Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Fritella. — Take the livers, gizzards, hearts, and lights of two or three chickens ; clean and parboil them ; cut them into neat pieces ; slice artichokes and peeled potatoes ; dip them in egg, roll in flour or corn meal, and fry in boiling oil or butter. Drain dry, and serve on a hot dish. One or two artichokes and about three good-sized potatoes will be enough. The dish is much better if it has added to it a parboiled sweetbread and a pair of calf's brains, also parboiled, fried with the other ingredients. FRITTERS Fritters. — There are few dainties more easily prepared than are fritters. To one who has mastered the knack or art of fritter-making, the process is simple and the numerous results delicious. The materials which form the base of their composition range from fish, flesh, and fowl to vegetables and fruits — those made of fruits forming most delicious desserts. An essential item in the preparation of these toothsome dainties is that the deep fat in which they are to be cooked shall be at just the right point of heat. The frying-kettle containing the fat must be set at one side of the range, where it will heat slowly until needed, when it may be drawn forward and allowed to become very hot. The fat is tested by dropping a cube of bread into it. It will sink to the bottom for an instant, then rise to the top, and in one minute should be a golden-brown in color. The fat is then at the proper temperature, but it must be watched carefully that it does not get so hot as to burn and blacken. Fritter batter should not be allowed to stand after it is completed by the addition of the whites of eggs, but must be cooked at once. Experience will soon teach one exactly how thick the batter must be. It is hard to make any positive rule as to the quantity of flour required, as some flours thicken more readily than others. The flour must be sifted twice with the salt, the milk must be carefully measured, and the yolks and whites of the eggs beaten thoroughly and separately. To have fritters of uniform size, be careful to drop even spoonfuls of the batter into the fat, using a longhandled spoon for the purpose. As soon as they are of a golden-brown, remove at once from the kettle with a split or perforated spoon, and lay in a hot colander until dry. They should be served very hot. Fritters, Batter for. — One pint of sifted flour, four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one pint of water or milk. Blend the salt and the yolks of the eggs, adding three table-spoonfuls of butter or salad oil. Add to this blend the flour, a little at a time, and then the water. Beat it well and let it stand at least two hours. When ready to use stir in the whites of the eggs, which have been beaten into a froth. For fruit fritters, a tablespoonful of brandy and one of sugar are to be added. For clam and oyster fritters, use their juice and less water. Frying baskets of fine wire to fit the frying kettle can be bought at almost any house-furnishing store. Heat the fat slowly. When a bluish smoke rises from the centre of the kettle the fat is hot. After the frying has been finished, strain the fat through a cloth. If this is done, the same fat can be used several times.