Part 49 (1/2)
Buy one and a quarter pounds of leg of veal at ten cents a pound; cut the meat into dice, and place it in a stew-pan with a piece of mace and a pint of milk. Place it back of the fire so that it will not burn, and thicken it before serving with a teaspoonful of flour.
_Stuffed Potatoes._--Bake four large potatoes until nearly done; then cut in half, remove the insides, beat them up with milk, replace in the skins, and serve in a pyramid.
_Purified Cabbage._--Cut a cabbage into thin strips as if for salad; boil it in salted water, but every time the water comes to the boiling point throw it away for three successive times; after the third boiling use milk instead of water, and add a little nutmeg. If nicely cooked in this way, cabbage is as palatable and as digestible as cauliflower.
=DINNER No. 3=
STEWED CARROTS, CHOPS WITH PARSLEY SAUCE, CREAM POTATOES, APPLE DUMPLINGS
Chops cut from the shoulder of mutton are cheaper than either neck or loin chops, and are as good, perhaps better, for boiling. Put the chops on in enough cold water to cover them; let them simmer for half an hour, and at the end of that time come just to a boil; pour off the liquor into the stock-pot, and lay the chops on a hot dish; make some white sauce of one ounce of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of flour, and a cup of milk; add chopped parsley, and pour over the chops.
To stew carrots cut them in very thin rounds, lay them in a stew-pan with enough water to more than cover. Let them boil till tender, about one quarter of an hour; then thicken the liquor with flour, and add a tiny bit of b.u.t.ter.
=DINNER No. 4=
BOILED ONIONS, CURRY, RICE, STEWED PRUNES
Curry can be made of a variety of materials. The best for the purpose are the white meats, veal, pork, or chicken; and although curried cooked meat is a satisfactory subst.i.tute for hash, it is not on the whole commendable. The Indian receipt for ordinary curry is as follows:
Cut the fowl or meat into joints or fair-sized pieces; dip each piece in curry powder, or sprinkle freely with it; cut up a large onion, and have a clove of garlic. Put all together in a frying-pan, the bottom of which is covered with melted b.u.t.ter (drippings or lard will do); fry until thoroughly brown, turning continually. When brown, remove meat into a stew-pan; make a gravy with flour and water (or stock) in the frying-pan from which the meat was taken; strain it over the meat, and then add a few drops of lemon, or a little Worcester sauce--and set the stew-pan on the side of the stove and let it simmer for two hours. The meat should be so tender that it can be readily separated by a fork. A knife should never be used. Eggs make a delicious curry. Boil them hard, sh.e.l.l, and cut in halves; make a curry gravy as above, and pour over them. Serve with rice around the dish.
_Rice._--The proper way to serve rice with curry is perfectly dry, and this is best secured by throwing a cupful (for an ordinary dish) into water which is already boiling hard. Let it continue to boil rapidly until the water has all boiled away, leaving the lid off. The rice will then be almost tender, and by removing to the side of the stove the evaporation will continue, and the rice drying off will be easily separable grain from grain, which is the proper way. The success of this method depends upon having plenty of water in the first instance.
_Madras_ curry is differently made, and is served dry. For it, proceed as for the other curry by frying all the ingredients together in b.u.t.ter or drippings, but when brown continue to fry until the meat is done; then at the last moment add a sprinkling of curry powder, shake the pan, and turn all the contents onto a hot dish. Serve with rice.
=DINNER No. 5=
BRUSSELS SPROUTS, LIVER SAUTe, POTATOES, RICE PUDDING
Calf's liver can be so cooked as to be both delicate and easily digested. The German method is a very good one. Remove any outer skin, and cut the liver into very thin slices. Have a pan with salted boiling water and throw in the liver. It will require only about five minutes'
cooking if the slices are thin enough. Take them out, lay them on a hot dish, and make a gravy by frying a cut-up onion and when brown pouring in the liquor used to boil the liver, thickening with flour and browning if necessary. Add at the last moment one half a large spoonful of vinegar.
Liver b.a.l.l.s may be made by using the liver left over, chopping it very fine with an onion, some sage, or thyme (as may be preferred), bread-crumbs and a beaten egg, and frying in hot lard.
Liver should be accompanied by a green vegetable, for which reason Brussels sprouts are suggested. They should be cooked in salted water, drained, and served with white sauce, flavored with nutmeg.
=DINNER No. 6=
FRIED SWEET POTATOES, BREAST OF MUTTON, CAPER SAUCE, STRING-BEANS (TEN CENTS A CAN), APPLE PIE
Breast of mutton is the cheapest of all mutton, and being very fat, is considered unprofitable, but by care it can be made both palatable and economical. Buy about three pounds of breast; place it in a pan over a slow fire until a good deal of the fat has melted, but avoid letting it brown; pour away the fat as it melts, and when fairly free of it place the meat in a stew-pan with an onion cut up, and enough water to cover it, and a little thyme. Let it cook very slowly, only simmering for two hours; then lay on a hot dish, and pour caper sauce over it. If it is still fat skim often while simmering.
=SOME CHEAP SOUPS=
_Tomato._--Turn a can of tomatoes into a stew-pan, and let come to a boil; fry some bread in dice, place them at the bottom of a soup tureen, and rub the tomatoes through a colander over them; put the pulp left in the colander back into the stewpan; add water, let it boil up, and strain again into the tureen; stir in a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter, season with pepper and salt, and serve.