The school kitchen textbook

Any meat that is juicy and not tough may be first browned on the outside to retain the juice and improve the flavor ; but should you have any cold pieces of roast beef or steak, these may be used and will have the same effect. Some proteids are soluble in vegetable acids, such as those in vinegar and lemon juice. If coarse, tough pieces of meat are soaked in vinegar, the fibres will be softened and the meat made more tender. Meat containing much gristle should be put into cold water. Meat from the upper part of the shin, the aitch bone, flank, neck, and shoulder, — the less expensive parts, — are suitable for stews. Fowls, tough game, the tougher parts of mutton, lamb, or veal, any meats which have been previously cooked, and any kind of large white fish may be stewed. Meat that has some bone and fat makes a richer stew. A great variety of economical, wholesome, and palatable dishes may be prepared as stews, and there are many names given to this form of cooking. A stew usually has vegetables and dumplings cooked with the meat. A haricot of mutton or any other meat is a stew with the meat and vegetables cut fine, — into bits, the size of a haricot bean. A ragout is a stew highly flavored with wine. A salmi is a stew of game. A chowder is a stew of fish. A fricassee is a form of stewing where the meat is sautéed or browned in fat, either before or after stewing, and is usually served without vegetables. A pot-pie is a stew with the dough put on as a crust instead of in the form of dumplings. Braising is a form of stewing usually done in a covered pan in the oven. The slow, uniform heat from the confined hot air in the oven gives a richer, stronger flavor than that obtained by stewing over the fire. Onions, carrots, turnips, and potatoes are often used in a stew. Onions may be put in with the meat, but the other vegetables should be cut small, and added about half an hour before the stew is done. The kettle should be drawn forward, that the water may boil, not simmer, while the vegetables are cooking. This will not harm the meat as it would if boiled rapidly at first. Remove the bones and fat before adding the vegetables. A dumpling is a small biscuit-like portion of dough dropped or dumped quickly into the boiling liquid. There should be only liquid enough to come nearly to the top of the meat and vegetables, that the dumplings may rest on them and not sink into the liquid. The steam from the savory broth will cook the dumplings and impart a richer flavor than if cooked in a steamer over the stew. Cover the kettle closely, as soon as the dumplings are in, and let the stew boil steadily ten minutes, without lifting the cover. Serve them at once. As they are to be eaten with meat they require no shortening. The same dough may be cut into small cakes and baked as biscuit. Recipe, No. 153. Beef Stew I lb. beef. 2 potatoes. I onion. Salt and peppor. ^ c. turnip, cut in half-inch dice. Flour. J c. carrot, diced. Water to cover.