1. The protein of ordinary animal foods is very readily and completely digestible.2. The protein of vegetable foods is much less easily digested than that of animal foods.3. The fat of animal foods may at times fail of digestion.4. Sugar and starch are easy of digestion.5. Animal foods have the advantage of vegetable foods in that they contain more protein, and that their protein is more easily digested. (Atwater.)
1. The protein of ordinary animal foods is very readily and completely digestible.
2. The protein of vegetable foods is much less easily digested than that of animal foods.
3. The fat of animal foods may at times fail of digestion.
4. Sugar and starch are easy of digestion.
5. Animal foods have the advantage of vegetable foods in that they contain more protein, and that their protein is more easily digested. (Atwater.)
A diet largely of animal food leaves very little undigested matter. The albuminoids in all cases are completely transformed into nutriment. Fat enters the blood as a fine emulsion.
Absorption.The general rule of absorption is that food is taken into the circulation through the porouswalls of the alimentary tract as rapidly as it is completely digested. A large portion of liquid is immediately absorbed by the blood-vessels of the stomach.
Adaptation of Foods to Particular Needs and Conditions.The demands of different individuals for nutrients in the daily food vary with age, occupation, and other conditions of life, including especially the peculiar characteristics of people. No two persons are exactly alike in their expenditure of muscular and nervous energy, so no two will need the same amount or kind of nutriment to repair the waste.
A man who digs in a field day after day expends a certain amount of muscular energy. A lawyer, statesman, or author who works with his brain instead of his hands uses nervous force, but very little muscular. Brain and muscle are not nourished exactly by the same materials; therefore, the demand in the way of nutriment of these two classes will not be the same.
The lawyer might find a feast in a box of sardines and some biscuit, while the field laborer would look with contempt upon such food, and turn from it to fat pork and cabbage. This is no mere difference in refinement of taste, but a real and instinctive difference in the demands of the two constitutions. Sardines supply to the brain-worker the material he needs, and the pork and cabbage to the laborer the heat and energy he expends.
In health the sense of taste is the best guide to what is demanded by the system, and may as a general rule be followed; but in sickness that will not do, as the sense of taste in particular is disturbed by most forms of disease.
When a patient is very ill only the simplest foods will be used, and those will be prescribed by the physician; but when a patient is out of danger, and the necessity for variety comes, then the nurse, by preparing orsuggesting dishes, may do much toward restoring the person to health and strength.
As a very large percentage of diseases arise from imperfect nutrition (as large as eighty per cent. being given by some writers), the sense of taste is usually very much disturbed and dulled in illness; therefore those kinds of food which are savory, and at the same time easy of digestion and nutritious, should be selected. The savory quality is very important. A person in health may endure badly cooked food and monotony in diet; a person recovering from an illness cannot but suffer by it.
A nurse will find a pleasant field for the exercise of ingenuity in selecting and preparing such dishes as shall (1) be suited to the digestive powers of the patient; (2) shall be savory; (3) shall be sufficiently varied to supply all those materials which the depleted and exhausted body needs; and (4) shall be in such judicious quantity as shall increase nutrition, but never overtax the digestive powers.
The decision of No. 1 (food suited to the digestive powers) is the most difficult, and here again the doctor will advise for particular or peculiar diseases.
There are certain things which from their natural composition are more easy of digestion than others, such, for instance, as milk, eggs slightly coagulated and raw, beef tea with thejuices in solution, cocoa milk, and cocoa, coffee, jellies, gruels, porridge from prepared grains (except oatmeal) whenthoroughlycooked, oysters alive, rice, venison, and tripe.
No. 2, thesavoryquality, depends largely upon preparation, and is under the control of the nurse. A baked potato done in ahotoven, just to the point, and served immediately, is a delicious dish; overdone, or done in an oven of low temperature, and served lukewarm, it is very far from appetizing. A steak, ifcut thin, salted, and broiled slowly, will be hard, dry, and lacking in flavor, but if it is cut thick, at least an inch and a half, better two inches, broiled for the first minute over very hot coals, and then slowly, that the heat may have time to penetrate to the center, and raise the whole to a temperature sufficiently high to cook it (about 160° Fahr.) without charring the outside, it will make a dish both wholesome and savory.
