thing, however, to have some simple,
easily-prepared food as a regular stand-by from day to day, just as porridge
is in some households, and bacon and eggs in others. Variety is very good
so far, but we are in danger of making a fetish of changes and variations.
Most of you know the story of the Scotch rustic who was quizzed by an
English tourist, who surprised him at his mid-day meal of brose. The
tourist asked him what he had for breakfast and supper respectively, and on
getting each time the laconic answer "brose," he burst out in amaze: "And do
you never tire of brose!" Whereupon the still more astonished rustic
rejoined "Wha wad tire o' their meat!" "Meat" to this happy youth was
summed up in brose, and to go without was to go unfed.
Well, I am afraid the most Spartan _hausfrau_ among us will scarcely
attain to such an ideal of simplicity, but we might do well to have one
staple dish, either in plane of, or along with porridge. For this purpose I
know of nothing better than
Shredded Wheat Biscuits.
These have been referred to several times already in various savoury
recipes, and, indeed, the ways in which they may be used are practically
unlimited. For a
Standard Breakfast Dish,
especially in these days of "domestic" difficulty, they are exceedingly
useful. For some years now we have bought them through our grocer by the
case of 50 boxes--which, of course, brings them in much cheaper than buying
these boxes singly--and use them week in, week out, for the family
breakfast. Most people are familiar with the appearance of these, but any
who have not yet sampled them should lose no time in doing so. Fortunately,
they can now be had of all good grocers. When some of us began to use them
first we had no end of bother sending away for them to special depots.
To prepare:--Have a flat tin or ashet large enough to hold the biscuits side
by side. Spread the tin liberally with butter, lay in the biscuits, put
more butter on the top of each, and toast till nicely crisp and brown in
good oven, or under the gas grill. If the latter, turn to toast the under
side. Be very careful not to burn. If toasted on an ashet serve on same
dish. One can now have fire-proof ware which is not unsightly. There is a
very artistic white fire-proof ware which is specially suitable for using in
this way, so that besides the saving of trouble, one can have the food hot
and crisp from the oven--a rather difficult, or at least uncertain
consummation if there is much shifting from one dish to another. These
"Shredders,"
as we familiarly dub them, are most toothsome served quite simply as above,
but they may be acceptably varied with sundry relishes. A very good way is
to have a little gravy prepared by diluting half a teaspoonful "Marmite" or
a teaspoonful "Carnos" in a half teacup _boiling_ water. Pour a very
little over each biscuit, and serve on very hot plates. Prepared thus they
may serve as toast for scrambled eggs or any savoury mixture. For
Tomato "Shredders"
fry the necessary quantity of tomatoes, free from skin and seeds, in a
little butter, with seasoning of grated onion, pepper, and salt. A little
"Marmite" or "Carnos" is a great improvement.
<b<Mushrooms
may be used in the same way, and a mixture of mushrooms and tomatoes fried
or baked and mixed together is especially good.
Green Onions
are also very good. Take 1/2 lb. green onions, trim away any tough or
withered parts, and cut up the green in 1/2 inch lengths. Put these in a
saucepan with boiling water to barely cover, a little salt, pinch sugar, and
a little mint, sage, or parsley. Cook gently for half an hour, then add the
white cut in rings, and stew till quite tender. Stir in 1/2 oz. butter, a
little ketchup or extract, and serve on prepared S.W. Biscuits.
Craigie Toast
will commend itself to those who wish for a quickly made dish. Allow one
egg and a small tomato to each person. Beat up the eggs and add the
tomatoes minced, also seasoning--a few capers or a little gherkin finely
chopped is very good--and a little milk, ketchup and water, or diluted
extract--half a teacupful to 4 eggs. Melt a good piece of butter in
saucepan, pour in the other ingredients, and mix over the fire till
thoroughly hot. Cover, and allow to cook by the side of the fire for a few
minutes, then serve piled up on crisp toasted S.W. Biscuits.
All the recipes I have given for using these biscuits are designed to have
them dry and crisp. I think they are much nicer in that way, but those who
like them soft or as a mush can have them so with even less trouble. Put a
little milk, tomato juice, extract, sauce, &c., &c., in a soup plate. Dip
in each biscuit lightly and drain, place on buttered tin or dish to warm
through. For a
Bachelor's Mush
which might suitably take the place of porridge where the preparation of
that is inconvenient, toast one or two Shredded Wheat Biscuits on a deep
plate. Pour boiling milk over and serve with sugar or stewed fruit.
With stewed fruit, also, one might use
Triscuits
toasted or plain. These are flat filamented biscuits which can be used to
advantage in many ways. They can be used in place of toast, and are very
suitable to eat with porridge or any food which may be rather mushy alone.
One might go on for pages with suggestions for using these handy biscuits,
but one has only to begin using them to find out innumerable ways of one's
own. These are not always what _I_ would suggest. One "unreformed"
friend of mine who had begun to use them on my recommendation, told me she
put them to fry every morning, after dipping in egg or batter, among the fat
of the breakfast bacon!
Grain Granules.
This also is a very handy and sustaining breakfast dish, and needs little or
no cooking. To make a hot mush put a few spoonfuls in a plate or saucer,
and pour hot milk over. It may be eaten at once or allowed to remain in the
oven for a few minutes. If to be eaten with cream or stewed fruit, crisp
for a few minutes in the oven.
Nutgraino
is another excellent breakfast dish, composed of the whole wheat berry
blended with nuts, and is most nourishing and digestible. It may be used as
Grain Granules.
Wheatose
is a food which is recommended by eminent authorities on the food question.
It is not so quickly prepared as the foregoing foods, but with a little
forethought costs very little trouble. One teacupful should be soaked with
rather less than twice that quantity of water for 10 hours, then it should
be steamed in Queen pudding bowl, "Gourmet" boiler, &c., for 4 or 5 hours.
It might thus be put on to soak in the morning, then put on to steam in the
evening, or it might be put in covered jar in the oven all night. It can
easily be warmed up in the morning, and when cold it will be quite firm, and
may be cut in slices and fried. As a mush it should be eaten with dry toast
or triscuits and stewed fruit.
COLD SAVOURIES.
"Reform" Mould.
(Mrs W., Dundee.)
Take 1 lb. yellow lentils, wash well, and boil with as little water as
possible and any suitable seasoning, such as chopped onion, pinch herbs,
salt, pepper, and a little butter; also about 2 tablespoonfuls of tapioca
which has been soaked all night or longer. Cook very gently till the
tapioca is quite clear, and turn into wetted or oiled mould. Turn out when
quite firm and serve with any suitable garnish-cooked beetroot, &c.
NOTE.--This can be best cooked in double boiler, as it is very ready to
catch the pan.
Vegetable Mould.
Cut finely about 6 ozs. each of turnip and carrot, and 3 ozs. shallots,
and stew till just tender in stock or gravy to barely cover. Steaming is
better, as the vegetables should not be broken down. Add some cooked
cauliflower cut small, a cupful of cooked green peas or French beans, and 3
or 4 tomatoes sliced and cooked. Mix in 2 ozs. bread crumbs, and the same
of cooked savoury rice, semolina, or tapioca, and cook a little longer.
Press into a dish--an oval cake tin does very well. When cool turn out, see
that it is neat, and brush all over with glaze. Garnish with slices of
hard-boiled egg and
Tomato Aspic.
This jelly comes in useful in many ways. Take 1 tin tomatoes and rub
through a sieve. Make up with clear stock or water to 1 pint--2
breakfastcupfuls. Have 1/6-oz. Agar-agar (Vegetable Gelatine) soaked for
an hour in cold water, pour off the water, add to the tomato pulp, and put
all in enamelled saucepan along with any additional flavouring required.
Salt and white pepper will do nicely, but a blade of mace, some mixed herbs,
and a few Jamaica peppercorns may be used. Add also the whites and shells
of two eggs, unless you have a number of egg shells, in which case the
whites may be dispensed with. Whisk steadily over the fire till it boils,
then draw to the side and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Pour twice
through jelly-bag. The second time run half on to a flat ashet or some
plates. Colour the rest with a little carmine and put to set also. When
used as a garnish, stamp out in pretty shapes, and arrange with the red and
amber alternating. For
Glaze
dissolve 2 tablespoonfuls of the clear tomato aspic in saucepan. Add 1/2
teaspoonful "Marmite," or 1 teaspoonful "Carnos" extract, mix thoroughly,
and boil up. Allow to get nearly cool, but not beginning to set, and then
brush over the mould with it.
Mock Calf's Foot Jelly.
Prepare according to directions given for tomato jelly, and just before
straining add amount required of a good extract. One oz. "Marmite"--or 2
teaspoonfuls--or 1-1/2 ozs. "Carnos" to a pint of tomato jelly, would be a
good proportion. Stir till dissolved. Strain and mould in the usual way.
It may of course be prepared without extract, by making a good strong stock.
Vegetables may be used or not at discretion. The liquor strained from
haricots, brown beans, or German lentils, with vegetable gelatine, in the
proportion of 1/8-oz. to the pint, makes a delicious jelly. Care must be
taken to see that none of the pulp gets through. Clarify and strain very
carefully.
Legumes en Aspic.
Get an equal quantity of red, white, and green vegetables--say young
carrots, tomatoes, turnips, cauliflower, green peas, French beans, &c. Have
each cooked "to a turn" separately, and the carrots and turnips cut into
neat shapes, cauliflower in tiny sprigs, &c. Arrange the vegetables as
neatly as possible in a mould, and fill up with tomato jelly. When set,
turn out and garnish with slices of fresh tomato and lemon.
It is not necessary to have a number of different vegetables for this dish.
Any one or two of them will do quite well. The mould might be decorated
with slices of beetroot or hard-boiled eggs.
Tomato and Egg Savoury.
Boil hard 4 eggs, cut in half, and remove yolks. Divide 4 good-sized, firm,
ripe tomatoes in halves, and scoop out some of the pulp, leaving a nice
case. Put the half whites inside the tomato shells and fill with the
following mixture:--In a saucepan melt 2 ozs. butter, add tomato pulp, 1
oz. fine crumbs, the yolks rubbed through a sieve, a teaspoonful extract,
salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice. Mix well and make quite hot. Fill
in the little cups, piling it up cone-wise, and serve on a bed of aspic.
