Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 5

Pans lined with porcelain are excellent, but the trouble with them is, that they crack, and after that cannot be cleaned; something will always remain between the lining and the iron, and spoil every thing cooked in them.

The tin-lined are preferable, on account of being easily cleaned by means of a small birch-broom, washing-soda, and boiling water.

LAIT DE POULE.

Mix well in a tumbler a yolk of egg and a teaspoonful of sugar; then add a few drops of orange-flower water (_eau de fleur d'oranger_); pour boiling water on the whole, little by little, stirring the while, and drink warm.

The quant.i.ty of water is according to taste.

A gill of water to a yolk of egg makes it thick enough.

It makes an excellent drink, to be taken just before retiring, for persons with cough.

LARD.

Never buy lard ready made if you can help it, but take hog's fat, the part enveloping the kidneys, or leaf lard, and chop it fine, put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle with a bay-leaf and a stalk of thyme to every two pounds of fat; set on a moderate fire, and as soon as it begins to melt, take the melted part out with a ladle, and put it in a stone jar or pot; be careful not to take any pieces of fat not yet melted. Continue that process till it is all melted.

The dry or hard part that remains at the bottom of the kettle when done is no good.

Lard made thus is as white as snow, and may be kept a long time.

When there is water in lard, it flies all over the fire; in that case, boil it a few minutes with a cover on the pan, and then use.

FAT FOR FRYING.

Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or cooked; remove as much as possible fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones; chop it fine, put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; add to it the fat you may have skimmed from the top of broth, sauces or, gravies. Set the pan on a moderate fire; boil gently for about fifteen minutes, skim it well during the process; take from the fire, let it stand about five minutes, and then strain.

Put it in a stone jar or pot, and keep it in a dry and cool place. Cover the jar when perfectly cold.

It is as good as lard and more handy; it does not fly over the pan like lard.

A careful cook seldom buys fat; generally there is enough coming from skimming of broth, sauces, and gravies, for every purpose.

TO CLARIFY FAT.

Set the fat on a moderate fire in a pan, and as soon as it commences to boil, place a slice of bread dried in the oven in it, boil gently for about half an hour; take from the fire, let it settle for a few minutes; remove the bread, turn gently into a jar or pot, leaving the dregs in the pan.

_Chicken_, _Turkey_, _and Goose Fat._--The fat of the above birds is never used to fry, but to _saute_ instead of b.u.t.ter. To make omelets it is excellent; an omelet is whiter and more sightly made with chicken-fat than when made with b.u.t.ter. It is clarified as directed above.

GAME-FAT.

Game-fat can be used instead of other fat and also instead of b.u.t.ter, to _saute_, or what is generally called partly fry, game; it may also be used, instead of b.u.t.ter to bake game.

It must be clarified longer than other fat, but in the same way.

The boiling of fat with water, as indicated in some cook-books, is only a fancy and extra work, it has no effect whatever on the fat. It is the same by keeping it for hours in a _bain-marie_; it does not change it in the least.

BATTER FOR FRYING.

_For frying Vegetables._--Put three tablespoonfuls of flour in a bowl with two yolks of eggs, and cold water enough to make a kind of thin paste, then add salt and half a teaspoonful of sweet oil; mix well. Beat the two whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and mix them with the rest.

Put the batter away in a cold place for at least two hours, and use.

It must not be put away longer than for half a day.

_Another._--Proceed as above in every particular, except that you use milk instead of water.

_For frying Fish._--Make it exactly as the above, except that you do not use any oil.

_For frying Fritters._--Mix well together in a bowl three tablespoonfuls of flour with two yolks of eggs and cold water enough to make a thin paste; add a pinch of sugar, rum or brandy, or any other liquor, according to taste, from one to three or four tablespoonfuls, mix well again, and put away for at least two or three hours, but not longer than twelve hours.

_Eggs and Crumbs for frying._--The eggs are beaten as for omelets, with a little salt. The objects to be fried are dipped in the eggs first, then rolled in bread-crumbs and fried.

_Another._--When rolled in bread-crumbs as above; dip again in the eggs, roll again in bread-crumbs and fry.

_Another._--Dip the object in melted b.u.t.ter, then in eggs, and roll in bread-crumbs; fry.

LARDING.

All pork-butchers sell salt pork for larding. Cut it in slices and then by cutting the slices across it makes square strips or fillets.

The strips must be of a proper size to be easily inserted into the larding-needle, and are about two inches and a half long.

When the needle is run half way through the meat, insert the salt pork into it, pull the needle off and leave the salt pork inside of the meat, both ends of it sticking out.

If it were running through, that is, if the salt pork were pulled off with the needle, most likely the strips are too small; then pull slowly, and when the salt pork is far enough into the meat, press on it with the finger and pull the needle, it will then stay in its proper place. It is better to cut a few strips first and try if they are of a proper size.

If, in pulling off the needle, the salt pork does not enter the meat, the strips are too large.

If the strips are of a proper size and break while pulling the needle off, then the pork is not good.

_Fricandeau_, sweetbreads, birds, etc., are larded in the same way.

For beef _a la mode_, it is described in the receipt.

LARDING-NEEDLE.

The best are made of bra.s.s. Those that are sold for steel are generally of iron, and break easily.

Those for beef _a la mode_ are of steel, and must be flat near the point, in order to cut the meat.