Cookery book and general axioms for plain cookery

Method : — Slice and mince the onion finely, and fry it in the hot dripping until quite brown. Mince the apple and fry it also. Then mix the curry powder and flour smooth with the stock or water, using an iron spoon ; pour it into a saucepan and stir until it boils, adding salt to taste. Lay the meat in, and let it just heat through. N.B.— Any fresh meat, tripe, fish, rice, macaroni and haricot beans can be curried for a change. BOILED RICE. Ingredients l lb. rice (Patna is the best). 1 gallon boiling water. 2 tablespoonfuls salt. 1 quart cold water. Method . Have a saucepan ready with the boiling water j add the salt to increase the heat, and have it boiling rapidly. Wash the rice well and throw it in, and boil very quickly about 13 minutes. Then put the cold water in and strain it through a wire sieve or colander ; put it into the oven or in front of the fire until it is dry, and stir it with a fork occasionally to keep the grains separate. N.B. — The water may be used for starching aprons. OATMEAL BUNS. Ingredients : — 3 oz. flour. -j lb. medium oatmeal. 4 oz. sugar, or to taste. 3 oz. clarified dripping, lard, or butter.' 1 egg- 1 teaspoonful baking powder. About ½ pint milk, or as required. Method : — Put the fat into a basin, and beat it to a cream with a wooden spoon. Beat the egg and part of the milk together, then add it with the other ingredients (except the baking powder) by degrees to the fat, making a rather moist mixture. Beat well all the time, and set it aside for as long as possible, for the oatmeal to swell. Then add the baking powder, and more milk if necessary ; it should now be a stiff mixture. Put it into greased patty pans, and bake in a quick oven about 15 minutes. N.B. — (1) If the mixture is baked without giving time for the oatmeal to swell, the buns will not be so light and digestible. (2) Fine oatmeal does not require so much swelling, but it often imparts a bitter flavour, and is not so suitable for buns. The very coarse is not so suitable either for cakes. (3) Candied peel may be added if liked, or a few sultanas. SAVOURY BATTER. Ingredients : — 6 oz. flour. 1 pint milk. 1 egg. 2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley. 1 teaspoonful thyme and majoram (mixed). About ¼ lb. scraps of cold meat. 1 oz. dripping, or scraps of fat. Salt and pepper. A pinch of baking powder. Method : — Make a batter with the flour, milk, and egg, and set it aside to swell. Chop the meat finely, taking away any fat, skin, or gristle, dredge it with flour, and mix with it the parsley, herbs, salt, and pepper. Put it into the batter, adding the baking powder, and beat the whole well. Melt the fat in a pie dish, pour the mixture in, and bake about ½ hour, or until the batter is cooked, in a hot oven at first to raise the batter, and then more slowly lest the meat should get hard. When done, slip a knife round it, and turn it on to a hot dish. If liked, serve it with Brown Gravy. N.B. — (1) Almost any scraps of meat can be mixed together for this dish. If, however, pork is used, sage and onions should be added instead of the parsley and thyme. (2) Any scraps of fat taken from the meat should be melted and used instead of the dripping. (3) If liked more solid, 2 tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs can be added, and sometimes a tablespoonful of medium oatmeal is liked. HOMINY OR SEMOLINA BLANCMANGE.