Raised Haricot Pie.
Prepare a raised pie case (see Pastry), put in a layer of cooked haricot or
butter beans, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and one of hard-boiled eggs. Put
on the lid, which should have a hole in the centre. Bake, and with a funnel
fill in with dissolved savoury jelly. This is delicious to eat cold, and is
very useful for pic-nics. The same ingredients may also be made into small
pies or bridies.
POTTED SAVOURIES.
There is an unlimited variety of these to be had. Any of the savoury
mixtures given in previous recipes for stews, sausages, &c., will do, but if
to be kept for any length of time, it must be well seasoned, the different
ingredients thoroughly blended or pounded together, and the mixture pressed
into small jars or glasses with clarified butter or pure vegetable fat
poured over. A little lemon juice and grated lemon rind will give a piquant
relish to most of these potted "meats."
Haricot Paste.
This is very good, and is a handy way of using up cold haricots, butter
beans, &c. Drain away any sauce, or add as much finely mashed potato or
cold boiled rice as will absorb it. Add seasoning to taste--mace, made
mustard, ketchup, "Extract," &c. Mix thoroughly and pass through a sieve to
remove skins, stringy portions, &c. Some tomato is always an improvement,
and if none has been cooked with the beans, put some in saucepan with a
little butter and cook for 10 minutes. Add the haricots, &c., blend
together over the fire, and pass through sieve while hot.
Lentil Paste
is made by using cooked lentils in place of the beans.
Tomato Paste.
Peel and cut small 1/2 lb. tomatoes. Put in saucepan with 1 oz. butter, a
teaspoonful grated onion, and seasoning to taste--made mustard, celery salt,
lemon juice, ketchup, "Extract," &c. Each or all of these are good. Stir
over the fire till the tomato is nearly cooked, then add one egg, and stir
round till all is smooth and thick. Add 2 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs or 1
of cold cooked rice, macaroni, &c., previously put through a sieve or
masher. Remove to side of fire and stir in 2 ozs. grated cheese. Mix very
thoroughly and pot.
Tomato Paste (2).
For immediate use the following is specially good. It may be used as a
savoury, and makes a delicious filling for sandwiches. Take some firm, ripe
tomatoes, free from skin and seeds, and cut up small. Allow 1 oz. grated
cheese to every 4 ozs. tomato--some may prefer more cheese in proportion,
but that is a fair average. Put in a strong basin with seasoning--made
mustard or pepper, ketchup, a little "Marmite" or "Carnos," &c., and pound
to a smooth paste with a wooden spoon. Pass through a sieve, and it is
ready for use.
Brawn for Pic-Nic.
Take a small teacupful lentils, haricots, or butter peas, and rub through a
sieve. Cook 2 ozs. flaked rice or semolina in a teacupful boiling stock
for about 10 minutes, stirring all the while, and then 1/2 lb. or more of
tomatoes sliced and cut small, dessertspoonful grated onion, some finely
shred cooked carrot or beetroot, and seasoning. Add the lentils to this and
mix thoroughly. Cook for a minute or so, remove from the fire, and mix in 2
finely chopped hard-boiled eggs. Press into a glass dish. It may be
covered with glaze when turned out, or decorated with aspic jelly.
Tomatoes and Mushrooms,
gently baked or steamed together, with butter and seasoning, are also very
good as a cold savoury for sandwiches; &c. If rather moist add a little
cooked rice, mashed potato, or fine crumbs. Pound together, pass through a
sieve if wished very smooth, and pot as above.
Sandwiches.
A good filling for sandwiches is to be found in any of the "potted meats"
given in the foregoing section. Amongst others are
Egg Sandwiches.
These are usually made with finely chopped hard-boiled eggs. The latter
alone may be used, or a little relish of some sort may be added--ketchup,
tomato pulp, or chutney. Mix all to a smooth paste before using, and spread
very evenly.
Egg Sandwiches (2).
Another very good way is to beat up the eggs a little, add seasoning, &c.,
put a bit of butter in saucepan, pour in the eggs, and cook gently till set.
Stir all the time. Use when cold.
Water-Cress, Mustard-and-Cress,
and all salad vegetables are suitable for sandwiches. Most people will
prefer them simply with bread and butter, so that the individual flavour may
be appreciated. If any, such as lettuce or endive, are considered rather
insipid, a little relish may be added as above. A tasty and novel flavour
is obtained by spreading a very little Marmite Extract on the bread and
butter before adding the filling proper.
Tomato Cheese Sandwiches
are among the best. The filling may be either the Tomato Paste given under
Potted Savouries, or the mixture given for Scotch Woodcock or Mock Crab.
VEGETABLES.
It may seem rather supererogatory to speak of "Vegetables" distinctively,
for the "unregenorate" will be inclined to declare that we have been
discussing nothing else all the while. But for the benefit of such as are
like the advertised domestic "willing to learn," I would say that
vegetarians as a rule use fresh vegetables practically in the same way as
meat eaters do, to supplement more substantial viands. No one--to my
knowledge at least--ever dines off the proverbial cabbage or turnip--perhaps
it would be better if they did now and then--but, that by the way. But
there are vegetables _and_ vegetables. No one who has gone in for the
most elementary food reform will tolerate the sodden, soap-like potatoes, or
the flabby, insipid, brown papery-looking stuff, called by courtesy cabbage,
which so often does duty as companion to beef, mutton, or pork. Perhaps,
though, the savoury cow or pig throws a halo over all the defects of its
surroundings. Be that as it may, there is need for improvement in many
ways, and by this I do not mean more elaboration in dressing or serving, for
this is not seldom used to disguise shortcomings which otherwise could not
escape notice. But disguising defects does not remove them, and we should
do well to safeguard ourselves by having our food cooked as simply and
naturally as possible.
The homeliest vegetables, too, if sound, ripe, and wholesome, are infinitely
to be preferred to the rare expensive sorts forced out of season or gathered
barely ripe and conveyed long distances to whet jaded palates. Well, to
begin with that vegetable we are supposed to live on,
Cabbage.
This may either be a choice delicacy or an unmitigated abomination. It
should be fresh, green, crisp and tender, and as newly pulled as possible.
Those who have gardens should leave it growing till half-an-hour before
cooking. When it must be kept for some time, see that it is in a shady,
cool place, and an hour or two before using; remove any tough or withered
leaves, split up the stalk well into the heart, if to be used whole, and lay
in a large basin of cold water. Add a handful of salt and two
tablespoonfuls vinegar to each gallon of water. Although freshly pulled all
leafy vegetables should be soaked in this way to remove any caterpillars,
slugs, &c., for even eaters of pig and ox have a curious objection to animal
food on a small scale. To cook, have ready a good-sized saucepan with
fast-boiling water containing a little salt, and if the cabbage is at all
old or tough, a bit of washing soda the size of a hazel nut, to each quart
of water. Drain very thoroughly from the water in which soaking, and plunge
into the fast-boiling water. It is most important that the water should not
go off the boil as then the juices would be drawn out and wasted. Boil
steadily with the lid off for 10 to 20 minutes according to age, then lift
into drainer on top of the boiling water and cook till tender in the steam.
Serve on hot vegetable dish with some bits of butter on the top. It should
be perfectly tender, yet crisp and of a vivid green. If at all brown, or
dull, or flabby-looking, there is something wrong, either with the vegetable
itself or the cooking. And I am not to give directions for "doctoring"
anything that is either unwholesome or spoiled. A paragraph has been going
the round of certain papers lately, giving directions for disguising the
flavour of tainted meat, which "few cooks know how to treat so as to render
perfectly nice"! It is to be wrapped in vinegar cloths, &c.--"boil up, and
use it." I should say doctor it as you please, but then--throw it away! If
anything, no matter what, goes bad--milk, soup, vegetables--throw it out
without hesitation. It is a pity to waste things--and this ought to be
prevented by good management--but surely it is much greater waste to use
tainted food. Better miss a meal, if need be, than make a refuse bin of our
bodies. All this may seem a digression, but I am so thoroughly convinced
that a large proportion of the "ills that flesh is heir to"--and we accept
the inheritance with a resignation "worthy of a better cause"--is due to
unsound or improperly prepared food, that I make no apology. Many people
have told me that they daren't touch certain vegetables, and when I have
seen these as served by them have cordially agreed with them. The most
common error, especially with green vegetables, like
Cabbage, Savoys, Brussels Sprouts, Greens, &c.,
which all require much the same treatment, is over-cooking. There seems to
be a popular notion, somehow, regarding vegetables, that the more you cook
them the better they are, and after all the substance and flavour has been
boiled out of them, people wonder how anyone can relish such stuff! Each
vegetable should get just the bare amount of cooking necessary, and no more.
If they have to wait for some time before serving, stand over boiling water
as directed above. Most vegetables may be cooked entirely by
Steaming.
This conserves all their own juices which contain the various valuable
natural salts, alkalies, &c., so necessary to health, and which we so vainly
try to make up by the addition of crude minerals.
Carrots, Turnips, Potatoes,
and all root vegetables and tubers, are best cooked by steaming. Steamers
with perforated bottoms to fit the various sizes of saucepan are now to be
had from any ironmonger. A very good way to cook carrots, turnips, and
parsnips, is to make up a good white sauce, put in Queen pudding-bowl or
some other such dish, lay in the carrots, parsnips, &c. Cover and steam
till cooked. If rather old, they may first be par-boiled. This should be
done before the skin is removed.
Beetroot
should always be steamed by preference, but quite as much care must be taken
not to break any of the fibres, or it will "bleed" as in boiling. When
tender, which will take from two to four hours, pare and cut in slices. It
may either be dressed with vinegar, lemon juice, &c., to serve cold, or
fried and served with white or tomato sauce as a hot vegetable.
Green Peas
may also be steamed in a jar or basin like stewed fruit. A very little
water and a little lemon juice should be added. If to be boiled, have a
small saucepan with fast boiling water to barely cover, a little sugar,
salt, lemon juice, and sprig of mint. Boil fast till tender. Drain and
serve with butter only.
French Beans
may be cooked in same way. Remove stalks and "strings" and cut across
diamondwise.
