The victory cookery book

To make a quart of fish stock, place in a saucepan a little oil or fat, then 2 oz. of sliced onion, half a bay leaf, an equal amount of thyme, a dozen peppercorns (crushed), 1 clove, some mace the size of a pea and 1 oz. parsley stalks. Place on this 1 Ib. fish bones, sprinkled lightly with salt and the juice of half a lemon, cover with the lid of the pan, and cook gently until the juice from the fish bones is extracted, then make up the quantity of liquid to 1 quart. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, then strain — the liquor, draining well to extract it all. Place the fish bones on a dish to cool, — and if there is any fish, carefully pick it off with a fork and use for fish cakes. One Ib. of bones sometimes gives 2 or 8 oz. of fish. Vegetable Stock (For Sour oR FOR A FOUNDATION FOR GRAVY OR SAUCE) Materials.—Carrots, turnips, onions, leeks, celery, cabbage (1 lb. of these vegetables mixed), } oz. fat (if possible allow 1 oz. of fat), oz. salt. — Method.—Cut the vegetables in small blocks about 4 inch square. Place the fat in the pot, add the vegetables and salt, cover with a lid and place over a very gentle heat. Stew, stirring from time to time until the vegetables become quite tender. Remove the lid, and when the fat is clear and a sediment has formed at the bottom of the pan similar to the dried gravy which forms in the tin when roasting meat, cover the vegetables with 1 quart of water and bring slowly to the boil. Do not stir, as that would cloud the stock. Let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the stock well so that all the liquid filters through the vegetables. Stand for a few minutes to allow the fat to rise, and carefully skim it, reserving it for future use. The stock will be perfectly clear, not unlike meat stock, except that it is sweeter, which many people like, but which if necessary can be counteracted by adding a tablespoonful of Worcester sauce. The vegetables must not be thrown away but employed for vegetable cutlets, pies, or to serve with meat. Vegetables cooked in this manner have a far better flavour even after the stock has oe been extracted, than when boiled in water in the usual way. Treated as described, 1 lb. of mixed vegetables and 1 oz. of fat provide soup and — the main part of a vegetable dish. The stock should be used in the making of sauces in place of meat stock. F This stock may be thickened by using corn or potato flour mixed smoothly in cold stock and then added by degrees to — the boiling stock. Clear (Vegetable) Soup This stock can be used for all clear soups — by adding whatever garnish is desired. Vegetable Gravy | A gravy can be made by frying the peelings of carrot and onion and a sprig of — celery together in a little fat. When nicely coloured add a bunch of savoury herbs, cover with water, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, and if too sweet add a little Worcester sauce or vinegar. — Brown Vegetable Sauce or Gravy Materials.—}4 oz. fat, 1 oz. flour, 14 pint of vegetable stock, 1 tablespoonful of Worcester sauce. Method.—Fry the flour in the fat until it becomes nut-brown. Let it cool, and then add the vegetable stock. Stir until boiling- - point is reached, then add the Worcester sauce and simmer very gently for about 15 minutes. The fat used will rise to the surface, and must be skimmed off and added to the store of cooking fat. This preparation tastes and looks like a meat gravy. For sauce boil the stock down until the thickness desired is reached; season to taste, and it is then ready for use. When sauces are made in this way there will be no lumps, and straining is not necessary, except when a skin is allowed to form after cooking is finished.