Return to Table of Contents
“Do come and taste how nice the burnt pig eats!” So cried the miscreant son of Hati when his attempt to rescue his father’s live-stock from utter destruction resulted (at least according to Lamb) in adding one more delicacy to the table of civilized man. That the “burnt pig” commended itself instantly to the taste of other men is attested by the recklessness with which they ignited their own houses to secure the new sensation again.
Not all flavors make an immediate appeal. Many persons can mark the time when they learned to like olives, or tomatoes, or tea. The taste for some foods was acquired so early that there is no consciousness of any time when they were not enjoyed, and the impression prevails that the liking for such foods is instinctive. Sometimes that is the case, but quite as often not. Children have to be taught by patient repetition to like most of the common foods which make the staples of the diet, and likings thus acquired are as strong as those which seem more natural.
However taste be accounted for, we have to recognize the fact that food is chosen for flavor more than for ultimate benefit. It is one thing to say that oatmeal is more nutritious than bread and coffee; it is quite another to induce a man to give up the latter for the former! And yet the distinguishing characteristic of man is that he can subjugate his immediate impulses for his future benefit, or find a course that will harmonize the two—take coffee with his oatmeal for instance, or find some way to flavor it, perhaps with sugar.
Probably no one flavor is so universally enjoyed as sweetness. “Sweeter than the honey in the honey comb” is an ancient symbol of appreciation. When the sugar bowl is empty how many things lose zest! Tea, coffee, cocoa, breakfast cereals, fruit, might still be acceptable, but cake, pie, and ice cream are unthinkable without sweetness; the soda fountain, the bakery, and the candy shop bear further testimony to our love of sweets. Four million tons of sugar a year for the American people—eighty-five pounds apiece, nearly a quarter of a pound apiece daily—this is no inconsiderable amount of flavoring!
But is not sugar good food? Most assuredly. Three lumps of sugar would furnish the extra energy needed to walk a mile; a quarter of a pound represents about one-sixth of a man’s daily fuel requirement. But one baked potato would furnish the same energy as the three lumps of sugar; a quarter of a pound of cornstarch would supply the same fuel as the quarter pound of sugar. Nutritionally starch and sugar are interchangeable, the advantage as far as digestion is concerned being with the starch rather than the sugar. And yet we put sugar on starch! So much for instinct being a guide to scientific food combinations!
The problem of doing without sugar is primarily a problem of flavor—a problem of finding something else which is sweet. Hence we turn our cornstarch into glucose (make corn syrup, for example) outside the body instead of inside it, so that we can taste the sweetness as it goes down. The main trouble with this kind of sugar is that it is not sweet enough to satisfy us and we are apt to use too much, thus endangering our digestions by sheer concentration of what would be, in smaller quantities, most wholesome. Once more we see that nutrition is largely a question ofhow much; how much glucose or other sugar our stomachs can stand we find out by experience; few stomachs can stand when empty the quantity represented by a lollipop, and yet we frequently see children allowed to suck these between meals. The same amount of sugar diluted with water, as in a glass of lemonade, would do less harm; it might be combined with flour in a cooky with more impunity; better yet, it might be made a part of a whole meal, taking it in several dishes (sauce, dessert, etc.), or, if we must have it as candy, at the end of the meal. Used in this way, the advantages of sugar as a food may be had with relatively little disadvantage.
Honey, “the distilled sweetness of the flower,” commands a price commensurate with the exquisiteness of its production, but is not quite as easy of digestion as some other forms of sugar. Because of its intense sweetness it may be combined with advantage with less sweet syrups, such as corn syrup. The cook estimates that by measure it will take one and a half times as much corn syrup as cane sugar to get the customary effects in sweet dishes. By using one part of honey to three of corn syrup a sweeter product is obtained, which is free from several of the disadvantages of honey in cookery.
Maple syrup and sugar are not only prized for their sweetness, due to the presence of ordinary cane sugar, but for the delicate “maple” flavor so difficult to duplicate. Nutritionally a tablespoon of maple sugar is equivalent in fuel value to about four-fifths of a tablespoon of cane sugar, while equal volumes of cane molasses, corn syrup, and maple syrup are interchangeable as fuel, though not of equal sweetening power.