No. 3, the next consideration, is that ofvariety, and here the resources and judgment of the person in charge must come to the front. Only general hints can be given. Endeavor to supply some protein, some fat, some of the carbohydrates, and some mineral matter in each meal. Bread, grains, or potatoes will give the necessary starch. Sugar is usually supplied with drinks. Milk, eggs, meat, fish, and oysters will give protein; cream, butter, bacon, and the fat of other meats will furnish fat, and fruits and green salads give acids and mineral salts. For the latter, grapes, apples, carrots, onions, dandelions, and lettuce are very valuable. Grapes are composed of water with salts in solution, and glucose; both are absorbed with very little outlay from the system. The others are every-day foods, but science has taught that their instinctive use in the past has been a wise one.
No. 4, thequantityof food to offer to a sick person, will depend upon the individual. Give enough, but rather give to an invalidtoo littlethan too much, especially in the first days of using solid food; for after some forms of sickness there is great hunger, and one may injure himself by overeating at such a time. Furnish a little of each kind of food, but let that little be ofgood qualityandperfectly prepared, so that every morsel is eatable. It is discouraging to any one to have set before him food such that much of it must be rejected uneaten. It is very encouraging,especially to an invalid, to be able to eat all that is brought him, and for this end cooking and serving are of great importance. It is necessary to adjust theproportionsof the different kinds of foods to the needs of the consumer, otherwise all unnecessary material will be rejected from the body as waste, or will be accumulated in it to interfere with the workings of the different organs.
In general it may be said that the needs of no two individuals can be satisfied with exactly the same diet. In sickness it is the province of the physician to adjust the food to the condition of the patient. In convalescence the taste of the individual and the judgment of the nurse or attendant combined will usually not fail of good results. If an individual craves a certain dish, and there is no good reason why he should not have it, by all means procure it. Let only your judgment act. It may be something that you personally do not like. That should not influence a decision, provided, of course, that the food is not unwholesome.
We should bear in mind that a sick person is not in the same condition as ourselves, and that no matter how absurd his cravings may seem, they may be but perfectly natural longings for those substances which his depleted and exhausted system needs in order to be restored to health.
PART IIRECIPES
decorative separator
Beef-Juice.The clear juice of beef, slightly diluted with water, is always excellent, being especially useful for its strong flavors. It is like concentrated beef-tea, and is often valuable in pleasantly exciting the action of the mouth and stomach after a long illness in which milk has been the chief article of diet.
Beef-juice is best made by broiling the beef. Prepared in this way, the flavor is superior, and it is a quick and easy method; but when a proper broiling fire cannot be had, then it may be made in a glass jar like beef-tea, except without the water.
Beef-Teais valuable for its stimulating properties and for the warmth that it gives; it is also somewhat nutritious, containing as it does the albuminous juices of the meat, some salts, and the very important flavors. Beef-tea should be prepared in such a manner that the juices are held in solution in the water, not coagulated, to secure which the cooking temperature should never be allowed to exceed that of 160° Fahr.
Broths.Beef, mutton, and chicken broths are the most desirable forms of meat drinks for convalescents and those no longer dangerously ill. By slow cooking at a low temperature at first (the temperature should not exceed 150° Fahr. for the first hour), the extractives and albuminous juices are drawn out; then, by boiling, the gelatin of the bones, flesh, and tissues is dissolved. The nutritive qualities of these broths may be much increased by the addition of bread, rice, tapioca, barley, and sago, cooked during the whole time so that they may be completely dissolved in the liquid.
Bottled.Select a half pound of well-flavored beef, cut away everything except the lean fiber, divide it into small pieces, put them into a glass jar, cover, and place in a deep saucepan of cold water; heat gradually for one hour, but do not allow the temperature at any time to exceed 160° Fahr.; then strain out the juice and press the meat. The liquid should be clear red, not brown and flaky. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. A half pound will make three or four tablespoons of juice. If it is to be used constantly, a larger quantity may be made at once, as it will keep eighteen hours in a refrigerator. Beef-juice may be made into tea by diluting it with warm water.
Broiled.Prepare a fire of clear glowing coals from which all blue flames have disappeared. Cut a piece of lean beef (one half pound from the round or any good lean portion) one and one half inches thick, and remove from it all membranous tissues and fat. Put it into a wire broiler, and broil from six to eight minutes according to the intensity of the fire (seerules for broiling). The piece when done should be pink and full of juice, not dry and hard, nor, on the other hand, bluish-red in the middle. More juice will be obtained if the heat has penetrated to the center than if the meat is raw. When done, cut it into small pieces and squeeze out the juice with a meat-press or a lemon-squeezer. Add a little salt, and it is ready to serve. It should be given in spoonfuls, either warm or cold. If it is necessary to warm it, put a little into a cup and place it in a dish of warm water on the fire. Care should be taken that the water does not become hotter than 160° Fahr., for beyond that temperature the albuminous juices become coagulated and appear as brown flakes.
