Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

quettes omit nutmeg, and serve with Tomato Sauce instead of White Sauce. Savory Rice Croquettes Boiled rice, 2 cupfuls. Salt, ^ teaspooiiful. Eggs, 1, beaten. Pepper, y^ teaspoonful. Butter 2 tablespoonfuls. Cayenne, or paprika, a few grains. Minced parsley, 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls. If the rice is cold, warm it with two or three table- spoonfuls of milk. Mix the ingredients, and shape and fry like chicken croquettes. Potato Croquettes Mashed or riced potato, 2 cupfuls. Butter, 2 tablespoonfuls. Salt, >^ to ^ teaspoonful. Pepper, % teaspoonful. Celery salt, X teaspoonful. Onion juice, 10 drops. Beat the yolk, mix it with the potato, and add the other ingredients. Heat the mixture in a saucepan, stirring ; when it cleaves from the side of the pan, turn it on to a flat dish ; when cold, shape it into cylinders about three inches long. Roll these in egg and crumbs and fry them. Codfish Cakes (Fishballs) Salt codfish, }4 pound. Potatoes, in inch-thick pieces, 2 heaping cupfuls. Eggs, 1. Butter, ^ tablespoonful. FAT FROM ANIMALS AND OIL FROM PLANTS 223 Boil and mash the potatoes. While they are cooking, cover the codfish with boiling water ; when this is cool enough to allow your hands in it, pick the fish into shreds. Drain off the water, mix fish, potatoes, butter, and eggs together, and beat the mixture well. Fry it by heaping tablespoonfuls in deep fat, or shape it into balls or cylinders and fry in deep fat. Directions for frying Oysters 359. Prepare large oysters as directed in § 389 ; lay them on one end of a soft cloth, and with the other pat them dry. Take them one at a time by the gills, cover them first with seasoned cracker crumbs, then with egg, and last with crumbs grated from loaf. Fry in fat hot enough to brown white bread in forty seconds. 360. Sauteing, often incorrectly called " frying," is cooking in a small quantity of fat. It is a slower method than " deep frying," less healthful, because the food cannot be kept from absorbing grease, and more wasteful, on account of the fat taken up in this way. But, as it is sometimes convenient to saute potatoes, liver, small dry fish, and a few other kinds of food, it is important to know how to do it in the best way. Directions for sauteing. — Have the pan hot enough to hiss when the fat is put into it, and the fat hot enough to hiss when the food is put in. Cook the food first on one side, then on the other. Use very little fat, add- 224 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY ing from time to time just enough to keep the food from burning. The very worst way of cooking food is to put it into a cold or half-warm pan with grease enough to half cover it, and to let it sizzle and soak till it is wanted. Much of the sickness and death laid to other causes is really the result of eating food thus cooked. Suggestions about using Fat in Cooking 361. 1. Beef fat, clarified by itself, is a good sub- stitute for butter in shortening bread, biscuits, and gingerbread. (See footnote to p. 107.) It can also be used to grease tins. 2. Suet mixed with lard for frying improves its flavor, but not its frying qualities. It should not be used alone, as it hardens quickly, leaving a greasy coating on articles fried in it. 3. Have articles to be fried as dry as possible, and not very cold. Why?