Molasses is a less one-sided food than cane sugar or corn syrup. The latter furnish nothing but fuel, and if used too freely not only disturb digestion but tend to crowd out foods which yield mineral salts. Molasses is quite rich in calcium, one tablespoonful yielding as much as five ounces of milk, and is for this reason a better sweet for growing children than ordinary sugar or corn syrup when the amount of milk which they can have is limited, or when fruits and vegetables are hard to get. Molasses ginger snaps make, therefore, an excellent sweet for children, much better than candy, but of course to be eaten only at meal time.
The aim of good home cooking should be to please the family with what they ought to eat. The chef in a big hotel may have to prove the superiority of his art over that of a rival chef, and vie with him in novelty and elaboration, but the home cooking may be ever so simple provided the result is a happy, well-nourished family. A chocolate layer cake that takes two hours out of a day is no more nourishing than the same materials served as poached eggs, bread and butter, and a cup of chocolate. It is worth while to train a family to enjoy the flavor of simply prepared foods, and to realize that the food is the thing which counts and not the way it is dressed up. On the other hand, if one has to use a few food materials over and over, as one must in many places when the money that can be spent for food is very little, it is by slight changes in their form and flavor that one keeps them from palling on the appetite. If one has to use beans every day, it is a good thing to know a dozen different ways of preparing beans. One may have the plain bean flavor, properly toned up by a suitable amount of salt; the added flavor of onions, of tomatoes, of fat pork, of molasses, or a combination of two or three. One may have plain oatmeal for breakfast (the flavor developed by thorough cooking, at least three or four hours in a double boiler or over night in a fireless cooker); oatmeal flavored with apples in a pudding for dinner; or oatmeal flavored with onions and tomatoes in a soup for supper; the same food but quite different impressions on the palate.
Herbs and spices have from time immemorial given flavor to man’s diet. “Leeks and garlic,” “anise and cumin,” “salt and pepper,” “curry and bean cheese,” are built into the very life of a people. The more variety of natural foods we have the less dependent we are upon such things. Our modern cooks, confronted in the present crisis with restrictions in the number of foods which they may use, may find in bay leaves, nutmeg, allspice, and all their kind, ways of making acceptable the cereals which make a diet economical, the peas and beans which replace at least a part of the meat, and dried fruits and vegetables which save transportation of fresh or canned goods.
Tea and coffee are both flavors and stimulants. They are used literally by thousands to give flavor to bread or rice. Dependence on a single flavor is apt to result in a desire to have it stronger and stronger, and hence less and less wholesome. This is a good reason for some variety of flavor; better tea one meal and coffee another than the same one all the time. Too freely used, and made too strong, tea and coffee may have a bad effect upon the nervous as well as the digestive system. They should never be given to children. It is better for adults to get their flavor from something without such effects. Because the combination of bread and coffee tastes good, one may be deceived into thinking himself well nourished on a diet consisting of little else. And yet this is a very inadequate diet for anybody, and disastrous to the normal development of children. One must be on guard, then, lest one’s desire for flavor be satisfied without the body’s real needs being met.
The wise cook saves her best flavors for the foods which would be least acceptable without them and does not add them to foods which are good enough by themselves. The latter course marks the insidious beginning of luxury. “Once give your family luxuries and you are lost as far as satisfying them economically is concerned,” remarked a clever housewife. “Even a rat will not taste bread when bacon is nigh,” observed a sage physiologist. The demand for flavor grows and grows with pampering, till nothing but humming-birds’ tongues and miniature geese floating in a sea of aspic jelly will satisfy the palate of him who eats solely for flavor—who never knows the sauce of hunger, or the deliciousness of a plain crust of bread. We must be on guard, saying, like the little daughter of a classical professor, “If Scylla doesn’t get me Charybdis will.” Flavor we must have, but not too much, not too many kinds at once, and not applied indiscriminately to foods which need them and foods which do not. The wise cook uses her arts to secure the proper nourishment of the family and not for her fame as “a good cook.”
Return to Table of Contents
Who does not sigh for the fairy table that comes at the pressing of a button? It is invariably laden with the most tempting viands, satisfies beyond words, and disappears when the meal is over, leaving behind no problem of leftovers or planning for the next meal! No money, no work, no thought, only sheer enjoyment. Alas, how different is the world of fact! Even if we have plenty of money we cannot escape from the thought of food today. There is imperative need for saving of food materials; at best there will not be enough to go around, and all the world, ourselves included, will suffer in proportion as we neglect the duty of food conservation. To be economical in the use of food materials according to the program of the Food Administration may, probably will, demand the spending of more money, time, and thought upon food. If we have the money and time to spend, well and good; but if we have not, how shall we do our share in sending more “wheat, meat, sugar and fats to our soldiers, sailors and allies”?
