Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Bread - crumbs. — Use stale bread and a coarse grater for the soft part. The crust, if too hard to grate, should be dried, reduced to fine crumbs, and sifted. Use the crust crumbs for breading, and the softer crumbs for dressings and scallop dishes. Keep the crumbs in glass jars. Meats and Game should not be washed ; if cleansing is necessary, use a wet cloth. Never pierce meats while cooking, or the juices will escape. But for stews, etc., put the meat on in cold water and gradually heat so that the juices may be extracted. If the meat is put on in boiling water a coating is formed which assists in confining all the juices of the meat. V egetables. — Green vegetables should be first washed in cold water and then be put into fast-boiling, salted water, and should be quickly boiled in uncovered vessels. But in soups, etc., where the water is not to be thrown away, put the vegetables on in cold water. Potatoes should be put in plenty of boiling water and boiled slowly, and finished by cooking in their own steam. Eggs are beaten to make them light. A pinch of salt added to the white of eggs facilitates the beating. Break each egg separately in a cup or saucer, so as to be able to reject it if it is not satisfactory. When adding the whipped white of egg to any substance, do not beat it in, but fold it in carefully with a knife or a spoon. Milk is scalded in a double boiler as soon as the water in the lower pan is boiling. When sour milk or molasses is used, cream of tartar or baking-powder is omitted, and soda only is used. Butter, as well as milk, quickly absorbs flavors from other articles. Therefore keep both in tightly closed vessels in the refrigerator. Meats. — Use left-over meats in making croquettes, etc., or the trimmings and bones can be made into stock for use the next day. Stock. — Comparatively few families succeed in keeping a continuous stock-pot. But the use of the scraps of meat and the bones left over one day to make stock for immediate use the next day is growing constantly. Fruits. — Fruits almost ripe are best for preserving. If over-ripe, stew them at once. Fat. — Clarify all drippings, beef fat, the fat taken from soup, and keep in a jar for frying (immersing). The fat from mutton, salt and smoked meat, turkeys, etc., should be kept Thyme TIMBALES Macaroni Timbale separate for use in frying (sauteing). Goose fat is used in Germany for potato salad. Thyme. — Thyme is a herb much valued on account of its strong, pungent, aromatic odor and taste. Three varieties are used in cookery — common thyme, lemon thyme, and orange thyme. A very little is valuable for flavoring when judiciously used.