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.

Salmonshould 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.

Herringsmust 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.

Mackerelalso 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.

Smeltsshould be stiff and silvery, with a delicate perfume faintly suggestive of cucumber.

Halibutis a wholesome fish. It should be middling size, thick and of a white color.

Lobsters, Crabs, Prawns, and Shrimpsare 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.

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.

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.

Crisco

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 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.

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 ofmeat 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 (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 toextract 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.

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 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, 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 toprevent 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 may be looked on as a derivative of broiling, and passes by easy stages, from broiling on a slightly greased metal plate, orsautéingin 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 hasto 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.

Useplentyof 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 forallfrying, 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.

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 loweredgently 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.

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.To ClarifyWhen 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.

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 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 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 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 formidablename 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.

Stone or earthenware cooking appliances are used to very great advantage for various forms of preparing food. For the homelypot-au-feuthe 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.

Cooking in Earthenware

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.

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 turkeyis 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.

Quailsmerely 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.

Carving

Calendar of Dinners

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.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 preventloss 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.

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.

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 preventloss 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.

Crisco and Soups

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