The story of Crisco
by Marion Harris Neil · English · Gutenberg #13286 · 605,631 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The story of Crisco
Author: Marion Harris Neil
Release date: August 25, 2004 [eBook #13286]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF CRISCO ***
The Story of CRISCO
1913
1914
1915
1916
The Procter & Gamble Co.
Cincinnati
ELEVENTH EDITION
_Price Twenty-Five Cents_
[Illustration: _The Story of CRISCO_]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
The Story of Crisco
Things To Remember
Hints To Young Cooks
How To Choose Foods
Methods of Cooking
Time Table for Cooking
The Art of Carving
Soups
Fish
Meats
Vegetables
Salads
Puddings
Sandwiches
Pastries
Breads
Cakes
Vegetarian Dishes
Eggs
Candies
Calendar of Dinners
A
APPETIZERS
Lettuce Cocktail 153
Onion Cocktail 161
B
BREADS
Apple Strudel 221
Boston Brown 98
Brown Nut 98
Coffee 99
Coffee, Swedish 113
Corn 100
Crisco Milk 101
Fruit, Yorkshire 114
Gluten 104
Graham 102
Health 105
Hominy 105
Nut, Steamed 112
Raisin and Buttermilk 109
Raisin and Nut 221
Rolled Oats 109
Rye, Swedish 113
Savarin 110
Southern Spoon 112
Water 114
Wheat, Entire 102
BREADS
Biscuits, Rolls, Etc.
Baking Powder Biscuit 97
Buttermilk Biscuit 98
Citron Buns 99
Cornmeal Rolls 100
Crisco Batter Cakes 101
Dessert Biscuit 101
Fruit Rolls 104
Hot Cross Buns 106
Lunch Rolls 107
Maryland Beaten Biscuits 107
Scones, Cream 100
Scones, Oven 108
Soda Beaten Biscuit 111
Sour Milk Biscuit 111
Twin Biscuit 113
BREADS
Muffins, Etc.
Bran Gems 98
Columbia Muffins 100
Corn Cakes 194
Ginger Gems 104
Golden Corn Muffins 105
Imperial Muffins 106
Muffins 107
Pop Overs 198
Rye Muffins 110
Sour Milk Tea Cakes 112
C
CAKES
Almond and Citron 130
Black Cake with Prune Filling 119
Boiling Water 120
Butterless-Milkless-Eggless 120
Caramel 121
Chocolate 121
Chocolate, Black 181
Cream Puffs 123
Cream Puff Balls 123
Cushion 198
Devil's Food 124
Dutch Apple 214
Feather 210
Fig 125
Flag 194
Fruit Cake, Apple Sauce 119
Fruit Cake, Crisco 123
Fruit Cake, Southern 132
Fruit Drops 103
Genoa 185
Gennoise 125
Gingerbread 125
Gingerbread, Whole Wheat 132
Gold 126
Golden Orange 126
Hurry Up 126
Jam 207
Jelly Roll 129
Lady Baltimore 127
Layer Cake, Cocoanut 122
Layer Cake, Cocoanut 226
Layer Cake, Coffee 112
Layer Cake, Lemon 127
Lord Baltimore 128
Lunch Cakes 128
Marble 129
Marmalade 129
Mocha 196
Pound 120
Princess 205
Queen Cakes 215
Rose Leaf 131
Sand 127
Shortcake, Oyster 57
Shortcake, Peach 124
Shortcake, Red Raspberry 195
Shortcake, Strawberry 124
Shortcake, Scotch 131
Seed Cake, Old Fashioned 130
Silver Nut 131
Simnel 131
Sponge 127
Tilden 202
Walnut 130
Wholesome Parkin 132
CANDIES
Chocolate Fudge 144
Clear Almond Taffy 144
Cocoanut Caramels 144
Cream Candy 145
Crisco Drops 145
Crisco Fruit Fudge 145
Everton Taffy 145
Fig Fudge 146
Honey Squares 146
Maple Candy 146
Molasses Candy 146
Peanut Fudge 147
CHEESE DISHES
Aigrettes 197
Biscuit 151
Canapes 161
Cheese Balls 196
Croutons 214
Drops 194
Fondue 219
Ramekins 151
COOKIES, WAFERS, Etc.
Almond Fingers 211
Chocolate Wafers 99
Chocolate Brownies 99
Crisco Brownies 101
Filled Cookies 102
Fruit Cookies 103
Ginger Crisps 203
Ginger Snaps 104
Jumbles 97
Lemon Wafers 106
Maple Cookies 107
Oatmeal Cookies 108
Rose Leaves 110
Shortbread 111
Spice Cookies 112
White Cookies 114
CROQUETTES
Bean 178
Beef 193
Chicken 195
Chestnut Boulettes 231
Egg 141
Pea 227
Pear 227
Potato 152
Potato and Nut 136
Salmon 155
Tomato 228
D
DOUGHNUTS
Honey 105
Nut 108
Raised 109
Rich 109
E
EGGS
Caramel Custard 178
Creole 140
Curried 140
Cutlets 165
Croquettes 141
Eggs with Cucumbers 141
Eggs with Tomatoes 141
Egg Sandwiches, Fried 85
Savory 142
EGGS
Omelets
Apricot 200
Baked 140
Friar's 159
Kidney 63
Spanish 183
Cutlets 165
Croquettes 141
Eggs with Cucumbers 141
Eggs with Tomatoes 141
Egg Sandwiches, Fried 85
Savory 142
F
FISH, Etc.
Blue, Baked 194
Cassolettes of Fish 53
Clams, Scalloped 183
Clams, Steamed 225
Codfish Balls 152
Cod, Boiled 169
Cod, Curried 54
Cod, Steamed 218
Crabs, Dressed 53
Fish, Fried 56
Fish, Fried 198
Fish Pudding 55
Flounder, a la Creme 54
Flounder, a la Turque 55
Gateau of Fish 56
Halibut, Baked 52
Halibut, Grilled with Parmesan 214
Halibut, a la Paulette 166
Halibut Ramekins 192
Halibut Turbans 154
Lobster, Broiled 171
Lobster, Fried with Horseradish Sauce 56
Lobster Newburg 175
Mackerel, Broiled Spanish 167
Mackerel, a la Claudine 175
Mackerel, Cold Vinaigrette 184
Oysters, Fried 171
Oyster Shortcake 57
Salmon, Baked with Colbert Sauce 52
Salmon, Boiled 167
Salmon Croquettes 155
Salmon Mold 57
Salmon, Planked 189
Sardine Canapes 167
Shad, Baked 53
Shad, Planked 170
Scallops 228
Scallops, Baked in Shells 220
Smelts, Broiled 214
Smelts, Fried 222
Smelts, Planked 207
Terrapin, a la Maryland 230
Trout, Baked 190
FRITTERS, GRIDDLE CAKES, Etc.
Apple Fritters 78
Apricot Fritters 172
Anchovy Fritters 157
Carrot Fritters 175
Corn Fritters 68
Crisco Battercakes 101
French Pancake 199
Fried Cornmeal Nut Cakes 102
Fried Cakes with Apple Sauce 103
Fruit Pancake 195
Italian Fritters 222
Salsify Fritters 160
Sour Milk Griddle Cakes 111
Strawberry Fritters 187
Waffles 113
FRUITS
Apples with Red Currant Jelly 224
Apple Sauce 225
Baked Apples 229
Baked Bananas 181
Devilled Bananas 134
M
MEATS
Beef, a la Mode 191
Beef, Braised Fillet 158
Beef Croquettes 193
Beef Collope 59
Beef, Chipped in Cream 183
Beef, Fillet 205
Beef Loaf 151
Beef Loaf 186
Beef Olives 200
Beef Steak Pudding 205
Beef Steak and Kidney Pie 151
Beef Tournedos with Olives 191
Bobotee 182
Brains, Baked 189
Calf's Head Vinaigrette 161
Chops, Breaded 166
Ham, Baked 209
Hearts, Baked Stuffed 164
Indian Dry Curry 213
Kidneys, Broiled with Green Peppers 162
Kidney Omelet 63
Lamb, Casserole 218
Lamb Chops, Broiled 168
Lamb Chops, Stuffed 221
Lamb, Crown, with Peas 180
Lamb, Fricassee with Dumplings 197
Lamb, Leg, Boiled Stuffed 186
Lamb, Salmi 189
Lamb, Spring, Steak, a la Minute 173
Lamb, Tournedos 198
Live, Baked and Bacon 201
Liver, Stewed with Mushrooms 206
Mutton, Braised Loin 60
Mutton, Braised with Mushrooms 157
Mutton, Boiled 204
Mutton Cutlets 152
Mutton, a la Soubise 168
Meat Cakes 63
Ox Tongue, Braised 176
Ox Tongue, Curried 61
Roast, with Spaghetti 64
Roast, Pot, with Tomato 181
Shepherd's Pie 210
Steak, Beef, Baked 224
Steak, Flank, Stuffed 200
Steak, Porterhouse 208
Steak, Round with Macaroni 63
Steak, Swiss 199
Steak, Sirloin with Fried Apples 65
Stew, Irish 156
Sweet Breads 183
Sweet Breads, Fried 62
Sweet Breads with Mushroom Puree 173
Tripe, Baked 229
Tripe, Fricasseed 197
Toad in the Hole 163
Veal, Blanquette 197
Veal, Braised Fillet 169
Veal Chops 196
Veal Cutlets, Breaded 193
Veal Goulash 159
Veal Haricot 216
Veal and Ham Pie 165
Veal Loaf 180
Veal Pot Pie 172
Venison, Cutlets 220
Venison, Spiced 224
MEATS
Chicken
Casserole 60
Country Club 201
Croquettes 195
Curried 192
Fried 61
Fried, Mexican Style 62
Fried, Swiss Style 213
Fricassee, Brown 153
Grilled 178
Hot Pot 226
Impanada 208
A la King 178
Pie 171
Planked 158
Planked 199
Roast Stuffed 150
Stewed 175
Stewed with Olives 168
Souffle 163
Supreme 160
A la Tartare 60
MEATS
Other Fowls
Duck, Braised with Turnips 217
Duckling, Roast 187
Fowl, Roast with Chestnuts and Mushrooms 202
Fowl, Pilau 211
Guinea Hen, Roasted 168
Guinea, Roast Chicken 218
Pigeons, Fried 169
Squab, Stewed 208
Turkey, Roast 64
MEATS
Hare and Rabbit
Belgian en Casserole 230
Jugged 149
A la Marengo 217
Roast 152
Stewed 221
P
PASTRIES
Cornstarch Pastry 90
Crisco, Plain 90
Crisco, New 90
Flake No. 1 91
Flake No. 2 92
German 93
Hot Water 93
Puff 92
Puff, Rough 93
Sugar for Tartlets 94
Tip Top 90
PASTRIES
Cobblers and Dumplings
Apple Dumplings 78
Fig and Apple Cobbler 226
Peach Cobbler 204
PASTRIES
Pies
Almond Layer 91
Apple 166
Apple 215
Beer Steak and Kidney 151
Blueberry 200
Butterscotch 94
Cherry 188
Chicken 171
Chocolate Cream 218
Cocoanut 227
Cream 181
Double 91
Mince 225
Orange 212
Pumpkin 223
Rhubarb Custard 94
Shepherd's 210
Squash 224
Veal and Ham 165
Veal Pot 174
Washington 162
PASTRIES
Tarts, Etc.
Apple 160
Apricot 95
Bakewell 95
Bartemian 95
Chestnut 217
Currant 94
Fruit 182
German 135
Lemon and Apple 226
Maids of Honor 190
Pastry Fingers 230
Peach Delights 82
Puffs, Orange 213
Puffs, Raisin 227
Roly Poly, Cherry 189
Roly Poly, Raisin 227
Rhubarb Fanchonettes 192
Windsor 201
PUDDINGS
Almond 192
Almond and Apple 221
Amber 210
Apple, Charlotte 212
Apricot 196
Baba with Syrup 222
Baked Indian 220
Beef Steak 205
Black Cap 216
Boston 230
Bird's Nest 165
Bread 226
Bread, with Cherries 210
Cabinet 156
Canned Corn 179
Caramel Bread 79
Caramel Rice 79
Carrot 79
Cherry Blanc-Mange 199
Chestnut Dainty 217
Chocolate 202
Chocolate Bread 188
Chocolate Jelly 80
Chocolate with Macaroons 209
Coburg 159
Cocoanut 219
Conservative 211
Cottage 80
Countess 204
Cranberry 221
Cup 192
Date 222
Eve's 229
Farina 225
Fish 55
Golden 219
Graham 223
Graham, Steamed 166
St. Leonard's 204
Macaroon 201
Macaroni, Baked 223
Molasses Sponge 81
Monica 81
Noodle 81
Nut 211
Peach 199
Pineapple 82
Plum, English 229
Plum, Mrs. Vaughn's 82
Raisin 163
Raisin Batter 213
Raspberry Batter 191
Rhubarb 137
Rhubarb, Baked 78
Rice 83
Rice, Ground 193
Snow Balls 197
Snow Balls, Fruit 158
Snow Pudding, with Custard 206
Sultana 228
Swiss 177
Walnut 83
Woodford 83
PUDDINGS
Souffles
Brown Bread 219
Cherry 195
Cornstarch 228
Date 158
Pineapple 223
Rice 172
Snow 193
Squash 201
Vegetable 136
Vegetable 212
S
SALADS
Apple, Celery and Nut 74
Asparagus 74
Cabbage 163
Carrot 186
Celery and Almond 74
Cheese 206
Cream Cheese and Pimiento 154
Daisy 179
Fruit 75
Grapefruit 189
Hungarian 75
Orange 150
Orange and Tomato 75
Pear and Pimiento 189
Potato and Nut 75
Potato and Pimiento 76
Shrimp 76
Waldorf 159
Watercress 190
SANDWICHES
Egg and Anchovy 85
Fried Egg 85
Hot Cheese 211
Hudson 86
Pimiento Cheese 86
Rice 86
Sardine 87
Tomato 87
Tomato and Horseradish 87
SOUPS, Etc.
Artichoke 157
Asparagus 47
Bean, Black 149
Bonne Femme 228
Cauliflower 206
Cheese 48
Chestnut 207
Crab 187
Fish 48
Giblet 216
Hollandaise 174
Hotch Potch 180
Kidney 176
Lentil 49
Mulligatawney 161
Oxtail 164
Okra 216
Pepper Pot 179
Pilau a la Turque 198
Potato 175
Princess 168
Red Pottage 173
Rice (Thick) 50
Scotch Broth 164
Spring 182
Turnip 185
Turtle, Mock 176
Verte 50
White 172
SOUPS
Bisque
Clam 167
Lobster 49
Lobster 150
Oyster 209
SOUPS
Chowder
Clam 206
Corn 173
Fish 185
SOUPS
Cream Soups
Corn, a la Creole 213
Cucumber 190
Lettuce 154
Tomato 48
SOUPS
Puree
Indienne 185
Norfolk 49
Peanut 214
Tapioca 165
V
VEGETABLES
Artichokes 215
Artichokes, Jerusalem 69
Asparagus Loaf 177
Asparagus, Italian Style 209
Asparagus, Plain 187
Beans 190
Beans, Baked 200
Bean Croquettes 178
Beans, Lima, Curried 220
Beans, String 188
Beets, Buttered 208
Beets, Creamed 177
Beets, New 203
Beets, Stuffed 71
Brussels Sprouts with Crisco 67
Cabbage, a la Creme 219
Cabbage, German Sour 179
Cabbage, Ladies' 154
Carrot Fritters 175
Carrots, Glazed 188
Carrots, a la Poulette 203
Carrots, Viennese 72
Celeriac 217
Colcannon 67
Corn Creole 207
Corn Fritters 68
Corn Okra and Tomatoes 68
Cauliflower 207
Cauliflower, Curried 68
Cauliflower, au Gratin 155
Cauliflower, Fried 208
Egg Plant, en Casserole 69
Eggplant, Fried 205
Eggplant, Stuffed 71
Eggplant, Stuffed 216
Kohl Rabi, Creamed 203
Lentils and Rice 67
Lentils, Savory 70
Lettuce, Stewed 162
Mushrooms au Gratin 70
Mushrooms Cooked Under Glass Bells 154
Mushrooms, Grilled 164
Onions, Stewed 202
Onions, Stuffed 207
Onions, Stuffed with Nuts 184
Parsnips, Baked 67
Parsley, Fried 69
Peas 186
Peas, Green, a la Maitre d'Hotel 69
Peppers, Stuffed Green 162
Potatoes, Anna 184
Potatoes, Chantilly 203
Potatoes, Creamed au Gratin 68
Potato Croquettes 152
Potatoes, Duchesse 170
Potatoes, Franconia 157
Potatoes, French Fried 180
Potatoes, Grilled 215
Potatoes, Hashed Brown 203
Potatoes, New a la France 70
Potato Pone 70
Potato Puffs 174
Potatoes, Savory 215
Potato Souffle Austrian Style 181
Potatoes, Stuffed 71
Potatoes, Stuffed 186
Potatoes, Sweet, Baked 225
Potatoes, Sweet Candied 153
Potatoes, Sweet Southern Style 209
Scalloped Pumpkin and Rice 216
Slaw, Cold 210
Spinach, a la Creme 166
Spinach, Martha 184
Squash, Souffled 201
Squash, Summer 194
Succotash 204
Tomatoes, Baked Stuffed 208
Tomato Croquettes 228
Tomatoes, Escalloped 153
Tomatoes, Grilled 174
Tomatoes, Stewed 150
Turnips, Creamed 170
Turnips, Mashed 202
Vegetable Souffle 212
VEGETARIAN DISHES
Asparagus Loaf 177
Bananas, Devilled 134
Bean Cutlets 133
Cauliflower Snow 134
Craigie Toast 134
Croquettes Marchette 135
Duck, Mock 210
Goose, Mock 174
Mincemeat, Lemon 134
Nut Loaf 212
Nut and Macaroni Savory 136
Nut Roast 220
Potato and Nut Croquettes 136
Potato Sausage 136
Potato Sefton 137
Rice a la Maigre 137
Rice, Spanish 137
Timbale, Molds 138
Veal Roast, Mock 162
Vegetable Souffle, Mixed 136
Vegetable Pie 138
MISCELLANEOUS
Bombay Toast 160
Croutes, a la Marie 156
Croutes, a la Rosamonde 156
Macaroni a l'Italienne 182
Risotto 155
_"Man's most important food, fat."