Thousands of people had to practice strict economy before the war began. They have no more money than they had then and the cost of food has increased. Certainly the first duty of everyone is to secure sufficient nourishment to avoid the undermining of health and strength which is sure to follow inadequate food. But we must all remember that it is possible to make a great many changes in diet without altering food value, and that there are few diets which cannot be so rearranged as to give a better nutritive return on the money spent than is usually secured by our haphazard methods of planning meals. Saving of waste is commendable and will go a long way, but this is a kind of passive service; loyal citizens ought to be active participants in the food conservation movement, which is a movement to distribute food in the way which shall promote the efficiency of our allies and ourselves in this world upheaval. To do this without increasing the cost of one’s diet requires a careful study of the situation. No one can give precise rules as to how it shall be done, but perhaps a few suggestions as to the underlying principles will help in determining a dietary plan which shall be economical and still in line with the general policy.
The same nutritive essentials must be supplied whether the cost of the diet be much or little. A moderately active man needs some 3,000 calories per day whether his activity be playing golf or working on a farm; whether his board bill be $3.00 a day or $3.00 a week. In both cases there must be suitable kinds and amounts of protein-bearing food, of other “building materials,” and those substances which directly or indirectly affect the smooth running of the body machinery; nevertheless, these two diets, closely alike in nutritive value, may be very dissimilar in their superficial appearance. For instance, all the nutritive requirements may be met in a ration composed of three food materials, as milk, whole wheat bread, and apples; on the other hand, by one composed of canvas-back duck, truffles, lettuce, celery, cranberries, white bread and butter, cream, coffee, and perhaps a dozen other items. We love all the various sensations that come from the mingling in a meal of food hot and cold, moist and dry, crisp and soft, sweet and sour, exhibiting the artistic touch as well as the homelier virtues; it is the sacrifice of pleasure of the esthetic sort that food economy and to some extent food conservation entail.
The first step in food economy (aside from saving of waste) is to emphasize the use of cereal foods. As much as one-fourth the food money may be invested in grain products without nutritive disadvantage. But this is not the last word on the subject, since cereal foods, while cheap, differ among themselves in cost and somewhat in nutritive value. It is possible to confine one’s choice to some which contribute little besides fuel to the diet, such as rice and white flour, or to include those which are rich in other essentials, such as oatmeal. It is difficult to express briefly this difference in foods in any concrete fashion, but recently a method of grading or “scoring” foods has been introduced which may help to make clearer the relationship between nutritive value and general economy.
We cannot live exclusively upon foods which furnish nothing but fuel, though fuel is the largest item in the diet and one which in an effort to economize is apt to fall short; hence a food which furnishes nothing but fuel will not have as high a “score” as a food which will at the same time supply certain amounts of other essentials, such as protein, calcium (lime), iron, and the like. By giving definite values to each of the dietary essentials taken into consideration and comparing the yield of these from different foods, we may have such a score as follows:11. For the method of calculation and further data see "The Adequacy and Economy of Some City Dietaries" by H.C. Sherman and L.H. Gillett, published by The New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York City, from which these figures are taken.
By comparing the score with the price per pound we can easily see which contributes most to the diet as a whole for the money expended. Thus, if hominy and oatmeal cost the same, the oatmeal is more than twice as cheap because we not only get a little more fuel from it but we also get protein, calcium, iron, and phosphorus in considerably larger amounts; that is, we shall need less of other foods with oatmeal than we shall with hominy. This does not mean that hominy is not an excellent and a cheap food, but it does mean that when the strictest economy must be practiced it pays to buy oatmeal. The task of the housewife is to find out how much she can make acceptable to her family; how much she can serve as breakfast food, how much in muffins and bread, how much in soups and puddings. This economy is strictly in harmony with the principles of food conservation—saving of wheat, so hard to do without entirely, so easy to dispense with in part.
Cornmeal gives as good a nutritive return per pound as cream of wheat, so that as long as the price of cornmeal is not higher than that of the wheat product it is both good economy and good patriotism to use it as far as one can. And, even if cornmeal should be dearer than wheat, one can save money by increasing the proportion of cereals in the diet so as to be able to be patriotic without increasing the food bill.