Bottled.Select and prepare the meat in the same manner as for bottled beef-juice, except that for every half pound a cup of water should be used, poured over after it has been put into the jar. The liquid thus obtained will resemble beef-juice in every respect except in strength. Serve as a drink in a red wine-glass or a china cup.
With Hydrochloric Acid.Hydrochloric acid acts upon the fibers of meat in such a way that they become more easy of digestion. From a given portion of meat much more nutriment is extracted by the use of hydrochloric acid than without it; beef-tea made with it is recommended by physicians as the most easily absorbed form of beef drink, and for feeble children and patients much weakened by sickness it is especially useful.
To Prepare.Select a half pound of good beef; remove from it everything that is not clear meat,—that is, bone, gristle, connective tissue, and fat; chop it fine on a meat-board or in a chopping-tray. Putinto a bowl one cup of water and five drops of dilute hydrochloric acid; stir into this the chopped meat, and set it in a refrigerator or any cool place for two hours to digest. Then strain, flavor with salt, and serve cold in a red wine-glass.
Should there be any objection to the taste or color, heat the tea until it steams and changes to a brownish hue; do not strain out the flakes of coagulated albumen and fibrin which appear, for they are the most nutritious portion of the tea.
Chemically pure hydrochloric acid may be obtained of a druggist (it is usually marked C. P.); from it a diluted solution may be made by mixing it in the proportion of five and one half fluid ounces to fourteen ounces of water.
Beef broth is the juice of beef extracted by the long application of heat in connection with some solvent, usually water.
To make beef broth, allow one pound of meat, or meat and bone, to every quart of water. Wash the meat with a cloth in cold water until it is clean, or wipe it with a wet cloth if it is apparently fresh cut; divide it into small pieces (half-inch cubes) in order to expose as great an extent of surface as possible to the dissolving action of the water. Put it into a granite-ware kettle withcoldwater, and cook it at a low temperature for two hours, then boil it for two hours to dissolve the gelatin. Remove it from the fire, and strain it, using a strainer so coarse that the flakes of albumen may go through (an ordinary wire strainer will do). Skim as much fat as possible from the surface with a spoon, and then remove the remaining small particles with a sheet of clean paper (unsized isbest) drawn over the surface. Season the broth with salt and pepper, and serve it very hot. If not needed at once, it may be set away to cool, when the fat will rise to the top, and form into a cake which may be lifted off.
With Herbs.Make a broth according to the above rule, and flavor it with bay-leaves, mint, or with a bouquet of sweet herbs in the proportion of one teaspoon to a quart of liquid.
With Grains.One tablespoon of any of the following grains—rice, barley, oatmeal, or wheat—to one quart of liquid, gives a pleasant consistency and flavor to beef broth. Tapioca, sago, cold dry toast, or cuttings of bread may also be used. They should be put in when the broth is first set on the fire to cook, that they may be completely dissolved in the liquid.
With Vegetables.Celery, onion, carrot, turnip, or shredded cabbage may be used in broth in the proportion of one tablespoon to a quart. Cabbage is better in combination with onion than alone.
(A QUICK METHOD)
Scrape the pulp from a pound of round or of sirloin steak, or mince the meat in a chopping-tray until it is fine; put it into a saucepan with just enough cold water to cover it, and let it come to the boiling-point slowly; then simmer it for fifteen minutes (better half an hour if there is time). Strain it, take off the fat with a sheet of paper, and season it with salt. This is a somewhat expensive but savory broth, and may easily be made on a gas or alcohol stove.
A beef panada may be made by leaving the pulp in the broth and adding a little rolled cracker-crumbs or some bread softened and squeezed through a strainer.
Put into a granite stew-pan a pint of prepared beef broth,—that is, broth which has been strained, cleared of fat, and seasoned. Add to it one tablespoon of rolled oats, or of ordinary oatmeal, and simmer it gently until the oatmeal is soft and jelly-like. The time required will be about two hours. Then strain it, and serve very hot. This makes a good dish for an invalid for whom oatmeal has not been forbidden. If the broth is reduced by the boiling, add enough water to restore the pint.
Chicken broth should be made with fowl, not with young chicken; a good one weighing three pounds will make three pints of broth.
