Foods and home making

When bone is cooked for a long time in water a substance in the bone changes into gelatin. The gelatin then dissolves in hot water and, of course, is present in soup stock. Buying bones to make soup is not thrifty. Bones left from roasts, steaks, chicken, and ham should be used for soup making. Not only the bones but the scraps and tough parts of meat trimmed from the more tender cuts should be added to the stock pot. 375 Dinner Soup stock tastes good when meat in addition to bone is used in preparing it. It is, however, poor economy to buy soup meat and use the meat merely for soup making. Only a small amount of nourishment is dissolved in water in which meat is cooked. Most of the nourishment remains in the solid meat. If meat used in preparing soup stock is utilized in making meat dishes, the buying of meat for soup is economical. In buying meat for soup making, tough cuts should be selected. Both the front and the hind shank of beef are good cuts for making soup. (See Figure 103, page 352.) The neck also is a good soup cut. The shank of veal (see Figure 116, page 381) is often used for making soup. If this cut is cooked for a long time, much gelatin is formed. Meat broth contain- ing gelatin is desirable. How is meat stock made ? In making meat broth or stock, we used to soak meat in cold water before cooking. Now we know this is unnecessary. We learned that meat tastes good when it is browned. We also like the color of browned meat. To give soup made from meat broth a good taste and darker color, we usually brown part of the meat used for soup making. Remove the meat from the bone and cut it in small pieces. Remove the marrow from the bone and any fat there may be from the meat. In a frying pan, put the marrow and other fat. Heat the fat so that some of the meat can be browned in it. Brown about a third of the meat in the fat. The meat should be browned until it is dark, but care should be taken not to burn it. Put the bone and both the browned and the uncooked meat in a ket- tle. Add the cold water and seasoning materials. Then gradually heat the meat mixture. Let it cook slowly (at a simmering tempera- ture) for about 3 hours. MEAT STOCK 2 pounds meat and bone 2£ teaspoons salt 6 peppercorns Fresh or dried celery leaves 2 quarts cold water Meat Soups and Left-Over Meat Dishes 377 Strain the stock through a coarse wire strainer. Put it in a sterilized container, cover tightly, and let it stand until cool. Then place in the refrigerator or other cool place. The advantage of letting meat stock cool before using it is to remove the fat from the stock. The fat rises to the top of the stock. When the stock becomes cold, the fat solidifies. It can then be skimmed from the stock. The fat removed from soup should not be wasted. It may be used for browning meats and other foods and in other ways. How is vegetable soup made from meat stock? Although meat stock is strained, small bits of meat and other materials pass through a coarse wire strainer. These small bits of solid material are desirable because they contain nourishing sub- stances. VEGETABLE SOUP 1 carrot, medium-sized \ cup celery cut in small pieces or 1 turnip, medium-sized celery leaves — fresh or dried | onion \ cup tomato 4 tablespoons suet or other fat 3 tablespoons rice or other cereal 2 quarts meat stock Seasoning, if needed