Twentieth century home cook book

Oysters. — This is a nice breakfast dish. Separate the oysters from the liquor, and put some of them in a baking platter, or pan. ]\Iake a seasoning of grated bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, celery-seed and small bits of butter. Put this over the oysters, add some seasoning and again oysters until you have enough. Pour a glass of wine or sound cider over all, and add the liquor of the oysters, as much as may be necessary. Bake until hot throughout and serve immediately. Meat Pot-Pie. — The old-fashioned way of making a pot-pie, and the only way in which the lower crust can be properly browned, is to use a thick round-bottomed pot over an open fire. The bottom and sides of the pot are lined with thick crust, and just before the pie is done the fire is increased until the crust is well browned. It cannot be made in a flat-bottomed or thin kettle. The modern way of making a potpie in the oven is to brown the top crust. It is the next best thing to a browned bottom crust. Chicken, game, beef and veal are the meats used. XIX. Pastry for Meat Pies. Many prefer a crust that is firm enough to be raised around the meat. Care must be taken that the flour is dry, and it must be sifted. Boil water with a very little lard and an equal quantity of sweet drippings or butter. While hot, mix this with as much flour as you want, making the paste very smooth and stiff, by beating and kneading. When ready, place it in a cloth or under a pan until cold. To make the form, place the left hand on the lump of crust, and with the right keep working it up the back of the hand until the proper shape is obtained. It must be thick enough to support itself. When worked into the desired form, the meat is put in with the necessary dressing, and the cover cemented on with the white of an egg, leaving vent holes for the escape of steam. You will have difficulty in forming the paste without practice, and in reality these raised pies are more fanciful than practical. Before putting into the oven the whole must be glazed with white of eggs. Another Way. — Take a tin, half the height of the required pie, roll the paste of a proper thickness, cut out the top and bottom, and a long piece for the outside. Butter the dish, mould the side, lay on the white of an egg where the bottom is to join the sides, drawing it down over the bottom of the dish. Lay on the bottom, pressing all firm so it may not leak. Fill the pie, put on the cover, and pinch well together. The usual way is to press the paste into a buttered tin form, take the pie carefully out when firm enough, and again put it into the oven to brown. Brioche Paste.— Seven fresh eggs are required for ten pounds of dried and warmed flour and one pound of sweet butter; also a little compressed yeast. Put the yeast into a portion of the flour, add warm water and mix to form the leaven. Set it to rise after making a slit in the top. The leaven being ready, take the remaining flour, make a hole in the middle, put in a saltspoonful of salt and the same •quantity of powdered sugar, with a little water to melt it. Slightly whisk the eggs, break the butter small, and work the whole well together by kneading and spreading alternately. Spread again, lay the leaven evenly over all, and knead and work until the whole is evenly and thoroughly mixed. When finished, flour a towel, wrap the paste in it, and put in a cold place in hot weather, or a warm place in cold weather, to have it ready for the next day. This makes the most delicate dumplings for soups or stews, cut in shapes and fried; it is nice with braised dishes. It makes the best case for lobster or other