Broad Beans, Kidney Beans, &c.,
usually require to have the tough white sloughs removed. To facilitate
this, pour boiling water over, when they may be slipped off quite easily.
Cook same as green peas.
To Re-heat Peas, &c.,
Put a little butter in saucepan, a finely minced shallot or spoonful grated
onion, and some tomato free from skin and seeds. Simmer till cooked, lay in
the vegetables to be warmed up. Make thoroughly hot and serve.
Cauliflower.
Trim and lay in cold salt water for some time, then boil or steam till just
done. Trim off all the green leaves--it is best not to do this before
cooking, as it is not so ready to break--lay in vegetable dish, and pour
white sauce over.
Cauliflower au Gratin.
Prepare exactly as above. Coat with the sauce, sprinkle all over with bread
crumbs or grated cheese, or a mixture of both, put some butter in little
bits over it, and bake a light-brown in moderate oven.
Artichokes.
These may be cooked same as cauliflower, but require longer time. Cut the
stalk off quite bare, and trim the leaves with scissors where necessary. By
way of variety the centre part may be removed and the cavity filled with
forcemeat or sausage filling. Serve with white sauce.
Jerusalem Artichokes.
Wash well, pare neatly, and lay in cold water and vinegar to cover. Have
ready some boiling water with a little salt and some milk. Boil gently till
tender--15 to 20 minutes. Drain, and serve with white sauce.
Fried Artichokes.
Parboil lightly, dry, dip in beaten egg, then toss in bread crumbs or a
mixture of crumbs and grated cheese. Fry in smoking hot fat, and serve very
hot on a napkin.
Fried Celery.
Prepare exactly as above. The pieces should be about 5 or 6 inches long.
Pile up crosswise in serving.
Stewed Celery.
Wash and trim the celery into short lengths and allow to soak in vinegar and
water for an hour or so before cooking. Drain, and parboil in water
containing a little salt and lemon juice or vinegar for 10 minutes. Drain
again, and stew for another 10 or 15 minutes in some good white stock. Do
not throw away the water in which celery, cauliflower, peas, &c., are
boiled. It can be added to the stock-pot. Meantime toast a slice of bread,
dip it in this celery water, and lay on ashet cut in triangles. Lay the
celery on this when cooked, make the stock in saucepan into a good sauce
with flour and butter, and pour over.
Seakale
is rather scarce and expensive as a rule, but it is well to know how to cook
it when occasion offers. It is a choice delicacy for an invalid or
convalescent. Soak in salted cold water for a time, trim neatly and cook
till tender--about half-an-hour in fast boiling water containing a little
salt and lemon juice. Drain, and serve on toast with white sauce over.
Asparagus.
Wash well in cold water and scrape the stalks white. Tie in small bundles
and stand in fast boiling salted water till the stalks are tender--about
twenty minutes. Drain, and serve like celery.
Salsify,
or vegetable oyster, is another vegetable which would find great favour were
it not so scarce and dear. Scrape the roots and throw into cold water. Cut
in 2-inch pieces and simmer gently for an hour or till tender in stock with
a slice of lemon, or in milk and water. Lift out the salsify and place on
toast. Thicken the liquor with butter and flour and pour over.
All vegetables which are served with white sauce or melted butter can be
acceptably served
Au Gratin,
and a dish of carrots, turnips, and the like served in this way is quite a
delicacy. Young tender vegetables are of course always to be preferred, but
even when rather old are better this way than any other. Cook till quite
tender, but not in the least broken. Lay in a pie dish, cover with sauce,
coat thickly with crumbs or cheese and crumbs. Dot over with butter, and
bake a light brown.
Spinach.
Soak in cold water and rinse very well to remove all grit, &c. Trim away
stalks and tough fibre at the back of the leaf. Shake the water well off,
and put in dry saucepan with lid on, to cook for about 10 minutes. Drain,
chop finely, and return to saucepan with some butter, salt and pepper, to
get quite hot. Dish neatly in a flat, round, or oval shape, with poached
eggs on top, and croutons of toast or fried bread round.
Cauliflower--Dutch Way.
(Mr VAN TROMP.)
Boil cauliflower in usual way, drain, and put in vegetable dish. Coat with
this sauce:--Make a cream with 2 spoonfuls potato flour, add a little sugar,
and stir over fire till it thickens.
SALADS.
"Cucumbers,--Peel the cucumber, slice it, pepper it, put vinegar to it, then
throw it out of the window."_--Dr Abernethy._
One does not need to be a vegetarian to appreciate salads, and many who find
cooked vegetables difficult of digestion, will find that they can take them,
with impunity, raw, but it is inadvisable to take raw and cooked fruit or
vegetables at the same meal.
Raw Cabbage,
for example, digests in little over an hour, while cooked it takes 3 to
4-1/2 hours. Needless to say, only young, tender, freshly pulled cabbage
can be used in this way. Shred finely, removing all stalks and stringy
pieces, and cover with the usual salad dressing. This may now be had ready
for use in the shape of
Florence Cream,
but if wanted to be made at home, take equal quantities of finest salad oil
and either lemon juice or vinegar and mix together gradually by a few drops
at a time. A little cream or yolk of egg beat up is an improvement, and
ketchup, made mustard, &c., may be added to taste. The dressing may be
prepared beforehand, but should be put on just before sending to table.
Cold Slaw
is a favourite American salad. Shred the cabbage as above and sprinkle
liberally with salt. Allow to remain for at least 24 hours, turning
occasionally. Drain and use with lemon juice or salad dressing.
Tomato Salad.
Shred down a crisp, tender lettuce. Put in salad bowl. Scald and pare some
firm, ripe tomatoes. Slice and cut up--not too small. Mix with lettuce.
Pour over a simple dressing. Some slices of hard-boiled egg may be used as
a garnish, or the white may be chopped up and the yolk grated over at the
last. Tomato aspic is also a tasteful addition. Chop up and put lightly
over. This salad or plain lettuce may be varied by adding almost any tender
young vegetable, shred fine. Scraped radish, young carrots, turnips,
cauliflower, green peas, very finely shred shallot or white of spring onion,
chives, cress, &c., are all good, and may be used according to taste and
convenience. A good
Winter Salad
can be made with celery, endive, &c., and of course with cold cooked
vegetables. These latter should be cooked separately, and mixed tastefully
together with an eye to colour and appearance. Raw and cooked vegetables
should never be mixed in the same salad, or indeed eaten at the same meal.
SAUCES.
"Hunger is the best Sauce."
"England" has been slightingly defined by a French gourmand as a country of
fifty religions and only one sauce! If this be true of those who have all
the resources of the animal kingdom at their disposal, what can be the
plight of those from whom these are shut out. This "one sauce" was, I
believe, melted butter, or as it is more generally now called
White Sauce,
and it is not every one who can make even that plain sauce as it should be.
The thin, watery mixture, or grey "stodgy" mass which is sometimes served
with cauliflower or parsnips, even where the other viands are fairly well
cooked and served, is certainly enough to condemn "vegetables." Yet, how
simple it is if done the right way. In a small saucepan--preferably
earthenware or enamel, for it must be spotlessly clean and smooth--melt 1
oz. butter, and into that stir 1 oz. flour. When quite smooth add by
degrees a teacupful milk. Stir till it thickens, and allow to cook for a
minute or two longer. It must be done over a very gentle heat--the side of
the range, or gas stove turned low. If wanted more creamy, use more butter
in proportion to the flour. Salt and pepper to taste. To make
Parsley Sauce,
add a spoonful of finely chopped and scalded parsley to this just as it
comes a boil; and for
Caper Sauce,
add some finely chopped capers or fresh nasturtium pods in same way.
Tarragon Sauce.
Add 20 to 30 drops Tarragon vinegar to prepared white sauce. Stir well.
Dutch Sauce.
To a creamy white sauce made with 2 ozs. butter to 1 oz. flour, add one,
two, or three yolks of eggs according to richness desired. Beat up a
little, add a very little cold milk to prevent curdling. Stir into sauce
when off the fire. Allow to come just to boiling point again--this should
be done in double saucepan or boiler--and add a little lemon juice.
Dutch Sauce (2).
Take the yolks of 2 eggs, beat lightly, and add to them a teaspoonful cold
water. Whisk in a saucepan, add a tablespoonful lemon juice, same of cream,
and a little pepper and salt. Stir over slow heat till it thickens.
Egg Sauce.
Prepare white sauce as above, and when ready add one or two hard-boiled
eggs, very finely minced. The sauce may be made with white stock instead of
milk. A pinch cayenne and other seasoning may be added.
Celery Sauce.
Make a sauce with the water or stock in which a head of celery has been
boiled. Pulp part of the finest of celery through a sieve and add.
Horse Radish Sauce.
To quantity required of white sauce, add one or two tablespoonfuls finely
scraped horse radish, and the juice of a lemon or a little vinegar.
Mustard Sauce.
Add teaspoonful or more made mustard to each 1/4 pint white sauce.
Onion Sauce.
Boil 1/2 lb. or 3/4 lb. Spanish onions in milk and water till tender.
Drain and make sauce with the liquor. Rub the onion through sieve and add.
Brown Sauce.
With brown stock or gravy, make a sauce in same way as white sauce. If
browned flour is used the colour will be better. Add also a little Carnos
or Marmite.
Hasty Brown Sauce
can also be made by using water, in which a teaspoonful Carnos or 1/2
teaspoonful Marmite to the teacupful has been dissolved, instead of the
brown stock. Some mushroom ketchup is a good addition.
Sauce Piquante.
Stew some shallots in butter till quite cooked. Stir in a dessert spoonful
flour and allow to brown. Add juice of a lemon and seasoning of cayenne,
clove, &c., or a spoonful Worcester or other sauce, also 2 teacupfuls
diluted extract or ketchup and water. Boil gently for 10 to 15 minutes,
then strain.
Walnut Gravy.
This excellent sauce will be new to many, and some who, like the immortal
"Mrs Todgers," are at their wit's end to provide the amount of gravy
demanded, "which a whole animal, not to speak of a j'int, wouldn't do," may
be glad to give it a trial. Take 2 ozs. grated walnuts. These should be
run through a nut mill. Make 1 oz. butter hot in saucepan, add the walnuts
and stir till very brown, but be careful not to burn. Add a tomato peeled
and chopped, or a little of the juice from tinned tomatoes, a teaspoonful
grated onion, and a very little flour. Mix well over the fire, and add
slowly a breakfastcup brown stock or prepared Extract. Simmer gently for
about 20 minutes. It may be strained or not, as preferred.
