Domestic science (Johnson, for schools and homes)

To Clean Oysters: Place oysters in a wire strainer, and allow the liquor to drain into a bowl, to be used later. Pick over the oysters carefully; taking them one at a time in the fingers, to remove all bits of shell or seaweed. Pol r ever the oysters one cup of cold water for every quart of oysters, shaking them gently, to wash. Drain quickly. 76 DOMESTIC SCIENCE Stewed Oysters: 1 pt. oysters, 1 tbsp. flour, 2 tbsp. I utter, 1 cup milk, 1-2 tsp. salt, 1-8 tsp. pepper. Heat the milk in stewpan to boiling point Heat the reserved liquor to boiling point, and strain it through double cheese cloth. Add the oysters to the liquor, and cook until they are plump and the edges curled; no longer. Remove the oysters with a skimmer, placing them in a tureen with butter, pepper and salt. Pour the liquor over the oysters Add the hot milk. Serve with oyster crackers. Lesson 19. Poultry: The term, "poultry," includes chickens or fowls, turkeys, ducks, and geese. The flesh of poultry is very nourishing. Birds like the common fowl, guinea fowl, and turkey, which have a white flesh, are the most digestible, being tender and of a delicate flavor. A young well-fed chicken is the most digestible of animal foods. The shoit- legged fowls are more delicate in flavor. The flesh of ducks and geese is more difficult of digestion. Fowls should be cooked in water, to make them tender. Young chickens may be broiled or roasted. A chicken is known by soft feet, smooth skin, and soft cartilage at the end of the breast bone. An abundance of pin feathers always indicates a young bird, while the presence of long hairs over the skin indicates age. In a fowl, the feet have become hard and dry, with coarse scales, and the cartilage at the end of the breast bone has become ossified, or turned to bone. Fried Chicken: Clean, singe, and cut in pieces, a young chicken. Plunge into cold water, drain, but do not wipe. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roil in flour un til thickly coated. Place three tbsp. fat in frying pan, and lay in the pieces of floured chicken. Cock slowly until tender and well browned. Serve v/ith white sauce made of milk. Lesson 20. Roast Chicken: Dress, clean, stuff, and truss a chicken. Place on its back on rack in dripping pan, rub COOKING 11 entire surface with salt, and spread breast and legs with three tablespoons butter, mixed with two tablespoons flour and rubbed till creamy. Dredge bottom of pan with flour. Place in a hot oven. When flour is well browned, reduce the heat, then baste. Baste every ten minutes until chicken is cooked. For baiting, use one-fourth cup butter melted in two-thirds cup boiling water. After this is all used, baste with the fat in the pan. If necessary to prevent the flour*s burning, add one cup boiling water in the pan. Turn chicken freely, while cooking, that it may brown evenly. If a thick cruft is desired, dredge with flour two or three times during the cooking. To make a glazed surface, omit the flour, and spread the surface with butter, basting as before. When the breast is tender, the bird is sufficiently cooked. A four-pound chicken requires about one and one-half hours. Stuffing for Roast: 1 cup cracker crumbs, 1-3 cup butter, powdered sage or marjoram, salt, pepper, 1-3 cup boiling water.