Principles of food preparation

Method. Melt the butter and blend with it the flour and seasoning. Add the tomato pulp, and stir until the mixture has boiled for one minute. Add the milk, keep stirring until the mixture ceases to be "ropy," let it come to a boil, and serve. Milk Toast Bread for toast should be cut neither too thin not too thick; a half -inch thick is a good proportion. An ordinary brick-shaped loaf should yield sixteen slices. The slices can be toasted on the rack of the broiling oven of the gas range, or in any other preferred way. They should not be approached too closely to the source of heat at first, so that they may be sufficiently dried out by evaporation to insure the right amount of crispness — good judgment must be exercised here, for this dish, though very simple, is only in perfection when made in just the right way. The toast when finished should be crisp, but not too brittle, and should be a uniform golden brown on both sides. Each slice should then be dipped — for an instant merely — into very hot salted water, just " off " the boil. The process of dipping must be so rapid, and the toast must be at so exactly the right stage of crispness, that the slices will not be soggy. They are then placed on a hot platter, and while still fresh and steaming a thin white sauce is poured over them. The pepper should be omitted from the seasoning of this sauce. The sauce should be prepared before the slices are toasted, since the success of the dish depends so largely on the quickness of the last steps, the toast being dipped before the fresh, '' crispy " odor has vanished, and the sauce being poured over the slices while the first of the steam is rising. Only one or two slices should be prepared by a beginner. A half-cupful of sauce will be sufficient for two slices. VARIATIONS ON MILK TOAST Egg Toast. This is made by adding to every cup of the white sauce for a plain milk toast one chopped, hardboiled egg. Fruit Toasts. Peach, apple, strawberry, and other toasts are made by substituting hot, stewed fruit for the white sauce used in the ordinary milk toast. These form very acceptable luncheon dishes. Tomato Toast. This is made similarly to the fruit toast, and can be served as a vegetable or as an entree. A little cheese, grated over the top, adds to its savoriness. MILK PUDDINGS Bread and Butter Pudding Ingredients. ^ of 1 stale loaf. 1 to 2 eggs. 2 to 3 cupfuls rich milk. Butter, from H to 34 pound. Y2 cupful sugar. Raisins, preserves, or jelly. Method. Cut the bread in one-half inch slices, and spread each slice liberally with butter. Fit the slices into a baking dish with the buttered side down, and scatter raisins between the layers. Dissolve the sugar in the milk, which may or may not be heated, and stir into the mixture the well-beaten yolks of the eggs. Pour this over the bread in the baking dish, cover, and bake for 20 m. Take off the cover and allow the bread to brown. Then spread a layer of jelly or preserve on the top — quince is the best — pile over this a meringue made from the whites of the eggs (see Chapter V, page 33), and replace in the oven until the meringue is firm and very delicately browned. Chocolate Bread Pudding