Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book Part 56

BROWN BETTY

Pare the apples and then slice thin. Now grease a pudding mould or a baking dish. Place a layer one inch deep of apples, then layer of bread crumbs. Repeat until the dish is full and then sprinkle each layer with brown sugar and cinnamon, as it is placed. Now pour over the dish sufficient thick, well-sweetened apple sauce to fill the baking dish two-thirds full. Bake in a moderate oven for forty minutes.

LEMON PUDDING

Heat three-quarters cup of milk to the scalding point and then add

One tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, Five tablespoons of sugar.

Pour over one-half cup of fine bread crumbs and then cool, and add

Yolk of one egg, Juice of one-half lemon, Grated rind of one-quarter lemon, One-quarter cup of water.

Mix thoroughly before adding to the scalded bread crumbs. Pour into a small baking dish and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.

Make a fruit whip of

One-half gla.s.s of apple jelly, White of one egg.

Beat until mixture will hold its shape. Pile on pudding and brown in the oven for five minutes. Set aside to cool.

CRUMB COOKIES

One cup of mola.s.ses, One-half cup of brown sugar, Six tablespoons of shortening, Two teaspoons of cinnamon, One-half teaspoon of ginger, One-half teaspoon of allspice, One egg, Five tablespoons of sour milk.

Beat to mix and then add

Two and one-half cups of coa.r.s.e bread crumbs and sufficient flour to make a very stiff mixture.

Drop by the spoonful on well-greased baking sheet, three inches apart.

Bake in a moderate oven for ten minutes.

CARAMEL PUDDING

Make a caramel of

One cup of sugar, Four tablespoons of water, One tablespoon of b.u.t.ter.

Pour into a pudding dish and turn until the mixture thoroughly coats the dish. Now place in a mixing bowl

Three cups of apple sauce, One cup of brown sugar, Two cups of bread crumbs, One-half cup of nutmeg.

Beat to mix and then pour into a baking dish, and bake in a slow oven for forty minutes, then turn out at once on a platter and serve with caramel sauce.

RAISIN PUDDING

Soak one-half cup of raisins in boiling water for one hour. Drain and then add two ounces of candied citron, and sufficient stale bread to make one cup of crumbs. Put all through the food chopper. Place in a bowl and add

One cup of brown sugar, One cup of flour, One tablespoon of baking powder, Juice of one lemon, Grated rind of one-half lemon, Yolks of two eggs, One cup of milk, Three tablespoons of shortening.

Beat to thoroughly mix and then cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Pour into well-greased and floured one-quart mould. Place the mould deep in a pan containing sufficient boiling water to cover the mold two-thirds of its depth. Place in the oven and bake for fifty minutes in a moderate oven. Unmould and serve with Saboyon sauce.

PUMPKIN PUDDING

Place in a bowl

Eleven and one-half cups of steamed pumpkin drained dry, One cup of milk, Yolk of one egg, One-half cup of sugar, One teaspoon melted b.u.t.ter, One teaspoon of cinnamon, One-half teaspoon of nutmeg, Two teaspoons of vanilla.

Beat thoroughly to mix and then pour into well-greased custard cups.

Set cups in baking pan and pour in sufficient boiling water to half fill the pan. Bake in a moderate oven for forty-five minutes and then serve cold. Garnish with fruit whip or jelly.

SOUP

Soup, unless it is a thick cream or puree, contains little food value.

Rather, it is stimulating to the stomach and causes a free flow of the digestive juices. Thus the food taken in after the soup has stimulated the stomach is quickly absorbed and thus gives the body immediate nourishment without distressing the digestion.

The French lay great stress upon two essentials in making soup successfully. First, it must not go below the boiling point, just a gentle bubbling, and, second, after once started, no water should be added. In making soup always use cold water to start with. Do not use salt or any seasoning, and heat slowly, keeping the pot closely covered.

Protein, which is the chief const.i.tuent of meat, is drawn into the liquid, making it very nutritious. Rapid boiling destroys the fine aroma and volatile oils, which escape in the steam.

Soups are divided into three cla.s.ses: First, stock; second, cream; third, fruit soups.

Soups made from meat and bone are called stock; those without stock are called cream, such as cream vegetable, clam and oyster soups, and, lastly, those made from meat and bones, cooked by long and slow boiling, which dissolves the soluble elements of the meat and bones into the water and makes a very rich soup.

THE STOCK POT

This should be a deep pot or kettle with a tight-fitting lid. This is important, so that none of the steam may be lost by evaporation. The steam contains the aroma or fine volatile oil and essentials which pa.s.s into the air. In a fairly large family little meat need be purchased for the stock pot if the housewife insists that all portions of bone and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g be sent with the purchased meat. The French women look with horror on the American women leaving all the sc.r.a.p and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g to the butcher.

TO MAKE THE STOCK

A soup bone from the shin, beef, which is full of nutriment, will have nearly one-half pound of meat on it. Take one pound of the scrag end of the neck of veal and four quarts of water. Wash the bones and add the cold water and bring slowly to a boil. Skim and then cover closely and cook for four hours. By this time the meat will have fallen from the bones. Strain and set aside to cool. Let stand overnight. This is best.

Then remove all fat from the top. This stock is the basis of all soups, sauces and gravies. It is rich in mineral matter and gelatine.

The meat can be taken from the bones and run through the food chopper and used for meat loaf, croquettes and meat biscuits or sausage, and it will make mighty tasty hash when combined with potatoes and onions for breakfast.

You now have a delicious and nutritious broth, without seasoning of any kind, which will keep in cold weather four or five days. In warm weather it must be returned every second day to the pot, brought to a boil and skimmed and then left to cool and finally put in the ice box. Small portions of meat, ham, any tr.i.m.m.i.n.g and bones that have acc.u.mulated may be added. Chicken feet, scalded in boiling water to loosen the outer skin, which must be peeled off, together with the giblets of fowl, may be added to the stock pot. Seasoning and the addition of vegetables cause it to sour. Many varieties of soup are possible with the use of this stock.