Instruction in cookery (Methuen's text-books, Thompson)

Arrowroot — Milk may be used instead of water. One teaspoonful of arrowroot, \ pint of water, a little brandy. Mix the arrowroot with a little of the water. Boil the rest, and pour it on. Return to the pan and boil. Add the brandy, and serve at once. Stewed Fruit — The excellence of stewed fruit depends largely on the pan or jar used. An enamelled lined saucepan is the best, or a jar with a closely fitting lid. The sugar and water should always be well boiled first and skimmed, and the fruit put into this. Then the fruit must only be allowed to simmer gently. When it is stewed it should be lifted out, and the juice further reduced by boiling. Dried fruits such as figs, prunes, apricots, raisins, should be soaked over night, and then allowed to come to a boil in that water, and then the water should be drained away and a further syrup made in the above way, in which it should be simmered till done. Porridge — Put a quart of cold water in a pan with 1 teaspoonful of salt. When it boils sprinkle in about 5 oz. of oatmeal, stirring all the time. Boil gently for \ hour, stirring it often. It may be placed in a stew pan of boiling water, and allowed to simmer for another hour. Pour into hot plates, and serve with milk or cream or treacle. Grilled Steak — The filleted steak is the best, and only the finest English meat should be used in cases of anaemia. Beat the steak well with a rolling-pin, and grill quickly over a clear fire, using a gridiron made hot and greased with suet. Turn frequently, but do not use a fork, but steak tongs, as it is necessary to preserve the gravy. The gravy which drains away may be mixed with i teaspoonful of Anchovy sauce, \ teaspoonful of Worcester sauce, and I teaspoonful of vinegar, and this may be made thick and poured over the steak. Grilled Chop — Take a nice loin chop. Trim off a good deal of the fat, and if necessary skewer it up. Wipe and make the gridiron hot, and grease the bar with a piece of mutton fat. Dip the chop into boiling water just to set the outside. Place on the gridiron, and turn every 2 minutes. Place on a hot dish. Bread Sauce — J pint milk, 1 clove, J oz. butter, 1 onion, 2 oz. of bread crumbs. Peel and slit the onion. Place in a pan with the milk. Simmer till tender. Strain on to the bread crumbs and butter. Put back into the pan, and stir until it thickens. Marrow on Toast — Obtain a good-sized marrow bone from the butcher, or sometimes it is given in with a piece of bony beef. Cover the end of the bone with flour-and-water crust. Place in a pan with cold water and salt. Bring to a boil, and allow to cook for about 10 minutes. Remove the bone, and then take off the pastry from the end. Scoop out the marrow, and lay it on pieces of dry, hot toast. Serve with good black pepper and salt. Raw Scraped Meat Sandwiches — Buy some good steak. Beat it well. Scrape the meat with a knife held at right angles to it. Butter some very thin slices of well-toasted bread, allow to get cold. Spread this with either anchovy paste or Patum Peperium. Spread thickly with the meat pulp. Place another slice on the top, and press down. Serve neatly on a nice dish with a dish paper on it. These may be taken with a glass of red Australian Burgundy once or twice during the day, or just before going to ’bed.