To Prepare.Singe the chicken with a piece of blazing newspaper to burn off the long hairs; remove all refuse or that which is not clear flesh, viz., pin-feathers, oil-bag, crop, lungs, kidneys, and, of course, the entrails if the fowl is not already drawn. If the pipes in the neck are not all drawn out with the crop, they may be easily taken away when the fowl is cut up. Scrub it well in cold water, and then disjoint and cut it into small pieces; wash each piece thoroughly, retaining the skin if it is clear and free from pin-feathers, otherwise removing it. Put the chicken into cold water and simmer it for two hours, then boil it for two hours. Finally strain it and remove the fat, season it with salt and a bit of white pepper, and serve very hot in pretty china cups, with or without a lunch-cracker or a bit of dry toast.
With Herbs.Parsley, bay-leaves, sage, thyme, or a bouquet of sweet herbs will give a pleasant flavor to chicken broth. A teaspoon to a pint is the right proportion.
With Grains or Vegetables.Rice may be used to advantage in chicken broth, and also pearl-barley, sago, tapioca, and bread. These are among the best additions of the kind that can be made, for with them one is able to preserve the light color so desirable in chicken broth. Onion, celery, and parsley in the proportion of one teaspoon to a pint are suitable vegetables. Celery is especially nice.
One pound of mutton from the neck, or, better, the loin, one quart of cold water, and one teaspoon of chopped onion will be needed for this broth. Remove from the mutton the tough skin, the fat, and all membranes, and cut the meat into small pieces; break the bone, and if it be a part of the spinal column, take out the spinal cord. Put the pieces of meat, the onion, and the water into a saucepan, and simmer them together for three hours; then strain out the meat, dip off the fat from the broth with a spoon, and remove the remaining small particles with paper; season it with salt and white pepper. Serve hot in a pretty cup, with a toasted cracker.
A little bunch of mint, a bouquet of herbs, a few bay-leaves, or a sprinkle of Cayenne pepper or curry-powder will vary the broth agreeably. Pearl-barley is a particularly good addition to make, or rice may be used in the proportion of one teaspoon to a pint.
Select eight fresh oysters, chop them fine in a chopping-tray, and turn them into a saucepan with a cup of cold water; set the saucepan on the fire, and let the water come slowly to the boiling-point, then simmer for five minutes; strain the liquid into a bowl, flavor it with half a saltspoon of salt, and serve hot with or without a small piece of dry toast, or a toasted cream-cracker.
Put a dozen large oysters with their liquor into a stew-pan; simmer for five minutes. Then strain the liquor, leaving out the oysters, and add to it one half cup of milk; set it back on the stove and heat it just to the boiling-point. Flavor with a sprinkle of white pepper and half a saltspoon of salt. Or make it according to rule No. 1, using milk instead of water.
Six large clams in their shells and a cup of water will be needed for this broth. Wash the clams thoroughly with a brush, and place them with the water in a kettle over the fire. The broth is simply the juice of the clams with the water boiled for a minute. It does not require seasoning, as clam-juice is usually salt enough. As soon as the shells open, the broth is done.
This broth and oyster-tea No. 1 are good in cases of nausea, and will be retained on the stomach when almost everything else is rejected.
Gruels are cooked mixtures of grain or flour, with water, or with water and milk. They are best made with milk as a part of the liquid, but care must be taken not to put it into the gruel until the grain has been thoroughly cooked in water, and after that the mixture should not be allowed to boil, as so high a temperature changes the flavor and composition of the milk, and renders it a less desirable food than if it were cooked at a lower temperature,—for instance, 190° or 200° Fahr.
The largest ingredient of grains is starch, which is not easily digested unless well cooked; therefore the time for boiling gruels should be conscientiously kept by the clock. Should the water evaporate, restore to the original quantity before putting in the milk, which should be hot, though notboiling. It may, however, come just to the boiling-point without any special injury.
Gruels served with a cream- or a banquet-cracker or a square of toasted bread are excellent for a convalescent's lunch. They may be varied with flavorings of cinnamon, nutmeg, almond, or a little grated lemon-peel, and sugar. Sugar is mentioned with great hesitancy, for a sweet gruel is an abomination, and yet a gruel with avery littlesugar has a pleasanter flavor than one without any.
Lacking color, gruels may be made attractive byserving them in dainty-hued china. Gruels should be drunk slowly, that the starch, which is partially digested by the action of saliva, may be thoroughly mixed with it before it is swallowed.
1 Tablespoon of Robinson's barley-flour.1 Cup of boiling water.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Scant teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of milk.