"Those who say--'The old fashioned things are good enough for us.'"
"The difference between substitute and primary."
"That 'Lardy' taste."
"Fry fish, then onions, then potatoes in the same Crisco."
"We all eat raw fats."
"A woman can throw out more with a teaspoon than a man can bring home
in a wagon."
"Hidden flavors."
"Keeping parlor and kitchen strangers."
"Kosher."
"Recipes tested by Domestic Scientists."_
_INTRODUCTION_
The word "fat" is one of the most interesting in food chemistry. It
is the great energy producer. John C. Olsen, A.M., Ph.D., in his book,
"Pure Food," states that fats furnish half the total energy obtained
by human beings from their food. The three _primary_, solid cooking
fats today are:
[Illustration: _Butter Lard Crisco_]
There are numbers of substitutes for these, such as butterine,
oleomargarine and "lard compounds."
The following pages contain a story of unusual interest to _you_. For
you _eat_.
See Page 233
_The Story of Crisco_
The culinary world is revising its entire cook book on account of the
advent of Crisco, a new and altogether different cooking fat.
Many wonder that any product could gain the favor of cooking experts
so quickly. A few months after the first package was marketed,
practically every grocer of the better class in the United States was
supplying women with the new product.
This was largely because four classes of
people--housewives--chefs--doctors--dietitians--were glad to be shown
a product which at once would make for more _digestible_ foods, more
_economical_ foods, and better _tasting_ foods.
Cooking and History
[Illustration]
Cooking methods have undergone a marked change during the past few
years. The nation's food is becoming more and more wholesome as
a result of different discoveries, new sources of supply, and the
intelligent weighing of values. Domestic Science is better understood
and more appreciated.
[Illustration]
People of the present century are fairer to their stomachs,
realizing that their health largely depends upon this faithful and
long-suffering servant. Digestion and disposition sound much the same,
but a good disposition often is wrecked by a poor digestion.
America has been termed a country of dyspeptics. It is being changed
to a land of healthy eaters, consequently happier individuals. Every
agent responsible for this national digestive improvement must be
gratefully recognized.
[Illustration]
It seems strange to many that there can be anything _better_ than
butter for cooking, or of greater utility than lard, and the advent of
Crisco has been a shock to the older generation, born in an age less
progressive than our own, and prone to contend that the old fashioned
things are good enough.
[Illustration]
But these good folk, when convinced, are the greatest enthusiasts.
Grandmother was glad to give up the fatiguing spinning wheel. So the
modern woman is glad to stop cooking with expensive butter, animal
lard and their inadequate substitutes.
And so, the nation's cook book has been hauled out and is being
revised. Upon thousands of pages, the words "lard" and "butter" have
been crossed out and the word "Crisco" written in their place.
A Need Anticipated
Great foresight was shown in the making of Crisco.
The quality, as well as the quantity, of lard was diminishing
steadily in the face of a growing population. Prices were rising. "The
high-cost-of-living" was an oft-repeated phrase. Also, our country was
outgrowing its supply of butter. What was needed, therefore, was not
a _substitute_, but something _better_ than these fats, some product
which not only would accomplish as much in cookery, but _a great deal
more_.
When, therefore, Crisco was perfected, and it was shown that here
finally was an altogether _new_ and _better_ fat, cookery experts were
quick to show their appreciation.
In reading the following pages, think of Crisco as a _primary_ cooking
fat or shortening with even more individuality (because it does
greater things), than all others.
Man's Most Important Food, Fat
No other food supplies our bodies with the _drive_, the vigor, which
fat gives. No other food has been given so little study in proportion
to its importance.
Here are interesting facts, yet few housewives are acquainted with
them:
Fat contains more than twice the amount of energy-yielding power or
calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates. One half our physical
energy is from the fat we eat in different forms. The excellent book,
"Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent," by Fannie Merritt
Farmer, states, "In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat
cannot be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems
to play some part in the formation of young tissues which cannot be
undertaken by _any other constituent of food_...."
The book entitled "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning," by the two
authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S. Maria Elliott, states that the
diet of school children should be regulated carefully with the fat
supply in view. Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat.
It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing
bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and
should be one that their digestions _welcome_, rather than repel.
[Illustration]
The first step in the digestion of fat is its melting. Crisco melts
at a lower degree of heat than body temperature. Because of its low
melting point, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it, and
because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest
of all cooking fats to digest.
When a fat smokes in frying, it "breaks down," that is, its chemical
composition is changed; part of its altered composition becomes a
non-digestible and irritating substance. The best fat for digestion
is one which does _not_ decompose or break down at frying temperature.
Crisco does not break down until a degree of heat is reached _above_
the frying point. In other words, Crisco does not break down at all
in normal frying, because it is not necessary to have it "smoking hot"
for frying. No part of it, therefore, has been transformed in cooking
into an irritant. That is one reason why the stomach welcomes Crisco
and carries forward its digestion with ease.
Working Towards an Ideal
A part of the preliminary work done in connection with the development
of Crisco, described in these pages, consisted of the study of
the older cooking fats. The objectionable features of each were
considered. The good was weighed against the bad. The strength and
weakness of each was determined. Thus was found what the ideal fat
should possess, and what it should _not_ possess. It must have every
good quality and no bad one.
After years of study, a process was discovered which made possible the
ideal fat.
The process involved the changing of the composition of vegetable food
oils and the making of the richest fat or solid _cream_.
[Illustration]
The Crisco Process at the first stage of its development gave, at
least, the basis of the ideal fat; namely, a purely _vegetable_
product, differing from all others in that absolutely no animal fat
had to be added to the vegetable oil to produce the proper stiffness.
This was but one of the many distinctive advantages sought and found.
Not Marketed Until Perfect
It also solved the problem of eliminating certain objectionable
features of fats in general, such as rancidity, color, odor, smoking
properties when heated. These weaknesses, therefore, were not a part
of this new fat, which it would seem was the parent of the Ideal.
Then after four years of severe tests, after each weakness was
replaced with strength the Government was given this fat to analyze
and classify. The report was that it answered to none of the tests for
fats already existing.
A Primary Fat
It was neither a butter, a "compound" nor a "substitute," but _an
entirely new product_. A _primary_ fat.
In 1911 it was named Crisco and placed upon the market.
Today you buy this rich, wholesome cream of nutritious food oils in
sanitary tins. The "Crisco Process" alone can produce this creamy
white fat. No one else can manufacture Crisco, because no one else
holds the secret of Crisco and because they would have no legal right
to make it. Crisco is Crisco, and nothing else.
Finally Economical
At first, it looked very much as if Crisco must be a high-priced
product. It cost its discoverers many thousands of dollars before ever
a package reached the consumer's kitchen.
Crisco was not offered for sale as a _substitute_, or for housewives
to buy only to save money. The chief point emphasized was, that
Crisco was a richer, more wholesome food fat for cooking. Naturally,
therefore, it was good news to all when Crisco was found also to be
more economical.
Crisco is more economical than lard in another way. It makes richer
pastry than lard, and one-fifth less can be used. Furthermore it can
be used over and over again in frying all manner of foods, and because
foods absorb so little, Crisco is in reality more economical even than
lard of _mediocre_ quality. The _price_ of Crisco is lower than the
average price of the best pail lard throughout the year.
[Illustration]
Crisco's Manufacture
[Illustration: COOLING IN A ROOM WITH GLASS WALLS]
[Illustration: FILLING BY MACHINERY]
[Illustration: AUTOMATIC LABELLING]
It would be difficult to imagine surroundings more appetizing than
those in which Crisco is manufactured. It is made in a building
devoted exclusively to the manufacture of this one product. In
sparkling bright rooms, cleanly uniformed employees make and pack
Crisco.
The air for this building is drawn in through an apparatus which
washes and purifies it, removing the possibility of any dust entering.
The floors are of a special tile composition; the walls are of white
glazed tile, which are washed regularly. White enamel covers metal
surfaces where nickel plating cannot be used. Sterilized machines
handle the oil and the finished product. No hand touches Crisco until
in your own kitchen the sanitary can is opened, disclosing the smooth
richness, the creamlike, appetizing consistency of the product.
The Banishment of That "Lardy" Taste in Foods
It was the earnest aim of the makers of Crisco to produce a
strictly _vegetable_ product without adding a hard, and consequently
indigestible animal fat. There is today a pronounced partiality from
a health standpoint to a vegetable fat, and the lardy, greasy taste
of food resulting from the use of animal fat never has been in such
disfavor as during the past few years.
So Crisco is absolutely _all_ vegetable. No stearine, animal
or vegetable, is added. It possesses no taste nor odor save the
delightful and characteristic aroma which identifies Crisco, and is
suggestive of its purity.
Explanation of "Hidden" Food Flavors.
When the dainty shadings of taste are over-shadowed by a "lardy"
flavor, the _true_ taste of the food itself is lost. We miss the
"hidden" or _natural_ taste of the food. Crisco has a peculiar power
of bringing out the very best in food flavors. Even the simplest foods
are allowed a delicacy of flavor.
[Illustration]
Take ginger bread for example: The real _ginger_ taste is there. The
_molasses_ and spice flavors are brought out.
[Illustration]
Or just plain, every-day fried potatoes; many never knew what the real
_potato_ taste was before eating potatoes fried in Crisco.
Fried chicken has a newness of taste not known before.
New users of Crisco should try these simple foods first and later take
up the preparation of more elaborate dishes.
Butter, Ever Popular
It is hard to imagine anything taking the place of butter upon the
dining table. For seasoning in cooking, the use of butter ever will
be largely a matter of taste. Some people have a partiality for the
"butter flavor," which after all is largely the salt mixed with the
fat. Close your eyes and eat some fresh unsalted butter; note that it
is practically tasteless.
[Illustration]
Crisco contains richer food elements than butter. As Crisco is richer,
containing no moisture, one-fifth or one-fourth less can be used in
each recipe.
Crisco always is uniform because it is a manufactured fat where
quality and purity can be controlled. It works perfectly into any
dough, making the crust or loaf even textured. It keeps sweet and pure
indefinitely in the ordinary room temperature.
Keep Your Parlor and Your Kitchen Strangers
Kitchen odors are out of place in the parlor. When frying with Crisco,
as before explained, it is not necessary to heat the fat to _smoking_
temperature, ideal frying is accomplished without bringing Crisco to
its smoking point. On the other hand, it is necessary to heat lard
"smoking hot" before it is of the proper frying temperature. Remember
also that, when lard smokes and fills the house with its strong odor,
certain constituents have been changed chemically to those which
irritate the sensitive membranes of the alimentary canal.
[Illustration: The Lard Kitchen.]
[Illustration: The Crisco Kitchen--No Smoke.]
Crisco does not smoke until it reaches 455 degrees, a heat higher
than is necessary for frying. You need not wait for Crisco to smoke.
Consequently the house will not fill with smoke, nor will there be
black, burnt specks in fried foods, as often there are when you use
lard for frying.
Crisco gives up its heat very quickly to the food submerged in it and
a tender, brown crust almost _instantly_ forms, allowing the inside of
the potatoes, croquettes, doughnuts, etc., to become _baked_, rather
than soaked.
[Illustration: Fry this, Then this, Then this--in the same Crisco.]
The same Crisco can be used for frying fish, onions, potatoes, or
any other food. Crisco does not take up food flavors or odors. After
frying each food, merely strain out the food particles.
We All Eat Raw Fats
The shortening fat in pastry or baked foods, is merely distributed
throughout the dough. No chemical change occurs during the baking
process. So when you eat pie or hot biscuit, in which animal lard
is used, _you eat raw animal lard_. The shortening used in all baked
foods therefore, should be just as pure and wholesome as if you were
eating it like butter upon bread. Because Crisco digests with such
ease, and because it is a pure vegetable fat, all those who realize
the above fact regarding pastry making are now won over to Crisco.
[Illustration]
A hint as to Crisco's purity is shown by this simple test: Break open
a hot biscuit in which Crisco has been used. You will note a sweet
fragrance, which is most inviting.
[Illustration]
A few months ago if you had told dyspeptic men and women that they
could eat pie at the evening meal and that distress would not follow,
probably they would have doubted you. Hundreds of instances of
Crisco's healthfulness have been given by people, who, at one time
have been denied such foods as pastry, cake and fried foods, but who
_now_ eat these rich, yet digestible Crisco dishes.
You, or any other normally healthy individual, whose digestion does
not relish greasy foods, can eat rich pie crust. The richness is
there, but not the unpleasant after effects. Crisco digests _readily_.
The Importance of Giving Children Crisco Foods
[Illustration]
A good digestion will mean much to the youngster's health and
character. A man seldom seems to be stronger than his stomach, for
indigestion handicaps him in his accomplishment of big things.
As more attention is given to _present_ feeding, less attention need
be given to _future_ doctoring. Equip your children with good stomachs
by giving them wholesome Crisco foods--foods which digest with ease.
They may eat the rich things they enjoy and find them just as
digestible as many apparently simple foods, if Crisco be used
properly.
They may eat Crisco doughnuts or pie without being chased by
nightmares. Sweet dreams follow the Crisco supper.
[Illustration]
The Great Variety of Crisco Foods
There are thousands of Crisco dishes. It is impossible to know the
exact number, because Crisco is used for practically every cooking
purpose. Women daily tell us of new uses they have found for Crisco.
Many women _begin_ by using Crisco in simple ways, for frying, for
baking, in place of lard. Soon, however, they learn that Crisco _also_
takes the place of butter. "Butter richness without butter expense,"
say the thousands of Crisco users.
Tasty scalloped dishes, salad dressing, rich pastry, fine grained
cake, sauces and hundreds of other dishes, where butter formerly was
used, now are prepared with Crisco.
"A Woman Can Throw Out More with a Teaspoon Than a Man Can Bring Home
in a Wagon"
[Illustration]
Kitchen expense comes by the _spoonful_. Think of the countless
spoonfuls of expensive butter used daily, where economical Crisco
would accomplish the same results at one-third the cost.
It should be remembered that one-fifth less Crisco than butter may be
used, because Crisco is _richer_ than butter. The moisture, salt and
curd which butter contains to the extent of about 20 per cent are not
found in Crisco, which is _all_, (100 per cent) shortening.
Remember also that Crisco will average _a lower price per pound
throughout the year than the best pail lard_. And you can use less
Crisco than lard, which is a further saving. [Illustration: Hotel
Kitchen]
[Illustration: Domestic Scientists Use Crisco]
Brief, Interesting Facts
Crisco is being used in an increasing number of the better class
hotels, clubs, restaurants, dining cars, ocean liners.
Crisco has been demonstrated and explained upon the Chautauqua
platform by Domestic Science experts, these lectures being a part of
the regular course.
Domestic Science teachers recommend Crisco to their pupils and use it
in their classes and lecture demonstrations. Many High Schools having
Domestic Science departments use Crisco.
Crisco has taken the place of butter and lard in a number of
hospitals, where purity and digestibility are of _vital_ importance.
[Illustration: Hospital Dietetic Class]
Crisco is Kosher. Rabbi Margolies of New York, said that the Hebrew
Race had been waiting 4,000 years for Crisco. It conforms to the
strict Dietary Laws of the Jews. It is what is known in the Hebrew
language as a "parava," or neutral fat. Crisco can be used with
both "milchig" and "fleichig" (milk and flesh) foods. Special Kosher
packages, bearing the seals of Rabbi Margolies of New York, and Rabbi
Lifsitz of Cincinnati, are sold the Jewish trade. But all Crisco is
Kosher and all of the same purity.
[Illustration: The Kosher Seal]
Campers find Crisco helpful in many ways. Hot climates have little
effect upon its wholesomeness.
It is convenient; a handy package to pack and does not melt so quickly
in transit. One can of Crisco can be used to fry fish, eggs, potatoes
and to make hot biscuit, merely by straining out the food particles
after each frying and pouring the Crisco back into the can to harden
to proper consistency before the biscuit making.
[Illustration]
Practically every grocer who has a good trade in Crisco, uses it in
his own home.
Crisco is sold by net weight. You pay _only_ for the Crisco--not the
can. Find the net weight of what you have been using.
Bread and cake keep fresh and moist much longer when Crisco is used.
[Illustration]
Women have written that they use empty Crisco tins for canning
vegetables and fruits, and as receptacles for kitchen and pantry use.
Crisco's Manufacture Scientifically Explained
To understand something of the Crisco Process, it is necessary first
to know that there are three main constituents in all the best edible
oils.
Linoline, Oleine, Stearine.
The chemical difference between these three components is solely
in the percentage of hydrogen contained, and it is possible by the
addition of hydrogen, to transform one component into another.
Though seemingly so much alike, there is a marked difference in the
physical properties of these components.
Linoline which has the lowest percentage of hydrogen, is unstable and
tends to turn rancid.
Oleine is stable, has no tendency to turn rancid and is easily
digested.
Stearine is both hard and indigestible.
The Crisco process adds enough hydrogen to change almost all the
linoline into nourishing digestible oleine.
Mark well the difference in manufacture between Crisco and lard
compounds. In producing a lard compound, to the linoline, oleine and
stearine of the original oil is added more stearine (usually animal),
the hard indigestible fat, in order to bring up the hardness of the
oil. The resultant compound is indigestible and very liable to become
rancid.
* * * * *
The following pages contain 615 recipes which have been tested by
Domestic Science Authorities in the Cooking Departments of different
colleges and other educational institutions, and by housewives in
their own kitchens. Many have been originated by Marion Harris Neil
and _all_ have been tested by her.
We have undertaken to submit a comprehensive list of recipes for your
use, which will enable you to serve menus of wide variety.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading this little volume and that you
will derive both help and satisfaction from the recipes.
We will go to any length to help you in the cause of Better Food. We
realize that women must study this product as they would any other
altogether new article of cookery, and that the study and care used
will be amply repaid by the palatability and healthfulness of all
foods. A can of Crisco is no Aladdin's Lamp, which merely need be
touched by a kitchen spoon to produce magical dishes. But _any_ woman
is able to achieve excellent results by mixing thought with Crisco.
Let us know how you progress.
Yours respectfully,
[Illustration: The Procter & Gamble Co.]
_Things to Remember in Connection with These Recipes_
No need for Crisco to occupy valuable space in the refrigerator.
In fact, except in most unusual summer heat, it will be of a better
consistency outside the refrigerator. Crisco keeps sweet indefinitely,
summer and winter, at ordinary room temperature.
[Illustration: Use level measurements]
In making sauces, thoroughly blend the flour and Crisco before adding
the milk.
