Maria Willett Howard

“ Many persons use hot beverages for two chief purposes: first, to wash their food down and save themselves the trouble of thorough mastication; and second, to get something hot into the stomach and revive the nerves. Such persons should remember that cocoa and chocolate are like soups in their nutritive value and not to be used like water, tea, or coffee.
Cocoa or chocolate with bread would be a sufficiently nutritive diet to prolong life indefinitely. ”

“ When we consider its nutritive value as a food in addition to its delicious flavor as a beverage, cocoa is the cheapest beverage there is. Chocolate has several times the value of beef per pound and the same is true in only a slightly less degree of cocoa; and cocoa has the added advantage of being so very digestible that it is suited for the use of children and invalids. ”

“ The food to be braised is placed in a kettle with a few slices of salt pork, some vegetables, seasonings and a small amount of liquid, either water or stock. The kettle is then covered closely and the food cooked until tender. Braising is a long, slow process.
Frying
Frying is cooking food in hot fat, deep enough to cover the food. Lard, olive oil, cottolene or drippings may be used. The fat should be heated hot enough to brown a piece of bread a golden brown in forty seconds for cooked food, and in sixty seconds for uncooked food. ”

“ In cooking, the term boiling means the cooking of food in a boiling liquid, and water is the liquid generally used. Rapidly boiling water is no hotter than when the agitation is less, but in some cases, as in the boiling of rice, violently boiling water is recommended for the purpose of keeping the grains of rice separated. ”

“ If care is taken, all of the internal organs can be removed at once by separating the membrane inclosing the organs from the body.
Draw windpipe and crop through the neck opening. Never make an incision in the breast.
Wash inside of bird with cloth wrung out of cold water, removing all clots of blood. Wipe, stuff, sew up openings, truss, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, place on rack in dripping pan, and cook fifteen minutes in very hot oven. Then dredge pan with flour, reduce heat, and baste every ten minutes until chicken is done, turning often. ”

“ To prepare the egg, break into soup plate, beat until yolk and white are well blended, season with salt and pepper, dilute with two tablespoons cold water and use for dipping.
Food to be fried should be dried as much as possible, then dipped in crumbs, then placed in the egg, and thoroughly covered with the egg, then drained and dipped again in crumbs.
It is an economy of time to crumb all of the pieces to be fried, then egg all, and when drained, to crumb all. ”

“ Food is generally boiled by putting immediately into boiling water. This sears the surface, and keeps in the juices; but if the water is to be used for soups, gravies, and so forth, the food is put into cold water and brought slowly to the boiling point. Salt is added to the boiling water ordinarily when cooking food, as it tends to keep the flavor in the food.
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Roasting
Roasting, truly speaking, is cooking food before an open fire, so that roasting is seldom accomplished in modern kitchens.
Baking
Baking is cooking food by dry heat in an inclosed oven. ”

“ Many persons have better success scrambling eggs in a double boiler instead of in a frying pan.
Scrambled eggs can be varied in appearance and flavor by adding various chopped meats, condiments, vegetables, cheese, or mushrooms.
Fried Eggs
Melt butter, bacon fat or pork fat in frying pan; when it bubbles, turn in egg, which has been previously broken into a cup; when white is set, baste with liquid fat. If desired hard, turn and cook on both sides.
Omelet 2 eggs
2 tablespoons hot water or hot milk
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
Beat eggs well; add salt and milk. ”

“ Cook rice in milk; when milk is absorbed add cheese, seasonings, and egg, and enough sauce to make of the consistency to shape. Shape, dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.
Sweet Rice Croquettes
Cook one cup rice in two cups milk in double boiler, until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender; add one fourth cup sugar and one half teaspoon salt. Cool, add two egg yolks, shape in form of nests, dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat, hollow downward. Drain on brown paper; fill nests with cubes of jelly. ”

“ The joint of beef known as the Porterhouse roast or sirloin roast consists of the sirloin, the tenderloin, and the flank. The flank is tough, and if roasted with the meat, is generally used for some made dish, such as croquettes, or hashed meat on toast; it is seldom carved at the table.
The tenderloin and sirloin must be carved across the grain. Cut thin slices parallel to the ribs or at right angles with the backbone, then cut close to the backbone, [16] thus separating the slices. Rib roasts are carved in the same way as the sirloin. ”

“ The nutritive value of the carbohydrate foods is large if the starch and sugar, of which they are composed, can be separated from the cellulose. The normal diet is one which contains proteid foods, carbohydrate foods, fatty foods, with the correct proportion of mineral matter and sufficient water to moisten them.
The proper diet depends largely upon the occupation. People of sedentary habits and brain workers need more digestible food than the day laborer—therefore, the necessity of mixed diets ”

“ Let melted butter stand in a dish on back of the range until the salt has settled, then pour off butter, leaving sediment in the bottom of the dish.
How to avoid the Burning of Fat
When fat is put on the range to heat for frying, put in a cube of bread. If the fat is forgotten, the bread will burn first, and the odor of the burned crumb will attract the attention. The burned flavor cannot be removed from burned fat. ”