A second measure which generally makes for food economy is to emphasize the use of dried fruits and vegetables. The score of some of these foods almost speaks for itself:
From the foregoing it is evident that, unless the cost of a pound of fresh apples is less than one-fifth that of dried ones, the dried will be cheaper; that if dates and raisins cost the same per pound they are equally economical to buy. It may be noted, too, that the return on a pound of dried fruit may be quite as good in its way as the return on a pound of a grain product, but they will be equally cheap only when they cost the same per pound in the market. Here, again, there is no incompatibility between economy and conservation of special foods. Even in the case of beans is this true, for, while certain kinds are wanted for the army and navy, there are dozens of kinds of beans; one may count it as part of one’s service to find out where these can be obtained, how they are best cooked and served. Soy beans commend themselves for their nutritive value, but how many American housewives have made them a part of their food program? How many have tried to buy them or asked their dealers to secure them?
A third step in the program of economy is the reduction of the amount of meat consumed. In many American families at least one-third the food money is spent for meat. That there are adequate substitutes which may be used to reduce the amount of meat bought has been already shown. Saving of meat is one of the most important planks in the food conservation program; so here again there is no inevitable conflict between conservation and economy. Some meat is desirable for flavor if it can possibly be afforded, but no economically inclined person should set aside more than one-fourth to one-fifth of the food money for it. How much one will get depends upon the kind and cut selected. There is not so much difference in the nutritive value as there is in the cost, as the following examples of “meat scores” will show:
The great value of milk in the diet has already been discussed. The “score” of milk is about the same as that for sugar (milk, 761; sugar, 725); hence, if sugar is ten cents a pound and milk eighteen-cents a quart (about nine cents per pound), milk is cheaper than sugar. Yet there are people cutting down their milk supply when the cost is only thirteen or fourteen cents per quart on the ground that milk is too expensive! The economical housewife should have no compunctions in spending from one-fifth to one-fourth of her food money for this almost indispensable food. Whether the free use of milk will be good food conservation as well as good economy depends upon the supply. If there is not enough to go around, babies and the poor should have the first claim upon it and the rest of the world should try to get along with something less economical.
A pound of eggs (eight or nine eggs) gives about the same nutritive return as a pound of medium fat beef, but to be as cheap as beef at thirty cents a pound, eggs must not cost over forty-five cents a dozen. Eggs must be counted among the expensive foods, to be used very sparingly indeed in the economical diet. Nevertheless the use of eggs as a means of saving meat is a rational food conservation movement, to be encouraged where means permit.
The saving of sugar, while a necessary conservation measure, is contrary to general food economy, since sugar is a comparatively cheap fuel food and has the great additional value of popularity. Sugar substitutes are not all as cheap as sugar by any means, but molasses, on account of its large amount of mineral salts, especially of calcium, has a score value of 2,315 as against 725 for granulated sugar, and may be regarded with favor by those both economically and patriotically inclined.
In the case of fats, practical economy consists in paying for fuel value and not for flavor. The score values for butter, lard, olive oil, and cottonseed oil are about the same. The cheapest fat is the one whose face value per pound (or market cost) is the lowest. Fats are not as cheap as milk and cereals if they cost over ten cents per pound. The best way to economize is by saving the fat bought with meat, using other fats without much flavor, and cutting the total fat in the diet to a very small amount, not over two ounces per person per day. This is also good food conservation, since fats are almost invaluable in rationing an army, and those with decidedly agreeable flavor are needed to make a limited diet palatable.
No program either of economy or food conservation can cater to individual likes and dislikes in the same way that an unrestricted choice of food can. If one does not like cereals it is hard to consume them just to save money, especially to the extent of ten to fifteen ounces of grain products in a day. Yet one might as well recognize that in this direction the lowering of the cost of the diet inevitably lies. If one does not like corn, it is hard to substitute corn bread for wheat bread. But one might as well open one’s mind to the fact that the only way to put off the day when there will be no white bread to eat is to begin eating cornmeal now. Most of us want to eat our cake and keep it too—to enjoy our food and not pay for our pleasure; to do our duty towards our country and not feel any personal inconvenience. But the magic table of the fairy tale is not for a nation at war; food is not going to come at the pressing of a button during this conflict. If we are to escape bankruptcy and win the war we must eat to be nourished and not to be entertained.
