The Skilful Cook Part 2

Brush all the dust from the oven, and wipe it round with a cloth wrung out of hot water.

To Clean a Gas Stove.

Wash off any grease that may have been spilled on the stove with a cloth dipped in hot water, and wipe the inside of the stove, taking care to dry it thoroughly. Wash the dripping-pan in hot water with soda in it, and rub it with sand to brighten it. Then wipe it quite dry.

Brush the stove over with liquid blacklead, and polish it with brushes.

Copper Cooking Utensils.

Wash them well in hot water with soda in it; moisten some salt with vinegar, and rub them well with this to remove stains and tarnish. Then wash them quickly with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly; polish them with a little powdered whiting rubbed on with a soft leather.

RULES FOR BOILING.

All meat, with the exception of salt meat, should be put into boiling water, and should be well boiled for quite five minutes, in order that the alb.u.men on the outside of the joint may be set. The hardened alb.u.men forms a kind of casing. This casing serves to keep in, as far as possible, the flavour and juices of the meat. When the meat has been boiled sufficiently long to effect this hardening, the kettle should be drawn to one side of the fire. The water should be kept at simmering point until the joint is cooked. The general rule, as regards time required for boiling, is a quarter of an hour for each pound of meat and a quarter of an hour over. But only general rules can be given, as the time will vary according to the nature of the joint to be cooked. A thick piece of meat will necessarily take longer to cook than a thin piece with much bone, although both may be the same weight. Very _fresh_ meat will also take longer to cook than that which has been hung.

As soon as the water boils, after the meat is in it, the sc.u.m should be carefully removed from time to time, while it is cooking. If the sc.u.m be allowed to boil down, it will settle on the joint and discolour it. It is best, however, as a precaution, to wrap the meat in a very clean cloth; this will effectually preserve its colour. Salt meat should be put into lukewarm water, for the purpose of drawing out some of the salt. It should be simmered gently, allowing always twenty minutes to the pound, and twenty minutes over. Salt hardens the fibre of the meat; it, therefore, requires to be cooked for a longer time to make it tender.

RULES FOR ROASTING.

To roast successfully, make up a nice clear fire. When once made up, it should be replenished, if necessary, by putting on coal or c.o.ke at the back. The live coals should be drawn to the front to prevent smoke.

Fasten the joint to the jack. Place the roaster close to the fire for the first ten minutes, so that the heat of the fire may at once harden the alb.u.men, and form a case to keep in the flavour and juices.

Afterwards, draw the roaster farther back and cook gradually, basting every ten minutes. The basting keeps the meat from drying up, and gives it a better flavour. The length of time allowed for roasting is the same as for boiling, the rule being a quarter of an hour for each pound, and a quarter of an hour over. For white meat, veal and pork, or solid joints without bone, allow twenty minutes to the pound, and twenty minutes over. These rules, however, cannot always be strictly adhered to, as the size and shape of the joint must be taken into consideration, as well as the weight. Meat that has been frozen will take longer to cook than fresh meat. Meat which has been well hung will take a shorter time than fresh meat. If a jack is not used, the joint should be fastened to a rope of worsted, which should be kept constantly turning.

Gravy, for a joint, may be made according to two methods. The first method is to take the dripping-pan away half an hour before the joint is cooked, then to put a hot dish in its place, and to pour the contents of the pan into a basin. Put the basin into a refrigerator; or, place it on ice. As soon as it is cold, the fat will cake on the top of the gravy, and should be removed very carefully. Make the gravy hot, diluting it with warm water, if necessary, and pour it round the joint.

The other and more usual method of making gravy, is to pour away all the fat from the pan as soon as the joint is cooked; and then pour into the pan a sufficient quant.i.ty of hot water, sc.r.a.ping well the brown glaze from the bottom; colour carefully with caramel, or burnt sugar, and pour it _round_ the joint, not _over_ it. Pouring the gravy over the meat destroys its crispness.

On no account make gravy from stock; stock is quite unsuitable, as the vegetable flavour is, to many persons, disagreeable.

RULES FOR FRYING.

French or Wet Frying.

