Use and preparation of food

Round steak is preferred for making beef juice, since it contains so little tissue fat. Scrape it with the dull edge of a knife so as to separate the muscle fibers from the connective tissue as completely as possible. Make the muscle fiber into a small cake and broil slightly on either side to start the juices. Press out the juice, using a potato ricer. Examine the juice carefully; heat a small portion in a test tube and note the coagulation. The portion coagulating is the protein of the muscle juice. "When it is removed there remains only the soluble mineral constituents, food accessory substance, and flavoring constituents of the meat. Discuss the usual method of preparing beef juice by placing chopped meat in a jar and heating in a water bath. A juice of lower food value is obtained in this way, since some of the soluble protein is likely to be coagulated and removed when the juice is strained. Since beef juice is given to invalids who need nourishing food, it is important that it should be prepared so as to retain as much food value as possible. Calculate the cost of the beef juice and discuss other foods which might be used instead. Examine the connective tissue and the muscle fibers from which the juice has been extracted. Both of these are largely protein and water. They contain a mixture of proteins. Most of the protein of the fiber hardens or coagulates on heating, but the connective tissue protein is changed by the moist lieat to gelatin. This is the reason why tough meat tends to fall apart in fibers when cooked in water while the protein in this fiber is hardened by the heat. Lesson 3. Pot Roasts and Stews; Less Used Portions. AIM. To teach the best method of preparing tough cuts of meat; also the use of the offal portions and some ways of preparing them palatably. POINTS TO be brought OUT. 1. Methods of cooking tough cuts : A. Tough cuts of meat having the same proportion of edible meat are as high in food value as the more expensive tender cuts. B. More care is necessary in preparation in order to retain and develop as much flavor as possible while cooking for tenderness. C. In preparation they may be nuide more tender by — (1) Long, slow cooking at low temperature. (Fireless cooker is good for this purpose.) (2) Cooking in moist heat. D. Flavor may be developed and retained by — (1) Browning before cooking so as to coagulate the outside and help retain the juices. E. Flavor may be increased by — (1) Browning after cooking to tenderness. (2) Use of Avell-flavored sauces. (3) Added seasoning. 2. Use of so-called offal portions. — The offal portions most commonly used as food are : A. Nervous tissue — brain. B. Glandular tissues — (1) Liver. (2) Thymus — sweetbread. (3) Pancreas (sometimes called the stomach sweetbread). (4) Kidney. C. Muscular tissue — (1) Heart. (2) Feet. (3) Tongue. These should be used by the housewife, because — (a) They accumuhite as by-products in the packing industry. (b) They can not be shipped well, so should be used locally to release other foods for shipping. .