Return to Table of Contents
The following recipes illustrate some of the practical applications of the principles discussed in the foregoing pages. They have been selected from various publications, a list of which is given below. The numbers following the titles of the recipes correspond with the numbers of the publications in this list.
Pour cold water gradually over corn meal and salt. Cook over water for 20 minutes. Add fat and syrup. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add yeast which has been softened in the lukewarm water. Add flour gradually, stirring or kneading thoroughly after each addition of flour. Knead lightly for 10 or 15 minutes. Shape into a loaf. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake in a moderate oven (360-380°) for about an hour. (The amount of corn meal may be reduced if one desires a loaf with the characteristics of wheat bread.)
Soften yeast cake in water, add remaining ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Let rise, shape, let rise again and bake.
Slightly beat the egg, add milk, salt, and soda. Stir in the meal. Beat well. Add melted lard and baking powder. Bake in hot greased pan. Cut in squares and serve. Do not have batter too stiff.
Mix dry ingredients and add milk and melted butter. Put in greased muffin pan and bake 30 minutes in a moderate oven.
Add boiling water to the rolled oats, stir well and let stand for one hour. Add molasses, salt, fat, dissolved yeast cake, and flour; let the dough rise to double its bulk, beat well, and turn into greased bread pans, let rise the second time, and bake about one hour in a moderate oven.
Mix and sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg well beaten and one-half the milk. Mix the remainder of the milk with the cereal, and beat in thoroughly. Then add the butter. Bake in buttered muffin or gem tins about 30 minutes in a moderate oven.
Mix and sift dry ingredients, add molasses and milk, stir until well mixed, turn into a well-greased mold, and steam three and one-half hours. The cover should be greased before being placed on mold. The mold should never be filled more than two-thirds full. A one-pound baking powder box makes the most attractive shaped loaf for steaming; place mold on a trivet in kettle containing boiling water, allowing water to come half-way up around mold; cover closely and steam, adding as needed more boiling water. One cup chopped peanuts and 1 cup of cut dates may be added.
This proportion makes two loaves of bread.
Scald the milk with sugar, salt, and fat. Let cool until lukewarm and pour over the boiled rice. Add yeast which has been softened in one-quarter cupful warm water. Stir in flour and knead. Let rise until double its bulk. Knead again and put into pans. Let rise until light and bake 50 minutes to one hour in a moderate oven.
The rice should be boiled in a large quantity of boiling water, in order to insure a dry rice. At least eight or ten times as much water as rice should be used.
Mix and sift the dry ingredients; add the milk and melted fat. Mix quickly, do not beat. Bake in greased muffin pans 20 minutes in a hot oven.
Mix and sift dry ingredients, beat egg, add to it milk and molasses, then stir liquid mixture into dry ingredients. Do not beat. Place in well-greased muffin tins and bake in moderate oven 25 to 30 minutes.
Scald the milk with the salt, sugar, and fat. Soften the yeast in the six tablespoonfuls of water.
Cool the milk by adding the rest of the water cold, stir in the yeast and flour, and knead. Let rise until double in bulk. Knead again and shape into rolls. Let rise until very light and bake.
Sift together the soda, spices, salt, and flour. Cream the butter, add sugar, apple sauce, dry ingredients, and seeded raisins. Bake in a moderate oven.
Beat the eggs, add the sugar and melted butter, and beat until thoroughly mixed. Sift the buckwheat, spices, and salt together and add very slowly. Mix well; roll on a floured board one-eighth to one-sixteenth inch thick. Cut the cookies and bake on a greased baking sheet in a moderate oven about 10 minutes.
Rub the butter and honey together; add the egg well beaten, then the sour milk and the flour sifted with the soda and spices. Bake in a shallow pan.
Sift together the salt, sugar, flour, soda, and spices. Melt butter in hot water, add molasses, egg well beaten, and dry ingredients. Mix well. Bake in small cup cake tins in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes.
Sift together the flour, salt, soda, and ginger. Melt fat; add hot water and molasses; stir this liquid gradually into the dry ingredients. Chill. Roll on floured board to one-eighth inch thickness. Cut. Bake about 10 minutes in a moderate oven (360-380° F.).
Pour boiling water over fat; add sugar and molasses; add flour, soda, spices, and salt sifted together. Chill. Roll one-eighth inch thick. Cut in strips about three and a half by one inch. Sprinkle with cocoanut and English walnuts cut in small pieces.