Tomato Sauce.
Peel and chop up 1/2 lb. tomatoes, or take a cupful tomato pulp. In a
saucepan melt 1 oz. butter and add a little grated onion and the tomatoes.
Simmer till cooked. Stir in a little flour or cornflour, and when that is
cooked rub through a sieve. A little ketchup or lemon juice may be added to
taste.
Mayonnaise Sauce.
Put the yolk of an egg in a basin and mix in a teaspoonful mustard and 3 or
4 tablespoonfuls salad oil, by a few drops at a time, beating all the while
with a fork. Add the juice of a lemon, a little Tarragon vinegar and castor
sugar, pinch cayenne, and if liked, the white of egg beat stiff, or a little
cream at the last.
Mint Sauce.
Melt 1 tablespoonful castor sugar in a gill boiling water. When cold add
same quantity vinegar, then 3 or 4 tablespoons freshly pulled mint, chopped
small.
Curry Sauce.
Add 2 teaspoonfuls curry powder or paste and a little chutney to 1/2 pint
Brown Sauce or Piquant Sauce.
Bread Sauce.
Put a teacupful fine crumbs in a basin, add a tablespoonful grated onion,
and pour over 2 cupfuls white stock or milk and water. Let stand for a
little with plate over, then cook gently till quite smooth. Add seasoning
of white pepper, ketchup, mace, &c., and if wished very smooth add a yolk of
egg or a little cream, and rub through a coarse sieve.
Sweet White Sauce.
To 1/2 pint melted butter add 2 ozs. sugar and a little of any flavouring
preferred. A yolk of egg beat up is an improvement.
Cocoanut Sauce.
To above sweet white sauce add when cooking, 2 ozs. cocoanut cream. Stir
till dissolved. A little dessicated cocoanut will do, but the cream is much
handier and nicer, as one has the rich cocoanut flavour without the tough
fibre.
Almond Sauce.
1/4 lb. fresh butter or 3 ozs. almond butter, 2 ozs. sifted sugar, 1 oz.
almond meal, or same of almonds blanched and chopped, 2 tablespoons water, 2
teaspoonfuls lemon juice.
Beat butter and sugar to a cream. (It should be quite light and frothy.)
Add water and lemon juice by a drop or two at a time while beating. It
should look like clotted cream. Sprinkle the almonds over. Excellent with
pudding or stewed fruit.
Lemon Sauce.
Make a teaspoonful cornflour smooth in saucepan with a little cold water.
Add a gill of boiling water, juice of a lemon, and 2 ozs. sugar. Let boil
a minute or two. If flavour of rind is liked, grate that in. Add a little
Carmine to colour.
Apple Sauce.
Pare, core and mince 4 to 6 apples. Stew in jar with moist sugar and a few
cloves or bit of lemon rind. Remove the latter before sending to table.
* * * * *
CARNOS THE VEGETARIAN FOOD AND MEAT SUBSTITUTE,
Is the Best Article of its kind upon the market, being an appetising
wholesome extract entirely soluble and free from fat. Send 4d. in
stamps for 1-oz. Sample and full particulars to
CARNOS CO., Great Grimsby, Lincs.
_N.B.--No chemicals used in the manufacture._
* * * * *
DAINTY COOKING!
Royal Pudding Mould
Pure Earthenware.
Prices--1-, 1/6, 2/-, 2/6
Saucepan Brush
Cleans a saucepan in a few seconds. Price 6d.
Pie Cup
Price 4d. each.
NO CLOTH.
NO STRING.
Opened and Closed instantly.
Water kept out; Goodness kept in.
Gourmet Boiler
Cooks Porridge, Meat, Beef Tea, Jellies, Fruit, &c.
No Stirring; No Burning; No Waste.
Prices--9d., 1-, 1/3, 1/6, 1/8, 2/-,
2/3, 2/6, and upwards.
Egg Beater
For frothing Eggs and Foaming Cream
Prices--
9d., 1/-, 1/6, 2/-
Queen's Pudding Boiler
Prices--9d., 1/-, 1/6, 2/-
2/6, 3/-
Pudding Spoon
Handy to use; does its work well. Price 6d.
Stands inside any Saucepan
Egg Separator
Instantly separates the white from the yolk. Price 3d. each.
Complete List Free on application to
GOURMET & CO., Mount Pleasant, London, W.C.
* * * * *
THE "ARTOX" FLAVOUR
HAVE YOU HEARD OF IT?
It is that delicious, sweet, nutty flavour which you long for but seldom
find. It is only to be found in
"ARTOX"
Wholemeal, which is made from the very finest wheat obtainable, carefully
selected and blended, and ground by millstones in the good old fashioned
way.
"ARTOX"
contains the whole of the wheat, so treated that the sharp,
irritating particles of the bran, so prevalent in the ordinary meal, are
rendered harmless and capable of digestion by the weakest stomach.
"ARTOX"
by a patent process is ground to such a marvellous degree of fineness that
it can be used for all the purposes for which white flour is used.
Therefore make all your Bread, Puddings, Cakes, Pies, and Pastry with
"ARTOX." They will be much nicer, besides being more nourishing and
satisfying, because "ARTOX" is a perfect natural food.
We have a dainty booklet--"Grains of Common Sense"--we should like to send
you, crammed with novel and delicious recipes. It will be sent free on
application.
"ARTOX" is sold by all the leading Grocers and Health Food Stores in
3 lb., 7 lb., and 14 lb. sealed linen bags, or 28 lbs. will be sent direct
on receipt of P.O. for 4/6.
Send Post Card for Name and Address of Nearest Agent to
APPLEYARDS, Ld., ROTHERHAM.
* * * * *
BREAD.
One of the chief difficulties experienced by those trying to compass a
complete scheme of hygienic dietary, is to get a pure, wholesome, easily
digested, and, at the same time, palatable bread. We have long since
exploded the idea that _whiteness_ is a test of superiority, for we
know that this is attained by excluding the most wholesome and nutritious
part of the wheat and by the use of chemicals. Even when we use brown
bread, we are by no means sure of having a wholemeal loaf, for it is as
often as not merely the ordinary flour with some bran mixed in. And bran is
only one part--by no means the most important--of that in which the meal is
lacking. We want to get as much as possible of the real "_germ_," the
essential part of the grain, but I am informed by experts, that the process
of drying and preparing this germ meal is so much more troublesome, and, in
consequence, expensive, that the easier and cheaper method is that generally
adopted. But, if we want a really good thing we must be willing to pay for
it, and by creating a demand for the superior article make it worth while to
manufacture it, and it were poor economy to save on the bread bill at the
expense of health. It is well to know exactly what constitutes a really
wholesome bread, for bakers and purveyors everywhere are ready to meet their
customers' wishes. But if people are ignorant or unreasonable enough to
demand a light-coloured, puffy loaf, when a pure whole-wheat loaf is rather
dark and solid looking, they must be prepared to find that they are served
with what pleases their taste, and to take the risks. Some may like to try
baking their bread at home, and it may interest them to know that it is
possible to make very good wheaten bread without any raising ingredients
whatever, simply with wheatmeal and water, aerating it by beating air into
it. This is best managed by the home baker in the form of
Wheatmeal Gems.
There are sets of thick iron gem pans to be had, which are very good for
this purpose, but one can manage quite well with oven-plates made of
sheet-iron or black steel.
Into a large basin put 2 cupfuls of the coldest water procurable. Aerate by
pouring from one vessel to another several times, or by whipping up with a
spoon or spatula. Take 4 cupfuls whole meal, and pass several times through
a sieve. Sprinkle the meal into the water a little at a time, whipping
vigorously all the while till about three-fourths are worked in, and
continue whisking from 20 to 30 minutes till the mixture is full of air
bubbles. Sprinkle in the rest of the wheatmeal and mix thoroughly.
Meanwhile, see that the oven is very hot, as a strong steady heat is
necessary. Make the gem pans or oven-plates also very hot and grease
lightly. Half fill the pans and put at once in oven, so that the moist air
may be as quickly as possible converted into steam, and thus puff up the
bread. If oven-plates are used, put dessertspoonfuls some distance apart on
these and put in oven. If the oven is hot enough, a crust will at once
form, and the steam trying to force its way out will send them up like puff
balls. Moderate the heat, if possible after 10 or 15 minutes, and allow to
bake for about 30 minutes longer. It is very easy to regulate the heat if a
gas stove is used; if a range, put on some small coal. When baked turn out
on a sieve, and when quite cold split open and toast on the inside.
Another excellent kind of bread, which can be managed quite easily with a
little trouble and practice, is raised with eggs. It is generally known as
Wallace Egg Bread,
and as I have the recipe direct from Mrs C. Leigh Hunt Wallace, the inventor
of this kind of bread, I am able to pass it on at first hand.
Ten ounces wheatmeal, 1 large egg (weighing 2 ozs.), 1 gill milk and 1 gill
water, the whole to be made into a batter, the white of egg being beaten
separately to a stiff froth and incorporated with the batter very thoroughly
but very quickly; the whole to be baked in 1 lb. cake or loaf tin, the tin
being very hot and thoroughly oiled or buttered before the batter is turned
into it. Put for 50 minutes in a very hot part of the oven (350 degrees to
380 degrees fahr.) and keep in another 50 minutes to soak. I can vouch for
the excellence of this bread, and may say that I have managed it with very
little difficulty. I use a gas oven and loaf pans made of black steel, as
these take and retain the heat much better than tins. If any amateur,
however, is doubtful as to how this loaf should be, she cannot do better
than send for a sample loaf or two to the Wallace Bakery, 465 Battersea Park
Road, London, S.W. There is also a depot in Edinburgh--Messrs Richards &
Co., 7 Dundas Street, where these can be got. By comparing one's own
achievements with these, one will be the better able to attain the desired
result. In case any may think this egg bread sounds expensive, I may say
that it is exceedingly economical to use; a small loaf going much farther
than a large one of the ordinary puffed-up kind.
PASTRY.