In using melted Crisco in boiled dressing, croquettes, rolls,
fritters, etc., be sure that the melted Crisco is cooled sufficiently
so that the hot fat will not injure the texture of the foods.
When using in place of butter, add salt in the proportion of one level
teaspoonful to one cup of Crisco.
Remember that Crisco, like butter, is susceptible to cold. It readily
becomes hard. In creaming Crisco in winter use the same care as when
creaming butter. Rinse pan in boiling water and have the Crisco of
the proper creaming stiffness before using. Unlike butter, however,
Crisco's purity is not affected by weather. It remains sweet and pure
indefinitely without refrigeration.
[Illustration]
In deep frying, do not wait for Crisco to smoke. (See page 35.)
_Remember That_--
_When pie crust is tough:_ It is possible you have not used Crisco
properly. Perhaps the measurements were not correct. Perhaps the water
was too warm, or the dough was handled too much. Shortening cannot
make pastry tough.
_When fried foods absorb:_ It is because Crisco is not hot enough, or
because you have not used enough Crisco. Use plenty and the raw foods,
if added in small quantities, will not reduce the heat of the fat. The
absorption in deep Crisco frying should be less than that of another
fat.
_When cake is not a success:_ It is not the fault of the Crisco.
Either too much was used, the oven heat not perfectly controlled or
some important ingredient was used in the wrong proportion. Crisco
should be creamed with the sugar more thoroughly than butter, as
Crisco contains no moisture to dissolve the sugar.
_When cake or other food is not flavory:_ Salt should have been added
to the Crisco, for Crisco contains no salt.
_When there is smoke in the kitchen:_ Crisco has been burned or heated
too high for frying. Or some may have been on the _outside_ of the pan
or kettle.
_When Crisco is too hard:_ Like butter, it is susceptible to heat and
cold. Simply put in a warmer place.
_Hints to Young Cooks_
_Also, How to Choose Foods, Methods of Cooking, Cooking Time Table,
The Art of Carving_, by MARION HARRIS NEIL.
Before commencing to cook, look up the required recipe, read and think
it out. Note down on a slip of paper the materials and quantities
required. Collect all utensils and materials required before
commencing. Success in cookery depends on careful attention to every
detail from start to finish. Quantities, both liquid and dry, should
be exact. Small scales and weights should form part of the kitchen
equipment where possible, and the measuring cups cost so little that
no one need be without them.
Throughout this book the measurements are level
[Illustration]
_How to Choose Foods_
Money can be spent to infinitely better advantage in the store, than
by giving orders at the door, by phone or mail. Every housekeeper
knows how large a proportion of the housekeeping money is swallowed up
by the butcher's bill, so that with the meat item careful selection is
most necessary in order to keep the bills within bounds.
In choosing meat of any kind the eye, the nose and the touch really
are required, although it is not appetizing to see the purchaser use
more than the eye.
Beef
In choosing meat it should be remembered that without being actually
unwholesome, it varies greatly in quality, and often an inferior joint
is to be preferred from a first class beast to a more popular cut from
a second class animal. To be perfect the animal should be five or six
years old, the flesh of a close even grain, bright red in color and
well mixed with creamy white fat, the suet being firm and a clear
white. Heifer meat is smaller in the bone and lighter in color than
ox beef. Cow beef is much the same to look at as ox beef, though being
older it is both coarser in the grain and tougher; bull beef, which
is never seen however, in a first class butcher's may be recognized by
the coarseness and dark color of the flesh, and also by a strong and
almost rank smell.
Mutton
To be in perfection, mutton should be at least four, or better five
or six years old, but sheep of this age are rarely if ever, met with
now-a-days, when they are constantly killed under two years. To know
the age of mutton, examine the breast bones; if these are all of a
white gristly color the animal was four years old or over, while the
younger it is the pinkier are the bones, which, in a sheep of under a
year, are entirely red.
Good mutton should be of a clear dark red, the fat firm and white,
and not too much of it; when touched the meat should feel crisp yet
tender. If the fat is yellow and the lean flabby and damp, it is bad.
A freshly scraped wooden skewer run into the meat along the bone
will speedily enable anyone to detect staleness. For roasting mutton
scarcely can be hung too long, as long as it is not tainted; but for
boiling it must not be kept nearly so long or the meat will be of a
bad color when cooked.
Lamb
The freshness of lamb is comparatively easy to distinguish, as if
fresh the neck vein will be a bright blue, the knuckles stiff, and the
eyes bright and full.
Veal
Veal is at its best when the calf is from three to four months old.
The meat should be of a close firm grain, white in color and the fat
inclining to a pinkish tinge. Veal is sometimes coarser in the grain,
and redder in the flesh, not necessarily a mark of inferiority, but
denoting the fact that calf has been brought up in the open. Like all
young meat, veal turns very quickly, therefore it never should hang
more than two or three days. In choosing veal always examine the suet
under the kidney; if this be clammy and soft, with a faint odor, the
meat is not good, and always reject any that has greenish or yellowish
spots about it. The head should be clean skinned and firm, the eyes
full and clear, the kidneys large and well covered with fat, the liver
a rich dark clear color, free from any spots or gristle, while the
sweetbreads should be firm, plump, of a delicate color, and free from
strings.
Pork
The flesh of pork, when in good condition, is a delicate pinky white,
with a close fine grain; the fat, which should not be too abundant, of
a white color, very faintly tinged with pink; the skin should be thin
and elastic to the touch, and the flesh generally cool, clean, and
smooth looking; if, on the contrary, the flesh is flabby and clammy
when touched, it is not fresh.
Pork, like all white meat, is quick to taint, and never should be kept
long before cooking. If you have the slightest doubt about pork, it is
best to reject it, for unlike other meat which may be quite wholesome
and usable, though not of precisely prime quality, pork _must_ be
in really first class condition to be wholesome, and therefore it
is impossible to be too particular in the choice of it. Always if
possible look at the tongue, for, as in beef, this is a very fair
criterion of the condition of the animal; a freshly scraped new
wooden skewer run into the meat along the bone is a good test of the
freshness of the pork, and be careful especially to examine the fat,
for if there be little kernels in it the pork is "measly," a very
common disease among pigs, and one particularly unwholesome to the
consumer.
Pigs for fresh pork should be of medium size, not over fat, and
under a year old. Pigs destined to become bacon are usually older and
larger. Sucking pigs should be small, and are best when about three
weeks old. A sucking pig should be cooked as soon as possible after
it is killed, as it taints very quickly; unless fresh, no care in the
cooking will make the crackling crisp, as it should be.
Ham--Bacon
Good bacon has the lean of a bright pink and fine in the grain, while
the fat is white and firm. If the lean is high colored, it probably
has been over salted and is old besides, and in consequence will
be hard and salty; while if there be yellow marks in the fat, and
a curious, rather musty smell, it will have an unpleasant taste. In
choosing a ham always run a clean knife or skewer in at the knuckle,
and also at the center; if it comes out clean and smelling sweet,
the ham is good; but if out of order the blade of the knife will be
smeared and greasy looking, and have a disagreeable, strong odor.
Venison
The condition of venison is judged chiefly by the fat, which should be
a clear creamy white color, and close in texture. Always try venison
by running a sharp knife along the haunch bone, which is usually the
first to turn; if, in taking it out, the knife has a blackish-green
look and an unpleasant odor, the meat is tainted, and unfit for use.
Venison requires to be kept a considerable time before it is in proper
condition, and needs great care in its management. It must be examined
carefully every day, and if there is the slightest doubt, it should
be washed in lukewarm milk and water, then dried in clean cloths, and
when perfectly dry, should be covered thickly all over with ground
ginger and pepper; when required for use, dust off the pepper and
ginger, and wash the meat in a little lukewarm water, and dry it
thoroughly. Venison, like mutton, improves with age, and this can be
judged by the condition of the hoof, which in a young animal has a
small, smooth cleft, while in an old one it is deeply cut and rugged.
The haunch is the prime joint, its perfection depending on the greater
or less depth of the fat on it. The neck and shoulder also are very
good. They are used chiefly for stews or pies.
Hares and Rabbits
A hare when fresh killed is stiff and red; when stale, the body is
supple and the flesh in many parts black. If the hare be old the
ears will be tough and dry, and will not tear readily. Rabbits may
be judged in the same manner. In both, the claws should be smooth and
sharp. In a young hare the cleft in the lip is narrow, and the claws
are cracked readily if turned sideways.
Poultry
Poultry to be perfect, should have just reached their full growth (the
only exceptions to this are "spring chickens," ducklings, goslings,
etc., which are considered delicacies at certain seasons); they should
be plump, firm fleshed, and not over fatted. Over-fed fowls are often
a mass of greasy fat, which melts in the cooking and spoils the flavor
of the bird. A hen is at her best just before she begins to lay; her
legs should be smooth, her comb small, bright, and soft. A young cock
has the comb full, bright colored, and smooth, the legs smooth, the
spurs short, and in both the toes should break easily when turned
back, and the weight of the birds should be great in proportion to
their size. Contrary to the practice with game, poultry never should
be kept long, as they turn easily, and are spoilt if the least high.
They also require longer cooking, in proportion to their size, than
game, and never should be underdone. Dark-legged fowls are best for
roasting, as their flesh is moister and better flavored cooked in this
way than the white-legged ones, which from their greater daintiness of
appearance are to be preferred for boiling.
_Turkeys_ should be plump, white-fleshed, young, the legs plump and
firm, black and smooth, with (in the cock) short spurs, the feet soft
and supple; the eyes should be full and clear, the neck long, and
the wattles of a bright color. A hen turkey is best for boiling.
Like fowls, an old turkey is fit for nothing but the stewpan or the
stockpot. Turkeys require hanging for at least a week, though they
must never be "high" or "gamey."
_Geese_ always should be chosen young, plump, and full breasted, a
white skin, a yellow smooth bill, the feet yellow and pliable. If the
feet and bill are red and hard, and the skin hairy and coarse, the
bird is old. Geese should be hung for a few days. Ducks, like geese,
should have yellow, supple feet; the breasts full and hard, and the
skin clear. Wild ducks should be fat, the feet small, reddish, and
pliable, the breast firm and heavy. If not fresh, there will be a
disagreeable smell when the bill is open. The male is generally the
more expensive, though the female is usually more delicate in flavor.
_Pigeons_ always should be young and extremely fresh, and when so,
they are plump and fat, with pliable smooth feet.
NOTE--In selecting game pluck a few feathers from the under part of
the leg; if the skin is not discolored the bird is fresh. The age may
be known by placing the thumb into the beak, and holding the bird up
with the jaw apart; if it breaks it is young; if not, it is old, and
requires longer keeping before cooking to be eatable.
_Guinea-fowl_ are judged like poultry, but require hanging for some
time.
Fish
Fish in good condition usually is firm and elastic to the touch, eyes
bright and prominent, gills fresh and rosy. If the fish is flabby,
with sunken eyes, it either is stale or out of condition.
_Salmon_ should have a small head and tail, full thick shoulders,
clean silvery scales, and its flesh of a rich yellowish pink. When
quite fresh there is a creamy curd between the flakes, which are stiff
and hard; but if kept this melts, softening the flesh and rendering it
richer, but at the same time less digestible.
_Trout_, in spite of the difference in size, may be judged by the
same rule as salmon. However, it will not bear keeping, deteriorating
rapidly.
_Cod_, unlike salmon, should have a large head and thick shoulders;
the flesh being white and clear, and separating easily into large
flakes, the skin clean and silvery. Most people consider cod improves
by being kept for a day or two and very slightly salted.
_Herrings_ must be absolutely fresh to be good, and when in this state
their scales shine like silver. If kept over long their eyes become
suffused with blood.
_Mackerel_ also must be quite fresh. They never should be bought
if either out of condition or season. If fresh they are peculiarly
beautiful fish, their backs of an iridescent blue green barred with
black, and their bellies of a pearly whiteness.
_Smelts_ should be stiff and silvery, with a delicate perfume faintly
suggestive of cucumber.
_Halibut_ is a wholesome fish. It should be middling size, thick and
of a white color.
_Lobsters, Crabs, Prawns, and Shrimps_ are stiff, and with the tails
tightly pressed against the body. With the former, weight is a great
guide, as the heavier they are the better; but if there be the least
sign of wateriness, they should be rejected at once.
Vegetables
Green vegetables always are at their best when cheapest and most
plentiful. Out of season they never have the same flavor, however well
they may be grown. Excepting artichokes, all summer vegetables,
as lettuce, peas, beans, and asparagus should be cooked as soon as
possible after gathering. The freshness of most vegetables may be
ascertained easily by taking a leaf or a pod between the fingers. If
fresh this will snap off short and crisp, while if stale it will be
limp and soft. It is an economy to buy winter vegetables, such as
carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, celery, and potatoes in large
quantities, if you have storage room, as if buried in sand and kept
from the frost they may be kept a considerable time. Onions should
be kept hung up in a cool, dry place. If allowed to sprout the flavor
becomes rank and coarse.
Eggs
A mode of ascertaining the freshness of eggs is to hold them before a
lighted candle or to the light, and if the egg looks clear, it will
be tolerably good; if thick, it is stale; and if there is a black
spot attached to the shell, it is worthless. No egg should be used for
culinary purposes with the slightest taint in it, as it will render
perfectly useless those with which it has been mixed. Eggs may be
preserved, however, for a considerable time without any further
special precaution than that of keeping them in a cool place. A very
effective method of preserving eggs for winter use is to rub a little
melted Crisco over each to close the pores, and then to pack the eggs
in bran, salt or sawdust, not allowing them to touch each other.
[Illustration]
_Methods of Cooking_
There are seven chief methods of cooking meat--roasting, boiling,
baking, stewing, frying, broiling and poaching.
The first three are most suitable for joints weighing four pounds
or more, but not satisfactory for smaller pieces which are liable to
become hard and flavorless by the drying up or loss of their juices.
Of the other three methods, stewing may be applied to fairly large and
solid pieces, but it is better for smaller thin ones, while frying and
broiling can be used only for steaks, chops, and similar cuts.
Braising and steaming are combinations and modifications of these
methods.
Roasting
Roasting is one of the oldest methods of cooking on record, and still
remains the favorite form of cooking joints of meat or birds. The
success of every method of cooking depends largely upon the correct
management of the fire. In roasting, this is particularly the case,
as a clear, brisk and yet steady fire is needed. To roast a joint it
should be placed before great heat for the first ten minutes and then
allowed to cook more slowly. The great heat hardens the outside of the
meat and keeps in the juices. If allowed to cook quickly all the time
the meat is likely to be tough. The fire should be bright and clear.
The joint should be basted about every ten minutes, as this helps to
cook it, keeps it juicy and improves the flavor. The time allowed
is fifteen minutes for every pound, twenty minutes over for beef and
mutton; for veal and pork twenty minutes for every pound and thirty
minutes over.
Oven Roasting
Roasting in the oven of ordinary coal stoves or ranges is not
considered so good as roasting before an open fire; nevertheless it
may be said safely that the greatest part of meat roasting is done in
close ovens. It appears, from various experiments that meat roasted or
baked in a close oven loses rather less of its weight than if roasted
by an open fire.
The excellence of a roast depends to a great extent upon the amount of
basting it receives.
Some cooks season a joint before it is cooked, while others season it
with salt and pepper just before it is served. There is a difference
of opinion as to which is the more correct way of the two. Meat of
newly killed animals requires longer cooking than meat which has been
hung for a time.
In warm weather joints require slightly less time for roasting than in
cold.
Boned and rolled or stuffed meats require longer cooking than the same
joints would if neither rolled nor stuffed. The meat of young animals
and that of old ones requires different treatment. As a rule young
flesh, containing less fibrine, requires longer cooking. White meat,
such as pork, veal and lamb, always should be well cooked and never
must be served rare. The exact time and process of roasting must
be left to the good management of the cook, who must be guided by
circumstances and conditions. The cook's business is to serve the
joint as full of nourishing qualities as possible. Though roasting is
considered one of the easiest and most simple processes of cookery, it
really requires quite as much attention to obtain perfect results as
is necessary to prepare so-called "made" dishes, the recognized test
for good cooks.
Boiling
Boiling (of fresh meat).--This is cookery by immersion in boiling
liquid, which after a few minutes is reduced to simmering. The object
of the high temperature at first is to harden the surface albumen and
so seal the pores and prevent the escape of the juices. If continued
too long, this degree of heat would tend to toughen the joint
throughout; after the first few minutes, therefore, the heat must be
reduced to about 180° F. The pan used for boiling meat should be only
just large enough to hold the joint, and the quantity of liquid no
more than is required to cover it. For the boiling of salt meat the
general rule of first hardening the surface is not to be followed. The
salting of meat withdraws a large proportion of its juices, while at
the same time the salt hardens the fibres, and this hardness would
be intensified by extreme heat. Very salt meat sometimes is soaked in
cold water to extract some of the salt, but whether this is done or
not, the rule for boiling salt meat is to immerse it in cold or tepid
water and bring slowly to boiling point; boil for five minutes to seal
the pores and prevent any further loss of juice, then reduce to 180°
F., and maintain a uniform temperature till the meat is cooked. Salt
meat takes longer to cook than fresh meat, and the saltness may be
qualified by boiling vegetables with the meat, turnips especially
being useful for this purpose.
Baking
The actual differences between roasting and baking are not great, the
terms being frequently interchanged. Meat loses rather less weight
when baked than when roasted, but the flavor of meat is inferior
and less developed. The heat of an oven being steadier, baking takes
somewhat less time than roasting. In a gas oven having an open
floor the current of air is not impeded, and such baking very nearly
approaches roasting, and the flavor generally is acknowledged to be
the same.
Stewing
Stewing is cooking slowly with a small quantity of liquid in a covered
vessel. The method is specially suitable for the coarser and cheaper
parts of meat, which are rendered tender without loss of their juices.
The usual plan is to make a gravy flavored and colored to suit the
stew, and after the ingredients are well blended and cooked to lay
the meat in the boiling liquid. After about two minutes boiling,
the temperature is reduced to simmering, about 160° F., a lower
temperature than that required for a large joint of "boiled" meat. The
time depends greatly on the quality of the meat, but none will stew
satisfactorily in less than from one and a half to two hours, and the
longer allowance is to be preferred.