Bake about 10 minutes in a moderate oven.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the oatmeal. Beat the egg add sugar, water, and milk, dry ingredients mixed together, raisins, and melted fat. Drop from spoon on greased baking sheet and bake in moderate oven.
Combine the melted fat and sugar and syrup, add the beaten egg and stir in the other ingredients. Drop from a teaspoon on greased baking sheets or pans and bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes.
Combine the ingredients in the order given and drop the mixture by spoonfuls on a slightly greased tin. Bake the cookies in a moderate oven.
Cream fat; add sugar gradually, syrup, egg well beaten; mix and sift dry ingredients; add alternately with milk to first mixture. Add raisins (which have been rolled in a little of the flour), mixing them through the cake thoroughly.
Bake about 30 minutes in a moderate oven (about 380° F.).
Mix the banana with the shelled peanuts, which have been crushed. Salt to taste. Use as a filling for sandwiches.
Wash, scrape, and steam carrots until soft; chop fine and mix with fruit and sugar. Cook gently one hour.
Simmer together for 20 minutes cranberries, dates, and water; put through a sieve; add sugar and cook 15 minutes longer.
Soak apricots over night in cold water. When soaked add raisins, lemon juice, orange sliced very thin, with slices cut in small pieces, and corn syrup. Bring to boiling point and simmer for about one and one-quarter hours. Add nuts 15 minutes before taking from fire.
Wash figs, raisins, and dates, and put through food chopper. Add salt, peanut butter, lemon juice, and corn syrup, and mix well.
Wash and cut plums in pieces: add chopped raisins, orange pulp and peel, cut very fine; corn syrup and water; boil until it is of the consistency of marmalade (about one and one-half hours of slow cooking). Add walnuts five minutes before removing from fire.
Soak barley over night. Drain. Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Add left over gravy and bake for 20 minutes in a moderate oven. If one has a meat bone, or left over bits of meat, these may be boiled with the barley to give it flavor.
Wash the beans and soak them over night. Cut the pork into small pieces and try out the fat. Cut the beef into small pieces and brown it in the pork fat, then add the vegetables with water enough to cover. Cook just below the boiling point for about three hours.
Mix the water, bread crumbs, salt, and cheese; add the yolks thoroughly beaten; into this mixture cut and fold the whites of eggs beaten until stiff. Pour into a buttered dish and cook 30 minutes in a moderate oven. Serve at once.
Cut the meat into small pieces. Add cooked vegetables cut into small cubes, onion and water. Put fat into hot frying pan, add hash and cook for about 20 minutes, allowing the hash to brown. Other left over meat may be added to corned beef, or used instead of corned beef.
Cook onion thinly sliced in beef marrow or suet. Add to water with meat and bone and cook until meat is tender. Let cool, skim off fat, and remove bone. To liquid remaining, add enough water to make one quart. Add corn meal and salt and cook one hour. Turn into a mold, cool, cut in slices, and fry in pork fat until brown. Serve with or without gravy.
Cut the pork into small pieces and try it out. Add the onion and cook for about five minutes. Strain the fat into a stew pan. Cook the potatoes for about five minutes in boiling salted water. Drain, and add the potatoes to the fat. Add the boiling water and cook until the potatoes are soft. Then add corn and milk and heat to the boiling point. Add the salt, pepper, sugar, and butter. Serve immediately after adding butter.
Mix the cheese, ground nuts, crumbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Cook the onion in the fat and a little water until tender. Add to the first mixture the onion and sufficient water or meat stock to moisten. Mix well, pour into a baking dish, and brown in the oven.
Salt codfish, smoked halibut, or other dried fish may be used in this chowder. Pick over and shred the fish, holding it under lukewarm water. Let it soak while the other ingredients of the dish are being prepared. Cut the pork into small pieces and fry it with the onion until both are a delicate brown; add the potatoes, cover with water, and cook until the potatoes are soft. Add the milk and fish and reheat. Salt, if necessary. It is well to allow the crackers to soak in the milk while the potatoes are being cooked, then remove them, and finally add to the chowder just before serving.
Parboil cabbage, onion, rice, potatoes, and green pepper together in salted water for 20 minutes. Drain. Clean fish, cut into small pieces, and mix with parboiled vegetables, canned tomatoes, water, and seasonings. Bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes. Baste occasionally while cooking. Serve with a garnish of sliced lemon.