"'Meat for Repentance'--Pork pies for supper--or otherwise!"
Short Crust.
Take 1/2 lb. flour, mix with it 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder and put two
or three times through a sieve. Rub in 4 ozs. butter. If vegetable butter
is used, 3 ozs. will do, as it contains much less water. Beat up an egg.
Add a teaspoonful lemon juice to the flour, &c., nearly the whole of the
egg, and mix into a very dry paste with cold water. The mixing is best done
with a knife. Turn out on floured board and form into an oblong piece,
still using a broad knife as much as possible. Roll out evenly a good deal
larger than the dish to be covered, and cut off a piece all round, leaving
it the exact size and shape. Wet the edges of the dish, put a band of paste
on. Wet that again, and lay on the cover. Make the edges neat with a knife
or pastry cutter. Brush over with egg and bake in very hot oven for thirty
to forty minutes. If used for covering a fruit tart, dust over with sifted
sugar before serving.
Rough Puff Paste.
Take same quantities as for short crust. Divide butter into pieces on
floured board and flatten with the rolling-pin--a stoneware bottle, by the
way, is much better than a wooden rolling-pin. Put the butter with the
flour and mix as before with egg, lemon juice and water. Turn out on
floured board, make into a neat, oblong shape, beat down with rolling-pin
and roll out very evenly to about 1/8-inch thickness. Dust with flour and
fold in three, turn half round so as to have open end in front of one, and
roll out as before. Repeat this until it has got 4 turns, taking care to
keep the edges as even as possible, and for the last time roll out a good
deal larger than the dish. Put a band of paste on the dish, wet this and
lay on the cover. Flute the edges neatly. Brush over with egg. Cut the
trimmings of paste into leaves, &c., and decorate the pie, putting a rose in
the centre. Brush these also with egg. Make one or two slits to let out
the steam, and bake in hot oven. The oven should be made very hot
_before_ the pastry is put in, and then the heat should be moderated.
This can of course be managed best with a gas oven.
This rough puff paste is very suitable for small sausage rolls. Roll out
for last time quite square. Divide into nine equal squares, put a small
quantity of sausage meat on centre, wet edges and press together. Brush
over with egg and bake. Remember never to brush the edges with egg, as that
would stick them together and prevent rising.
Rich Puff Paste
suitable for patties, vol-au-vent, &c., is made as above, but with 6 ozs.
butter to 8 ozs. flour. For patties leave the paste at last rolling out
1/2 inch thick. Stamp out into rounds with lid or biscuit-cutter, about
2-1/2" or 3" diameter, and with a smaller cutter mark about half-way through
the paste. Brush with egg and put on oven-plate. See that the oven is
specially hot, and yet regulated so that the pastry will not scorch before
thoroughly risen, as the oven door must not be opened for fifteen to twenty
minutes after putting in. They should rise to three or four times the
thickness of the paste. Allow to bake some time longer, remove from oven,
and with a sharp-pointed knife remove the centre lid. Fill in with the
mushrooms, tomatoes, &c., replace top, and make very hot again before using.
Vol-au-Vent
is done exactly in same way, only all in one. Cut out the whole of the
paste round, oval or square, and with a sharp-pointed knife mark half-way
through all round about an inch from the edge. Bake as for patties, but the
larger piece of pastry will require longer to bake through and through.
Remove lid carefully, put in filling and replace lid.
Raised Pie Crust.
This paste is most wholesome and economical. For a good-sized pie take
3/4lb. flour and 3 ozs. butter or Nut Butter. Put the flour in a basin.
Bring the butter to boiling point with a teacupful water. Pour in among the
flour, stirring all the time till thoroughly mixed, then knead well. When
nearly cold take off about a third and make the rest into a ball, flatten
and work up by hand till the case is about 2-1/2 inches high, and slightly
narrower at the top--Melton-Mowbray shape. Slip on to greased oven-plate,
and when quite firm, fill rather more than half-full with haricots,
tomatoes, &c. Roll out the bit of paste remaining, cut out lid, wet the
edges of it and the pie-case and pinch together. Brush all over with egg.
Ornament with the trimmings, brush again and bake in good steady oven for at
least three-quarters of an hour. When ready, pour in some more gravy, or if
to be used cold, some dissolved savoury jelly.
Should there be difficulty at first in raising this entirely by hand, it
might be moulded round a jar or round tin. Another way is to use a tart
ring, but a very simple and handy way, which finds favour especially with
children, is to make bridies. Divide the paste into ten or twelve pieces.
Roll out a nice oval, put some savoury mixture on one half, wet edges with
egg or water, press together and pinch into neat flutes, brush over with egg
and bake.
Suet Paste.
Allow 3 ozs. vegetable suet to 8 ozs. flour. Chop the suet or run through
nut-mill. Add to flour along with salt and pepper, and if liked, a little
grated onion and chopped parsley. Make into a firm paste with water, which
may have a little ketchup or "Extract" diluted in it.
This is, of course, for savoury pies, &c. If for sweet dishes--roly-poly,
apple dumpling, &c.--omit all seasonings and add sugar and any flavouring
preferred, such as clove, ginger, or cinnamon.
CAKES, SCONES, &c.
Only a few cakes, &c., are given here, as there are a number of excellent
ones among the contributed recipes in last section, under heading of Bazaar
contributions, and, besides, there is nothing about them peculiar to food
reformers. Those who are studying wholesomeness and digestibility, however,
will avoid as far as possible the use of chemicals for raising, and fats of
doubtful purity such as hog's lard. The injurious character of carbonate of
soda, tartaric acid, &c., if used at all to excess, is now fully recognised,
and those whose health is not quite normal should avoid them entirely. When
such cannot be dispensed with, use very sparingly and in the exact
quantities and proportions of acid and alkali, which will neutralise each
other by converting into a gas which passes off in baking, if the oven, &c.,
is all right. But the latter point is rather a big and very essential "if,"
and many cooks try to make up for deficiencies in mixing and firing, by
putting in an extra allowance of baking powder. There is considerable
diversity of opinion still as to the exact nature and place of these
chemicals in the economy of the body, and where "doctors differ" the amateur
cook or hygienist dare hardly dogmatise, but all are agreed that the
slightest excess is hurtful. Cakes, scones, pastry and the like, should
depend rather for lightness upon cool, deft handling, and skilful management
of the various details which contribute to successful baking.
A fine essential is to have good, reliable flour. See that it is perfectly
dry, and pass several times through a fine sieve to aerate and loosen it.
Try to bake in a cool, airy place, and be provided with all the necessary
tools for accomplishing the work in expert and expeditious fashion, for the
success of many things depends upon the celerity with which the process is
performed. Have the oven at just the right heat, at the right time. A cake
which would otherwise be excellent may be heavy or tough by having to wait
till the oven cools down or heats up to the proper temperature. With a gas
oven, one can regulate at will, and a safe general rule is to have the oven
thoroughly hot _before_ the cakes are put in, and then to moderate the
heat very considerably. With a coal fire, if the oven is too hot, put on a
quantity of small coal.
Artox Gingerbread.
One and a half pounds Artox wholemeal, 10 oz. golden syrup, 9 oz. butter,
4 oz. sugar, 1/2 oz. carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz. ginger, 2 eggs, little
milk. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs, well beaten, and
the syrup, stir until dissolved. Add the Artox wholemeal with the soda and
ginger previously sifted in, and a little milk if necessary, to make a stiff
batter. Put into greased tins, and bake in a moderate oven.
Artox Seed Cake.
Beat 10 ozs. of fresh butter to a cream, add 6 ozs. sugar and beat into
the butter. Separate yokes and whites of 4 eggs and beat each mass
separately. Then mix well with the butter and sugar, adding the yokes first
and the whites last. Add 1 teaspoonful carraway seeds and 10 ozs. Artox
wholemeal. Mix thoroughly, put into butter papered tins and bake in a quick
oven.
Artox Shortbread.
One and a quarter pounds Artox wholemeal, 10 ozs. butter, 4 ozs. sugar, 1
egg, 1/4 oz. baking powder. Rub the Artox wholemeal, sugar, and butter
together, add the baking powder, and make into a stiff paste with the egg.
Mould it into cakes, crimp the edges, and bake in a moderate oven.
French Layer Cake.
1/4 lb. butter or fine nut butter. Four eggs, 1/2 lb. flour, 6 ozs. fine
sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder, 1/2 teaspoonful essence vanilla, 4
ozs. grated chocolate, 2 ozs. icing sugar.
Butter 3 sandwich tins. Dissolve 1 oz. chocolate in pan, with 1
tablespoonful milk, over the fire. Beat butter and sugar to a cream. Beat
up eggs very light, laying aside one white for icing, and add. Sift flour
and baking powder, and mix in, then flavouring. Put a third in one tin,
another in pan with chocolate, and put a few drops carmine in that left in
bowl. Put these into the different tins and place at once in hot oven.
They should be ready in 10 minutes. Put remaining chocolate with the icing
sugar in pan with a tablespoonful water. Boil a minute with constant
stirring. Turn out cakes on a towel. Put half of chocolate mixture on one,
put another on the top, then the rest of chocolate, and, last, the third
cake. Coat with the following
Icing.
Beat up white of 1 egg till quite stiff. Mix in 6 ozs. icing sugar. Put
on very smoothly with a broad knife dipped in water. Sprinkle over with
grated cocoanut, or decorate with pink icing put through a forcing-bag.
Cocoanut Icing
might be used instead. Dissolve about one fourth of a square of cocoanut
cream with a little boiling water. When cool mix thoroughly with half of
the above icing.
Gingerbread.
1/2-lb. flour, 1 oz. good cocoanut butter, 1 oz. sugar, and same of syrup
or treacle--if the latter use more sugar. Two ozs. stoned raisins or
sultanas, 1 teaspoonful ground ginger, and same of mixed spice. Half
teaspoonful baking powder. One egg.
Mix all the dry things. Rub in butter, then add syrup, fruit, and egg, and
make into a thick batter with milk. Bake in moderate oven half-an-hour or
longer. Very good, if made with half wheatmeal, or a proportion of oatmeal
or rolled oats.
Jumbles.