Broiling
Broiling, sometimes called grilling, is cooking by the direct action
of fire brought almost into contact with the meat. The outer surface
is burned or seared, the albumen hardened and the juices, which have
a tendency to escape on the side turned from the heat, are retained
in the meat by frequent turning. The fire for broiling must be very
clear, intensely hot and high in the grate. The utensil required for
broiling is a gridiron, the bars of which are greased and heated to
prevent sticking and subsequent tearing of the meat. The gridiron is
laid quite close over the heat, so that the lower surface is dried and
hardened at once.
The meat must be turned at very short intervals before the juices have
been driven from the heat to the opposite surface. If once allowed to
reach the surface, they will be thrown off in turning and lost, the
meat being correspondingly impoverished. By constant turning the
juices are kept moving backwards and forwards, and the meat remains
moist and full of flavor. Each side should be exposed to the fire
about three times, and it is not desirable to use meat less than one
inch or more than one and a half to two inches thick for the purpose.
The thinner pieces should have even greater heat applied than the
thick ones, as the longer thin ones are exposed to the fire the
more dry and tasteless they become, while the thicker pieces may be
slightly withdrawn after thoroughly hardening the surface and cooked
rather more slowly that the heat may penetrate to the center. The
frequent turning must be continued, or the juices will reach the
hardened outer fibres, soften them, and escape.
If a double broiler is used the turning is managed easily, but with a
single gridiron care must be taken not to puncture the meat by using
a fork. Steak tongs are made for the purpose of lifting and turning
broiled meat, but a spoon or a spoon and knife will answer. A single
rim of fat on the chop or steak will tend to keep the edge moist and
baste the meat, but too much will cause flame to rise in continuous
jet, making the surface smoky. If there is absolutely no fat on
the piece to be broiled, morsels of finely chopped suet may be
occasionally thrown into the fire, so the sudden spurt of flame from
this source leaves a deposit of fat on the meat which improves the
flavor, and, without softening the albumen, prevents its becoming
uneatably hard and dry.
Frying
Frying may be looked on as a derivative of broiling, and passes by
easy stages, from broiling on a slightly greased metal plate, or
_sautéing_ in a shallow pan in a small quantity of Crisco, to cooking
by actual immersion into a bath of hot fat. In a house where small
and delicately made dishes are in demand, and where variety in the
re-dressing of cold meats has to be studied, this frying in deep fat
is one of the cook's most needed accomplishments. Though exceedingly
easy to do well, it is also exceedingly easy to do badly.
Deep fat frying, which means submerging the food in the fat, is far
superior to shallow or saute frying, and can be done most economically
with Crisco. Little is absorbed by the foods, and the Crisco does
not take up the odor or flavor of the food which is fried in it. This
characteristic makes it possible to use Crisco for frying one article
of food after another.
Use _plenty_ of Crisco for frying. The temperature of the hot Crisco
then will be but little lowered when the food is added. There is
little absorption and what is left may be used for _all_ frying,
merely by straining out food particles after each frying.
Sufficient Crisco should be put into the pan to fill it about
two-thirds full. From two to three pounds for a pan eight inches
in diameter will not be too much. Into this pan or kettle a wire
"frying-basket" should fit quite loosely, the basket measuring quite
an inch less across the top than the pan.
Let Crisco get hot gradually in the pan. Do not put into an already
hot container. No fat should be treated in this manner.
Do Not Wait for Crisco to Smoke
Heat Crisco until a crumb of bread becomes a golden brown in
60 seconds for raw dough mixtures, as crullers, fritters, etc.
40 seconds for cooked mixtures, as croquettes, codfish balls, etc.
20 seconds for French fried potatoes.
Seconds may be counted thus: one hundred and one, one hundred and two,
etc.
The fat may be tested also by dropping into it a little piece of the
article to be cooked. When it rises to the top, bubbles vigorously and
browns quickly, the fat is hot enough.
When prepared, the foods must be placed in the basket, not too many
at a time or too close together, and then lowered gently into the fat.
They generally will sink to the bottom for a minute or two, and only
float when they have begun to brown. When a bright golden brown, take
up the basket and let the fried things drain in it, over the hot fat,
for a few seconds. Then take them out gently one by one, and lay them
on a sheet of brown or kitchen paper.
The draining over the pan is one of the principal things to attend
to; if this be neglected, the fat will cling about the fried things,
making them both look and taste greasy, whereas if properly drained
in the basket to begin with, they will afterwards scarcely mark the
paper. When, as is sometimes the case, no frying basket is used, each
thing fried should be drained between a spoon and the edge of the pan.
To Clarify
It is economy to use three pounds in the kettle, clarifying the fat
when it is put away. To clarify Crisco, take that which has been used
for deep frying and when it has cooled, but not solidified, strain
through a double thickness of cheese cloth, replace kettle on stove,
drop several slices of potato into the Crisco and reheat. When the
potatoes are golden brown, take out and pour the Crisco back into the
tin. With this little care, fish, oysters, onions, chops, fritters,
doughnuts, etc., may be fried over and over again in the same Crisco.
[Illustration]
The dry or saute method of frying is less satisfactory, in that it
is difficult even after much practice to produce a uniformly colored
surface. A small quantity of fat only is needed, and where the fat,
i.e., the heat, ends, a crack is formed in the outer coat, through
which flavor escapes and fat enters; the appearance also is rendered
unsightly. Flat fish can be fried fairly well by this method, or,
indeed, almost any thin substance, as thin edges are not affected in
this way. For pancakes and other articles of similar nature it is the
best method. It rarely is possible to use the fat from the dry method
a second time, except for dishes of the same kind, as the fat always
is more or less flavored by the food cooked in it. The most digestible
fat for frying and the best for results undoubtedly is Crisco.
Steaming
Steaming is a process very similar to boiling, for it is cooking in
the heated vapor of water. This practice as a means of cookery is
largely adopted in hotels, clubs, schools and hospitals, and other
large institutions; also frequently applied in ordinary home cookery
for particular articles of food requiring a very slow process of
cooking. An ordinary kitchen steamer, with a close-fitting lid is
generally all that is required for simple household cookery on a small
scale. The articles of food which are to be steamed are prepared in
exactly the same manner as for boiling. Many puddings, some meats, and
some vegetables are considered better if cooked by steam, and inasmuch
as the process of cooking is a very slow one, there is no fear of
the food being destroyed by too fierce a heat, as the temperature in
steaming never reaches beyond 212° F. Fish, meat and poultry cooked by
steam are as a rule tender, full of gravy and digestible. By steaming,
watery vegetables are made drier; tough meats are softened and made
tender; while farinaceous mixtures and puddings develop a totally
different flavor when baked or fried.
Braising
Braising is a combination of roasting and stewing small joints of
meat in a shallow stewpan. It is a favorite method of cooking with
the French, and is supposed to bring out an unusually fine flavor and
aroma. The pan in which a braise is to be made always should be lined
with slices of bacon, carrot, onions and herbs, upon which the meat is
placed. It usually is moistened with stock or stock and wine. The
more delicate meats, such as sweetbreads, fillets, fowls and turkeys
sometimes are covered with buttered paper; this is done to prevent
the heat from the top of the pan scorching or imparting too much of a
roast flavor to the meats which are to be braised. Occasional basting
during the process of this method of cooking is essential. When done,
the meat is taken up, the fat removed from the vegetables and gravy,
which latter is then reduced, strained and blended with some kind of
gravy or thin sauce.
Poaching and Marinating
Poaching is the name usually given to the process of cooking an
article by placing it for a few minutes in boiling water. Marinating
or pickling is a process with a formidable name with a simple meaning.
To marinate simply is to soak meat in a mixture for some hours, or
even days, with the idea of improving its flavor of softening its
fibres and making it tender. Vinegar, oil, pepper and salt are mixed
together and the meat packed in the mixture; sometimes a sliced onion
and herbs are added. The meat, of course, should be wiped first, but
not washed.
Cooking in Earthenware
Stone or earthenware cooking appliances are used to very great
advantage for various forms of preparing food. For the homely
_pot-au-feu_ the French housewife has used fireproof earthenware
dishes for generations, and does so today. But besides soups, various
savory dishes, and all sorts of stews are cooked in stoneware pots.
Indeed, so much has this form of cookery come into fashion that many
dishes are sent to table in the pots in which they are cooked. Cooking
in stoneware has no equal where slow cooking is aimed at, and there
are many dishes which one would do well to refrain from attempting
unless cooked in this fashion. These cooking pots are inexpensive,
and certain foods taste decidedly better if cooked in this way. For
braising, pot roasting, or stewing fruit and other articles which need
to be cooked slowly under close cover, the application of a moderate,
even heat produces far better results than if quick heat is applied.
For such cases the use of earthenware cooking pots is recommended.
[Illustration]
_Time Table for Cooking_
Baking
Beef, loin or ribs, rare, per lb. 8 to 10 minutes
Beef, loin or ribs, well done, per lb. 12 to 16 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, rare 12 to 15 minutes
Beef, ribs, rolled, well done 15 to 18 minutes
Beef, fillet, rare 20 to 30 minutes
Beef, fillet, well done 60 minutes
Mutton, leg, rare, per lb. 10 minutes
Mutton, leg, well done, per lb. 14 minutes
Mutton, forequarter, stuffed, per lb. 15 to 25 minutes
Lamb, well done, per lb. 15 to 20 minutes
Veal, well done, per lb. 18 to 22 minutes
Pork, well done, per lb. 20 minutes
Venison, rare, per lb. 10 minutes
Chicken, per lb. 15 to 20 minutes
Turkey, nine lbs. 3 hours
Goose, nine lbs. 2-1/2 hours
Duck, domestic 1 to 1-1/4 hours
Duck, wild 20 to 30 minutes
Grouse 25 to 30 minutes
Ham 4 to 6 hours
Fish, 3 or 4 lbs. 45 to 60 minutes
Small fish and fillets 20 minutes
Beans with pork 6 to 8 hours
Bread, white loaf 45 to 60 minutes
Graham loaf 35 to 45 minutes
Baking powder biscuits 12 to 15 minutes
Gems 25 to 30 minutes
Quick doughs 8 to 15 minutes
Cookies 8 to 10 minutes
Gingerbread 20 to 30 minutes
Sponge cake 45 to 60 minutes
Cake, layer 20 to 30 minutes
Cake, loaf 40 to 60 minutes
Fruit cake 2 to 3 hours
Cake, wedding 3 to 5 hours
Cakes, small 15 to 25 minutes
Batter puddings 35 to 45 minutes
Pies 30 to 50 minutes
Tarts 15 to 20 minutes
Patties 15 to 25 minutes
Vol-au-vent 50 to 60 minutes
Muffins, yeast 30 minutes
Muffins, baking powder 20 to 25 minutes
Indian pudding 2 to 3 hours
Rice or tapioca pudding 1 hour
Bread puddings 45 to 60 minutes
Scallop dishes 15 to 20 minutes
Custard 35 to 45 minutes
Custard in cups 20 to 25 minutes
Boiling
MEATS 2 to 6 hours
Corned meat 4 to 6 hours
Ox tongue 3 to 4 hours
Ham, 12 to 14 lbs 4 to 5 hours
Turkey, 10 lbs 3 to 3-1/2 hours
Fowl, 4 to 5 lbs 2 to 3 hours
Chicken, 3 lbs 1 to 1-1/2 hours
Fish, 2 to 5 lbs 30 to 45 minutes
Lobster 25 to 30 minutes
Cod, 3 to 5 lbs 20 to 30 minutes
Haddock, 3 to 5 lbs 20 to 30 minutes
Halibut, thick piece, per lb 15 minutes
Salmon, thick piece, per lb 10 to 15 minutes
Asparagus 20 to 30 minutes
Beans, shell or string 1 to 3 hours
Beets, young 50 minutes
Beets, old 3 to 4 hours
Brussels Sprouts 15 to 20 minutes
Cabbage 35 to 60 minutes
Carrots 1 hour
Cauliflower 25 to 30 minutes
Corn 12 to 20 minutes
Macaroni 20 to 35 minutes
Turnips 30 to 45 minutes
Onions 45 to 60 minutes
Parsnips 30 to 45 minutes
Spinach 15 to 20 minutes
Tomatoes, stewed 15 to 20 minutes
Rice 20 to 30 minutes
Broiling
Steak, 1 inch thick 4 to 10 minutes
Steak, 1-1/2 inches thick 8 to 12 minutes
Lamb or mutton chops 6 to 10 minutes
Chicken 20 minutes
Quails 8 minutes
Squabs 10 to 12 minutes
Shad, whitefish and bluefish 15 to 20 minutes
Fish slices 12 to 15 minutes
Liver 4 to 5 minutes
Frying
Smelts and other small fish 3 to 5 minutes
Breaded chops 5 to 8 minutes
Potatoes, raw 4 to 8 minutes
Fish balls and croquettes 1 minute
Muffins, fritters, and doughnuts 3 to 5 minutes
Weights and Measures
27-1/3 grains 1 dram
16 drams 1 ounce
16 ounces 1 pound
1 teaspoonful 60 drops
3 teaspoonfuls 1 tablespoonful
4 tablespoonfuls 1 wineglass, 1/2 gill, or 1/4 cup
16 tablespoonfuls 1 cup
2 gills 1 cup
2 cups 1 pint
2 pints 1 quart
4 quarts 1 gallon
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 ounce
2 tablespoonfuls salt 1 ounce
2 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 ounce
4 tablespoonfuls flour 1 ounce
1 tablespoonful liquid 1/2 ounce
1 square chocolate 1 ounce
1/3 cupful chopped nut meats (blanched) 1 ounce
1 cupful currants 1/4 pound
1 cupful crumbs 1/4 pound
4-1/3 cupfuls coffee 1 pound
3-1/2 cupfuls confectioners' sugar 1 pound
4-1/2 cupfuls graham flour 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls oatmeal 1 pound
5 cupfuls rolled oats 1 pound
4-1/3 cupfuls rye meal 1 pound
1-7/8 cupfuls rice 1 pound
2-1/3 cupfuls dry beans 1 pound
2 cupfuls granulated sugar 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls brown sugar 1 pound
2-2/3 cupfuls powdered sugar 1 pound
1 cupful (volume) 8 ounces
1 cupful water 8-1/3 ounces
1 pint butter 1 pound
1 quart-flour 1 pound
10 small or 9 medium eggs 1 pound
All materials are measured level, i.e., by filling spoon or cup more
than full and leveling with a case knife.
To measure meal, flour, sugar and similar ingredients, sift lightly
into the measure, then level.
Standard measuring cups made of tin, aluminum or glass holding half
a pint always should be used. Coffee and teacups vary so much that
correct proportions can not be obtained by using them.
To measure a spoonful of dry material, fill the spoon heaping, then
level. To measure a half-spoonful, fill and level the spoon, then
divide in half lengthways; for quarter-spoonfuls, divide the halves
crossways.
_Use level measurements in all recipes in this book._
_The Art of Carving_
Carving is an art, and one which anybody, with a knowledge of a few
general directions, can acquire easily.
A proper set of carving tools is almost indispensable, and should
comprise: a good thin, sharp-bladed knife, a solid two or three
pronged fork, and a pair of carving scissors. Anything that needs to
be carved at table should be placed on a dish sufficiently large
to allow the joint to be turned without moving the dish from its
position. The dish should be placed close in front of the carver.
Such joints as beef, veal and ham should be cut very thin; while lamb,
mutton, and pork should be cut a trifle thicker.
_To carve a fowl_, begin by sticking the fork into the pinion and draw
it towards the leg; and then, passing the knife underneath, take off
the wing at the joint. Next slip the knife between leg and body, to
cut through the joint; and with the fork turn leg back, and joint will
give way. Then take off other wing and leg. After legs are taken off,
enter knife into the top of breast, and cut under merrythought or
wishbone so as to loosen it, lifting it with the fork. Afterwards cut
slices from both sides of breast. Next, take off collarbones, which
lie on each side of wishbone and then separate side bones from the
back. The breast and wings are considered the most delicate parts; the
back as the least desirable, generally is left on platter.
_A turkey_ is carved in same manner, except that the legs and wings,
being larger, are separated at lower joint. Lower part of leg (or
drumstick) being hard, tough, and stringy, usually is allowed to
remain on platter. First cut off wing, leg, and breast from one side;
then turn turkey round and cut them off from the other.
_To carve a goose_, separate leg from body by putting fork into small
end of leg, pressing it close to body, and then passing knife under,
and turning leg back as you cut through joint. To take off wing, put
fork into the small end of wing, and press it closely to body, then
slip knife under and separate the joint. Next, cut under wishbone and
take it off, and cut slices from breast. Then turn and dismember the
other side. Take off upper side bones next to wings, then two lower
side bones. The breast and legs of a goose are considered the most
choice. If a goose is old, there is no fowl so tough.
_Quails_ merely are split down the back, as also are pigeons, giving a
half to each person.
_To carve loin of mutton,_ a portion is cut through, beginning at the
best end. If kidney be in it, a slice should be served as far as it
will go to each portion. Care must be taken that the bone is well
jointed. The butcher chops the loin between each vertebra. When big
mutton is carved it gives a large chop, oftentimes more than the
amount desired, but a chop cannot be divided without waste, or one
portion being all the inferior end. It is therefore a good plan to
joint a loin of mutton with a small meat saw, cutting any thickness
desired. In this case the actual bone will often have to be sawn
through. The result will be more economical, and the servings more
agreeable. The loin also can be boned entirely, stuffed or not, as
preferred, the flap end folded and fastened over the fillet portion.
Then the meat can be carved across any thickness.
_To carve leg of mutton,_ stand joint the inner part of the leg
uppermost and cut across center to bone, towards carver, then cut
rather thick slices on either side. To serve the meat equally, unless
any special part is desired, a portion of the knuckle is served with
a slice of the thick end. The prime fat is the kernel of fat at the
thick end.
_To carve forequarter of mutton or lamb._ The forequarter of mutton
usually is not served whole unless the mutton be very small. The
forequarter of lamb frequently is served whole. Before cooking it
must be jointed through the chine of bone at the back, to enable this
portion being served in chops, twice across the breastbones the entire
length, and at short intervals at the edge of the breast. Before
serving it is usual to separate the shoulder by pressing the fork
in by the knuckle, then passing knife round shoulder, crossing about
center of joint, raising shoulder without cutting too much meat off
breast. Leave shoulder in position on joint; a second dish is sent to
table on which to lay it while the other part is being carved.
_To carve rabbit or hare._ In either case first separate legs and
shoulders; then cut the back part across, into two parts. This is
accomplished best by inserting the knife into joint, and raising up
the back by means of the fork. The back or fillet part is considered
the best portion of a hare or rabbit.
