The girl's own cookery book

Or, supposing a poor woman has to go out and leave her cooking operations, she may “ rake ” her fire, put the jar containing the stew in a saucepan, and surround it with boiling water, and it will go on gently simmering all the time she is away. When once working women learn to appreciate the advantages of stewing, half their difficulties will be over. At present, however, they are too fond of the frying-pan to value the stewpan as it deserves. Scouse. — This name is in some places given to a stew made of scraps of meat and bones broken up, which is sold in the market places of various towns at so much per cup. To make scouse take cooked or uncooked scraps of meat, whichever can be obtained, cut them into very small pieces, and put them into a stew-pan with the bones chopped, pepper and salt, a good quantity of sliced onions, K [illustration: 130 The Girl's Own Cookery Book.] double the quantity of raw potatoes, and cold water to cover. Simmer gently for about three hours, remove the bones, and serve the scouse very hot. The potatoes should be reduced to pulp. This is, perhaps, the most profitable way of using up cold meat and bones which can be adopted. A Scrag of Mution stewed gently for three hours or more in three pints of water is an excellent dish. A cupful of rice or pearl barley should be washed separately and thrown into the water when it boils. The liquor will make excellent broth, and the mutton will be tender and good. If barley is used for this, dish the broth, which should be used quickly, as it will soon go sour. Toad-in-the-Hole. — I have in a former paper given a recipe for toad-in-the-hole, but this one is less expensive than that. Buy a pound of meat pieces, such as are sold by the butcher for from 5d. to yd. per lb., according to the locality. These pieces consist of the trimmings from large joints, and are often of excellent quality. If they are not to be had, the short bones of a neck of mutton or a pound of beef skirting may be used instead. Many people use sausages for the purpose, but cheap sausages are not to be recommended. Put six ounces of flour into a bowl with a little salt ; break an egg into this and beat thoroughly, adding a spoonful or two of water to make a smooth paste. Stir in a little less than a pint of milk. Grease a pie-dish, arrange the pieces of meat in it, season them with pepper and salt, pour the batter over, and bake for one hour. Fish constitutes nourishing and wholesome food ; some sorts, such as plaice, flounders, conger eel, ling, hake, haddock, mackerel, etc., are very cheap, and we hope that in the course of a year or two they will be cheaper still. Cod’s heads also are frequently sold for twopence each, and excellent picking may be obtained from them. Here are two or three recipes for cooking fish : — Stewed Fish. — Take any kind of white fish. Wash it quickly and dry it ; then cut it into two inch-squares. Put it into boiling water to cover it ; bring it to the boil, Cookery for the Poor. 1 3 f