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar together with a little cold water, pour on the boiling water, and boil ten minutes; then add the milk, bring just to the boiling-point, strain, and serve very hot. This gruel may be made without the milk, but with a pint instead of a cup of water. Barley is a nutritious grain, rich in phosphates and protein.
1 Tablespoon of arrowroot.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Scant teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of hot water.1 Cup of milk.
Wet the arrowroot with the sugar and salt in two tablespoons of cold water, then pour on thehotwater, stirring constantly. Boil it for twenty minutes, then add the milk and bring just to the boiling-point. Strain it, and immediately serve.
Arrowroot is almost pure starch. Its grains burst at 140° Fahr.; therefore, ifboilingwater be poured upon it, it will form into lumps which will have to be strained out, and thus a part of the material will be lost; hence the necessity of wetting it in cold water to reduce the temperature so that it may be stirred smooth before the lumps form.
Milk is changed by long boiling, and loses some of its agreeable taste; it is better, therefore, not to put the milk into the gruel until after the flour has been thoroughly cooked in the water, thus preserving its natural flavor.
Arrowroot gruel may be flavored with cinnamon by boiling a half square inch of cinnamon bark in the water with which the gruel is made. Nutmeg, lemon juice or peel, and sherry wine may also be used; but the sherry should be avoided unless the gruel is to be served cold.
Pound in a mortar or roll on a bread-board one cup of oatmeal until it is floury. Put it into a bowl, and fill the bowl with cold water; stir well and let it settle for a few seconds; then pour off the milky-looking water into a saucepan, fill again, mix and pour off the water, and so continue until the water no longer appears white, being careful at each pouring not to allow the brown cortex of the grain or any of the coarse portions to get out of the bowl; then boil the water for half an hour. For every pint put in a saltspoon of salt and half a cup of sweet cream, or, if that is not at hand, the same quantity of milk. Beef broth or wine may be used instead of cream. This is the best way to make oatmeal gruel, for by this method the coarseand irritating hulls are excluded, while the good flavor and nutritious properties are preserved.
2 Tablespoons of oatmeal (rolled oats).1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Scant teaspoon of sugar.1 Cupful of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.
Mix the oatmeal, salt, and sugar together, and pour on the boiling water. Cook it in a saucepan for thirty minutes, or in a double boiler two hours; then strain it through a fine wire strainer to remove the hulls, put it again on the stove, add the milk, and allow it to heat just to the boiling-point. Serve it hot. Good oatmeal gruel may be made from cold porridge, by adding water, milk, and a little sugar and straining it, or it may be served unstrained. Many like it so, and it makes an excellent lunch.
1 Tablespoon of flour.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.½ Square inch of cinnamon.
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar, as for other gruels, into a paste with a little cold water; add the piece of cinnamon and the hot water; boil it for twenty minutes,slowly, so that it may not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn; then put in the milk and bring to the boiling-point. Strain it, and serve it very hot. If the gruel is intended for a patient with fever, a little lemon-juice is good in place of the cinnamon. Other flavors may also be used, such as nutmeg, almond, and vanilla.
2 Tablespoons of cracker-crumbs.1 Scant saltspoon of salt.1 Scant teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.
To make the cracker-crumbs, roll some crackers on a board until they are fine. Bent's water-crackers are good, cream-crackers better; mix the salt and sugar with the crumbs, pour on the boiling water, put in the milk, and simmer it for two minutes. The gruel does not need long cooking, for the cracker-crumbs are already thoroughly cooked. Do not strain it.
Farina is a grain which is carefully prepared from the nitrogenous part of selected wheat, and is therefore a better nutrient than rice-flour or arrowroot.
1 Tablespoon of Hecker's farina.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.
Mix the grain, salt, and sugar; pour on the boiling water, and cook ten minutes; then put in the milk, boil for a minute, and it is ready to serve. Farina, being partially prepared, does not need long cooking.
Imperial Granum is a dainty, highly nutritious preparation of wheat, very useful for invalids and children.
1 Tablespoon of Granum.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Teaspoon of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.
Mix the meal, salt, and sugar in a saucepan, pour on the boiling water, and cook ten minutes; then add the milk, and let it again reach the boiling-point, when it is ready to serve.
Mush and porridge may also be made from this grain for the use of children, for whom it is an excellent food, being similar to farina, but more delicate and easier of digestion. Imperial Granum may be obtained at any pharmacy.
