Handbook of domestic science and household arts for use in elementary schools

Gravy. — Pour off all the fat from the pan. Add one cup of water. Season to taste, with salt and pepper. Mix one teaspoonful of flour with enough cold water to make a smooth paste. Brown it in the oven. Stir it into the boiling water. Let it boil for five minutes, stirring all the time. Strain, and serve in a hot dish. Baked Custards What are the ingredients of custard ? What temperature does milk require for boiling? What difference in the general temperature of the oven for baking a custard than from that required in roasting meat ? Is it necessary to have a preliminary high temperature ? Why not ? What precaution did we take against too great heat in cooking boiled custard ? How can we apply this principle in baked custards ? Recipe. — Use the same proportions and methods as in boiled custard. Turn the mixture into two cups. Grate a little nutmeg over the top. Set them in a dish of hot water in a moderate oven. Cook until the centre is firm. This may be tested by rnnning a knife into it. If it comes out clean, it is cooked enough. If it has been baked slowly, at a low temperature, it will be solid and smooth. If it is full of holes, then the temperature of the oven was too high. This converts the water into steam, which finally escapes, but leaves behind the holes made in its formation. Review Broiling. Recipe for Broiled Beefsteak. — If a tough cut is used, pound it before broiling, or else brush it on both sides with a mixture of one part vinegar and two parts oil, letting it stand at least two hours before cooking. The vinegar, held in check by the oil, partially dissolves the tough fibre. Cut off the superfluous fat and, if it is a sirloin or porterhouse piece, remove the end. (Where shall we put the fat ? The end ?) Make the surface smooth by striking it with the broad side of the knife. The broiler must be very hot. Put a piece of the meat fat on the end of a fork and grease it well. Put the steak between the broiler, and near clear hot coals. Turn every ten seconds. When done, it will be puffed up between the wires. (Why ?) A steak an inch and a half thick will require about eight minutes of cooking. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spread with butter. Serve at once. Chops and steak, too, may be broiled in a frying pan, by removing all fat, putting them in a dry, red-hot pan, and turning with a skimmer, allowing them to cook more slowly when the outside is seared. Review Frying. Croquettes These may be made from the chopped meat of chicken (white meat, or dark meat, or both together), of veal, of sweetbreads and mushrooms, of fish, of soup meat, etc. Individual Recipe. — To the white sauce (see chapter on Starchy Foods) add half a cupful of chopped meat, seasoned with saltspoonful of salt, same quantity of onion juice, a dash of pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Pour the mixture on a dish and set it aside for at least two hours. Then take half the mixture and roll it lightly into a ball. On the moulding board spread a plentiful supply of bread crumbs, spread evenly. Eoll the ball on these, into a cylinder, flattening the ends by dropping it lightly on the board.