School and Home Cooking Part 3

The necessity for a draft, _i.e._ a continuous supply of fresh air which furnishes oxygen, is shown by Experiments 3 and 4.

SAUTED [Footnote 4: To saute is to brown in a small quant.i.ty of fat.]

SUMMER SQUASH [Footnote 5: See footnote 3.]

Wash summer squash. Cut it in slices 3/4 inch thick. (Do not remove the skin or the seeds.) Dip each slice in flour. In a frying pan put some fat and heat it. Add the squash and cook each slice on both sides until golden brown in color. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then place a cover over the frying pan and continue to cook the squash until it is tender. Serve at once.

BAKED WINTER SQUASH [Footnote 6: See "Note to Teacher," Footnote 3]

Wash a squash and cut or split it into pieces of suitable size for serving. Remove the seeds from each piece and make several gashes (at right angles to one another) cutting through the pulp down to the sh.e.l.l.

Place the pieces (sh.e.l.l down) on the grating in the oven and bake (at moderate temperature) until the pulp is tender. Serve hot, with b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper.

QUESTIONS

Name the three requisites for combustion.

Which has the higher kindling temperature, wood or coal? Explain your answer.

What is the price of summer and of winter squash? How much of each kind of squash is required to serve 6 persons?

LESSON IV

COAL RANGES [Footnote 7: NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--The principles of building a coal fire and of regulating dampers may be applied to furnaces and heating stoves as well as to kitchen ranges. In case there are no cooking or heating stoves or furnaces in which coal is burned in the homes of the pupils, this lesson may be omitted]--CORN DISHES

EXAMINATION OF A COAL RANGE.--Remove the lids from the coal range. Note the location of the fire box. What is its purpose? How is the floor of the fire box constructed? Where is the check damper? What is its purpose?

Where is the ash pan? Where is the front damper? What is its purpose? Note the place where the stovepipe joins the range. What is the purpose of the stovepipe? Note the damper in the stovepipe. What is its purpose? Note the location of the oven. By what is the oven surrounded? Find the oven damper. Open it. In what direction do the hot gases pa.s.s out when the oven damper is open? What part of the range is heated when the oven damper is open?

_An open damper permits a direct draft to pa.s.s through the range_ (see Figure 10).

Close the oven damper. Trace the direction of the hot gases when the damper is closed. What parts of the range are heated when the oven damper is closed?

_A closed oven damper permits an indirect draft to pa.s.s through the range_ (see Figure 11).

How should the front, oven, check, and chimney dampers be arranged when the fire is kindled?

PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION.--What is found deposited on the inside of the stovepipe of a coal range? To what is the upper end of the stovepipe joined? What does one often see coming from the top of a chimney?

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 10.--COAL RANGE SHOWING COURSE OF DIRECT DRAFT.]

In the previous lesson it was found that when a material burned, it united with oxygen. It is a matter of common observation that when all solid fuels--coal, wood, paper--burn, they decrease in size, and that fuel gas is consumed. Apparently only a few ashes remain when solid fuels have been burned, and only a disagreeable odor remains when gas has been burned. Yet soot is deposited in the stovepipe and smoke issues from the chimney. Both solid and gaseous materials, such as ashes, soot, and smoke, are formed when fuels burn. Such materials are called _products of combustion_.

FIRE BUILDING IN A COAL RANGE.--It is necessary to have the fire box, ash pan, and other parts of the stove clean before building a fire. After cleaning, place a generous layer of loosely crumpled paper over the bottom of the fire box, then about four layers of kindling wood, placed so that there are air pa.s.sages between the pieces, and on top of the wood put two shovelfuls of coal. Regulate the dampers for a direct draft, replace the stove-lids, and brush the surface of the stove.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 11.--COAL RANGE SHOWING COURSE OF INDIRECT DRAFT.]

Before lighting the fuels, polish the range in the following manner: To the nickel of the stove apply whiting and ammonia or any satisfactory metal cleanser.

To the iron of the stove apply oil rather than "blacking." Light paraffin oil may be used for this purpose. Apply the oil with cotton waste, or a soft cloth. (Care should be taken not to apply an excess of oil.) Polish with soft cotton or woolen cloth. One should remember, however, that oil must be used with caution. _It should never be applied to a stove containing burning fuels._ If the stove cloth, saturated with oil, is not destroyed after using, it is well to keep it in a covered tin can or stone jar. After polishing the stove, light the fuels. When the wood is reduced to glowing embers and the coal is burning, add more coal. If this burns well, change the dampers to make an indirect draft.

GREEN CORN In selecting corn for cooking, choose those ears that are filled with well-developed kernels, from which milky juice flows when pressed with the thumb. Cook as soon as possible after gathering.

_To boil green corn_ remove silk and husk from the corn, place the ears in boiling water. Cook the corn until no juice flows from the kernels when pressed (usually from 12 to 20 minutes). Serve whole on a platter.

The platter may be covered with a folded napkin.

_To bake green corn_ select 12 ears. Remove the corn from the cob as follows: Cut through the center of each row of grains, slice off the tops of the kernels, and then sc.r.a.pe the pulp thoroughly from the cob. Put in a baking-dish, add:

3/4 cupful milk 1 tablespoonful b.u.t.ter or subst.i.tute 2 teaspoonfuls salt Pepper

Bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes. Serve hot.

Green corn which has been cut from the cob may also be cooked on top of the range. To the corn cut from 12 ears, add the same ingredients, using less milk. Cook at simmering temperature until tender.

SCALLOPED CORN

1 can corn 2/3 cupful milk 1 1/4 teaspoonfuls salt Dash pepper 2 tablespoonfuls b.u.t.ter or subst.i.tute 2 cupfuls soft bread crumbs

Mix the corn, milk, and seasonings. Mix the crumbs and fat, and place one fourth of them in the bottom of a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, add one half of the corn mixture, then another fourth of the crumbs, the remainder of the corn mixture, and finally the remainder of the b.u.t.tered crumbs. Bake at 400 degrees F., for 45 minutes.

QUESTIONS

Explain why it is necessary to have the fire box, ash pan, and other parts of a coal range clean before building a fire.

If both hard and soft woods are used in building a fire, which should be placed next to the paper? Explain your answer.

What is the advantage in using oil rather than blacking in cleaning a range?

Explain why a stove cloth, saturated with oil, should be kept in a covered tin can or stone jar.

Compare the method of mixing the crumbs in Scalloped Tomatoes and in Scalloped Corn. Which contains the more moisture,--corn or tomatoes? From this explain the difference in mixing.

What is the price of 12 ears of green corn or of 1 can of corn?

LESSON V

GAS RANGES--SCALLOPED FRUIT

EXAMINATION OF A GAS BURNER.--Inspect a gas burner and find the following parts: (_a_) Supply pipe. (_b_) Stopc.o.c.k. (_c_) Burner.

(_d_) Mixer (see Figure 12).

To light a gas burner, observe the following directions, and in the order named: (_a_) Strike the match. (_b_) Turn the stopc.o.c.k.

(_c_) Apply the match to the open burner. (_d_) If necessary, regulate the stopc.o.c.k and mixer, so that the flame is blue in color.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Courtesy of _Clark Stove Co_ FIGURE 12.--GAS BURNER SHOWING MIXER]