_To carve sirloin of beef,_ a sirloin should be cut into thin slices
with a sharp, firm cut from end to end of the joint. At the upper
portion the cut should be clean and even; then use point of knife to
loosen slices from bones. In carving undercut, remove superfluous fat,
and cut slices from end to end in same manner as upper portion. Be
careful always to cut down straight to the bone of a sirloin or rib
of beef; by so doing you will not spoil appearance of joint, and what
remains will look tidy.
_To carve ham._ Ham should be cut through to the bone first from
center or near thin end. Slices must be cut thin. Always commence
cutting from upper side. The fairest way by far, so as to serve fat
and lean evenly, is to begin cutting from center of thickest part, and
to cut thin circular slices; by this means the flavor of the ham
is far better, and it will prove to be the more economical way of
serving.
_To carve ox-tongue._ Commence cutting from middle of tongue; cut
slices not too thin and take them from each side being careful not to
cut slices through to bottom part of tongue. Extreme end of the tip
and the lower part of tongue generally are used up for chopping in
salpicons, etc. A little of the fat should be put on each plate. When
rolled tongue is served it must be cut horizontally into rather thin
slices.
_To carve fish._ A silver sheer or trowel should be used for this
purpose; a steel knife applied to fish often spoils the delicacy of
its flavor. Great care must be taken to prevent breaking the flakes,
which ought to be kept as entire as possible. Short-grained fish, such
as salmon, etc., should be cut lengthwise, not crosswise.
[Illustration]
Six Hundred and Fifteen Tested Recipes
"Calendar of Dinners"
[Illustration: Crisco]
by Marion Harris Neil
SOUPS
An economical housewife may supply good gravy and thick soups at
very little, if any, addition to the weekly expenses, as soups are
an excellent method of using up scraps and bones from joints and
vegetables that otherwise are wasted. Soup, if taken as the primary
course of a substantial dinner, if well flavored and warm, acts as a
stimulant in the stomach, exciting the gastric glands, and generally
enabling that organ to perform its functions more easily. For this
object the soup should be thin and not too much of it partaken,
otherwise it dilutes the digestive juices too much. If it is to
form the chief part of the meal, the soup will be more nutritious if
thickened, especially so, if pulse--i.e. peas, beans, and lentils--is
used as the thickening medium.
Stock is the liquid in which meat, bones, or vegetables have been
cooked, and which contains an extract from these substances. It is
used for soups, sauces, and gravies. Fresh or cooked bones or meat may
be used. A stock pot may be kept on the stove, into which are put any
scraps of meat, bones, gristle, or vegetable; at the end of the day it
is strained, and all fat taken off. Bones and meat for stock must be
broken into small pieces. Cold water should be used, and a little
salt to extract the nutriment. The whole must be brought slowly to the
boiling point; then, the temperature lowered, the fat and scum taken
off. When wanted for clear soups the vegetables should be cleaned,
but not cut up, or with the long cooking they may mash and thicken the
soup. In hot weather it is better to leave out the vegetables, as
the stock turns sour more quickly if vegetables have been used in its
preparation. They can be cooked separately and added when using the
stock.
[Illustration]
The soup should simmer for five or six hours to extract the gelatinous
matters. If the stock is skimmed occasionally it will be much clearer.
Keep the lid on the stock pot to prevent loss by evaporation. The
bones can be cooked again next day for a second stock, but the
vegetables must be taken out. Care must be taken that nothing doubtful
in freshness be put into the stock pot. Meat and bones should be well
wiped with a damp cloth before using them. If onions be put in the
soup unpeeled, simply washed and the root end cut off, they will help
to color the soup. When using eggs for other dishes, if the shells be
washed before breaking them and added to the stock pot they will help
to clear the soup. For clear soups care must be taken that nothing
of a floury nature be added to the stock pot. Stock always should
be strained before cooling. Never allow it to stand in stock pot
all night. Clear gravy soup consists of the extractives, flavoring
matters, and gelatine of meat and bones.
Consommé is a good stock made from beef, veal, and often fowl, and
flavored with vegetables, cooled, freed from fat. It is clarified with
whites and shells of eggs, and chopped raw lean beef, and strained
through a cloth. It should be brilliantly clear and of a pale brown
color. Any fat floating on the stock may be removed by passing a piece
of kitchen or blotting paper over the surface. Soup left from a meal
will keep better if strained from the vegetables that have been served
in it. In hot weather, stock left over must be boiled each day,
and poured into a clean basin to prevent its turning sour. In warm
weather, soups with milk in their composition should have a pinch of
baking soda added.
Thickenings for soup consist usually of yolks of eggs and cream beaten
together in a basin, the boiling soup poured on slowly, stirring well
at the same time. Soups thus thickened should not be allowed to
boil again, otherwise they will curdle. Instead of eggs and cream,
cornstarch and milk may be used to thicken the soup.
Asparagus Soup
40 heads asparagus
3 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful cream
1 quart white stock
1 bunch herbs
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley
2 egg yolks
1 blade mace
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 onion
Take heads off asparagus, and put aside. Cut up stalks in slices, also
onion, put these into saucepan with Crisco, herbs, parsley, bay leaf,
and mace, and fry gently for fifteen minutes, add flour, then stock,
and simmer slowly for 1-1/2 hours. Rub through sieve, add cream, yolks
of eggs, and seasonings, reheat, but take care not to boil soup. Just
before serving throw in asparagus tops, which should be first cooked
in a little boiling stock.
Cheese Soup
4 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
3 quarts clear soup stock
1-1/2 cupfuls flour
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 cupfuls cream
2 eggs
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Finely grated cheese
Put flour into double boiler, add gradually cream, Crisco, 4
tablespoonfuls of grated cheese and paprika to taste, stir over fire
till a smooth paste. Break in eggs, mix well, cook two minutes longer
and allow to cool. Roll into balls, when they are all formed, drop
into boiling water and cook gently five minutes. Drain and put into
soup tureen. Pour over boiling stock and serve with dish of finely
grated cheese.
Cream of Tomato Soup
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1-1/2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful milk
2-1/2 cupfuls strained tomato juice
1 teaspoonful celery salt
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Pinch baking soda
1 tablespoonful tomato catsup
Blend Crisco and flour together in saucepan over fire, add milk and
bring to boiling point. Heat tomato juice, tomato catsup and add soda
and seasonings. Just before serving add Crisco mixture to tomato juice
and stir till boiling. Serve hot. Another method, is to cook 1 quart
can of tomatoes with 1 quart of water twenty minutes, then rub through
sieve. Blend 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco with 2 tablespoonfuls flour, add
1 tablespoonful sugar, salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste, and 1
tablespoonful tomato catsup. Add pinch of baking soda to tomatoes,
then add gradually to Crisco mixture. Just bring to boiling point and
serve with tablespoonful whipped cream on top of each plate.
Fish Soup
1 lb. cod, or other white fish
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart white stock, or half milk and half water
1 small carrot
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
3 parsley sprigs
1 blade mace
2 egg yolks
1/2 cupful cream
1 lemon
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
Dry toast
Wash and dry fish and cut into small pieces. Put into saucepan with
stock, vegetables cut in small pieces, parsley and mace. Let these
simmer for half hour, then strain off liquid. Melt Crisco in pan, stir
in flour, then add fish liquor and stir till it boils. Draw it to the
side of fire and let cool slightly. Beat yolks of eggs with cream,
and, when soup has cooled, strain them in. Reheat soup without boiling
it, to cook eggs. Season, and add few drops lemon juice and chopped
parsley. Serve with small pieces of dry toast.
Lentil Soup
1 cupful lentils
2 cupfuls milk
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 pints stock or water
1 onion
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoonful flour
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cupful cream
Croutons
Wash lentils; soak twenty-four hours; drain well. Cut onion, carrot
and celery into small pieces, then put them into a saucepan with
Crisco, cover, and cook gently for fifteen minutes. Add stock and
simmer 2 hours, then rub through sieve. Return to pan, add milk,
seasonings, and bring to boil. Moisten flour with 1/2 cupful milk or
stock, add it to soup and simmer five minutes. Season to taste and add
cream. Serve with croutons of fried or toasted bread.
Lentils are a small leguminous seed, not so generally known as beans,
but an excellent nitrogenous food, containing about 25 per cent.
protein, more than 50 per cent. starch, with over 2 per cent. fat.
They are not used as much as they ought to be.
Croutons are made by cutting bread into tiny cubes and browning
through and through in hot oven or putting into a frying pan with 2
tablespoonfuls Crisco and browning well. If latter is used great care
must be used as the croutons will brown easily.
Lobster Bisque
1 can lobster
1 cupful breadcrumbs
1 quart milk
1 quart water
1 tablespoonful flour
1/4 cupful Crisco
Salt, pepper, red pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste
Squares fried bread
Thin lemon slices
Open a can of lobster of good quality, take out best pieces and cut
into small squares without tearing; put them aside. Place remains of
lobster in mortar or basin, and pound quite smooth with Crisco. Soak
bread in water, adding flour, and seasonings, and put all on fire in
soup pot with pounded lobster and Crisco; stir till it boils, and boil
for fifteen minutes; then pass it through sieve, add milk and pieces
of lobster, and return to the pot till it boils up. Serve with small
squares of fried bread, and send thin slices of lemon to table with
it. This is an excellent soup, and can of course be made with fresh
lobster.
Norfolk Puree
1/2 cupful barley, pearl
1 quart water
3 pints white stock
1/2 cupful cream
1 yolk of egg
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
4 tablespoonfuls cooked carrot balls
4 tablespoonfuls cooked peas
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Diced toast or fried bread
Put barley into saucepan of cold water, bring to boil, let boil five
minutes, then drain off water; this removes the slightly bitter taste.
Now put barley into saucepan with Crisco and water, let these boil
gently until barley is tender, drain, and rub through sieve. Add stock
to this puree and let simmer ten minutes. Beat yolk of egg with cream
and when soup has cooled slightly, strain them in. Stir soup over fire
a few minutes to reheat; but be careful that it does not boil, or it
will curdle. Season carefully, add carrot balls and peas, which should
first be heated in a little stock or water. Serve with dice of toast
or fried bread. If you do not possess a round vegetable cutter, cut
the carrot into small dice. This is a particularly nourishing soup. If
you prefer a slightly cheaper variety, use milk instead of cream, and
if you have no white stock use milk and water in equal proportions
instead, and cook a carrot, turnip and onion in milk and water for
twenty or thirty minutes.
Soup Verte
4 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 quarts stock
1 bunch parsley
1 lb. spinach
1 bunch parsley
1 teaspoonful sugar
2 egg yolks
1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Put stock into saucepan; add spinach and parsley, picked and
thoroughly washed; let all boil twenty minutes; strain, rubbing puree
through sieve. Return it all to saucepan, add Crisco and flour mixed
together with cupful of water, sugar and strained juice of a quarter
of lemon. Let boil five minutes. Beat yolks of eggs with 1/4 cupful
water, add them gradually to soup off fire, and stir near fire until
cooked. Soup must not boil after yolks are added. Season with salt and
pepper and serve.
Thick Rice Soup
2 pints water or stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 small onions
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful rice
1 cupful canned tomatoes, or 4 fresh ones
Wash and drain rice. Heat Crisco in saucepan, add rice and stir
constantly until a golden brown. Now add water or stock, onions and
tomatoes cut in small pieces, and seasonings. Cook slowly for one
hour.
[Illustration]
FISH
Fish, though not quite so nutritious or so stimulating as butcher's
meat, is an excellent article of diet, as it is light and easy of
digestion and well suited to delicate persons and those following
sedentary occupations, who generally do not take exercise in the fresh
air. Fish contains a fair proportion of flesh forming and mineral
matter, and the white kinds very little fat, hence their value in a
sick diet. A few fishes are rich in fat, as salmon, mackerel, eels,
and herrings; they are more satisfying as a meal, but usually more
difficult to digest, except the latter, which is fairly easy to
digest, and, being inexpensive, forms an economical food.
The digestibility will vary also with the quality of the fish and the
methods of cooking. White fish when boiled is improved by being rubbed
over with a cut lemon, or by adding a little vinegar to the water in
which it is cooked to keep it white and firm. The fish should be
put into hot, not boiling water, otherwise the higher temperature
contracts the skin too quickly, and it breaks and looks unsightly.
Salt fish may be placed in cold water, then boiled to extract some of
the salt; if the fish has been salted and dried, it is better to soak
it in cold water for about twelve hours before cooking.
Fish to be fried should be cooked in sufficient hot Crisco to well
cover it, after having been dried and covered with batter, or with
beaten egg and breadcrumbs. To egg and breadcrumb fish put a slice
into seasoned flour, turning it so that both sides may be covered.
Shake off all loose flour. Brush fish over with beaten egg. Raise fish
out of egg with the brush and a knife, drain off egg for a second, and
lay fish in crumbs. Toss these all over it, lift out fish, shake off
all loose crumbs, lay the slice on a board, and press crumbs down, so
that surface is flat. The thicker the fish the more slowly it must be
fried after the first two minutes, or it will be raw inside when the
outside is done.
[Illustration]
_To bone fish._ The process of boning is known as filleting and is
generally done by the fish dealer, but when this is not the case the
single rule for boning must be strictly adhered to in order to keep
the knife on the bone lifting the flesh with the left hand while the
knife slips in between the bone and the flesh. Flat fish are divided
down the middle of each side well into the bone, and the boning is
begun at either side of the incision. Round fish are cut down the
back, the flesh is laid open from one side and the bone is removed
from the other. Occasionally round fish are boned readily, the
whole fish minus the bones being returned to its proper shape, as in
anchovies, sardines, herrings, haddocks, etc., in this case the fish
would be split down the front, not the back, and stitched together
after boning.
Fish stock is made from the bones, skin and trimmings of white fish.
These are broken small and generally flavored with onion, parsley,
herbs, and seasonings. The proportion of water used is rather larger,
as the flavor is much stronger and also more easily extracted than
from meat.
Baked Halibut
2 lbs. halibut
1 cupful tomatoes
2 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3/4 teaspoonful salt
1/8 teaspoonful pepper
Clean fish, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, place in
Criscoed baking pan, pour over tomatoes, and dot with Crisco. Bake in
a moderate oven, basting often.
Baked Salmon with Colbert Sauce
1 slice salmon, 1-1/2 lbs. in weight
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar
1 chopped shallot, gherkin and anchovy
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste and water
For Sauce
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
3 anchovies
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Pepper to taste
2 cupfuls fish stock, or milk and water
_For fish._ Mix Crisco with shallot, gherkin, anchovy, and seasonings,
lay salmon in this mixture and let it "marinade," as it is called, for
one hour. At the end of that time lift it out; do not shake off any
ingredients that are sticking to it. Now lay it in a well Criscoed
fireproof dish, cover it with a greased paper, and bake in moderate
oven for thirty minutes.
_For sauce._ Melt Crisco in small saucepan, stir in flour, add fish
stock and stir until it boils and thickens. Rub anchovies through fine
sieve, and add with seasonings. Serve in hot tureen with fish.
Baked Shad
1 shad weighing 4 lbs.
1/4 lb. mushrooms
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley
2 tablespoonfuls chopped chives
1 cupful breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt and white pepper
Salt pork
1 cupful cream
1 teaspoonful cornstarch
Clean, wipe and dry the shad. Melt Crisco, add breadcrumbs, chopped
mushrooms, parsley, chives, egg well beaten, salt and pepper. Stuff
fish with this forcemeat, then lay it in a greased pan, put thin
strips of salt pork over it and bake in hot oven for forty minutes.
Lay the fish on a hot platter. Pour cream into baking pan, add
cornstarch and stir till boiling. Serve with the fish.
Cassolettes of Fish
1/2 lb. cold cooked fish or shrimps
1/2 cupful milk
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful water
2 tablespoonfuls cream 2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls flour
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
2 lbs. cooked potatoes
Rub potatoes through a sieve, add little salt and pepper, 1 egg well
beaten, and 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco and mix well. Roll out
on floured baking board to 1-1/4 inches in thickness. Cut into small
rounds, brush over with remaining egg well beaten, toss in fine
breadcrumbs, mark the center slightly with a smaller round cutter. Fry
to golden color in hot Crisco. Remove lids, carefully remove bulk of
potatoes from inside, fill with mixture, replace lids, and serve hot.
For mixture, blend 2 tablespoonfuls of the Crisco with flour in a
saucepan over the fire, add milk, water and seasonings and cook for
a few minutes. Put in flaked fish and make hot. Add cream last. 1/2
teaspoonful of anchovy extract may be added if liked.
Sufficient for ten cassolettes.
Dressed Crab
1 good sized heavy crab
6 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
3 tablespoonfuls olive oil
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Crisp lettuce leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
If possible choose a crab with large claws. Boil crab in boiling
salted water for thirty minutes, take up and break off large and small
claws. Lay crab on its back, pull back the flap under its body, pull
it right out and commence to remove flesh from shell. Take care that
the little bag near head, usually full of sand, is taken out. Throw
away all bone and finny pieces. The flesh is of two kinds, some firm
and white, rest soft and dark. Separate former into little shreds with
a fork, also the white meat from claws, which must be cracked in order
to obtain it. Mix dark soft substance with crumbs, add oil, vinegar,
and seasonings to taste. Toss shredded white meat also in a little
seasoning, but keep the two kinds separate. When shell is empty
wash and dry well. Fill shell with the two mixtures, arranging them
alternately, so that they appear in dark and white stripes. Have it
heaped a little higher in center. Decorate meat with lines of finely
chopped parsley, and force the Crisco round edge with a forcing bag
and tube. Place crab on some crisp lettuce leaves. Arrange some of the
small claws in a circle round shell.
Curried Cod
2 lbs. cod
1/4 cupful Crisco
2 cupfuls white stock
1 tablespoonful flour
2 teaspoonfuls curry powder
1 medium-sized onion
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
2 cupfuls plain boiled rice
2 tablespoonfuls chopped cocoanut
Wash and dry the cod, and cut into pieces two inches square. Melt
Crisco in a saucepan, fry cod lightly in it, then take out and set
aside. Add sliced onion, flour, and curry powder to the Crisco in
saucepan and fry ten minutes, stirring continuously to prevent onion
becoming too brown, then stir in the stock and cocoanut, stir until it
boils, and afterwards simmer for twenty minutes. Strain and return
to saucepan, add lemon juice and seasonings to taste, bring nearly to
boil, then put in fish, cover closely, and cook slowly for half hour.