1 Tablespoon of Racahout.1 Saltspoon of salt.1 Cup of hot water.1 Cup of milk.
Put the Racahout and salt into a saucepan, mix it into a paste with a little cold water, and then pour onthe hot water; simmer for ten minutes. Have the milk scalding hot in another pan, and when the gruel has cooked the full time pour it in. Strain and serve.
Racahout is a compound consisting principally of sugar, arrowroot, rice-flour, and French chocolate. It makes a most appetizing gruel, and is quite nutritious.Racahout des Arabesis imported largely from France. It may be obtained at any first-class grocery store.
2 Tablespoons of corn-meal.1 Tablespoon of flour.1 Teaspoon of salt.1 Teaspoon of sugar.1 Quart of boiling water.1 Cup of milk.
Mix the corn-meal, flour, salt, and sugar into a thin paste with cold water, and pour into it the boiling water. Cook it in a double boiler for three hours. No less time than that will cook the corn-meal thoroughly. Then add the milk, and it is ready to serve.
Use the fine granulated meal which comes in paste-board packages, prepared for the table, and may be bought of almost any grocer.
Mushis meal or grain cooked in water to the consistency of rather thin pudding.Porridgeis like mush, only thinner. The most important point connected with the preparation of these is thoroughness in the cooking. Made as they generally are of coarsely ground or of rolled grains, they need long boiling to soften the cellulose and to cook the starch properly.
Oatmeal.Oatmeal should be cooked for at least three hours in a double boiler. It is at its best prepared the day before it is needed, and then reheated as it is wanted. If it is done in this way, the flavor is fine, and there is no danger that the grains will be hard. When taken from the kettle, the oatmeal should be of the consistency to pour, and on cooling it ought to form into a tender, jelly-like pudding. Sometimes oatmeal is cooked so that the grains are whole and separate, but it is not easily digested so, and lacks the delicious flavor which long cooking gives.
Oatmeal for those for whom there is no objection to its use is a valuable nutrient, furnishing more for the money than almost any other food.[31]
Indian Meal.Indian meal also requires many hours' cooking. Even if it be in a single vessel and actually boiled, not less than an hour and a half of exposure to heat is safe.
Farina.Farina having been already subjected to a high degree of heat in its preparation, is thereby partially cooked, and does not require as long a time as the raw grains.
Mushes and porridges made from oatmeal, cracked wheat, or any grain on which the tough outside covering remains, are to be avoided in all cases of irritation or disease of the alimentary canal, particularly in diseases of the intestines, for the hard hulls are very irritating to the delicate lining membranes. Young children have exceedingly delicate digestive powers, and are often made ill by coarse, starchy food. For them it is always safest to use the prepared grains, such as farina, granula, and Imperial Granum.
All of the grains given in these recipes may be made intoporridgesby following the rules given for mushes, except that a larger proportion of water should be used. Porridges are like mushes, only thinner.
½ Cup of rolled oats, or ½ cup of granulated oatmeal.½ Teaspoon of salt.1 Pint of boiling water.
Pick over the oatmeal, and put it into a double boiler with the salt. Pour on the boiling water, place the upper vessel of the boiler on the stove, and boil two minutes. This effectually starts the cooking. Then put the upper vessel into the lower, and cook for five hours. The water in the under boiler shouldboilduring this time, and will occasionally need replenishing. Serve the mush steaming hot with sugar and cream, and baked apples, apple sauce, or tart jelly if one is fond of something acid.
If rolled oats be used, three hours are sufficient to cook it, but both kinds are best cooked the day before they are needed, as long cooking improves rather than injures the grain.
Farina being a prepared grain and free from hulls and waste, so large a proportion will not be required to make a mush as of the raw grains.
3 Tablespoons of farina.½ Saltspoon of salt.1 Pint of boiling water.
Cook the mixture in a saucepan for twenty minutes after it actually boils, or in a double boiler for one hour. This is a delicious food for children, served with cream, or milk, and sugar.
Wheat germ is a delicate and nutritious preparation of wheat. It is made so that by boiling for a short time it is ready for the table, and makes a delicious breakfast dish.
½ Cup of germ.½ Teaspoonful of salt.1½ Cups of boiling water.
Boil in a saucepan without a cover for half an hour, or cook in a double boiler twice as long. The directionson the packages give a shorter time, but it is extremely doubtful whether this grain can be wholesome with the few minutes' cooking usually advised.
Imperial Granum, cooked according to the above rule, is always a wholesome and safe dish for children; or it may be made into a very thin gruel, and used as a drink instead of water.