1/2-lb. flour, 1/4 lb. butter, 2 ozs. sifted sugar, 1 egg. Pinch baking
powder. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add egg, well beaten, then flour,
&c. Knead into a stiff paste, divide into 12 or more pieces, and roll out
pipe-wise with the hands, about a foot long. Curl round, or form into
letters, &c. Lay on floured oven plate. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with
sugar, and bake 15 minutes in hot oven.
Orange Rock Cakes.
1/2-lb. flour, 2 ozs. sugar, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 1 oz. butter or
cocoanut cream butter,[Footnote: [see next footnote]] 1 egg, 1 orange.
Mix flour and sugar, rub in butter. Add yellow part of orange rind, grated,
and juice, also the egg well beaten, to make stiff dough. Place a little
apart on oven plate, with two forks, in rough pieces about the size of a
walnut. Bake about 10 minutes in quick oven.
Dinner Rolls.
1/2 lb. flour, 1 oz. butter or nut butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful baking
powder, 1 gill milk, pinch salt. Rub the butter into flour, &c. Beat up
egg, lay aside some for brushing, and mix in lightly with barely a gill of
milk. Turn on to floured board, and roll out. Divide into a dozen or more
pieces. Roll round with the hands. Shape into twists, knots, "figure
eights," &c. Put on floured oven plate. Brush over with egg, and bake
about seven minutes in very hot oven.
Afternoon Tea Scones.
1/2 lb. flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 2 do. sugar, 1 do. butter or
"Nutter." One egg. Mix dry things. Rub in butter, beat egg, and add with
as much milk as make nice dough--about 1 gill. Roll out 1/4 in. thick.
Stamp out with small cutter or lid. Brush over with egg. Bake 10 minutes.
Cocoanut Cream Scones
are made by adding 1 oz. cocoanut cream [Footnote: NOTE.--Cocoanut or
almond cream butter may be used instead of ordinary butter in most recipes
for cakes or sweets, and will give variety of flavour.], dissolved in a
little of the milk, to the above. Let the "cream" be cool.
Artox Scones.
Two pounds Artox wholemeal, 1/2 lb. butter, 5 oz. sugar, 1/2 oz. cream of
tartar, pinch carbonate of soda, 2 eggs, milk. Put the salt, soda, and
cream of tartar, into the wholemeal, rub in the butter, stir in the eggs
(well beaten), and enough milk to make a stiff paste. Divide the mixture
into five, roll each piece out about the size of a cheese plate, divide
twice across, place on a greased tin for 10 minutes, bake in a _hot_
oven.
Artox Tea Biscuits.
One and a quarter pounds Artox wholemeal, 3 oz. butter, half teaspoonful
baking powder, milk, pinch of salt. Put the wholemeal into a bowl, rub in
the butter, add salt and baking powder, and enough milk to make a stiff
paste. Roll out, cut into rounds, and bake in a hot oven.
German Biscuits.
1/2 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. butter, 1/4 lb. sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoonful
ground cinnamon.
Rub in butter among flour and sugar. Add cinnamon. Make into a paste with
the egg beaten up. Knead till smooth. Roll out thin and stamp into
biscuits. Bake about 10 minutes on greased oven plate in moderate oven.
Stick two together with a little jam, and ice with 4 ozs. icing sugar mixed
with a little water. Dust with pink sugar.
PUDDINGS AND SWEETS.
As a number of favourite puddings and sweets also are given in the last
section, it will not be necessary to give here more than a few supplementary
ones, mostly introducing specialties which are not so well known as they
deserve to be. Besides, all sweet dishes are vegetarian already for the
most part, so that there is but little to "reform" about them. Of course,
those who wish to have them absolutely pure will substitute vegetable suet
or butter, and vegetable gelatine for beef suet and clarified (?) glue.
Almond Custard.
Two eggs, 1/2 pint milk, 2 ozs. Mapleton's almond meal, 1-1/2 ozs. sugar.
Beat eggs with sugar, add almond meal. Almonds blanched and pounded will
do, but the meal is ready for use and costs less. Add the milk and a few
drops of flavouring. Bake in slow oven till set, or stir till it thickens
in jug or double boiler. This is specially good with stewed fruit. It may
be made into
Custard Whip Sauce
by putting in saucepan and whisking over the fire till light and frothy. It
must not boil.
Banana Custard.
Five or six bananas. Jam. Custard. Peel the bananas, which must be sound
and ripe; split lengthways. Spread each half with jam--apricot is very
good; put halves together. Lay in glass dish and pour almond custard, or
cocoanut cream custard, over.
Cocoanut Cream Custard.
This is made same as almond custard, but using cocoanut cream instead of the
almond meal. This cocoanut cream, which is put up in tablets, is
exceedingly useful for almost every variety of pudding, icing for cakes, &c.
It has only to be chopped down or melted, and serves the double purpose of
giving flavour and substance.
Canary Pudding.
Four ozs. flour, 4 ozs. butter or 3 ozs. Table Nut Butter, 2
eggs, 3 ozs. sugar, 1 teaspoonful baking powder.
Melt butter in saucepan. Add the sugar and eggs beaten up, the flour and
baking powder; lastly, 2 tablespoonfuls milk. Mix thoroughly. Butter well
a plain mould, and put into it some jam or marmalade. Pour in pudding,
cover with buttered paper, and steam for 2 hours.
Artox Queen Pudding.
2 oz. Artox bread crumbs, 2 oz. sugar, 1/2 pint milk, rind of half a
lemon, 2 eggs, and a little raspberry jam. Boil the milk, pour over crumbs,
and add yolks of the eggs, sugar and lemon rind. Bake in a greased pie-dish
20 minutes in a moderate oven, then spread over about 2 tablespoonfuls of
hot raspberry jam. Beat up the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and
place over the jam, then put in oven for about three minutes to set.
Appel-Moes (Dutch Recipe).
Peel, core, and slice quantity of apples required. Stew or steam in covered
jar with sugar and flavouring of cinnamon. Pulp through a sieve with
whipped cream or as a sauce for steamed pudding.
Lemon Sponge.
Soak 1/8 oz. vegetable gelatine in a tumbler of water for an hour. Strain
and put in saucepan with a tumbler fresh water and 5 ozs. loaf sugar. Stir
till gelatine is dissolved. Add juice of 2 lemons, and strain through
sieve. When cool add the whites of two eggs, and switch till quite light
and spongy throughout--about three quarters of an hour. Put in mould, or
when set pile up in rocky spoonfuls.
Lemon Cream Mould.
1 large lemon, 3 eggs, 6 ozs. sugar, 3/4 pint (3 teacupfuls) milk, 1/6 oz.
vegetable gelatine.
Soak gelatine in cold water for at least an hour. Drain and put to come
slowly to boil in the milk. Separate whites from yolks of eggs, and put the
latter in large basin with the sugar and yellow part of lemon rind grated.
Beat thoroughly and strain boiling milk over, stirring all the time. Return
to saucepan, bring just to boil, and set aside to cool. Beat up whites of
eggs very stiff and mix in lightly, adding the strained juice of lemon. Put
in mould or glass dish, and set in cool place till quite firm.
Cobden Pudding.
Four ozs. grain granules, 2 ozs. sugar, 1 oz. cocoanut cream, 3 ozs.
stoned raisins, 2 eggs, 3 gills milk.
Put grain granules, sugar, raisins, and cocoanut cream in large basin.
Bring milk to boil and pour over. Cover and let stand till cool. Beat up
yolks and add, and lastly the whites beaten stiff. Pour into buttered
pudding-dish and bake in moderate oven for an hour.
JAMS AND JELLIES.
We have not space to go into these at any length. The following are one or
two of my "very own," as the children say, which are voted a great success.
Apple Jam.
Take quantity required--say 7 lbs.--tart crisp apples. Wash well and dry.
Pare and core, putting the trimmings in water to cover. Cut up the best of
the apples into small pieces--not too thin--and set aside, also covered with
cold water. Put on the trimmings to boil with some lemon rind and either a
few sticks of cinnamon or some cloves. Simmer for an hour or longer, till
all the goodness is drawn out, mashing freely with a wooden spoon. Turn
into jelly-bag and allow to drain without pressure. Pour the water off the
apples, measure that and the drained juice, and put into preserving pan.
Measure the apple chips also, and add when the liquid boils. Allow 14 ozs.
loaf sugar to each breakfast cupful, and boil till the apples are clear, but
not broken down--about 20 minutes. Skim and pot as usual. If ginger
flavouring is preferred, shave down about 6 ozs. preserved ginger, and add
when the juice is put on to boil.
Marmalade Jelly.
Take 3 lbs. fruit--6 bitter oranges, 3 sweet ones and 3 lemons. Remove the
rinds and grate them small, or put through a mincer. Cut up the oranges,
removing the seeds, which put in a tumbler of water. Cover the oranges,
&c., with 17 tumblers cold water, and let stand for at least 24 hours. Put
all in jelly-pan, including the water drained from the seeds, and let boil
gently, for about 2 hours, mashing frequently with a wooden spoon. Let
drain without pressure. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow 14 ozs.
sugar, which add after the liquid boils. Boil fast for a few minutes, try
if it will set. Skim and pot. But the pulp must not be thrown out, for it
makes an excellent, if rather homely,
Marmalade,
which comes in specially useful for steamed puddings, &c. Weigh the pulp,
and allow equal weight of sugar. Boil gently, taking great care not to
burn, till clear--20 to 30 minutes.
Green Gooseberry and Strawberry Jam.
This will be appreciated by those who find the ordinary strawberry jam
rather sweet and heavy. Take equal quantities of gooseberries and
strawberries--say 3 lbs. of each. Trim the gooseberries, which must be
firm and freshly pulled, and wash well. Put on to boil with a teacupful
water to each lb. of gooseberries, and boil for 10 minutes. Add the
strawberries and the sugar lb. for lb., and boil for 20 minutes longer, or
till it will "jell," as Meg would say.
Green Gooseberry Jam
is made with the gooseberries alone, prepared as above. A little grated
lemon rind, &c., might be used for flavouring. Then if one is making
Green Gooseberry Jelly,
top and tail the fruit very carefully, removing every tough or discoloured
one. Put on to boil, well covered with water. Add flavouring or not as
preferred, and simmer gently for an hour or so. Drain without pressure.