“ Brown soup stock is made from beef and vegetables, or from beef, veal and fowl, and vegetables.
Veal with onion and celery and seasonings makes white stock; or veal and chicken together, with celery, onions, and seasonings, are used for white stock.
Cream soups are generally made without stock, milk or cream being the liquid used, the foundation made from fish or vegetables.
Chicken Stock is made from fowl, resembles white stock, but not quite so rich. ”

“ Never allow any food which looks unsightly to be served. Toasted bread, burned on one side, may take away the appetite, but toasted a golden brown on both sides, with crusts cut off and then cut in strips and served in between the folds of a fresh doily, will appeal to the most fastidious.
Parsley is always used to garnish meats. Meats should be skewered into shapely pieces before being cooked, and served on dishes to display them well.
Steaks and chops should be trimmed before cooking, then broiled evenly on all sides—never burned. ”

“ For a rich stock allow one pint of water to each pound of meat and bone, having only one quarter pound bone and three quarters meat. One kind of meat may be used, or several kinds. If soup is made from remnants of cold meat, be sure to add a small amount of fresh meat to give added flavor. Remember that if the contents of the soup kettle are allowed to boil for any length of time, it will be almost impossible to secure a clear soup from the stock. ”

“ The importance of proper cooking cannot be overestimated. Cooking changes the food so that the digestive juices can take care of it; cooking improves the flavor and the appearance, thus making the food more appetizing; and cooking kills disease germs, parasites, and other dangerous organisms. ”

“ Cream Butter.—Cream butter, that is, beat it with a spoon until it is of a creamy consistency; then add sugar very gradually; when well blended, add yolks of eggs which have been beaten with a Dover egg beater until lemon-colored and thick.
When the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. When all milk and flour have been used, beat well; then cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Pour into buttered and papered pan, having mixture a little higher on the sides than in the middle. ”

“ In fact one woman in Martinique lived on chocolate exclusively for many years. This was possible because it contains all of the elements necessary to sustain human life. Under these circumstances, we urge that cocoa and chocolate shall be considered and treated as foods, as well as most delicious drinks.
For those who care for a scientific analysis of the cocoa bean, we will add the approximate figures of one chemist:
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Based on such analyses as these, food experts accord to chocolate and cocoa a very high food value as producers of energy and heat. ”

“ The fat is removed from the loin and ribs, and these are sold for roasts or chops; the fat is pickled and used for salt pork.
The head is used for making souse and cheese.
The feet are sold fresh or pickled.
The brains, livers, and kidneys are also used the same as those of beef.
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Poultry and Game
Poultry includes all domestic birds.
In buying poultry, select birds which have been freshly killed and hand-picked.
Pin feathers are found on young birds, and hairs on older birds. The birds should be short and plump, with considerable meat on the breast, fat, but not too fat. ”

“ The top is used for steaks and roasts. The first few slices are quite tender. The third slice is the best for steak as it has only one muscle. The farther down the leg the steak is cut the tougher it becomes. The bottom of the round must necessarily be tough because of the large number of tendons. It may be easily distinguished from the top as it contains two muscles. It is used principally for making beef tea or Hamburg Steak.
The vein is used for roasting or braising. The meat is usually stringy but of very good flavor.
The hind shin is used only for stews or soup stock. ”

“ Melt two tablespoons butter; add two tablespoons flour, one fourth teaspoon salt, few grains cayenne, one cup cream. Cook until thick, add two egg yolks and six hard-cooked eggs, cut in pieces, and serve hot on toast.
Scrambled Eggs and Tomato
Melt two tablespoons butter; add one tablespoon each of chopped pepper and onion, one cup cooked tomato, one half teaspoon salt. When hot, add four eggs slightly beaten; when scrambled, serve on toast. ”

“ Uncooked food requires a longer, slower frying; the cube of bread should brown in sixty seconds for such food.
Food cooked in fat tested in this way should never soak fat if one is careful to put a small enough quantity of food in at a time—not enough to cool the fat.
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How to make Croquettes
For meat croquettes, cold cooked meat should be freed from skin and gristle, and cut quite fine, then mixed with a thick sauce to as soft a consistency as it is possible to handle. Chill before shaping. For vegetable croquettes the vegetables should be boiled, then mashed and seasoned. ”

“ Beat the white, add crushed shell and the cold stock, pour into kettle, set over the fire, and stir constantly until the boiling point is reached; boil three minutes without stirring, then simmer for ten minutes, strain through sieve, then through a cheese cloth; reheat and serve. If these directions are followed, an absolutely clear soup will be the result.
To keep Soup Stock
When the stock is ready to strain, strain into several receptacles; a coating of fat will form on the top, which serves to keep out the air. This fat must be removed before clearing the stock. ”

“ Place six slices of salt pork on bottom of kettle, add one fourth cup each, carrot, onion, turnip, and celery, bit of bay leaf, sprig of parsley, one teaspoon peppercorns, two teaspoons salt, and three cups boiling water.
Cover kettle, and cook in oven three to four hours, [96] always keeping enough water in kettle to prevent vegetables from burning. When fowl is tender, brush over with melted butter, dredge with flour, and brown in oven. ”