Granula is a breakfast grain which has been partially prepared by dry heat, and is almost cooked enough to use. It is sometimes recommended that it be prepared by simply boiling a minute in milk. It is, however, both softened and improved in flavor by boiling from ten to fifteen minutes in one and one half times its bulk of water, with salt in the proportion of a teaspoon to a cup of grain.
1 Cup of cracked wheat.1 Teaspoon of salt.3 Cups of water.
Pick over the wheat, to remove any foreign substance that may be in it. Put it with the salt and the water (boiling) into a double boiler, and cook for two hours. Serve with cream and sugar, either hot or cold. If it is desirable to have it cold, it may be molded in cups or small round jelly-molds.
1 Cup of corn-meal.1 Teaspoon of salt.1 Quart of boiling water.
No. 1. Make the corn-meal and salt into a paste with a little cold water, then pour in the boiling water and cook it in a double boiler for five hours.
No. 2. Put the salt into the water, and when the water reaches the boiling-point stir in the dry meal by taking a handful and sprinkling it slowly through the fingers. Use a wooden spoon for stirring. Boil an hour and a half. Or, wet the meal in a little cold water, and pour over it the boiling water. The most important point is thoroughness in the cooking, which should be done carefully so that the pudding may not burn on the bottom of the dish. If the temperature be regulated so that it just simmers, there will be little danger of this. Serve with maple syrup, or with cream.
1 Cup of hominy.1 Teaspoon of salt.1¼ Quarts of water.
Put all together in a double boiler, and cook for three hours. Add more water if the mush seems stiff and thick; all preparations of corn absorb a great deal in cooking, and hominy usually needs a little more than four times its bulk. Hominy is exceedingly indigestible unless well cooked, but sweet and nutritious when subjected to a high temperature for a long time.
Break into a bowl one egg, add to it a saltspoon of salt and two teaspoons of sugar; beat it until it is light but not foamy; then add one cup ofslightly warmmilk—that is, milk from which the chill has been taken (for it is not well to use that which is ice-cold)—and one or two tablespoons of French brandy; mix and strain it into a tall slender glass, and serve at once. Egg-nog should not be allowed to stand after it is made, for both the egg and the milk lose some of their freshness by exposure to the air.
1 Cup of milk.2 Tablespoons of brandy.1 Teaspoon of sugar.A little grated nutmeg.
Sweeten the milk with the sugar, stir into it the brandy, and mix thoroughly by pouring from one glass to another. Then grate a bit of nutmeg over the top.
Milk-punch is conveniently made with two tin cups; the mouth of one should be smaller than the mouth of the other, so that the one will fit into the other.In these the milk should be shaken back and forth until a froth is formed. This does not add materially to the taste, but rather to the appearance, and thoroughly mixes in the sugar and brandy.
Warm one cup of milk to a little more than blood-heat, or 100° Fahr., then pour into it one half cup of sherry wine. The acid and alcohol of the wine will in a few minutes coagulate the albumen, which may be separated from the whey by straining. Do not squeeze the curd through the strainer, but let the liquid drip until it is all out. If it is necessary to make the whey quickly, heat the milk to the boiling-point before adding the wine.
(SWEET WHEY)
1 Pint of milk heated to 100° Fahr.1 Teaspoon of prepared rennet.2 Tablespoons of wine.
Stir the rennet and wine into the milk quickly, so that the wine may not curdle the milk in blotches. Let it stand in a warm place (on the stove-hearth, for instance) for half an hour, and then separate the curd from the whey by straining. This whey is excellent for children with delicate digestion who need a little stimulant. It is very good also as a drink for invalids at any time.
Whey is the water of milk with the sugar and various salts of the milk in solution in it. The sugarfurnishes some nutriment, and the salts supply some of the mineral matter needed in the body.
Whey may also be made with vinegar or lemon-juice. These acids will act more quickly when the milk is warmed before they are added.
1 Lemon.1½ Tablespoons of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.
Wash and wipe a lemon, cut a very thin slice from the middle, and squeeze the rest into a bowl; then put in the sugar, pour on the boiling water, and strain it. When it has become cold, serve it in a tumbler with the slice of lemon floating on the top.
Lemonade has a better flavor when made with boiling water, though it may be made with cold water. A few strawberries or raspberries may be put in, instead of the slice of lemon; or it may be colored pink with a little grape-jelly or carmine, and served with a straw.