This is cooking in a large quant.i.ty of fat sufficient to cover the articles fried in it. Oil, lard, dripping, or fat rendered down, may be used for this purpose. Oil is considered the best, as it will rise to 600 without burning; other fats get over-heated after 400, and therefore require greater care in using. Success depends, almost entirely, on getting the fat to the right degree of heat. For ordinary frying, the heat required is 345. Unless this point is carefully attended to, total failure will be the result. There are signs, however, by which anyone may easily tell when the fat is ready for use. It must be quite still, making no noise; noise, or bubbling, will be caused by the evaporation of moisture, or water in it. The expression, 'boiling lard,' or 'boiling fat,' has been misleading to many inexperienced cooks, who, not unnaturally, imagine that when the fat is bubbling, like boiling water, it is boiling, and, therefore, at the right heat. But boiling _fat_ does not bubble. When it has the appearance of boiling water, it is simply due, as already explained, to the presence of water in it, which must pa.s.s away by evaporation, before the fat can reach the required heat. When it ceases to make any noise, and is quite still, it should be carefully watched; for very soon a pale blue vapour is seen rising, and then the fat is sufficiently hot. If, from the position of the stove, it is not easy to see this vapour, a piece of bread may be held in the fat as a test; if it begins to turn brown, in about a minute, the fat is ready. It should then be used without delay; since, when once hot enough, it rapidly gets overheated or burnt. Fat is burning when the blue vapour becomes like smoke. Burnt fat has an unpleasant smell, and is apt to give a disagreeable taste to the articles fried in it. With ordinary care fat need not get overheated.

Next to oil, fat rendered down (_see_ Rendering down Fat), is best for the purpose. If strained after each time of using, and not allowed to burn, it will keep good for months, and may be used for fish, sweets, or savouries, and no taste of anything previously fried in it will be given to the articles cooked. For this kind of frying, a kitchener, or gas stove, is preferable to an open range.

All kinds of rissoles, croquettes, fillets and cutlets of fish, fritters, &c., should be fried in this manner, and should not be darker than a golden brown. It is an advantage to use a frying-basket for all such things as are covered with egg and bread-crumbs; but fritters, or whatever is dipped in batter, should be dropped into the fat, as they become so light that they rise to the top of it. When they are a pale fawn colour on the one side, they should be turned over to the other.

Care must be taken to drain everything, after frying, on kitchen paper in order to remove any grease.

Dry Frying.

This is frying in a cutlet or frying pan, with a small quant.i.ty of fat, and is only suitable for such things as require slow cooking, such as steaks, mutton or veal cutlets, fillets of beef, liver and bacon.

Pancakes also are fried in this manner. Success depends, as in French frying, in having the fat rightly heated, taking care that the outside of the meat cooked be sealed up. In this way the juices and flavour will be retained in it. Make, therefore, the frying-pan hot, then put in the fat; and when that is also perfectly hot, put in the meat to be cooked.

When each side has been well sealed up, the heat applied must be moderated, so that the cooking may be gradual. The common mistake in this kind of frying is to put the meat into the fat when it is but barely melted; the juices of the meat are thus allowed to escape, and the meat is toughened.

RULES FOR BAKING.

To bake meat successfully, the oven must be well ventilated, otherwise, the joint cooked in this manner will have an unpleasant flavour. The meat should be put on a trivet, which should be placed on a baking-tin.

The oven must be very hot when the meat is put into it, and the heat should be kept up for the first quarter of an hour. This is to form the casing already alluded to in the directions for roasting and boiling; the heat of the oven must then be very much moderated, and the joint cooked very gradually, allowing twenty minutes for every pound, and twenty minutes over. The meat should be basted; and the gravy may be made in the same manner as in roasting.

RULES FOR GRILLING.

For this method of cookery, a clear fire is essential. The griller is warmed, and the meat fastened in it. It is then hung on the bars of the fireplace, and a dish pa.s.sed underneath to catch any gravy. An ordinary sized chop, cooked in this way, will take about five minutes on the one side, and three on the other.

RULES FOR BROILING.

This is cooking over the fire on a gridiron. The flavour of broiled meat is usually preferred to that of grilled. Put the gridiron over the fire to heat, and then put the chop, or steak, on it; place the gridiron close to the fire at first, that the heat may rapidly seal up the outside of the meat. When this has been accomplished, lift the gridiron further from the fire, and cook gradually, turning occasionally. A clear fire is essential. c.o.ke is better than coal for broiling, because there is less smoke from it.

JOINTS.

Sirloin of Beef.

This is the primest joint, and must be either roasted or baked (see directions). Horse-radish should be served with it. Yorkshire pudding is also liked with roast beef.

Ribs of Beef.