Cookery for every household

Notes. — Any of the dried peas or beans may be used for making this stock. If a light-coloured stock is wanted, use haricot beans, butter beans, or peas ; for a darker one lentils or red haricots. The vegetables which are left after straining off the stock may be rubbed through a sieve mixed with a little butter or cream, nicely seasoned, and served as a vegetable dish, or they may be made more liquid with the addition of milk and served as a soup. General Stock. — The Stock Pot In every household where meat is used daily a stock pot should be in general use. There should Stock Pot for large household be sufficient material left from the daily meals to furnish stock for ordinary family soups without having to buy fresh meat or use expensive meat extracts for the purpose. A regular stock pot is made of tinned copper, tinned iron, aluminium, or steel. In large establishments, where much cooking is done, it is better to have one that is fitted with a tap, which will permit of the liquid being drawn off when required, without disturbing the fat, which rises on the top. For small households an ordinary tinned or silicated saucepan will serve the purpose very well. An earthenware casserole or marmite is also to be recommended for small quantities of stock ; it is very clean, and it is easy to keep the contents simmering at a gentle rate. The saucepan chosen must be large enough to hold the bones, meat, water, &c., used for making the stock, and leave 4 inches over at the top to allow for skimming. All scraps of meat, cooked or uncooked, bones and pieces of vegetable, poultry giblets and rinds of bacon, should be kept for making stock. Remains of gravy, too, should be saved for the same purpose, although no thickened sauce must be added, as it would cloud the stock. For the same reason such things as rice, potatoes, bread, must not be added, as they would thicken the stock. Look over the scraps carefully and see that they are all clean and free from taint. Nothing must be added unless it is quite clean and contains some goodness. Scraps of game that are high must also be avoided. The more variety of meat and vegetables used, the better will be the flavour. Break up the bones, remove any fat from the meat, and cut both meat and vegetables in small pieces. When all is ready, put the stock material into the stock pot and cover it well with cold water. To be exact, there should be double the weight of water there is of meat, &c. Instead of plain water, the liquid in which meat or vegetables have been boiled may be used, only avoid using the water in which cabbages or potatoes have been cooked, or that to which soda has been added, or any liquid that is too much salted. A few washed and crushed egg-shells put into the stock will help to clear it. Put the lid on the saucepan and bring the contents slowly to the boil. Then keep the stock slowly simmering, taking off the lid from time to time to remove the scum. Four to five hours, or at most one whole day, will be sufficient to cook it, and at the end of that time it must be strained off through a hair sieve, or through a cloth stretched over a colander, into a large basin, and then set aside to cool. Stock must never be allowed to remain in the saucepan overnight, neither must it be allowed to