Domestic science, principles and application

Method. — Cut and prepare the chicken as for frying. Cover with boiUng water, and add 1 tbsp. of salt and a little pepper. Simmer 2 or 3 hours, or until tender. Reduce the water until about a pint remains. Remove all the large bones, dredge with flour, salt, and brown in hot fat. Strain the liquor from the chicken, remove the fat, add 1 cup of milk or cream to the liquor, and reheat. Thicken with 2 tablespoons of flour, moistened with J^ cup milk, add to the liquor. When the gravy or sauce is cooked and thickened, add to the chicken. Serve with or without hot biscuits. 7. Chicken Pie Method. — Chicken fricassee put in a baking dish and covered with a crust of pastry and baked, makes a chicken pie. 8. Jellied Chicken Method. — Remove the skin and bones from a cooked chicken. Pick the meat apart and mix the light and dark meat. Remove the fat from the chicken liquor; season the liquor highly with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice. Cook down to about one cupful. Butter a mold and decorate the bottom and sides with slices of hard-boiled eggs. Pack the meat in solid and set away to cool for several hours. When ready to serve, dip the mold in warm water, turn out carefully. Garnish with celery tips and lemon. PROTEIN— GELATIN Source and Manufacture. — When the bones, connective tissue, hoofs, skin, etc., of animals are cooked a long time, much of the material becomes a jelly, and is called gelatin. Scraps of hide, horns, etc., are used in the same way to make glue, which is a crude form of gelatin. The purest and best gelatin is made from the air bladders of fish, especially sturgeon, and is called isinglass. Appearance. — Gelatin is transparent and tasteless. Commercial gelatin is in three forms, (1) granulated, (2) shredded, and (3) sheet. There are many kinds of each on the market. Food Value. — Although gelatin contains nitrogen and is classed as a protein, it is not a tissue-builder. The body uses it to produce energy, and as such is a great proteinsparer. By this we mean that it saves protein for tissuebuilding that might otherwise be consumed for heat and energy. It is one of the most easily digested of foods, and for this reason is very suitable to serve to the sick and convalescent. Effects of Water on Gelatin. — 1 . Gelatin does not dissolve in cold water; it only softens and swells. 2. Gelatin dissolves in boiling water. 3. Dissolved gelatin gets thick when cool. A solution as weak as 1 per cent will set. 4. Gelatin will not thicken if boiled before cooling. Directions for Use. — 1. The ordinary proportion is 1 oz. of gelatin to about 1 quart of liquid. In hot or cold weather, more is required. As served, then, the jelly does (180) PRO TE IN— GEL A TIN 181 not usually contain over 3 per cent of gelatin. Granulated gelatin is more easily measured than either the shredded or the sheet form. A 2-oz. box holds 5 tablespoonfuls. Too much gelatin makes the jelly taste of it. 2. When gelatin is well soaked, dissolve with boiling water, but do not boil or stir much. 3. If fruit is used, more gelatin is needed. 4. Add sugar to gelatin while the water is hot, to dissolve the sugar. 5. Add flavoring and fruit juice after gelatin is dissolved. 6. Strain through a wet cloth or a fine strainer into a wet mold.