The Century Cook Book Part 27

=CRABS ST. LAURENT=

1 cupful of boiled crab meat (6 crabs).

2 tablespoonfuls grated Parmesan cheese.

2 tablespoonfuls white wine.

1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter.

1 tablespoonful of flour.

1/2 cupful stock.

1/2 cupful cream or milk.

1/2 teaspoonful salt.

1/4 teaspoonful pepper.

Dash of cayenne.

Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter; when melted add the flour; cook, but not brown; add slowly the stock, and stir until perfectly smooth; then add the cream, and when thickened, add the salt and pepper, then the crab meat and the cheese; simmer for a few minutes, and add the wine; spread this mixture over pieces of b.u.t.tered toast cut in squares or circles; sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and place on each piece a small bit of b.u.t.ter; set in the oven for three minutes; serve very hot on a napkin garnished with parsley. This dish may be prepared in a chafing-dish, in which case the mixture must be placed on the toast and served directly from the chafing-dish.

Boiled halibut may be subst.i.tuted for the crab meat.

=CRAB STEW=

1/2 dozen crabs.

1 quart milk.

Yolks of 4 eggs boiled hard.

1/2 lemon.

1 nutmeg.

2 tablespoonfuls b.u.t.ter.

1 tablespoonful flour.

1 dessert spoonful mustard.

1/2 teaspoonful salt.

1/4 teaspoonful red pepper.

Mash the hard-boiled yolks fine, and rub into them the b.u.t.ter, flour and mustard.

Put the milk into a double boiler; when it is scalded stir in the mixture of egg, etc.; season, and just before serving stir in the crab meat, and add one cupful of sherry. Place in bottom of a deep dish a few thin slices of lemon and turn the stew over them.

CHAPTER IV

MEATS

[Sidenote: Slow cooking.]

Long, slow cooking breaks down the fiber of meat, and so makes it more tender. Whatever method of cooking is employed, this fact should be remembered. Many of the tough pieces are the most nutritious ones, and can by slow cooking be made as acceptable as the more expensive cuts.

[Sidenote: Juices.]

In order to shut in the juices, meat should at first be subjected to a high degree of heat for a short time. A crust or case will then be formed on the outside by the coagulation of the alb.u.men, after which the heat should be lowered, and the cooking proceed slowly. The same rule holds for baking, where the oven must be very hot for the first few minutes only; for boiling, where the water must be boiling and covered for a time, and then placed where it will simmer only; for broiling, where the meat must be placed close to the coals at first, then held farther away.

Tough meats are better boiled, because a lower degree of heat can be maintained and slower cooking insured.

[Sidenote: Degree of cooking.]

Dark meats should be served underdone or red; the white meats thoroughly cooked, but not dried.

[Sidenote: Dry meats.]

Dry meats are improved by being larded.

[Sidenote: Cleaning.]

Clean meat by wiping it with a wet cloth, but do not put it in water.

[Sidenote: Seasoning.]

Salt and pepper draw out the juices; therefore do not put them on meat before cooking, or until after the meat is seared, unless the meat is to be covered at once with egg and crumbs, or with flour.

Do not pierce the meat with a fork while cooking, as it makes an outlet for the juices. If necessary to turn it, use two spoons.

=TO ROAST BEEF=

Time for cooking rib roast rare eight to ten minutes per pound; time for cooking rolled roast rare, ten to twelve minutes per pound.

To roast beef on a spit before the fire is unquestionably the best method of cooking it; but as few kitchens are equipped for roasting meats, baking them in the oven is generally practised, and has come to be called roasting. Beef should be well streaked with fat, and have a bright-red color. Place the meat to be baked on a rack which will raise it a little above the bottom of the pan. Dredge the whole, top and sides, with flour. Place in a corner of the pan a half teaspoonful of salt and a quarter teaspoonful of pepper. Do not let them touch the raw meat, as they draw out the juices. Put into the pan also two tablespoonfuls of drippings. Place it in a very hot oven for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the meat is browned; then shut off the drafts and lower the temperature of the oven, and cook slowly until done; baste frequently; do not put water in the pan, as it makes steam, and prevents browning. A roast has a better appearance if the ribs are not too long.

They may be cut off and reserved for the soup pot, or broken and doubled under.

Serve it standing on the ribs, and cut the slices in line with the ribs.

For a rolled roast, remove the bones, roll it, and tie securely into good shape; when cooked, cut the cords and run through a fancy skewer holding at the head a slice of lemon or piece of carrot cut into ornamental shape. This piece of beef stands on the dish like a cylinder, and should be cut across horizontally.

If the beef is cooked as directed it will have one quarter of an inch of seared meat; the rest will be of a uniform red color all through. If cooked in too hot an oven the center will be raw, while an inch or two of the outside will be much overdone, hard, and tasteless. (See ill.u.s.tration facing page 152.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROLLED RIB ROAST OF BEEF GARNISHED WITH POTATOES ROASTED IN SAME DISH WITH THE BEEF. FANCY SKEWER GARNISHED WITH SLICES OF TURNIP AND CARROT, RUN INTO THE SIDE TO HOLD IT TOGETHER. (SEE PAGE 146.)]

=YORKSHIRE PUDDING=

Put two cupfuls of flour into a bowl, and mix in one half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat up three eggs, and stir them into the flour; then add two cupfuls of milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth, then turn it into a pan containing a little of the drippings from the roast beef. Let the batter be only one inch deep in the pan. Bake thirty to forty minutes.

Cut the pudding in squares, and place it around the roast beef.

=ROUND OF BEEF=

Ten to twelve minutes per pound.

The cut from the upper side of the round is a good roasting piece. It should be cooked very slowly after it is browned in order to make it tender. The under side of the round should be cooked _a la mode_, or braised.