A text-book of cooking

To Fold an Omelet. — Run a spatula underneath the omelet to loosen it. Make a slight incision with a knife through the middle of the omelet at right angles to the handle of the pan, and fold the omelet over upon itself away from the handle of the pan. Grasp the handle of the pan in the right hand, placing the back of the hand underneath with the thumb pointing away from you. Then turn the omelet upon a platter. (See Fig. 27.) Note. — It will be noticed that no directions for frying eggs have been given. The reason for this is evident when the digestion of foods coated with fat is taken into consideration. (See Digestion of Pastry \ p. 264.) QUESTIONS How are Scrambled Eggs usually cooked ? From your work con- cerning the effect of heat upon eggs, explain why you should use the method given above for Scrambled Eggs. EGGS : OMELETS Fig. 27. — Method of turning omelet upon a plalter. What is the proportion of liquid and salt for each egg of a Foamy Omelet ? Explain why it la especially important to cook a Foamy Omelet Slowly. What causes a Foamy Omelet to " fall ? " What is the test for the sufficient oven-drying of a Foamy Omelet ? How many persons may be served by using the above recipes for Scrambled Eggs and Foamy Omelet ? REVIEW V. — MEAL COOKING jfitttu Cereal with Fruit Poached Egg on Toast 96 THE COOKING OF FOODS LESSON XXVI Eggs: Omelets (II) WHITE SAUCE OMELET 3 tablespoonf uls floor 2} tablespoonfuls butter } teasponful salt 1 cupful milk Pepper 4 eggs 2 teaspoonfuls butter Make a White Sauce of the milk, butter, flour, and season- ing. Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs, and beat them until light. When the White Sauce is cool, stir in the yolks and fold in the whites. Cook and serve as Foamy Omelet. Modifications of Foamy and White Sauce Omelets. — Mix and cook a Foamy or White Sauce Omelet. As soon as the omelet begins to set, spread it while cooking with finely chopped cooked ham, veal, or chicken. Continue to cook and then dry, fold, and serve as with the usual omelet. Cooked peas, asparagus, cauliflower, or flaked fish may be added to the sauce of White Sauce Omelet. Cheese may be used in place of meat with either omelet. Foamy Omelet may be varied by using tomato juice instead of milk. Tomato sauce may be served with either of these omelets. Sweet Omelet may be made as follows: Add 4 table- spoonfuls of powdered sugar to the Foamy Omelet mixture ; after cooking, spread with softened jelly; after folding, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Use -J- cupful of jelly for the Foamy Omelet recipe. QUESTIONS Why is the White Sauce cooled before adding the egg yolks in White Sauce Omelet ? Point out the most important differences between a Foamy and a White Sauce Omelet. MILK WITH COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 97 What is the purpose of cutting and folding in the whites of eggs in omelets ? What is the purpose of beating eggs ? What are the tests that show when egg white is beaten stiff and when dry ? What are the tests for thoroughly beaten egg yolk ? LESSON XXVII Milk; Milk with Cocoa and Chocolate Value of Milk. — Although more than four fifths of milk is water, it contains valuable nutritive substances and must properly be considered a food, rather than a mere beverage or thirst quencher. One of the most valuable foodstuffs in milk is protein. This exists in the form of casein and albu- min. Almost all of the protein is casein, there being little albumin. The latter has about the same properties as egg albumin. Casein has a peculiar property; it precipitates when acid is added to milk. When milk sours, the sugar contained in the milk changes to an acid, and this acid causes the casein to precipitate. Casein is also clotted by a ferment occurring in the digestive juice of the stomach.