Allow 14 ozs. to pint of juice, and boil rapidly about 10 minutes. Allow 1
lb. sugar to each lb. of the pulp. Boil together for about 20 minutes,
and this will give a very good, if rough and ready, jam.
Jelly without Boiling.
Everyone who can get good red or white currants should try making the jelly
without boiling. I got the recipe from a friend many years ago, and can
recommend it as a way in which the fresh flavour of the fruit is preserved
to perfection. Wring the currants in usual way, and to each pint of juice
allow 14 ozs. loaf sugar, which must be pure cane. I believe crystalised
will do, but I have never tried it. Granulated or beet sugar will not do.
Put juice and sugar in a strong basin and beat with the back of a wooden
spoon till the sugar is quite dissolved, which will take about half-an-hour.
Skim and pot. It should be quite firm by next day, and will keep for a year
or longer--if it escapes consumption.
Bramble Jelly.
This is one of the finest preserves one can make--especially if we have
gathered the fruit. The brambles should not be too ripe, but should have a
good proportion of hard red ones. Wash well in cold water and put on with
water to barely cover. Simmer gently for an hour or longer, bruising well
with wooden spoon. Drain without pressure. Measure, and allow 14 ozs.
sugar to pint, _i.e._, breakfast cupful. Allow the juice to boil up
well. Add the sugar, boil fast for a few minutes, skim and pot.
NOTE.--Only pure cane sugar should be used for preserves. Add the
sugar when the preserve is boiling--nearly ready indeed. It only
requires to be thoroughly dissolved and boiled through. This method
goes far to prevent burning and loss of flavour.
* * * * *
The NEW VEGETABLE FOOD EXTRACT which possesses the same nutrient value as a
well-prepared Meat Extract.
2 oz. pot, 7-1/2 d.; 4 oz. pot, 1/1-1/2; 8 oz. pot, 2/-; 16 oz. pot, 3/4.
_The Ideal basis for high-class Vegetable Soups._
_HORS CONCOURS_
Universal Cookery and Food Exhibition 1907.
MARMITE
THREE GOLD MEDALS AWARDED
Cookery Schools and Teachers are invited to apply for Free Samples, Recipes,
and full particulars to
THE MARMITE FOOD EXTRACT CO., Ltd., 59 Eastcheap, London, E.C.
* * * * *
WILL YOU TRY A CUP OF TEA
that, instead of injuring your nerves and toughening your food, is
Absolutely Safe and Delightful? 2/2, 2/10, and 3/6 per lb.
THE UNIVERSAL DIGESTIVE TEA
is ordinary tea treated with oxygen, which neutralises the injurious tannin.
Every pound of ordinary tea contains about two ounces of tannin. Tannin is
a powerful astringent substance to tan skins into leather. The tannin in
ordinary tea tans, or hardens, the lining of the digestive organs, also the
food eaten. This prevents the healthful nourishment of the body, and
undoubtedly eventuates in nervous disorders. On receipt of a postcard,
The Universal Digestive Tea Co., Ltd., Colonial Warehouse, Kendal,
will send a Sample of this tea, and name of nearest Agent, also a
Descriptive Pamphlet compiled by Albert Broadbent, Author of "Science in the
Daily Meal," &c.
AGENTS WANTED.
* * * * *
THE BEST SOUP THICKENER.
ROBINSON'S PATENT BARLEY
Also Best for Making BARLEY WATER, CUSTARD, BLANC MANGES, &c.
KEEN ROBINSON & CO., LTD., LONDON,
Makers of Robinson's Patent Groats for making Gruel.
* * * * *
BEVERAGES.
We have not space to go into the question of beverages at any length. A few
good "drinks" are given under Invalid Dietary, and I would just say that the
juice of a squeezed lemon, orange, or other fruit juice is much better than
any effervescent or chemicalised beverage. There are, however, some
excellent pure fruit-juices now on the market, among which one may mention
Pattinson's Fruit Syrups
and essences for various temperance drinks as being specially good. Many
are proscribed on the score of health, &c., from the use of
Tea and Coffee,
but as these will remain first favourites for a long time to come, the first
essential is to have them properly prepared, so that there is little if any
ill effect. Where tea is most largely and constantly used, as in China and
Japan, it is said to be quite innocuous. This may be partly owing to the
more wholesome and rational way in which those people live, partly also to
the finer quality of tea available, but very largely to the method of
preparation. Various devices have been patented to save trouble in changing
from one pot to another, but as most of these are rather complicated for
daily use, we are glad to learn of a tea which can be prepared in the old
comfortable handy way without any ill effects, and this boon seems to be
furnished in the
Universal Digestive Tea,
prepared at the Colonial Warehouse, Kendal. By a process--which, by the
way, is not kept secret--the tea is treated with oxygen in such a way that
the hurtful tannin is neutralised, while none of the other properties are
affected in any way. There is certainly no loss of flavour, and no
difference that one can discern from the usual, but specially good tea--a
fact which will appeal to ordinary tea-drinkers, of whom there are still a
majority. For any further information regarding this tea, I would recommend
readers to a little pamphlet compiled by Albert Broadbent, Esq., food
specialist and lecturer, whose writings on the food question, &c., are well
known. It is entitled "The cup that cheers." It explains the process of
treatment, and gives medical and analytical testimony in its favour from
various authorities of very high standing. The best proof is in the
drinking, however, and one may have a sample pound or more carriage paid.
INVALID DIETARY.
The whole of the previous part of this book has been devoted to the
contriving of the several meals usual in a work-a-day household and under
ordinary circumstances. But exceptions will occur in the "best regulated
families," and although much may be done to prevent illness by pure,
nourishing, well-cooked food, one must be prepared for emergencies as they
come.
Of course, most of our friends will be only too ready to pounce upon us when
illness comes into the house, with their "I told you so" comments. In the
first place it will be owing to their low diet and want of proper
nourishment that father has got influenza, or Tommy mumps or
measles--beef-fed persons _never_ have these affections--(which shows
what an enormous proportion of vegetarians there must be)--and in the second
place, now that there is illness, you _must_ fall back on beef-tea,
port-wine, and other "generous diet," to get up and sustain the patient's
strength. However callous or deaf you might be to the supplication for the
flesh-pots from those in health, you cannot, must not shut your heart to the
call of the weak or suffering.
And woe betide us if we are heretic, and the patient does not recover so
quickly as we could wish (if he does, we shall be suspected of having
surreptitiously called the orthodox nostrums to our aid, but that by the
way), so that it behoves us to give the critical and censorious as little
room for their strictures as possible.
Now, what are we to get for that erewhile _sine qua non_ of the sick
room,
Beef Tea?
Well, before we come to the non-flesh substitutes, which are more similar in
some ways to the ordinary beef-tea, we will consider what is given in the
earlier stages when the stomach rejects nearly all nourishment.
Pure Fruit Juices
can usually be retained and assimilated by the most debilitated. The
refreshing and restorative properties of orange, grape, and similar fruit
juices are generally appreciated, though many people hold the extraordinary
belief that these are best when almost all the nourishment has been
fermented out of them as in ordinary wine; but not so many even of the more
advanced among us, as yet, realise the wonderful healing and anti-toxic
possibilities of fresh fruits, more especially grapes. Pure grape juice has
been found to act with such destructive force upon disease germs of various
kinds as would appear little short of miraculous.
To prepare, press out with squeezer and strain, dilute or not with hot or
cold water according to the condition of the patient. The juice of an
orange to a tumbler of water makes an excellent tonic drink where there is
feverishness and debility of the digestive organs, and a teaspoonful or more
of lemon juice may be used in the same way.
Rhubarb Juice
is very good when made from fresh, naturally-grown rhubarb. Wipe and cut
small, put in covered jar in oven or steamer till the juice flows freely.
This will not be ordered where there is rheumatism or the like. For such,
an alkaline beverage is wanted instead of an acid.
Celery Milk
is exceedingly good, and I claim to have discovered it for myself. Wash and
trim some sticks of celery. Cut small and simmer for an hour or longer in
milk and water. Bruise well to get all the goodness out, and strain through
jelly-bag. When fresh celery is not to be had, celery seeds may be used.
Simmer in water, strain, and add milk.
Cocoanut Milk
is also very good, and will sometimes be retained when ordinary milk is
rejected. Select a juicy cocoanut, pierce a hole and drain out the milk.
Break and remove from shell, and pare off the brown skin very finely, so as
not to lose any of the oil. Grate or run through mincer, add two cupfuls
boiling water, and beat with a wooden spoon from ten to fifteen minutes;
then squeeze through a cloth or potato masher. Put the cocoanut into a
saucepan with more boiling water, mash over the fire for a few minutes, and
squeeze again very thoroughly. If it has been squeezed in a masher the
liquor may need to be strained again through a cloth or hair sieve.
For a bland soothing drink, invaluable in practically every form of internal
irritation and debility, Barley Water reigns supreme, and in its
preparation Robinson's Patent Barley will be found invaluable.
Smooth one or two spoonfuls to a cream with cold water. Pour on boiling
water, stirring all the while, and boil gently for five to ten minutes.
When cool it will be a firm jelly, and can be diluted as required with hot
or cold water, milk, fruit-juice, "Extract," &c., &c.
To come now to what more closely resembles beef-tea, we can have a liquid
practically undistinguishable made from
Brown or German Lentils.
Take a teacupful of these, look over and pick very carefully so that no
stones or dirt may escape notice. Scald with boiling water, and put to
simmer with plenty of boiling water in a saucepan or stewing jar. Add a
shallot, a bit of celery, teaspoonful ground rice, tapioca, &c., and, unless
prohibited, seasoning to taste. A blade of mace, a slice or two of carrot,
beetroot, &c., might be added at discretion. Simmer gently, or better
still, steam for an hour. Strain, without any pressure, and serve with
fingers of crisp, dry toast. Equal quantities of German lentils and brown
beans may be prepared exactly as above to make Savoury Tea, as also a
mixture of brown and white beans. A delicious
Invalid Broth
is made thus:--Wash well a cupful of butter peas or haricot beans and one or
two tablespoonfuls pot barley. Put in saucepan or double boiler with water,
and cook for two to three hours. Season and strain. Celery, onion,
parsnip, &c., may be added if desired. Some milk may also be added, and, if
wished specially rich and strengthening, one or two eggs beaten up. Warm up
only as much as is needed at one time, and serve with toast or triscuits.