An occasional stir must be given to prevent the fish sticking to the
bottom of the saucepan. Turn out on hot platter and serve with rice.
The remains of cold fish may be used, in which case the preliminary
frying may be omitted.
Flounder a la Crème
1 flounder about 2 lbs.
2 cupfuls milk
1 tablespoonful cream
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 blade mace
6 whole white peppers
4 tablespoonfuls flour
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Skin flounder, and take fillets off neatly by sharply cutting down the
middle of back, and pressing the knife close to the bones. This will
produce 4 long fillets. Cut each of them in half lengthways, and tie
up in pretty knot; sprinkle a little salt over and put them aside.
Wash skin bones of fish, put them into a small saucepan with milk,
mace, and whole peppers and simmer for half hour; strain milk into
clean saucepan; add fillets, and allow to simmer for ten minutes. Lift
them out, and add to milk the Crisco and flour beaten together; stir
till it becomes quite smooth; add salt, pepper and lemon juice to
taste, and cream; put in fillets gently to warm through; dish neatly
and pour the sauce over them. Serve very hot.
Flounder a la Turque
For Fish
1 large flounder
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
3 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 teaspoonful powdered herbs
1 pinch powdered mace
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1/2 cupful picked shrimps
For Sauce
1/2 lemon
1 egg
1/2 cupful melted Crisco
1 yolk of egg
1/2 teaspoonful mustard
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 pinch red pepper
1 tablespoonful vinegar
2 chopped gherkins
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
_For fish._ Wash dry and trim flounder. On one side make cut down
center from near head to near tail and raise flesh from the bones.
Make a stuffing with Crisco, parsley, breadcrumbs, herbs, shrimps,
lemon juice, seasonings, and nearly all the egg, and insert under the
fillets of the flounder, leaving the center open. Dot with Crisco.
Brush fish over with remaining egg, sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs,
put on Criscoed baking tin, and bake thirty minutes. Serve with sauce.
_For sauce._ Put egg yolk into a bowl, and, with a wooden spoon stir
a little; then add by degrees melted Crisco, stirring constantly; then
add seasonings, vinegar, gherkins and parsley.
Fish Pudding
_(Kate B. Vaughn)_
For Pudding
2 lbs. cooked fish
1 cupful milk
1 tablespoonful flour
1 tablespoonful Crisco
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoonful onion juice
1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce
Cream sauce
For Sauce
3 tablespoonfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 slice carrot
1 slice onion
1 slice celery
1 blade of mace
1 bay leaf
6 whole peppers
1 sprig of parsley
1/4 teaspoonful salt
1 cupful thick cream
_For pudding._ Boil fish in boiling salted water till done. Shred or
break in small pieces, and free from skin and bone. Blend Crisco and
flour in a saucepan over fire, add milk and stir till boiling, remove
from fire, add eggs well beaten, seasonings, and mix well. Turn into
Criscoed fireproof dish, cover with greased paper, set in warm water,
and bake in moderate oven for thirty minutes. Serve with the sauce,
potato balls, and chopped parsley.
_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in a pan over fire, add
vegetables, mace, bay leaf, peppers, parsley, milk, and simmer for
thirty minutes. Strain, return to pan, add salt, allow to heat, then
add cream and it is ready to serve.
Fried Fish
Fish
Crisco
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumbs
Sauce
Clean fish, season with salt and pepper. Dip in crumbs, brush over
with beaten egg, and crumb again. Fry in deep Crisco and drain on
brown paper.
_Sauce_. Blend 1-1/2 tablespoonfuls Crisco with 1 tablespoonful flour
in saucepan over fire, add 1 cupful of milk or cream and bring to
boil, cook for a few minutes over hot water. Cool and add 2 chopped
green bell peppers and 6 medium-sized chopped sour pickles.
Fried Lobster with Horseradish Sauce
1 boiled lobster
Crisco for frying
1 egg
Breadcrumbs
1 cupful thick cream
Salt and paprika to taste
2 tablespoonfuls grated horseradish
Cut lobster meat into neat pieces, dip in beaten egg, toss in
breadcrumbs and fry in hot Crisco to brown well. Whip up cream, season
it well with salt and paprika and stir in horseradish; heap this sauce
in the center of the serving dish and arrange the pieces of fried
lobster round it. Serve hot.
Gateau of Fish
For Fish
1-1/2 lbs. cooked white fish
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful breadcrumbs
1/2 cupful milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful anchovy paste or extract
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon slices
Dutch or oyster sauce
For Sauce
2 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful milk
1/2 cupful oyster liquor
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
2 hard-cooked eggs
1 dozen small oysters
_For fish._ Cook fish; remove skin and bone, chop it, then put it in
a basin, add breadcrumbs, parsley, seasonings, milk, eggs well beaten,
and melted Crisco. Mix well, turn into a Criscoed mold, cover with
greased paper and steam one hour. Serve with sauce poured over, and
dish garnished with lemon slices.
_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in pan over fire, stir in
milk, oyster liquor, stir till it boils for eight minutes, then add
seasonings. Boil one minute, add eggs chopped, and oysters. Mix and
serve.
Oyster Shortcake
2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
3/4 cupful milk
1 quart oysters
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls cornstarch
1/4 cupful cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoonful salt, then sift twice,
work in Crisco with tips of fingers, add milk gradually. The dough
should be just soft enough to handle. Toss on floured baking board,
divide into two parts, pat lightly and roll out. Place in two shallow
Criscoed cake tins and bake in quick oven fifteen minutes. Spread them
with butter. Moisten cornstarch with cream, put into pan with oysters
and seasonings and make very hot. Allow to cook a few minutes then
pour half over one crust, place other crust on top and pour over rest
of oysters. Serve at once.
Sufficient for one large shortcake.
Salmon Mold
1 can salmon
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful rolled crackers
3 eggs
1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
1 tablespoonful Crisco
1 tablespoonful flour
1 egg
1 cupful milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley
_For the mold._ Remove oil, skin and bone from the salmon. Rub salmon
smooth, add eggs well beaten, crackers, and seasonings. Turn into a
Criscoed mold, and steam for one hour. Turn out and serve with sauce.
_For sauce._ Blend Crisco and flour in a saucepan over fire, add
milk, and stir and boil for five minutes. Add egg well beaten, and
seasonings, pour at once over salmon. Garnish with parsley.
Sufficient for one small loaf.
[Illustration]
MEATS
[Illustration]
Cookery is a branch of applied chemistry. To cook anything, in the
narrower sense of the term, means to bring about changes in it by
submitting it to the action of heat, and usually of moisture also,
which will make it more fitted for food; and it is on the nature of
this action on different materials that the _rationale_ of the cook's
art chiefly depends. Good cooking can make any meat tender, and bad
cooking can make any meat tough.
The substance in meat called albumen becomes tougher and more
indigestible, the higher the temperature to which it is subjected
reaches beyond a certain point. It is this effect of heat on albumen,
therefore, which has to be considered whenever the cooking of meat
is in question, and which mainly determines the right and the wrong,
whether in the making of a soup or a custard, the roasting or boiling
of a chicken or a joint, or the frying of a cutlet or an omelet.
We now will see to begin with, what are the special ways in which it
bears on meat cookery. Take a little bit of raw meat and put it in
cold water. The juice gradually soaks out of it, coloring the water
pink and leaving the meat nearly white. Now take another bit, and pour
boiling water upon it; and though no juice can be seen escaping, the
whole surface of the meat turns a whitish color directly.
Lean meat is made up of bundles of hollow fibres within which the
albuminous juices are stored. Wherever these fibres are cut through,
the juice oozes out and spreads itself over the surface of the meat.
If, as in our first little experiment, the meat is put in cold water,
or even in warm water, or exposed to a heat insufficient to set the
albumen, either in an oven or before the fire, the albuminous juices
are in the first case drawn out and dissolved, and in the second
evaporated. In either case the meat is deprived of them. But if the
meat is put into boiling water or into a quick oven or before a hot
fire, the surface albumen is quickly set, forms a tough white coating
which effectually plugs the ends of the cut fibres, and prevents any
further escape of their contents.
Here, then, we have the first principles on which meat cookery must be
conducted; viz: that if we wish to get the juices out of the meat,
as for soups and stews, the liquid in which we put it must be cold
to begin with; while if we wish, as for boiled or roast meat, to keep
them in, the meat must be subjected first of all to the action of
boiling water, a hot fire or a quick oven. The meats of soups and
stews must not be raw, and that of joints must not be tough; and the
cooking of both one and the other, however it is begun, should be
completed at just such a moderate temperature as will set, but not
harden, the albumen. That is to say, the soup or stew must be raised
to this temperature, after the meat juices have been drawn out by
a lower one, while a joint or fowl must be lowered to it after the
surface albumen has been hardened by a higher one.
All poultry or game for roasting should be dredged with flour before
and after trussing, to dry it perfectly, as otherwise it does not
crisp and brown so well. Unless poultry is to be boiled or stewed it
never should be washed or wet in any way as this renders the flesh
sodden and the skin soft. Good wiping with clean cloths should be
quite sufficient. With the exception of ducks and geese, all poultry
and game require rather a large addition of fat during roasting, as
the flesh is dry. Chickens will cook in from twenty to thirty minutes;
fowls take from thirty to sixty minutes when young and tender, the
only condition in which they are fit to roast; turkeys take from one
to two hours and even more if exceptionally large. Game takes longer
in proportion to its size than poultry, and all birds require better
and more cooking than beef or mutton.
[Illustration]
Beef Collops
1 lb. hamburg steak
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful water or stock
1 tablespoonful flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful mushroom catsup or Worcestershire sauce
Sippets of toast or croutons
Mashed potatoes or plain boiled rice
Melt Crisco in saucepan, put in beef and onion and fry light brown,
then sprinkle in flour, add water or stock, catsup or sauce, and
seasonings. Cover pan and let contents simmer very gently forty-five
minutes. Arrange collops on hot platter with border of sippets of
toast or croutons, or border of hot mashed potatoes, or plain boiled
rice.
Braised Loin of Mutton
3 lbs. loin mutton
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 celery stalk
1/2 teaspoonful whole white peppers
1 bunch sweet herbs
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 turnip
1 carrot
3 cloves
2 sprigs parsley
4 tablespoonfuls flour
12 button mushrooms
1 onion
Remove bone from mutton, rub with a little salt, pepper and red pepper
mixed together; roll up and tie in neat roll with tape; cut up celery,
onion, carrot and turnip, and lay them at bottom of saucepan with
herbs and parsley; lay mutton on top of these, and pour enough boiling
water to three parts cover it, and simmer slowly two hours; lift
mutton into roasting tin with a few tablespoonfuls of the gravy; set
in hot oven until brown; strain gravy and skim off fat, melt Crisco in
saucepan, add flour, then add gravy gradually, seasoning of salt and
pepper, mushrooms, and boil eight minutes. Set mutton on hot platter
with mushrooms round, and gravy strained over.
Chicken a la Tartare
1 young chicken
1 egg
3/4 cupful Crisco
Breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Mixed pickles
Tartare sauce
Singe, empty, and split chicken in half; take breastbone out and
sprinkle salt and pepper over. Melt 1/2 cupful Crisco in frying pan
and fry chicken half hour, turning it now and then. Remove from pan
and place between two dishes with heavy weight on top, till it is
nearly cold. Then dip in egg beaten up, and roll in breadcrumbs.
Melt remaining Crisco, then sprinkle it all over chicken; roll in
breadcrumbs once more. Fry in hot Crisco to golden color. Serve at
once with a garnish of chopped pickles, and tartare sauce.
Chicken en Casserole
1 tender chicken for roasting
1/2 cupful Crisco
Salt and pepper
1 pint hot water
1 cupful hot sweet cream
2 cupfuls chopped mushrooms
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Clean chicken, split down back, and lay breast upward, in casserole.
Spread Crisco over breast, dust with salt and pepper, add hot water,
cover closely and cook in hot oven one hour. When nearly tender, put
in the cream, mushrooms, and parsley; cover again and cook twenty
minutes longer. Serve hot in the casserole. Oysters are sometimes
substituted for mushrooms, and will be found to impart a pleasing
flavor.
Curried Ox-Tongue
6 slices cooked ox-tongue
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 teaspoonfuls curry powder
6 chopped mushrooms
1 cupful brown sauce
1 dinner roll
1 egg
1 cupful boiled rice
_For tongue._ Cut slices of tongue, fry in Crisco, season with 1/4
teaspoonful salt and curry powder, then add mushrooms, and brown
sauce, simmer ten minutes. Cut large dinner roll into slices, and
toast them lightly on both sides; dip them in egg well beaten then
fry in hot Crisco and drain. Dish up slices of tongue alternately with
fried slices of roll, pour sauce round base, and serve with boiled
rice.
_For brown sauce._ Melt 3 tablespoonfuls Crisco, add 1 chopped onion,
piece of carrot, 2 mushrooms, and fry a good brown color; stir in 2
tablespoonfuls flour and fry it also; then add 1 cupful stock or water
and few drops of kitchen boquet. Let all cook ten minutes, stirring
constantly add seasoning of salt and pepper, and strain for use.
Sufficient for 6 slices.
Fried Chicken
Chicken
Crisco
Select young tender chickens and disjoint. Wash carefully and let
stand over night in refrigerator.
A
_(Kate B. Vaughn)_
Drain chicken but do not wipe dry. Season with salt and white pepper
and dredge well with flour. Fry in deep Crisco hot enough to brown
a crumb of bread in sixty seconds. It requires from ten to twelve
minutes to fry chicken. Drain and place on a hot platter garnished
with parsley and rice croquettes.
B
_(Kate B. Vaughn)_
Make batter of 1 cupful flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 grains white
pepper, 1/2 cupful water, 2 well beaten eggs, and 1 tablespoonful
melted Crisco. Have kettle of Crisco hot enough to turn crumb of bread
a golden brown in sixty seconds. Drain chicken but do not dry. Dip
each joint separately in batter and fry in the Crisco until golden
brown. It should take from ten to twelve minutes. Serve on a folded
napkin garnished with parsley.
C
_(Kate B. Vaughn)_
Drain chicken but do not wipe dry. Season with salt and white pepper
and dredge well with flour. Put three tablespoonfuls Crisco in frying
pan and when hot place chicken in pan; cover, and allow to steam for
ten minutes. Uncover, and allow chicken to brown, taking care to turn
frequently. Serve on hot platter, garnished with parsley and serve
with cream gravy.
D
Select medium-sized chickens and wash well, then cut into neat
pieces and season them. Mix 1 cupful cornmeal with 1 cupful flour, 1
tablespoonful salt and 1 tablespoonful black pepper. Dip each piece
in mixture and fry in hot Crisco twelve minutes. Drain and serve with
cornmeal batter bread.
E
Wash young chicken, cut into neat pieces, dust with salt, pepper,
and flour, and fry in hot Crisco twelve minutes. Drain, place on hot
platter, pour over it 1/2 pint hot sweet cream, sprinkle over with
chopped hot roasted peanuts, little salt and pepper.
Fried Chicken, Mexican Style
1 tender chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
1 seeded green pepper
2 large tomatoes
5 tablespoonfuls Crisco
Corn croquettes
For Croquettes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 can or 14 ears corn
2 tablespoonfuls flour
2 cupfuls milk
1/2 teaspoonful sugar
Pepper and salt to taste
1 egg
Breadcrumbs
_For chicken._ Draw, wash and dry chicken, then cut into neat joints,
sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat Crisco in frying pan, add clove
of garlic and pepper cut in small pieces. When garlic turns brown
take out, put chicken in, fry till brown, then cover closely, allow to
simmer till ready. A short time before covering chicken, add tomatoes
peeled and cut in small pieces.
_For croquettes._ Drain liquor from can of corn, or grate ears, and
chop kernels fine. Blend Crisco and flour together in pan over fire,
add milk, stir till boiling and cook five minutes, stirring all the
time, add seasonings, and corn, and cook five minutes, then allow to
cool. When cold, form lightly with floured hands into neat croquettes,
brush over with beaten egg, toss in crumbs and fry in hot Crisco to
a golden brown. Drain. Place chicken on hot platter, garnish with
croquettes and serve hot.
Fried Sweetbreads
Sweetbreads
Egg
Breadcrumbs
Crisco
Peas or new Potatoes
Rich brown gravy
Sweetbreads should always be blanched before using. To blanch, soak in
cold water two hours, changing water 3 or 4 times. Put into saucepan,
cover with cold water, add little salt, and skim well as water comes
to boil. Simmer from ten to thirty minutes, according to kind of
sweet-bread used. Remove to basin of cold water until cold, or wash
well in cold water and press between two plates till cold. Dry, remove
skin, cut in slices, coat with beaten egg and toss in breadcrumbs, and
fry in hot Crisco to a golden brown. Serve round peas or new potatoes,
with rich brown gravy.
For those whose digestions are at fault, sweetbreads ought to be eaten
as a daily ration if the pocketbook will afford it. For this special
part of the animal's anatomy is that one of all the viscera whose
mission is to help digestion. It is of the very pancreas itself, that
stomach gland of marvelously involved structure which elaborates the
powerful pancreatic juice. It is alkaline in nature, able to digest
starches, fats, and most of what escapes digestion in the stomach
proper. It received its name from a fancied resemblance in its
substance and formation to the rising lumps of dough destined for
bread.
Kidney Omelet
4 kidneys
6 tablespoonfuls Crisco
6 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
2 tablespoonfuls cream
Melt 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco in frying pan. Skin kidneys and cut into
small dice and toss them into hot Crisco three minutes. Whisk whites
of eggs to stiff froth, then add yolks, seasonings, parsley, and
cream, then add kidney. Make remaining Crisco hot in omelet pan or
frying pan, pour in omelet and fry over clear fire six minutes. When
the edges are set, fold edges over so that omelet assumes an oval
shape; be careful that it is not done too much; to brown the top, hold
pan before fire, or put it in oven; never turn an omelet in the pan.
Slip it carefully on a hot dish and serve the instant it comes from
the fire.
Macaroni and Round Steak
1/2 package macaroni
1/2 can tomatoes
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 onions
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cupful grated cheese
1 lb. round steak
1/2 cupful breadcrumbs
Break macaroni into inch lengths and add it with 1 tablespoonful of
the Crisco to plenty of boiling water and boil twenty minutes, then
drain. Put steak and onions through a food chopper. Put macaroni into
Criscoed fireproof dish, then put in meat and onions, add seasonings,
tomatoes, cheese, breadcrumbs, and remainder of Crisco melted. Bake in
moderate oven one hour.
