A year's cookery

Blancmange made from Cow-Heel. — Procure a dressed cow-heel from the tripe shop and cut it up into small pieces. Put it into a jar with a quart of milk, cover closely, and set it in a slow oven for three hours. Strain, sweeten, and flavour to taste, and, when cold, turn into a damp mould. Tapioca Jelly. — Soak half a cupful of pearl tapioca in two cup¬ fuls of water overnight. Turn into a double saucepan, or put in a jar and set in a saucepan of water, and cook gently till clear. Add sugar to taste, and a little more water if too thick, and when taken off the fire, strain into it the juice of a lemon. Serve cold, with cream or milk. Red Tapioca. — Prepare the tapioca as in the last recipe, and, instead of lemon-juice, stir in a cupful of strawberry -juice, or red currant-juice, or raspberry and red currant-juice mixed. If liked, cooked apricots and their juice, grated pineapple and its juice, sliced bananas and orange-juice, or a few grapes can be introduced into the tapioca just before moulding. In fact, quite a series of accept¬ able dishes may be made from this recipe. The puddings should in every case be accompanied by cream or milk. Tapioca Custard. — Soak half a cupful of pearl tapioca overnight in slightly salted water that will barely cover it. Next day turn into a double saucepan with two cups of milk, and cook gently, stirring frequently. When the tapioca is clear and quite tender, pour the preparation upon the yolks of two eggs, which have been beaten with two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar. Mix well, then stir over the fire for a minute or two to cook the eggs. Turn into tumblers, and serve cold. Tapioca Cream. — Stew a brimming tablespoonful of small tapioca in half a pint of milk ; sweeten and flavour with cinnamon, and set away to cool. Just before serving add a gill of cream, which has been whipped till firm, and a tablespoonful of brandy, if approved. Serve with stewed fruit. Arrowroot Blancmange. — Blanch and bruise a quarter of an ounce of sweet almonds and five bitter ones, and boil them in half a pint of milk. Mix two heaped teaspoonfuls of Bermuda arrowroot very smoothly with a little cold milk, and strain the boiling milk over the paste, stirring to mix well. Add a teaspoonful of sugar, and return the preparation to the saucepan. Stir it over the fire for a minute or two, and serve cold. If liked, the almonds can be omitted, and when the arrowroot has cooled somewhat, a little lemon-juice can be stirred in. Jelly of Fresh Fruit. — Draw out and sweeten agreeably the juice of any kind of fruit. Add the juice of a lemon, and half an ounce of soaked and dissolved gelatine for each pint of juice. Mould when beginning to set. Superior Gruel. — Many invalids object very much to gruel. They acknowledge its value, but find it very distasteful. When made as follows, it is really very excellent : — Take half a teacupful of coarse Scotch oatmeal, mix it smoothly with about a pint and a half of water, pour it into a saucepan, and set it by the side of the fire to stew gently for a considerable time — two or three hours. Stir it frequently. Bub the preparation through a sieve, and keep back portions that will not go through. Boil the gruel, put with it an equal measure of boiling milk, season to taste, and serve. For recipes for Spoon Diet, and Drinks for Invalids, refer to the index.