Cookery book and general axioms for plain cookery

His plan is to draw the meat 3 or 4 feet from the fire, which must be large— this, of course, would be too great a distance from a small range ; but the idea is, very slow cooking — so slow that basting is not required to keep it moist, and the degree of heat not great enough to dry up too much of its own moisture. Even for poultry and game, his rule is to rub the breast only with a little butter after the skin becomes set. Tie points out as one of the evils of basting, that by continually pouring hot fat over, the beautiful light fat attached to the joint becomes heavy, and the gravy, which invariably falls from the joint with the fat, remains upon it and burns, and causes it to be very heavy and indigestible. At the same time he apologises for attempting to improve the English method of roasting. Where Soyer’s method can be carried out, it is most advantageous in the saving of time and trouble. The idea of slow cooking has been proved to be the best in every mode of cooking meat — in boiling, stewing, grilling, and even in dry frying (which is the quickest method, and supposed only to take 5 or 6 minutes), as well as roasting or baking — -and it is inculcated throughout this little work, and certainly cannot be too much emphasised, It is, perhaps, necessary to add that in frosty weather the meat should be brought into a warmer atmosphere some little time before cooking it, or a longer time allowed for the cooking. These notes would be incomplete, perhaps, without a word or two on the cooking of salt meat, which is not introduced into the syllabuses, because the ordinary salting process deprives it of so much nutriment ; though where a fresh joint is salted by the pumping-in process merely for its savoury advantages, and not for the sake of keeping it, of course it is not deprived of its juices, nor is it so hardened as when it lies in the pickle for some time, so that it would only require boiling in the ordinary way. The slow cooking theory is a decided advantage for these meats. Tongues, hams, and fish require soaking several hours, or overnight, according to the length of time they have been in pickle ; then cover the meat with boiling water, and leave it by the side of the fire until done, scarcely allowing it to simmer. Let it remain in the water about half an hour, or until the water is almost cold, when the meat will be mellow and moist. INDEX TO Apple Dumplings . . Apple Sauce . . Arrowroot, To make a cup of Bacon and Eggs, To fry . . Bacon and Liver Baked Haddock Baked Herrings Baked Mackerel Baked Potatoes Baking Powder Baking Powder Bread Barley Water Batter, Fruit Baked in Batter, Savoury Beans, Haricot Bean Stew, Haricct Beef and Bice, Stewed Beef Olives Beef Stew, Leg of . . Beef Tea Beef Tea, No. 2 Blancmange, Hominy Blancmange, Semolina Boiled Cauliflower . . Boiled Fish, Sauce (plain) for . . Boiled Meat Boiled Poratoes Boiled Rice . . Boil Eggs, To Boil Fish, To Boil Green Vegetables, To Bone Stock . . Bran Tea •JO Bread and Butter Pudding Bread Pudding Bread Sauce Bread, Baking Powder RECEIPTS. \ Bread with. Yeast . . . . 32 Bread, Whole Meal . . 35 Bread Crumbs, Browned . . 37