Soak beans over night in cold water to cover. In the morning place beans over fire, adding water to cover if necessary. Add onion, rice and tomatoes and cook slowly until beans are soft. If too thick, add water. Mix flour and fat, and use to thicken stew.
Put into an oiled baking dish a layer of left over oatmeal, then a sprinkling of grated cheese, pepper and salt, another layer of oatmeal, then cheese and seasonings; continue until the dish is full. Melt the fat and mix with this the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the dish. Bake in a moderate oven until the crumbs are golden brown.
Soak peas in cold water over night. Cook in boiling water until soft. Rub through a sieve. To one cup of this pea pulp add bread crumbs, milk, seasoning, egg (slightly beaten), and melted fat. Turn mixture into a small, oiled bread pan. Set pan into a second pan, containing water. Bake mixture 40 minutes or until firm. Remove loaf from pan. Serve with white sauce. One-half cup of cheese may be added to one and one-half cups of the sauce.
Pick over and wash beans, cover with water, and let soak over night. Drain; cook in boiling salted water until tender, about one and one-half hours. Force through a strainer, add remaining ingredients. Shape into form of sausages, roll in crumbs, egg, and crumbs again. Sauté in fat until brown. It requires about two-thirds cup crumbs and one-half egg for dipping sausage. May be garnished with fried apples.
Soy beans, known in the retail market as togo beans, resemble navy beans in some ways. They contain, however, a considerable amount of fat. For this reason neither pork nor other fat is used in cooking them unless it is wanted for flavor. They are considerably richer in protein also.
Wash and pick over one quart of soy beans. Cover with boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, and soak over night in the same water. In the morning pour off and save the water. Pour cold water over the beans and rub them between the hands to remove the skins, which will float off in the water. Removing the skins in this way takes only two or three minutes and greatly improves the quality of the dish. If a few skins are left on, they will do no harm, unless the dish is being prepared for a person of poor digestion. Drain the beans, pour over them the water in which they were soaked, and cook until tender at a temperature just below the boiling point. Pour off the water, put the beans into a bean pot, cover with cold water, add one and one-half tablespoonfuls of salt, and bake four or five hours in a covered dish. Remove the cover and bake one hour more.
Mix dry ingredients, add beaten egg and milk. Put into a greased pan, pour the melted fat on top, bake. Turn on a hot platter and serve with sauce.
Melt fat, add flour with seasoning, add hot water in which beef cube has been dissolved. Just before serving add lemon juice.
This nut loaf with its accompanying sauce is a highly nutritious dish and is excellent for lunch or supper. Serve no meat or potatoes with it.
The beans should be soaked over night and cooked in fresh water until tender. Press through a sieve, add other ingredients, mix well. Shape into a loaf, place in pan, and bake about two hours, basting with melted fat and hot water.
Heat milk in a double boiler, add peanut butter, onion, bay leaf, chopped celery, and other seasoning. While the milk is heating, melt fat in a separate sauce pan, stirring in flour as for cream sauce. When smooth add the hot milk, after straining through a sieve. Serve at once with croutons or tiny squares of bread browned till crisp.
Grind peanuts in a meat grinder. Mix all ingredients except the white of the egg. Beat the egg white stiff and fold in. Turn into a buttered pudding dish and bake in a moderate oven 30 to 35 minutes.
Chop and crush the nuts until very fine; add the vegetables and water; simmer 20 minutes. Make a white sauce of the other ingredients, mix the two mixtures thoroughly and serve.
Wash and pare potatoes. Cook in boiling salted water until they are soft. Rub through colander. Use water in which potatoes were cooked to make up the two cups of water for the soup. Cook carrot cut in cubes in boiling water until soft; drain. Scald milk with onion, celery, and parsley. Add milk and water to potatoes. Melt fat in sauce pan, add flour, and cook for three minutes. Slowly add soup, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute, season with salt and pepper. Add cubes of carrots and serve.
Cook one cup of rice. When cold line baking dish. Take one can of salmon and flake. Beat two eggs, one-third cup of milk, one tablespoon of butter, pinch of salt, dash of paprika. Stir into the salmon lightly, cover lightly with rice. Steam one hour, serve with white sauce. (This may also be made with barley instead of rice.)