Variety of flavour, &c., may be contrived by mixing lentils, dried green
peas, &c., with the haricots, or instead of these, tomatoes may be sliced
and added ten minutes before straining.
I need not here give recipes for ordinary oatmeal gruel, but
Lentil Gruel
may be new to some. Take a dessert-spoonful lentil flour--the "Digestive"
lentil flour is always to be depended on--smooth with a little cold milk or
water in a saucepan. Add three teacupfuls boiling milk or barley-water and
simmer for fifteen minutes. A little extract such as "Carnos" or "Marmite"
may be added to this or any of the foregoing broths.
These extracts, "Carnos" and "Marmite," are exceedingly useful in the
sick-room, as they can be so easily and quickly prepared. "Carnos" being a
fluid extract, is especially handy. A teaspoonful of that, or a half
teaspoonful "Marmite" to a cupful boiling water makes a delightful cup of
savoury tea. Be careful not to make too strong. Such extracts may also
enter with advantage into
Savoury Custard.
Beat up an egg, and add to it half a teacupful milk, and either a
teaspoonful "Carnos" or rather less of "Marmite," the latter dissolved in a
little boiling water. Add pinch salt. Turn into a buttered cup or tiny
basin, cover with buttered paper, and steam gently for seven or eight
minutes till just set.
The following is a very dainty and novel
Egg Flip.
Separate the white from the yolk of an egg and beat up the white quite
stiff. Beat up the yolk and add to it the strained juice of an orange or
some "Nektar." Mix all lightly together and serve in a pretty glass or
china dish.
White of Egg
may be made more attractive for little folk if poached by spoonfuls for a
minute or two in boiling milk, and served with a little pink sugar dusted
over.
Orange Egg Jelly.
Rub 2 ozs. loaf sugar on the rinds of 2 oranges till it gets as much
flavour as possible, then put in a basin with the strained juice and a
teaspoonful lemon juice. Bring a very small quantity of vegetable
gelatine--previously soaked for an hour in cold water--to boil in a
breakfastcupful of water. One-eighth of an oz. of this gelatine is enough
as it is so strong. Stir till quite dissolved and strain over the sugar,
&c. When cool add the yolks of two eggs beaten up, and whisk till white and
frothy. Beat the whites very stiff and add them. Beat all thoroughly, and
when just about to set pour into a wet mould. Or allow to set and then pile
up by rocky spoonfuls in a glass dish.
When an invalid is getting past the "sloppy" stage and is able for solid
nutriment
Steamed Barley
is perhaps the most valuable food of any, and dyspeptics who experience
difficulty in getting any kind of food to agree would do well to go on a
course of this--not for one day or two, but for weeks and months together.
Wash well in cold water a teacupful of _pot_ barley. Put on in clean
lined saucepan with plenty of cold water, bring to boil slowly, and if there
is the least suspicion of mustiness, drain and cover with clean water. When
it comes a boil again, turn into a pudding basin or double boiler, cover and
steam for at least six hours. Twelve hours is much better, and it is safest
to put on one day, what is wanted for the next. Onions, celery, tomatoes,
&c., may be added at discretion. When to be used, this barley should turn
out firm enough to chew, and may be eaten with thin dry toast or
"Triscuits."
Besides these home-made preparations, there are many valuable foods to be
had ready for use, or requiring but little preparation, thus affording
change and variety, not only to the patient, but to the nurse or cook, who
must often be heartily tired of making up the same gruels and mushes for
weeks or months together. The Barley Mint, Patriarch Biscuits, and Barley
Malt Biscuits to be had from the Wallace Bakery, 465 Battersea Park Road,
London, S.W., come in very handy. The Barley Malt Meal can be made into a
gruel or porridge, while Barley Malt itself may be added to any ordinary
preparation to aid digestion. Barley Malt Meal Gruel has been found a
sovereign remedy for constipation, obstinate cases yielding to it when all
other treatment had failed. Make in usual way and add one or two large
spoonfuls treacle or honey. The biscuits may be grated and made into a mush
with hot milk, &c., or they may be soaked over night in as much hot water,
milk, or diluted Extract as they will absorb, and then be put in the oven to
warm through. Gluten Meal is another among many valuable Invalid
Foods which there is space only to mention here; while the value of
Robinson's Patent Groats for gruel is widely appreciated.
For diabetic and anaemic patients there are one or two other valuable foods
now on the market specially prepared to nourish and enrich the blood, while
at the same time starving the disease. Barley Malt Meal is specially
good, also a recent "Wallaceite" product, "Stamina Food."
The "Manhu" Diabetic Foods
are well known and highly recommended. The following
"Manhu" Diabetic Savoury
will be welcome to those whose dietary is of necessity so restricted. 1/2
pint Savoury Tea (p. 90) or diluted "Extract," 1 egg, 1 tablespoonful
"Manhu" Diabetic Food, 1/2 oz. butter, salt and pepper.
Melt butter in saucepan, add the food, and mix over slow
fire till butter is absorbed. Add the savoury liquid, cook for a
few minutes, add seasoning, beat in yolk of egg, then the white
stiffly beaten. Mix lightly. Pour into pie-dish, and bake in
quick oven for 15 minutes.
* * * * *
A Realised Ideal In Food Production.
Ideal Food Reform means much more than "going without meat." It means the
use of only such foods as will thoroughly nourish the body without injuring
it.
For instance, most popular biscuits are made from an impoverished white
flour, and raised with chemicals, which injure the system. Again, white
bread is an artificial one-sided food, and is raised with yeast. Yeast is a
ferment, the product of brewery vats, and is not expelled from the loaf by
baking.
Thorough-going Food Reform demands bread, biscuits, &c., made with entire
whole wheat flour, and free from chemicals, yeast, and other impurities.
This is a high ideal: can it be realised?
It has been realised. The Wallace P.R. Foods Co. was founded
expressly for-the purpose of making bread, biscuits, cakes, and other foods
on scientific principles, which a great London "daily" has described as
100 Years in Advance of the Age.
In this model bakery the only flour used throughout is an entire wheatmeal
ground to a marvellous fineness; and all other ingredients are the very best
and purest. Chemicals, cheap fats, and yeast are banished.
Thousands have proved that the regular daily use of the P.R.
Biscuits, Bread, &c., not only delights the palate, but eradicates many
stubborn diseases, and brings about a steady improvement of health in cases
where drugs, patent medicines, and all other unnatural methods have failed.
30 Samples of delicious Bread, Cake, Biscuits, and Coffee, 1/6 carr.
paid.
Box Biscuits and Coffee only, 1/3 carr. paid.
_P.R. Specialities are stocked by all Health Food Stores.
Sole Makers:_
The Wallace P.R. Foods Co.
465 Battersea Park Rd., London, S.W.
* * * * *
_INFANTILE MORTALITY_
"COW & GATE" Dried Pure English Half-Cream Milk
The Superiority of Dried Milk over Fresh Cow's Milk was
strikingly demonstrated by the experiments of the Sheffield Corporation
Scheme for Reducing Infantile Mortality, given in a paper by ALBERT
E. NAISH, M.A., M.B., B.C., Cantab., Assistant Physician, Sheffield Royal
Hospital, in the September 3rd issue of the _Medical Officer_. For the
purpose of these experiments our milk was used with that of two other
makers.
OUR MILK BEING MADE DAILY AT OUR OWN FACTORIES
can be supplied in a much fresher condition than Foreign or Colonial makes.
Besides the fact of our supplying several Infant Milk Depots and
Creches, we have Thousands of Letters from grateful mothers, from
all parts, who testify to the splendid results from feeding their babies on
our Dried English Milk.
West Surrey Central Dairy Co. GUILDFORD.
It can be obtained of most Chemists and Health Food Stores, in Tins and
Packets, 1/1. each.
We make Dried, Full-Cream, and also Separated Milk, as well as the above.
Prices on application.
* * * * *
Savoury Gruel.
Dissolve about 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls vegetable extract--"Marmite," "Carnos,"
Mapleton's Nut Extract are all good--in 3 gills boiling water. Have a
tablespoonful of either Gluten Meal, Barley Malt Meal, Banana Oats,
&c., made smooth with a little cold water--add seasoning, a little grated
onion, celery, &c.--and mix it with the "Extract" tea. Boil all together,
stirring constantly for 5 or 10 minutes, then strain.
This savoury gruel may be acceptably varied from time to time by
substituting Robinson's Patent Barley or Groats for the above.
Almond Cream Whey.
One pint milk, 1 dessertspoonful lemon juice, 1 tablespoonful Almond cream
or Cashew nut cream. Bring milk nearly to boiling point, and add lemon
juice. Let stand till it curdles. Strain and stir in the nut cream, also
sweetening to taste.
"Nutter" Milk
(For Wasting Diseases, in place of Cod Liver Oil).
Put 1 oz. "Nutter," or other good vegetable fat, in small enamelled
saucepan, and pour on 1/2 pint of milk. Heat very slowly nearly to boiling
point. Stir or beat with wooden spoon till cool enough to drink. Pour into
warm glass and sip slowly. If not all used at once, heat slowly, and mix
well each time to be used.
Almond Milk Jelly.
Make up 1/2 pint almond milk by shaking up 1 tablespoonful Mapleton's
concentrated almond cream with 2 gills water. Soak 1/8 oz. vegetable
gelatine in cold water for an hour. Strain off the water and put in
saucepan with the almond milk, rind of 1/2 lemon and juice of whole one,
also 2 ozs. sugar. Stir over gentle heat till gelatine is dissolved.
Strain and mould in usual way.
Onion Gruel (for a Cold).
One lb. onions, 1 apple, a little sugar, salt, ground cloves or mace, and
white pepper, 1/2 gill boiling water, 2 tablespoonfuls "Cow and Gate" dried
milk, 1 oz. butter or vegetable fat. Peel and chop the onions and scald
with boiling water. Put on to simmer, with the apple chopped small, the
water, butter, &c.--all except the dried milk. Cover and cook gently till
tender. Sprinkle in the dried milk, and cook for a few minutes longer.
Serve very hot.
The dried milk--
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