The Apsley cookery book

“ Rusk-crumbs,” will also be found very useful. Recipes for many dishes are given in which these raspings and rusk-crumbs are used, and it is well to have a supply always on hand. The “ Apsley Rusks ” are a grateful change from bread and toast when carefully prepared according to the recipe given. The cook must not however be sparing of her trouble, for if the bread is not cut thin the result will not be good. Various recipes are given for the making of paste for tarts, &c., which can be made with either butter or “ Albene.” “ Albene ” is a nut butter, excellent for all cooking purposes, and can be procured from Messrs. Broomfield and Co., 83 Upper Thames St., London, E.C. It is cheaper than salad oil for frying, and makes very good pastry. Recipe No. 397 for Puff paste is a very old recipe, which has been used in one of the authors’ family for over a hundred years. It is a lesson to the modern housewife in care and patience ; but the result is so excellent that it is quite worth the little extra trouble bestowed upon it. The only alteration that has been made in the original recipe is the addition of baking-powder, which can be left out if desired. It is the best description of the method of making paste that the authors have met with ; and with this, many cooks, who have used it, quite agree. Frying is an art in which it is necessary for all cooks to excel ; and it is really a very simple process if a little thought and common sense are brought to bear upon it. The great thing is to have the fat at the right temperature, so that a coating is immediately formed round the substance fried, to prevent the fat, soaking into it, which would cause it to be greasy and indigestible. The fat should be quite still before the article to be fried is put into it. Cooks soon learn the exact moment it is ready ; but the inexperienced will find it a great help if, when they think the fat is hot enough, they put in it a small piece of bread. If the bread immediately takes a pale yellow colour, and is crisp, the fat is ready, and should be used at once. An inverted sieve placed on a plate on the stove should always be ready to receive the article that is fried. The fat then drains away immediately, and leaves the article crisp. It is well to mention the error which many cooks fall into in the cooking of macaroni, and all Italian pastes, by soaking them. All Italian pastes should be thrown into plenty of boiling water, and boiled as quickly as possible for some minutes, no matter how they are to be cooked after. The time to boil them in this way depends on the kind of macaroni, &c. Genoa macaroni takes half an hour in water, and Naples only twenty minutes ; the smaller kinds according to size, vermicelli taking only five minutes. This boiling in water must always precede the cooking in milk, gravy, &c., if the macaroni is to be a successful dish. Onions are a most useful and appetising addition to many dishes, especially on this diet ; but many people find that they disagree with them. If, however, the cook before using them for any dish would first put them into cold water and bring them quickly to boiling-point, and let them boil for two or more minutes, according to the size of the onion, they would then be found to agree with the most delicate xxiii