Put the milk on stove in double boiler, keeping out one-half cup. Mix butter and flour to a smooth paste, and add the egg well beaten, then the one-half cup of cold milk. Mix well and then stir into the milk, which should be scalding. Stir until smooth and thick like gravy. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Butter a baking dish and fill with alternate layers of flaked salmon and the cream dressing. The top layer should be of the dressing. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs and bake one-half hour in moderate oven.
Remove bones from salmon; break into small pieces, add well beaten egg, seasoning, and cracker crumbs; bake in a well buttered dish for 15 minutes; serve hot for lunch.
Make a mush by stirring the corn meal and one and one-half teaspoons salt into boiling water. Cook in a double boiler or over water for 45 minutes. Brown the onion in the fat, add the Hamburger steak, and stir until the red color disappears. Add the tomatoes, pepper, and salt. Grease a baking-dish, put in a layer of corn meal mush, add the seasoned meat, and cover with mush. Bake 30 minutes. Serves six.
Fry onion cut in small pieces or the garlic in the fat until slightly brown; add rice, seasonings, water, tomatoes, meat, and cook in a covered dish until the rice is soft. The meat may be omitted, the rice cooked in the tomatoes and water, and the whole covered with grated cheese and baked until cheese is melted.
Cut meat in small pieces, brown with onion in fat, add water, one carrot in which cloves have been imbedded, and other vegetables. Tie bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns together in a piece of cheesecloth and cook with stew about two hours (till vegetables are done). Remove bag of seasonings, thicken stew with flour. Add more salt if needed.
Cover the tapioca with cold water and soak for one hour. Drain off the cold water, add the boiling water and salt, and cook over water (in a double boiler if you have one) until the tapioca is transparent, and no hard center portion remains. This will require about 30 minutes. Place the apricots in a buttered baking dish. Add sugar to the tapioca, pour this over the apricots, add apricot juice, and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Cool and serve. If dried apricots are to be used, they should be soaked over night or several hours in cold water sufficient to cover them. Cook in the water in which they have soaked until they are tender.
Put a layer of cereal in the bottom of a buttered baking dish, then a layer of apples or sauce, then sugar if the sauce has not been sweetened. Then put in another layer of cereal, cover with buttered crumbs. Bake 30 minutes if it has apple sauce in it, one hour if raw apples are used. Serve with cream.
Stir the cereal mixture gradually into the boiling water, to which the salt has been added. Cook directly over the flame for about five minutes, stirring constantly, and then cook over water for one and one-half hours. Add oleomargarine, syrup, egg, well beaten, and chopped dates. Turn into a greased baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes in a moderate oven (360-390° F.).
Soak bread in milk; add syrup, brown sugar, egg, well beaten, and salt. Melt chocolate in water; add gradually to bread mixture. Add vanilla. Bake in custard cups, set in hot water, in a moderate oven.
Sift together the flour, soda, salt, and spices; add the raisins. To milk add molasses and melted fat; add liquid mixture gradually to dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Turn into greased molds, filling them a little over half full; cover and steam for about two and one-half hours. Serve with pudding sauce or milk. (Baking powder cans are satisfactory molds for steamed puddings.)
Mix the honey and the bread crumbs and add the milk, seasonings, and yolks of the eggs. Beat the mixture thoroughly and then add the butter and the whites of the eggs well beaten. Steam for about two hours in a pudding mold which is not more than three-quarters full.
Pour milk, scalded, over meal, and cook 20 minutes; add salt, ginger, and molasses. Cook slowly in a buttered baking dish two hours. When half done, add the cold milk and finish cooking.
Sift corn meal slowly into the scalded milk, stirring constantly. Cook in double boiler 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt, ginger, and molasses. Put into greased baking dish and bake one hour in a slow oven, stirring occasionally. Slice apple and stir into pudding. Bake until apple is tender.
Mix together heated prune juice, fat, salt, corn syrup, lemon juice, lemon rind, and cinnamon. Moisten bread crumbs with part of this mixture. Into a greased baking dish put alternate layers of bread crumbs and prunes, pouring part of liquid mixture over each layer of prunes. Bake in a moderate oven about 45 minutes.
Cook the rice in boiling salted water, until soft. Pour off water, add milk, syrup, nutmeg, and raisins. Bake in a moderate oven (370-380° F.) for 40 minutes.
Soak the crusts in the milk until soft. Add molasses, salt, spices, and raisins. Bake in a moderate oven (360-380° F.), stirring occasionally at first. Serve with milk or cream.
The following pages contain advertisements of books by the same author or on kindred subjects.