Cassell's dictionary of cookery

the best means of keeping dishes hot without destroying their flavour or burning them. "When it is to be used the Bain Marie should be filled with boiling water, and the pans containing the sar.oes or entrees should be put into it closely covered. It should then be put upon a hot plate or by the side of the fire, to keep up the heat of the water without allowing it to boil, and should there remain until the dishes are wanted. The principle of the Bain Jlarie may be adopted for keeping sauces and gravies warm when a proj^er pan is not at hand. Instead of re- taining the compounds slowly simmering by the side of the fire in the pan in which it was made, by which means it would in all probability be either smoked, burnt, or rendered flavourless, put it into a basin or jar, cover it closely and place it in a pan of boiling water. If the water is allowed to boil the sauce or grcLvj will become too thick. Price of the Bain jMarie : Block tin, with copper pan, soup pot, and glaze pot stew- pans, £2 15s. Strong copper from £7 10s. to £10 5s. Bake, To. — Baking is a most convenient, economical, and satisfactory mode of cooking certain dishes to which it is suited, otherwise it is most unsatisfactory and unprofitable. For jjastry, cakes, and various puddings an oven is indispensable, and many meat dishes are as well cooked in it as before the fire. Amongst these may be mentioned the following : a hare, a leg of pork, a breast or fillet of veal, a goose, a duck, a sucking- j)ig, a shoxilder of mutton and potatoes, and many kinds of fish. Gravies, too, soups, beef-tea, and stock for calf's foot jelly may be advantageously cooked in a slow oven, if put into a jar with a closely-fitting lid, tod ■ allowed to remain long enough. There is, how- ever, no doubt that ordinary joints of meat, if baked in the oven, have a peculiar taste which is not palatable, and which is doubtless caused by the fact that the fmnes v/hich arise in cook- ing are not carried off as they are when the meat is roasted. It has been said that meat loses less in weight and more in flavour by baking than by any other mode. A little extra seasoning should therefore be added if a dish is to be cooked in this way. A baking-dish ought to be deep enough to cover the joint to the extent of an inch, and thus keep the juices from drying up. If the oven be very hot, cover the meat vnth a piece of white paper well greased, and take it off in time to let the outside brown before serving. It is well to adopt this plan with large pies and cakes also, so that they may not be browned before they are suiEciently cooked, remembering only to let the pastry in pies set before the paper is put on. Pastry re- quu'cs a tolerably quick oven to prevent its becoming heavy. If too quick, however, the steam cannot escape. All largo cakes should bo baked in a moderate oven, or the outside will be hard before the middle is ready. In order to ascertain whether these are sufficiently cooked put a skewer or knitting-needle into the middle, and if when this is drawn out any moistm-e adheres to it the cake must be baked longer. All light cakes, such as sponge-cakes, cheese- cakes, &c., should be put into a brisk oven until they have risen. The heat may then go do\^^l a little.