The home science cook book

Use stale bread, white or brown, or a mixture. Prepare in a buttered saucepan, or a pudding dish in the oven, or in a double boiler. Cut or break the bread in convenient pieces, cover with milk, and cook gently until soft, adding more milk as it is absorbed. Use butter and salt if needed. The shape of the bread will be less distinct than in toast, but should not be too pasty. Continental Toast. Beat one or two eggs for each cup of milk and add one-fourth tablespoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. Dip slices of stale bread in this, and pile Quick Doughs. 45 them up on a plate. When all are done, moisten any hard parts again. If soaked too much the slices will break, for this reason the pieces should not be very large. Brown one side and then the other on a hot greased griddle or frying-pan. Serve in place of griddle cakes. Crumbs. For bread sauce and for most puddings the white portion of a stale loaf is preferred. Remove the crusts and grate the loaf, or break in sections and rub them together. The crusts and odds and ends not suitable for croutons should be dried, rolled, and sifted. The oven should be moderate so that the crusts will become crisp without browning. Two grades of crumbs should be kept--fine ones for croquettes, and coarser ones for stuffing and escallops. A meat chopper will grind the bread fine with less effort than a rolling pin. Bread-crumbs are best for croquettes and most stuffings. Cracker crumbs are preferable for the top of anything which must cook a long time. Buttered Crumbs. Melt one to two ounces of butter for each cup of crumbs. Stir the crumbs in the butter till it is all absorbed and every crumb has a share. Croutons. These should be made from stale bread, cut into slices about one-third of an inch thick, then into dice. They may be browned in the oven or cooked in butter in a frying-pan, tossing them about until slightly browned or fried in deep fat. 46 Home Science Cook Book. Eggs. Boiled Eggs. Put eggs in a saucepan of cold water and heat. By the time the water boils the eggs will be ready to eat. Or put the eggs in boiling water and place the dish containing them where the water will keep hot, but cannot boil. In five minutes the white will be soft and jelly like. In ten minutes the yolk will begin to be firm. Water at 180° is about right for cooking eggs. Much depends upon the age of the egg. The fresher the egg, the longer it takes to reach a given degree of hardness. For hard eggs cook in water of moderate heat for half an hour or longer. Poached or Dropped Eggs. Break raw eggs and turn into a cup without breaking the yolk. Then slip gently into a shallow pan of salted boiling water. A small quantity of lemon juice or vinegar in the water aids in keeping the egg in good shape. With a spoon dip some of the water over the egg that it may be cooked evenly on top. When the wrhite is firm take up the eggs with a skimmer and place on a slice of toast. Egg poachers or muffin rings are used for the same purpose. Eggs may be poached in milk, or in soup stock, tomato sauce, or any gravy which afterwards is poured over the toast on which they are to be served. The toast may be spread with melted cheese or with any minced meat or fish, such as anchovy paste. A poached egg may be served on a fishball. ' 47