Meat Cakes
1 lb. round steak
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
3 small onions
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
2 eggs
1/4 lb. grated cheese
2 cupfuls breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Tomato sauce
For Sauce
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 carrot
1 turnip
2 onions
3 tablespoonfuls flour
2 cupfuls stock
1 can or 1/2 lb. fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoonful tomato catsup
1 bunch sweet herbs
Salt, pepper, and red pepper
to taste
1 blade mace
1 bay leaf
_For meat cakes._ Grind steak and onions together, add Crisco, cheese,
parsley, crumbs, seasonings, and eggs lightly beaten. Mix together;
form into small cakes, toss in flour and fry in hot Crisco. Serve hot
with tomato sauce.
_For sauce._ Slice vegetables, fry in Crisco ten minutes; then add
flour, stock, mace, bay leaf, tomatoes, catsup, and herbs. Stir till
they boil, then simmer gently forty-five minutes. Rub through sieve,
add seasonings and use.
Sufficient for twelve meat cakes.
Roast Turkey
For Stuffing
1 quart fine breadcrumbs
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
11/2 teaspoonfuls salt
2 tablespoonfuls chopped onion
1 lemon
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoonful powdered thyme
1/4 teaspoonful white pepper
1 egg
1 cupful country sausage
A little warm water
1 turkey
Salt pork
Mix sausage with breadcrumbs, add egg well beaten, Crisco, seasonings,
grated rind and strained juice of lemon, and moisten with a little hot
water. Be careful not to make stuffing too moist. See that turkey is
well plucked, singed and wiped; fold over pinions, and pass skewer
through them, thick part of legs and body, catching leg and pining it
on other side; now secure bottom part of leg, which should have feet
cut off half way to first joint, fill breast of bird with stuffing and
skewer down skin. Place 2 strips salt pork in bottom of roasting
pan, lay in turkey and place several strips salt pork over breast
and sprinkle lightly with flour. Roast in hot oven, allowing fifteen
minutes to the pound. Baste occasionally with melted Crisco. Serve hot
decorated with cooked onions, celery tips, cranberries, and parsley.
Roast with Spaghetti
2 tablespoonfuls flour
3 lbs. sirloin steak
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 large onion
1/4 lb. bacon
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cupful water
1/2 can tomatoes
1 cupful cooked peas
1 cupful cooked spaghetti
1 cupful cooked mushrooms
8 stuffed olives
Melt Crisco and make very hot in roasting pan, lay in steak, season
with salt and pepper, cover with layer of sliced onion, layer of
bacon, add water, cover, and cook in moderate oven about three hours.
Have ready peas, mushrooms, and spaghetti. Place meat on hot platter.
Add juice of tomatoes to gravy, and flour moistened with a little
cold water, peas and mushrooms, and when hot pour round meat. Spread
spaghetti on top and decorate with olives.
Sirloin Steak with Fried Apples
1 sirloin steak weighing 2 lbs.
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful white pepper
4 tart apples
Milk
Flour
Mix salt and pepper with melted Crisco, then rub mixture into steak
and let steak lie in it twenty minutes. Broil it over a clear fire
till done and serve surrounded with fried apples. Peel and core and
slice apples, then dip in milk, toss in flour, and drop into hot
Crisco to brown.
VEGETABLES
[Illustration]
In the vegetable kingdom the cereals form a very important part of our
diet, by supplying chiefly the carbohydrates or heat giving matter.
Another nutritious group termed pulse, are those which have their seed
enclosed in a pod. The most familiar are peas, beans, and lentils;
peas and beans are eaten in the green or unripe state as well as in
the dried. Vegetables included in the pulse group are very nourishing
if they can be digested, they contain a large amount of flesh forming
matter, usually a fair amount of starch, but are deficient in fat.
Peas and beans also contain sulphur and tend to produce flatulence
when indulged in by those of weak digestion. Lentils contain less
sulphur, and do not produce this complaint so readily.
The more succulent vegetables include tubers, as potatoes and
Jerusalem artichokes, leaves, stems, and bulbs, as cabbages, spinach,
celery, and onions, roots and flowers, as carrots, parsnips, and
cauliflower. These are very valuable on account of the mineral matter,
chief of which are the potash salts, so necessary to keep the blood in
a healthy condition.
Care should be taken in cooking vegetables not to lose the salts.
Steaming is preferable to boiling, by preserving the juices, though it
does not tend to improve the color of green vegetables. A little lemon
juice added to the water in which new potatoes are boiling improves
their color. Mint is sometimes cooked with new potatoes. To secure a
good color in vegetables when cooked, careful cleaning and preparation
before cooking is essential. Earthy roots, such as potatoes, turnips,
and carrots, must be both well scrubbed and thoroughly rinsed in clean
water before peeling. From all vegetables, coarse or discolored leaves
and any dark or decayed spots should be carefully removed before
cooking.
Potatoes should be peeled thinly, or, if new, merely brushed or rubbed
with a coarse cloth to get the skin off. Turnips should be thickly
peeled, as the rind in these is hard and woody. Carrots and salsify,
unless very old, need scraping only. After the removal of the skin,
all root vegetables (except those of the onion kind) should be put in
cold water till wanted. Potatoes, artichokes, and salsify especially,
must not remain a moment out of water after peeling, or they will turn
a dark color, and to the water used for the two last, a little salt
and lemon juice should be added in order to keep them white.
Root vegetables should be boiled with the lid of the pan on, green
vegetables should be boiled with the lid of the pan off, for the
preservation of the color.
Baked Parsnips
1/2 cupful Crisco
5 parsnips
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel and wash parsnips and cut into two lengthwise, and steam for one
hour. Remove from fire, lay in greased baking pan, sprinkle with salt
and pepper, spread Crisco over top and bake slowly till tender. Serve
hot.
Brussels Sprouts with Crisco
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 baskets brussels sprouts
1/2 cupful grated cheese
Trim sprouts and cook them in boiling salted water till tender, drain
and dry on clean cloth. Heat Crisco hot, then add sprouts, and fry
until very hot. Turn them into hot vegetable dish, sprinkle cheese
over them and serve immediately.
Sufficient for one dish.
Colcannon
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 lb. cold cooked potatoes
1/2 lb. cold cooked cabbage
1 onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Chop onion and cabbage and mash potatoes. Put into frying pan with
Crisco and fry few minutes adding seasonings. Turn into Criscoed
fireproof dish and brown in oven.
Lentils and Rice
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/2 cupful lentils
1/2 cupful milk
1/2 cupful water
1 teaspoonful curry powder
1 small onion
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
1 cupful boiled rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash lentils and soak them in milk twelve hours. Melt Crisco slice
onion and fry a pale brown, add curry powder, milk, water, seasonings,
and lentils, simmer two hours and add lemon juice just before serving,
Serve with rice.
Corn Fritters
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
1 can crushed corn
1 cupful flour
1 teaspoonful baking powder
2 teaspoonfuls salt
1/4 teaspoonful white pepper
3 tablespoonfuls milk
Put corn into bowl, add Crisco, salt, pepper, flour, baking powder,
and milk. Mix well and drop in spoonfuls on a Criscoed griddle. Fire
brown on both sides. These fritters are a palatable accompaniment to
roast chicken.
Sufficient for twelve fritters.
Corn, Okra and Tomatoes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
6 ears corn
6 okra pods
6 tomatoes
2 cupfuls water
Cut corn from cob, put into saucepan, cover with water and bring to
boil. Scald and skin tomatoes and cut okra into cross sections half
inch long. Add both to corn with Crisco and seasonings. Stir and cook
until tender. Serve hot.
Curried Cauliflower
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cauliflower
1 sliced onion
1 dessertspoonful curry powder
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
1/4 teaspoonful salt
1 cupful stock or water
Boil cauliflower in boiling salted water till tender, drain, then
divide into small flowerets. Fry onion in Crisco a few minutes, then
add curry powder, lemon juice and stock or water. Simmer fifteen
minutes, then strain into clean saucepan. Add cauliflower and salt and
simmer fifteen minutes. Serve hot.
Creamed Potatoes au Gratin
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart peeled and diced potatoes
2 cupfuls milk
1 tablespoonful flour
1 cupful grated cheese
1 teaspoonful salt
1/4 teaspoonful white pepper
Few breadcrumbs
Cut potatoes in about 11/2-inch pieces, then boil carefully in boiling
salted water. When done, drain, and pour into Criscoed fireproof dish.
Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan over fire, add milk, stir till
boiling, then add cheese and seasonings. Pour over potatoes; grate
a little cheese over top, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake five
minutes in hot oven.
Eggplant en Casserole
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 large eggplant
3 small onions
2 garlic cloves
3 tomatoes
1 green pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Slice eggplant into thin slices, then slice onions, garlic, tomatoes
and pepper quite thin. Arrange them, alternately, in a Criscoed
casserole, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour in melted
Crisco and cover. Cook over slow fire or in moderate oven till the
eggplant is tender. Serve hot or cold.
Fried Parsley
Crisco
1 bunch parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash, pick and dry the parsley; put into frying basket and immerse
in hot Crisco fifteen seconds or until crisp. Drain and sprinkle with
salt and pepper. It should be a nice green color. If it turns black it
has been too long in the fat.
Green Peas a la Maitre d'Hotel
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 quart shelled peas
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
2 sprigs mint
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful sugar
Shell peas and throw into plenty boiling water containing a
teaspoonful of salt, sugar, and mint; boil fast until tender, then
drain. Mix lemon juice with Crisco and parsley; stir this among peas,
reheat them, and serve at once.
Jerusalem Artichokes
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 lb. artichokes
2 tablespoonfuls flour
1 yolk of egg
2 teaspoonfuls lemon juice
1 1/2 cupfuls milk
2 tablespoonfuls cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
1/4 cupful vinegar
1 pint boiling milk
Wash and scrape artichokes, and throw each one in cold water
containing vinegar, when all are done, rinse in water and put into
boiling milk, add cupful of boiling water and teaspoonful of salt.
Boil quickly with lid off, pierce with fork to know if done. Lift into
hot dish and cover with sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in saucepan,
over fire, add milk, salt and pepper, and cook five minutes. Remove
from fire, add egg beaten with cream and lemon juice, pour over
artichokes and sprinkle parsley over top.
Mushrooms au Gratin
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
14 large mushrooms
1 egg
Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
2 tablespoonfuls chopped cooked meat
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
1/2 cupful stock
1 tablespoonful chopped suet
Beat up egg, add suet, breadcrumbs, meat, parsley, and seasonings.
Wash and remove centers from mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, and
red pepper, also place tiny piece of Crisco in each. Then put heaping
teaspoonful of forcemeat in each one, and cover with crumbs. Lay on
Criscoed tin, add stock, and bake fifteen minutes. Serve on hot dish
with gravy poured round.
Sufficient for fourteen mushrooms.
New Potatoes a la France
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 lbs. new potatoes
2 sprigs mint
1 teaspoonful salt
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
Wash and scrape potatoes. With round vegetable cutter scoop out from
potatoes a number of little balls like marbles; boil these till tender
in water, to which have been added salt and mint. Drain, add Crisco,
parsley, and lemon juice. Toss them about gently in pan a few minutes,
and serve on hot dish.
Potato Pone
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 generous cupful grated raw sweet potatoes
1 cupful molasses
1 cupful milk
1 teaspoonful powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 tablespoonful chopped candied orange peel
1/2 cupful sugar
Grate potatoes or put them through meat chopper, add molasses, sugar,
milk, Crisco, salt, spices, and orange peel. Mix well, turn into
Criscoed fireproof dish and bake in moderate oven till firm.
Sufficient for one small pone.
Savory Lentil Dish
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 cupful lentils
1 bay leaf
3 springs parsley
1 chopped onion
Salt, pepper, and powdered mace to taste
1 cupful boiled rice
1-1/2 cupfuls highly seasoned tomato sauce
Wash lentils and soak in plenty of cold water four hours. Put into
boiling salt water, add bay leaf, parsley, seasonings and cook till
tender. Chop and fry onion in 3 tablespoonfuls of Crisco, add lentils,
rice and remainder of Crisco, stir and allow to get hot. Turn into hot
dish and pour over tomato sauce.
Stuffed Beets
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
6 beets
2 green peppers
2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoonful onion juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Watercress
Select 6 smooth even-sized beets and boil in boiling salted water
until tender. Peel, remove root end and remove center, leaving shell
about half inch thick. Remove stems and seeds from peppers; cover
peppers with boiling water ten minutes. Dice them with scooped out
beet, add Crisco, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. Mix and divide into
beet shells, dot with Crisco and bake in moderate oven twenty
minutes. Serve garnished with watercress.
Sufficient for six beets.
Stuffed Eggplant
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 small eggplants
1/2 cupful breadcrumbs
1-1/2 cupfuls stock
1/2 cupful chopped cooked chicken or veal
1 egg
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
1/2 cupful white wine
Criscoed crumbs
1 tablespoonful flour
1 tablespoonful sherry
Cut eggplants in halves and scoop out inside, leaving shell half inch
thick. Soak 1/2 cupful breadcrumbs in 1/2 cupful stock ten minutes,
then add cooked chicken, 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco, egg,
well beaten, and seasoning of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide this
forcemeat into eggplants, sprinkle Criscoed crumbs on top, set them in
greased pan, pour in rest of stock and white wine and bake half hour
in moderate oven. Serve on hot dish with following sauce.
Put 1 tablespoonful Crisco and 1 tablespoonful flour into saucepan and
blend over fire, add sherry and 1 cupful liquor from pan in which they
were baked, and cook five minutes.
Sufficient for three eggplants.
Stuffed Potatoes
(_Kate B. Vaughan_)
2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
6 large potatoes
2 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
1 yolk of egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash six well shaped white potatoes and rub skin with Crisco. Bake
until tender, cut slice off one end, and with a teaspoon remove
all potato from shells. Mash the potato, adding Crisco, cheese,
seasonings, and egg yolk. Refill shells and bake fifteen minutes.
Serve hot on napkin.
Sufficient for six potatoes.
Viennese Carrots
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 bunch carrots
1 tablespoonful flour
1/2 teaspoonful sugar
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
1 cupful cooked peas
Scrape carrots, cut in small pieces, and boil till tender in boiling
salted water. Blend Crisco and flour together in saucepan over
fire, stir in 1 cupful water in which carrots were cooked, boil five
minutes, then add sugar, seasonings, vinegar, parsley, peas, and
carrots; simmer ten minutes and serve hot in vegetable dish.
[Illustration]
SALADS
[Illustration]
Salads are classified into two groups--i.e., the raw, such as lettuce,
endive, radishes, cucumber, celery, etc., and the cooked, such as
those made from cooked vegetables, eggs, cooked cold fish, poultry,
and meat. The raw materials should be washed most carefully and well
cleaned before mixing, and the utensils for cutting and mixing, as
well as the basins or bowls used, should be clean and dry. Every
salad, no matter how plain and simple it may be, should be made to
look inviting and tempting. The method of draining or drying is a very
easy performance so long as the salad leaves, whatever they may be,
are almost free from moisture. This is effected best by putting the
leaves, which should be broken, not cut with a knife, into a wire
basket and drying them well, or else putting them into a cloth lightly
folded and shaking well until the outer moisture of the leaves is well
absorbed. The salad then is ready for mixing.
Any cold boiled vegetables left over from dinner are useful as giving
variety to salads, and help to make a good accompaniment to cold meat
served to luncheon. Thinly sliced cold potatoes--new ones for choice,
green peas and string beans, are especially good for this purpose, and
even Brussels sprouts, carrots, and turnips may be used on occasion in
small quantities. More substantial salads, prepared with cold meat or
fish, form appetizing luncheon or breakfast dishes. Those made with
chicken, lobster and salmon respectively are most widely known, but
fillets of flounder, cold ham or beef, or lamb make very good salads,
and even the humble herring, and dried and salted fish, may be used
with advantage in this way.
The meat or fish should be cut up into cubes or convenient small
pieces, and piled up in the center of the dish or salad bowl on a
layer of seasoned, shredded lettuce. Over this should be poured half
of the dressing. Round this should be arranged the green constituents
of the salad, cut up rather small, garnished with slices of tomato
or beets, cucumber and hard-cooked egg. The remainder of the dressing
should be poured over this, and the top of the meat or fish pyramid
may be ornamented with a few sprigs of endive or parsley.
Apple, Celery and Nut Salad
For Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
1 teaspoonful mustard
1 teaspoonful sugar
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1/4 teaspoonful white pepper
2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls lemon juice
1 cupful whipped cream
For Salad
1 quart chopped apples
1 pint diced celery
1-1/2 cupfuls blanched and shredded almonds
2/3 cupful rolled pecan nut meats
_For salad._ Mix apples, celery and nut meats.
_For dressing._ Melt Crisco, add mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, yolks
of eggs well beaten, and lemon juice. Cook in double boiler till
it thickens, then add whites of eggs stiffly beaten. Chill and add
whipped cream just before serving. Dressing should be mixed with
fruit.
Asparagus Salad
For Dressing
6 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 teaspoonful salt
1/4 teaspoonful paprika
Pinch black pepper
1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoonfuls cider vinegar
1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickles
1 tablespoonful chopped green peppers
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful chopped chives
1 can asparagus or fresh cooked asparagus
Drain asparagus and chill. Mix salt with paprika, add pepper, tarragon
vinegar, cider vinegar, Crisco, pickles, peppers, parsley, and chives,
mix well and pour over the asparagus.
Celery and Almond Salad
1 cupful melted Crisco
1 yolk of egg
1 tablespoonful lemon juice
1 tablespoonful vinegar
1 head celery
1/2 cupful blanched almonds
1 crisp lettuce
Few drops green color
1/2 teaspoonful sugar
1 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful mustard
Red pepper to taste
Melt and cool Crisco. Prepare celery and cut into very thin strips and
plunge in ice water until wanted. Blanch and shred almonds; wash and
dry lettuce leaves. Put yolk of egg into bowl, add mustard, salt,
and red pepper and mix well with wooden spoon. Add sugar, teaspoonful
lemon juice, teaspoonful vinegar; beat in Crisco gradually. Remove
spoon and beat with egg beater five minutes, then beat in rest of
lemon juice and vinegar. Add more seasonings if needed and enough
green color to make it look pretty. Dry celery and mix with almonds,
then toss them into dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.
