Chambers's cookery for young housewives

to buy Lard. Oil is only good for frying small articles, such as whitebait, for if it be kept up to the temperature requisite for frying for over three minutes, it will acquire a burnt flavour, and then is not fit to use again. Clarified fat will remain sweet, and fry to a good colour, for a long time, if care and proper attention be paid to it. Immediately after the articles fried in it are removed, take the pan away from the fire, throw in a little salt, stir the fat up, let it stand for five minutes, and pour off the fat into a strong earthen vessel, keeping back any sediment which may have sunk to the bottom. Never allow the fat to remain in the pot to cool, for the particles from whatever may have been previously cooked will fall to the bottom of the pan, and on the second heating will discolour the fat, and spoil the appearance of the next thing fried. If the fat from constant use becomes of a dark colour, it should be re-clarified. To do this, melt it and pour it into a quart of warm water ; add a handful of salt, and a small piece of washing-soda ; mix all these well together, and allow them to cool ; then remove the cake of fat from the top of the water, and scrape off any discoloured matter that may be at the bottom. The fat will not become quite white again, but will be sufficiently clean to fry to a golden-brown colour. Fish, vegetables, savouries, or sweets may bo cooked in the same fat, without imparting the least flavour to each other; but a good housewife will have three sets of fat going, reserving No. 1 for sweets, No. 2 for savouries and vegetables, and No. 3 for fish ; keeping always the freshest and cleanest fat for No. 1, and passing it on as it becomes necessary. TO PREPARE BREAD CRUMBS FOR COVERING FISH, RISSOLES, ETC. The crumbs should be very fine and dry. It is best not to make them with a bread-grater, but to rub the bread through a colander or wire-sieve. An economical way, and one not to be despised, is to take scraps and odd pieces of bread ; dry them slowly but thoroughly in an oven or before the fire, pound them in a mortar, and sift them through a colander ; these will keep good for a long time if put into a bag and hung up in a warm place, or if kept dry in a tin. Crumbs thus prepared arc useful in many recipes. MINCED PARSLEY — TEA — COFFEE — COCOA. TO MINCE PARSLEY. First wash the parsley well, pick away all the stalks, and wring it in a cloth until quite dry. Then chop it with a sharp knife ; toss it upon some porous paper, and it is ready for use. TEA. Fill a well rinsed out kettle with freshly drawn cold water, and put it on a brisk fire to boil. Meanwhile have the teapot warmed, by rinsing with hot water, and put in the dry tea. When the water is thoroughly and unmistakably boiling, do not lift the kettle off the fire, but bring the teapot to it, to ensure that the water may be poured bubbling on to the dry tea. After giving the tea a stir with a spoon, set the tea-pot on a woollen mat under a closely-padded teacosie, and allow it to infuse for not less than fifteen minutes. Only such teas should be bought as will produce, after fifteen minutes’ infusion, a clear bright-coloured liquor that is pleasant to the palate and refreshing to the system. COFFEE.