The paper-bag cookery manual

Take a dozen large sauce oysters, remove their beards, and put these with the oyster liquid into a basin, and mix up with three table-spoonfuls of rich white sauce. Add a little cream, and stir in one or two yolks of eggs and a cupful of bread crumbs, or finely crushed cracknels, or milk biscuits. Divide the oysters into quarters and mix with the above, season to taste with salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Whisk the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth and incorporate with the above. Put the mixture into one or two small well buttered “ Express ” paper-bags, duly fastened at end, and bake on a wire grid in a fairly hot oven for about 20 minutes. Slit open the bags and take out the cakes, put them on a hot dish, garnish with parsley and slices of lemon, and serve. D MEAT. Roast Joints. Trim the meat, if necessary, and cut off any projecting bones, as these often cause the paper-bags to burst, wipe it with a cloth, then weigh the joint. Allow from 20 to 25 minutes to each pound of meat. Veal and pork require a little more time than beef or mutton, as the former should always be well done. Dredge the cut side of the joint with flour, seasoned with salt and pepper. Have ready the correct size of an “ Express” paper-bag, select it rather too large than too small, so that there is no possible chance of its breaking when the joint is put in. After spreading a little dripping or butter over the meat, put it in a well greased paper-bag. Fasten the end after folding it, with several wire clips. Next place it on a grid shelf in a hot oven and cook till tender. When done, open the bag and dish up the meat. Serve with gravy. The time required for cooking depends upon the size and weight of the joint ; it is safe to allow about 20 minutes to every pound. For other information on this point the time table found at the beginning of this book should be consulted. Gravy for Roast Meats. Pour any fat found in the bag whilst warm into a basin, which keep for future use. Put a little hot water or stock into a basin containing the liquor from the roast meat, stand it in the hot oven, and add a little “ Bisto ” or gravy salt. This will colour the gravy. Season with pepper and salt, and strain over the meat on the dish. When the joint is cut some of its juice will run out and will improve the gravy already in the dish. Boiled Beef. Procure about 2 lbs. of salt beef and soak it for several hours in cold water. Peel and scrape two small turnips and two carrots, cut them into quarters, and put them with the meat in a well greased “ Express ” bag of the required size. Add as much water as the bag with its contents will conveniently hold and fold in the end, fasten with wire clips, and place it on a cold wire grid into a moderately heated oven. Cook thus for about 50 or 60 minutes. When done take up the meat, put it on a hot dish, garnish with the cooked vegetables, and pour over a little of the liquor. Serve with boiled suet dumplings. Suet Dumplings. Mix 6 ozs. of sifted flour with 3 ozs. of finely chopped beef suet and a pinch of salt, also half a tea-spoonful of baking