Fruit Salad
Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
2 tablespoonfuls vinegar
2 eggs
1/2 pint whipped cream
Salad
24 marshmallows
1 can pineapple
2 juicy apples
6 oranges
Lettuce leaves
_For salad._ Cut fruit and marshmallows into small pieces, then mix
and chill.
_For dressing._ Beat up eggs in double boiler, add vinegar, sugar,
salt, Crisco and cook until thick. Cool and add whipped cream. Mix
with fruit and serve on crisp lettuce leaves.
Orange and Tomato Salad
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
4 tomatoes
4 oranges
1 tablespoonful chopped parsley
Tarragon vinegar
Salt
Peel oranges and tomatoes, and slice and arrange alternately in salad
bowl. Mix juice squeezed from "tops and bottoms" of oranges with an
equal quantity of tarragon vinegar, add Crisco and salt to taste. Pour
over fruit and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
Potato and Nut Salad
For Dressing
5 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 teaspoonful mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
2 teaspoonfuls sugar
2 yolks of eggs
3/4 cupful cream or milk
1/4 cupful vinegar
For Salad
3 cupfuls sliced cold potatoes
1 cupful broken hickory nut meats
1 teaspoonful chopped onion
Chopped parsley
Cold cooked sliced beets
Sliced lemon
Lettuce leaves
_For dressing._ Mix sugar, salt, and mustard, add Crisco and stir
thoroughly; then add yolks of eggs well beaten, cream, and lastly
vinegar. Cook in double boiler until consistency of cream. If milk
is used instead of cream, add 1 teaspoonful flour to other dry
ingredients.
_For salad._ Mix potatoes, nuts, and onion together, and place on
crisp lettuce leaves; pour over dressing and garnish to taste with
beets, lemon, and parsley.
Potato and Pimiento Salad
1 tablespoonful Crisco
4 potatoes
2 hard-cooked eggs
1/2 can pimientos
1 tablespoonful chopped cucumber pickle
1 teaspoonful salt
Dressing
1 tablespoonful Crisco
2 teaspoonfuls dry mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
1 lemon
1/2 pint vinegar
2 eggs
_For salad._ Boil potatoes and slice them, add Crisco and salt. Now
chop pickles, eggs, and pimientoes and add them and set in cool place
to chill.
_For dressing._ Put vinegar into double boiler, add strained lemon
juice, sugar, salt, mustard, then add Crisco and eggs well beaten.
Cook until thick, then cool and use.
Shrimp Salad
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 can shrimps
1 cupful celery cut in cubes
1 cupful tart apples cut in cubes
1 cupful broken Brazil nut meats
1/2 cupful broken English walnut meats
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon
4 tablespoonfuls vinegar
2 tablespoonfuls water
4 eggs
1 teaspoonful dry mustard
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful sugar
1/2 teaspoonful white pepper
1/2 cupful thick cream and 1 cupful whipped cream
Crisp lettuce leaves
Break shrimps into pieces, put them into earthenware dish, moisten
with a little melted Crisco, season with vinegar, salt and pepper. Put
apple cubes into a small dish and sprinkle lightly with lemon juice,
then put in celery cubes with a little more lemon juice and toss
together. Cover and set aside. Prepare nut meats. Heat vinegar and
water in double boiler, beat eggs, then gradually add them to vinegar,
stirring all the time. Now add Crisco and cook slowly, stirring
constantly. Remove from fire, and beat till cold, then add mustard,
salt, sugar, and pepper. Add the thick cream just before serving. When
ready to serve toss nuts, celery, apples and shrimps together with a
silver fork, and add a little dressing. Heap on crisp lettuce leaves
on individual plates, and pour over each salad a heaping spoonful of
the dressing; and top with spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream.
PUDDINGS
[Illustration]
Puddings as a rule either are boiled, steamed or baked. For boiled
puddings, care should be taken that the saucepan be kept boiling or
the water will get into the pudding and spoil it. For pudding cloths,
use materials such as linen or cheese cloth. After using, the cloth
must be thoroughly washed in plenty of water with a little washing
soda, but on no account use soap, and see that the cloth is perfectly
dry before putting it away. Many puddings are lighter and better
steamed, and then instead of the cloth only a piece of Criscoed paper
is required, twisted over the top of the basin or mold. Very light
puddings, such as custards, should be placed in a steamer. Most of
the steamed puddings mixed a little softer, are excellent baked in a
pudding dish.
In steaming puddings keep them at a uniform heat all the time, and be
careful not to lift the lid off the pan for the first half hour. All
farinaceous puddings should be cooked well, as then they are easier
to digest. Cornstarch must be well cooked, from eight to ten minutes.
Mold for jellies or blanc-manges should be well rinsed with cold water
before using. Batters must be well beaten and allowed to stand for
thirty minutes or longer before cooking, because the starch in
the flour swells, and the batter will therefore be lighter.
Batter puddings should be put into a quick oven. Puddings composed
principally of milk and eggs should be very gently cooked, as strong
heat will cause them to curdle.
In stewing fruit, prepare syrup first. Bring to boil, lay fruit in,
and simmer gently. Souffles should be very light and spongy. Eggs
form a large part of souffles, more whites than yolks are used and
the former are beaten to a stiff froth. All souffles should be served
quickly. Omelets are composed mainly of eggs. They can be savory or
sweet. If over-cooked an omelet will be tough. To prevent milk running
over when it comes to boil, put spoon in saucepan. Never leave spoon
in saucepan if you wish the contents to cook quickly, and in any case
a metal spoon never should be allowed to stand in a boiling saucepan
containing fruit or any acid.
Apple Dumplings
5 apples
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
3/4 cupful milk
Sugar
Cinnamon
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Work in Crisco with
finger tips; add gradually milk, mixing with knife to a nice dough.
Roll 1/2 inch thick, cut into squares and lay in center of each an
apple, pared and cored. Fill up centers with sugar and cinnamon and
take corners off the dough and pinch together. Place in Criscoed
baking pan, dot over with sugar and Crisco and bake in moderate oven
for twenty-five minutes or till nicely browned. Serve hot with milk.
Sufficient for five dumplings.
Apple Fritters
1-1/2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/4 teaspoonful salt
1 egg
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
3/4 cupful milk
3 apples cut in quarter inch slices
3 tablespoonfuls sugar
1 lemon
Peel, core and slice apples, then sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls sugar
and strained juice of the lemon over them. Sift flour, baking powder,
sugar, and salt into bowl, add milk to well beaten egg and stir liquid
gradually into dry materials, beating thoroughly, then add Crisco.
Cover apple slices with batter and drop them into plenty of Crisco
heated so that small breadcrumb browns in sixty seconds. Fry for four
or five minutes. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Any other
fruit may be substituted for apples or a combination of fruits makes a
delicious fritter.
Sufficient for twelve fritters.
Baked Rhubarb Pudding
2 cupfuls flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bundles rhubarb
1/2 cupful Crisco
1 lemon
6 tablespoonfuls brown sugar
Water
1/2 cupful granulated sugar
Put granulated sugar into small saucepan over fire, and when brown,
coat inside of plain pudding mold with it. Sift, flour, salt, and
baking powder together, rub Crisco finely into it, then mix whole to
a smooth paste with cold water. Turn out on a floured board, cut off
one-third of it, and put one side for the lid. Roll out remainder
until twice the circumference of the top of the mold, then drop gently
into mold, pressing evenly against sides. Fill center with rhubarb,
cut in pieces an inch long. Add grated rind and strained juice of half
of the lemon, brown sugar and 3 tablespoonfuls water. Roll out pastry
that was put on one side, wet edges of it, lay it on top. Cover with
a piece of greased paper, and bake in moderate oven one hour. Turn out
and serve with hot milk.
Caramel Bread Pudding
3 cupfuls breadcrumbs
1 quart hot milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
Grated nutmeg to taste
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 cupful sugar
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
Whipped cream
Put Crisco, crumbs, and salt into a basin, add hot milk and soak ten
minutes. Melt sugar and brown it lightly in a small pan over fire,
then add it to the bread, with eggs well beaten, and flavorings. Pour
into Criscoed pudding dish and bake in moderate oven till firm. Serve
with whipped cream.
Caramel Rice Pudding
1/3 cupful rice
1/2 teaspoonful lemon extract
3 eggs
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1/4 teaspoonful salt
2 cupfuls milk
1/4 cupful sultana raisins
2 tablespoonfuls powdered sugar
1/4 cupful granulated sugar
Melt granulated sugar in small saucepan and cook until brown, but do
not burn; pour it while hot into pudding mold and spread it all over
inside. Wash rice, parboil, drain, and cook slowly in milk thirty
minutes; turn into basin, add powdered sugar, Crisco, salt, raisins,
extract, and eggs well beaten and pour into prepared mold. Set mold
in pan of boiling water and bake in oven till quite set. Turn out and
serve hot or cold.
Carrot Pudding
For Pudding
1 cupful brown sugar
1 cupful grated carrots
1 cupful grated raw potatoes
3/4 cupful Crisco
1 cupful seeded raisins
1/2 cupful breadcrumbs
1/2 cupful milk
1-1/2 cupfuls flour
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful baking powder
1 teaspoonful mixed spices
1 cupful currants
Prune sauce
For Sauce
1/2 lb prunes
1 wineglassful sherry wine
1 lemon
1/2 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon
_For pudding._ Cream Crisco and sugar together, add carrots, potatoes,
raisins, currants, crumbs, flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. Turn
into Criscoed mold, cover, and steam steadily for three hours.
_For sauce._ Soak prunes in water over night, after first washing
them. Next day put them in pan with water they were soaked in, just
enough to cover them, simmer gently until quite soft. Do not allow to
boil, or fruit will be spoiled. Take out stones, crack some, and
save kernels. Rub prunes through sieve, add sherry, kernels blanched,
grated rind and strained lemon juice, and cinnamon, and then, if
thicker than rich cream, add more wine, or water, and use.
Chocolate Jelly
2 squares chocolate
1 tablespoonful Crisco
2 cupfuls boiling water
3/4 cupful sugar
4 tablespoonfuls cornstarch
1/4 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1/2 cupful chopped walnut meats
Whipped cream
Break chocolate into small pieces, dissolve in boiling water, add
Crisco, salt, cornstarch mixed with sugar, stir and boil for eight
minutes. Remove from fire add vanilla and nuts and pour at once into
wet mold. Cool, turn out and serve with whipped cream.
Cottage Pudding
1 cupful sugar
1 egg
1 cupful milk or water
2-1/4 cupfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2-1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1 cupful sultana raisins
Sauce
1 tablespoonful Crisco
1 cupful sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoonful flour
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1-1/2 cupfuls boiling water
_For pudding._ Cream Crisco and sugar together, add egg well beaten,
milk, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, and raisins. Mix well, turn
into greased mold, and bake twenty-five minutes in moderate oven. Turn
out and serve with sauce. This pudding may be steamed for one and a
half hours.
_For sauce_. Mix flour, sugar, and Crisco in small saucepan, then stir
in egg and boiling water and boil for three minutes. Flavor with the
vanilla.
Molasses Sponge Pudding
2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoonful baking soda
1/2 cupful Crisco
1/2 cupful molasses
1 egg
1 tablespoonful breadcrumbs
3/4 cupful milk
1/2 teaspoonful salt
For Sauce
1 teaspoonful Crisco
1 teaspoonful cornstarch
2 tablespoonfuls lemon juice
3 tablespoonfuls molasses
1 cupful hot water
_For pudding_. Mix flour, breadcrumbs, soda and ginger together, then
rub in Crisco with finger tips. Beat egg, add milk, molasses, salt and
stir into dry ingredients. Turn mixture into Criscoed mold, cover with
greased paper and steam steadily for two hours. Turn out and serve
with sauce.
_For sauce_. Blend Crisco and cornstarch together, add molasses,
water, and lemon juice, and boil a few minutes.
Monica Pudding
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
2 cupfuls milk
1/2 cupful flour
3 eggs
1/4 cupful sugar
1/4 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract
For Sauce
1/4 cupful Crisco
1/2 cupful powdered sugar
1/2 cupful cream
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract
_For pudding_. Heat 1 cupful milk. Add other cupful milk gradually to
flour, then stir into boiling milk, stir and cook five minutes. The
mixture should be quite smooth. Remove from fire, add Crisco, sugar,
yolks of eggs well beaten, salt, vanilla, and whites of eggs stiffly
beaten. Turn into Criscoed baking dish, set in pan half full of
boiling water. Bake in moderate oven thirty-five minutes. Serve with
sauce.
_For sauce_. Melt Crisco, add sugar, cream and vanilla extract and
bring to boil.
Noodle Pudding
1 pint noodles
3/4 cupful sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cupful melted Crisco
1 lemon
1/4 cupful blanched and chopped almonds
2 cupfuls milk
1/4 teaspoonful salt
Throw noodles into boiling salted water, and cook five minutes. Drain
in colander. Beat eggs until light and stir in the noodles. Grease
pudding dish with Crisco, put in layer of noodles, sprinkle with
sugar, almonds, grated lemon peel, and melted Crisco. Then add another
layer of noodles and proceed as before, until all are used up. Add
milk and salt, and bake one hour in moderate oven. Serve hot with milk
or cream. This pudding is delicious with stewed fruits.
Peach Delights
1 quart flour
3 teaspoonfuls baking powder
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
1/2 cupful Crisco
1/2 teaspoonful salt
Milk
1 egg
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
Peaches, fresh or canned
Whipped cream
Sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together, then rub Crisco
lightly into them with finger tips; add lemon extract and enough milk
to make soft dough. Drop mixture into Criscoed gem pans; place 1/2
peach on each one; fill cavities with sugar and bake in hot oven
twenty-five minutes. Serve with whipped and sweetened cream.
Sufficient for twenty delights.
Pineapple Pudding
For Pudding
1 can pineapple
1 cupful sugar
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 cupful breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoonful salt
6 eggs
Hard sauce
For Sauce
4 tablespoonfuls sugar
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1/2 cupful Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls sherry
4 tablespoonfuls blanched and chopped almonds
_For pudding_. Beat eggs, add crumbs, salt, Crisco, sugar, and
pineapple cut into small dice. Turn into Criscoed pudding dish and
bake in moderate oven until firm. Serve hot or cold with sauce.
_For sauce_. Beat Crisco with sugar to a cream, add salt, sherry, and
almonds.
Mrs. Vaughn's Plum Pudding
1/2 lb. brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 lb. breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. browned flour
1/2 lb. Crisco
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful powdered cloves
1/2 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoonful powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoonful grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoonful powdered mace
1/2 cupful New Orleans molasses
1/2 cupful brandy (or grape juice)
1/4 cupful lemon juice
1/2 lb. seeded raisins
1/2 lb. sultana raisins
1 lb. currants
1 lb. crystallized fruits, consisting of pineapple, cherries,
figs, orange peel, and citron
Chop crystallized fruits, add raisins and currants, then pour brandy
(or grape juice) over them and let stand several hours. Cream Crisco
and sugar, add eggs well beaten together, and all other ingredients.
Divide into greased mold (small Crisco cans will do) filling
two-thirds full and steam steadily for three hours. Turn out while hot
and serve with hard sauce.
Sufficient for two medium-sized puddings or one very large one.
Rice Pudding
1/2 cupful rice
3 cupfuls milk
3/4 cupful sugar
1/4 cupful Crisco
3 eggs
Powdered cinnamon to taste
1/4 cupful seeded raisins
1/2 teaspoonful salt
Wash rice and steam it in milk until thick, then allow to cool. Cream
Crisco and sugar, add well beaten eggs, raisins, salt, rice, and
cinnamon. Grease pudding dish with Crisco, pour in mixture and bake
one hour in moderate oven.
Walnut Pudding
1/2 cupful sugar
2 cupfuls flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1/2 teaspoonful salt
2 eggs
1 cupful milk
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1 cupful chopped English walnut meats
For Sauce
1 cupful sugar
1/2 cupful water
3 yolks eggs
2 cupfuls whipped cream
1/2 teaspoonful lemon extract
Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together, add eggs well
beaten, vanilla extract, milk, Crisco, and nuts. Mix well and divide
into 9 greased individual molds, cover with greased papers, and steam
steadily for three-quarters of an hour. Turn out and serve.
_For sauce_. Boil sugar and water till syrup spins a thread, pour
over beaten yolks of eggs, and stir quickly. Set aside to cool, stir
occasionally, add lemon extract and just before serving mix in whipped
cream.
Sufficient for nine individual puddings.
Woodford Pudding
(_Kate B. Vaughn_)
1 cupful sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cupful buttermilk
1 teaspoonful baking soda
1-1/2 cupfuls flour
1/2 cupful Crisco
1 cupful blackberry jam
1/2 teaspoonful salt
1/2 teaspoonful grated nutmeg
For Sauce
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful whipped cream
Powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoonful salt
_For pudding_. Cream Crisco and sugar together, add salt, eggs well
beaten, nutmeg, flour, soda mixed with buttermilk, and jam. Mix well
and turn into Criscoed pudding dish and bake in moderate oven thirty
minutes or until firm.
_For sauce_. Cream Crisco and beat in as much powdered sugar as it
will take up, add salt, and stir over boiling water until it becomes
liquid, flavor with vanilla extract or sherry, and just before serving
add cream. Serve hot with pudding.
SANDWICHES
[Illustration]
If the slices of bread have to be spread with butter or with a paste
it should be done before they are cut off. The slices should not be
cut thicker than an eighth of an inch. When butter is used there must
just be enough of it for us to know in some mysterious fashion that
it is there. Every scrap of a sandwich should be eatable. Sandwiches
usually are served on folded napkins, and arranged in circles, so
that one overlaps the other. It is well to lay a damp napkin over the
sandwiches, if they are not wanted immediately, in order to keep them
moist. To make superior sandwich butter, work one cupful of butter
in a basin with a clean and dry wooden spoon until soft; then add by
degrees half a cupful of whipped cream, seasoning of salt and mustard,
and put it in a cool place until required.
Egg and Anchovy Sandwiches
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
10 anchovies
3 hard-cooked eggs
2 tablespoonfuls grated cheese
1 teaspoonful curry powder
1/2 teaspoonful lemon juice
Salt to taste
Brown bread
Watercress
Bone anchovies, put them in basin or mortar with eggs, cheese, and
one tablespoonful Crisco, and pound all well together. Mix remaini
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