1 Tablespoon of sugar.1 Cup of boiling water.¼ Cup of lemon-juice.¼ Cup of sherry.1¼ Cups of cold milk.
Pour the boiling water over the sugar, and then put in the lemon-juice and sherry. Stir it until the sugar dissolves, add the cold milk, and stir again until themilk curdles, then strain through a jelly-bag or napkin.
This is a cool and refreshing drink, especially for children.
Heat some milk in a granite saucepan for half an hour to sterilize it, but do not let it boil; then pour it into a pitcher, and set it aside to cool. When the milk is cold, beat one egg with one tablespoon of sugar until the sugar is well mixed; add to it two tablespoons of brandy and a cup of the cold milk. Strain it into a tall slender glass, and serve at once.
Heating the milk renders it perfectly wholesome and much safer for an invalid than raw milk, and also improves the flavor of the drink.
Break an egg into a bowl, and put in a teaspoon of sugar; beat the two together until the sugar is thoroughly mixed with the egg, but not enough to make the egg froth; to this add two tablespoons of sherry wine, and a fourth of a cup of cold water, mixing them thoroughly. Strain all into a tumbler, and serve immediately.
The change which takes place in milk known as "souring" is caused by the growth of micro-organisms in it, which are killed by heat; therefore, to prevent souring, milk must be subjected to a temperaturesufficiently high to insure their destruction. Some micro-organisms are killed at 136° Fahr., but this temperature cannot be said to destroy, or to inhibit the growth of all bacteria commonly found in milk. We must endeavor then to use such a degree of heat as shall accomplish this without seriously injuring the natural properties and flavors of the liquid. Authorities vary on this point, some putting the temperature as high as 212° Fahr., and others as low as 167° Fahr. The author has found, in an experience of two years in sterilizing milk every day, that 190° Fahr. is, under ordinary circumstances, a safe and easily practicable temperature to employ. With this degree of heat the flavor of the milk is excellent.
The process is as follows: The milk is put into clean glass flasks or bottles with small mouths which are stoppered with plugs of cotton batting, or, as it is sometimes called, "cotton-wool." These are placed in a wire basket, and the basket immersed in a kettle of warm water, the temperature of which is not allowed to exceed 190° Fahr. As soon as the heat is at or near that point the time is marked, and the milk is kept at that temperature for one hour. Then the bottles are removed, cooled quickly, and placed in the refrigerator. If it is desirable to keep the milk an indefinite time, the process should be repeated the second day, and again the third day, a third sterilization being necessary to insure success, sincesporesof organisms may escape the first and even the second heating.
For all ordinary household purposes, however, and as a safe food for the sick, heating once is all that is necessary. Milk thus treated will keep in the temperature of an ordinary room, even in warm weather, from twenty to thirty hours. By using the small-mouthed flasks very little scum is formed, and thus the valuable albuminous portion is preserved in the milk.Also, a small quantity at a time may be used without disturbing the rest.
To Sterilize for Family Use.Milk may also be preserved by open sterilization in a saucepan or kettle by the following simple process: Heat the milk until a scum forms over it; keep it at, or near, the temperature it then has for one hour, then pour it into a thoroughly washed and scalded pitcher, cool it, and put it into a refrigerator or some cool place. It will remain sweet for twenty-four hours, and, unless the weather be very warm, it will be good at the end of thirty-six hours. Should it sour before the end of twenty-four hours, it indicates that the temperature was too low, or the time of exposure to the heat too short. A chemist's thermometer costs but little, and will be found very useful for testing milk. It should be borne in mind, in this connection, that milk is not renderedabsolutelysterile,—that is, free from all possible organisms and spores which may occur in it,—except at a temperature of at least 212° Fahr., or even higher.
Sterilized milk diluted with water is a nutritious and wholesome drink for the sick. Of course the water with which it is diluted should be boiled.[32]
In hospital practice nurses have told me that patients suffering from sleeplessness will often fall into quiet slumber after drinking hot milk, and that not infrequently the ordered hypodermic of morphine is not needed when hot milk is used.
Mix equal quantities of sterilized milk and seltzer-water. Drink immediately.
Into a glass half full of fresh milk put an equal quantity of soda-water. Use at once. This is an agreeable way to take milk, and is a nutritious and refreshing drink.
Cut three slices of bread each a third of an inch thick, and toast them slowly until very brown and dry throughout; break them into small pieces, put them into a bowl with a pint of cold water, and set aside to soak for an hour; at the end of that time turn it into a strainer or napkin, and squeeze out the liquid with the back of a spoon. To the water thus obtained add a little cream and sugar, and serve it cold in a tumbler. It may also be served without the cream.