Marion Harris Neil

“ Frying may be looked on as a derivative of broiling, and passes by easy stages, from broiling on a slightly greased metal plate, or sautéing in a shallow pan in a small quantity of Crisco, to cooking by actual immersion into a bath of hot fat. In a house where small and delicately made dishes are in demand, and where variety in the re-dressing of cold meats has to be studied, this frying in deep fat is one of the cook's most needed accomplishments. Though exceedingly easy to do well, it is also exceedingly easy to do badly. ”

“ Any dish which requires slow, gentle cooking can be prepared in a casserole, and hash, curry, and other réchauffés are far superior in flavor when recooked in earthenware than in metal. The stew, 14or whatever it is, may be left to get cold in the casserole. The color would be spoiled if this were done with an ordinary saucepan.
(10) The flavor of the food cooked is brought out best when it is prepared in an earthenware dish.
(11) The fact that a casserole is a non-conductor of heat makes it more economical to use than other ware. ”

“ Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat. It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and should be one that their digestions welcome, rather than repel.
The first step in the digestion of fat is its melting. Crisco melts at a lower degree of heat than body temperature. Because of its low melting point, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it, and because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest of all cooking fats to digest. ”

“ If it is to form the chief part of the meal, the soup will be more nutritious if thickened, especially so, if pulse—i.e. peas, beans, and lentils—is used as the thickening medium.
Stock is the liquid in which meat, bones, or vegetables have been cooked, and which contains an extract from these substances. It is used for soups, sauces, and gravies. Fresh or cooked bones or meat may be used. A stock pot may be kept on the stove, into which are put any scraps of meat, bones, gristle, or vegetable; at the end of the day it is strained, and all fat taken off. ”

“ It gives its best and almost exclusive service in the baking oven, for poultry done in pot roasting fashion or for stewing fruit, and other articles which require to be cooked slowly under close cover. There are few cooks who do not know that the application of a moderate, even heat for certain food materials produces far better results than if quick heat is applied. For such cases the use of earthenware cooking utensils is to be strongly recommended, because by their aid an application of heat, such as will insure gentle simmering, steaming, or baking, is assured. ”

“ Poaching is the name usually given to the process of cooking an article by placing it for a few minutes in boiling water. Marinating or pickling is a process with a formidable name with a simple meaning. To marinate simply is to soak meat in a mixture for some hours, or even days, with the idea of improving its flavor of softening its fibres and making it tender. Vinegar, oil, pepper and salt are mixed together and the meat packed in the mixture; sometimes a sliced onion and herbs are added. ”

“ Successful cake making means constant care. In recipes in which milk is used as one ingredient, either sweet or buttermilk may be used but not a mixture of both. Buttermilk makes a light, spongy cake, and sweet milk makes a cake which cuts like pound cake. In creaming shortening and sugar, when the shortening is too hard to blend easily warm the bowl slightly, but do not heat the shortening, as this will change both the flavor and texture of the cake. For small cakes have a quick oven, so that they set right through, and the inside is baked by the time the outside is browned. ”

“ The articles of food which are to be steamed are prepared in exactly the same manner as for boiling. Many puddings, some meats, and some vegetables are considered better if cooked by steam, and inasmuch as the process of cooking is a very slow one, there is no fear of the food being destroyed by too fierce a heat, as the temperature in steaming never reaches beyond 212° F. Fish, meat and poultry cooked by steam are as a rule tender, full of gravy and digestible. By steaming, watery vegetables are made drier; tough meats are softened and made tender ”

“ The same Crisco can be used for frying fish, onions, potatoes, or any other food. Crisco does not take up food flavors or odors. After frying each food, merely strain out the food particles.
We All Eat Raw Fats
The shortening fat in pastry or baked foods, is merely distributed throughout the dough. No chemical change occurs during the baking process. So when you eat pie or hot biscuit, in which animal lard is used, you eat raw animal lard. The shortening used in all baked foods therefore, should be just as pure and wholesome as if you were eating it like butter upon bread. ”

“ Good mutton should be of a clear dark red, the fat firm and white, and not too much of it; when touched the meat should feel crisp yet tender. If the fat is yellow and the lean flabby and damp, it is bad. A freshly scraped wooden skewer run into the meat along the bone will speedily enable anyone to detect staleness. For roasting mutton scarcely can be hung too long, as long as it is not tainted; but for boiling it must not be kept nearly so long or the meat will be of a bad color when cooked. ”

“ Here, then, we have the first principles on which meat cookery must be conducted; viz: that if we wish to get the juices out of the meat, as for soups and stews, the liquid in which we put it must be cold to begin with; while if we wish, as for boiled or roast meat, to keep them in, the meat must be subjected first of all to the action of boiling water, a hot fire or a quick oven. The meats of soups and stews must not be raw, and that of joints must not be tough ”

“ If a cake is made too light with eggs or powder and an insufficient quantity of flour is added it will drop in the center. Another frequent cause is the moving of cakes while in the oven before the mixture has set properly. The same defect is produced if the cakes are removed from the oven before being baked sufficiently. When a cake batter curdles, the texture will not be so even as if the curdling had not taken place. Sometimes the mixture will curdle through the eggs being added too quickly, or if the shortening contains too much water. ”

“ Cream Crisco and beat in as much powdered sugar as it will take up, add salt, and stir over boiling water until it becomes liquid, flavor with vanilla extract or sherry, and just before serving add cream. Serve hot with pudding.
If the slices of bread have to be spread with butter or with a paste it should be done before they are cut off. The slices should not be cut thicker than an eighth of an inch. When butter is used there must just be enough of it for us to know in some mysterious fashion that it is there. Every scrap of a sandwich should be eatable. ”

“ Boned and rolled or stuffed meats require longer cooking than the same joints would if neither rolled nor stuffed. The meat of young animals and that of old ones requires different treatment. As a rule young flesh, containing less fibrine, requires longer cooking. White meat, such as pork, veal and lamb, always should be well cooked and never must be served rare. The exact time and process of roasting must be left to the good management of the cook, who must be guided by circumstances and conditions. The cook's business is to serve the joint as full of nourishing qualities as possible. ”

“ Over-fed fowls are often a mass of greasy fat, which melts in the cooking and spoils the flavor of the bird. A hen is at her best just before she begins to lay; her legs should be smooth, her comb small, bright, and soft. A young cock has the comb full, bright colored, and smooth, the legs smooth, the spurs short, and in both the toes should break easily when turned back, and the weight of the birds should be great in proportion to their size. Contrary to the practice with game, poultry never should be kept long, as they turn easily, and are spoilt if the least high. ”

“ When a fat smokes in frying, it "breaks down," that is, its chemical composition is changed; part of its altered composition becomes a non-digestible and irritating substance. The best fat for digestion is one which does not decompose or break down at frying temperature. Crisco does not break down until a degree of heat is reached above the frying point. In other words, Crisco does not break down at all in normal frying, because it is not necessary to have it "smoking hot" for frying. No part of it, therefore, has been transformed in cooking into an irritant. ”

“ When pie crust is tough: It is possible you have not used Crisco properly. Perhaps the measurements were not correct. Perhaps the water was too warm, or the dough was handled too much. Shortening cannot make pastry tough.
When fried foods absorb: It is because Crisco is not hot enough, or because you have not used enough Crisco. Use plenty and the raw foods, if added in small quantities, will not reduce the heat of the fat. The absorption in deep Crisco frying should be less than that of another fat.
When cake is not a success: It is not the fault of the Crisco. ”

“ Flour also may be made into a light loaf by using baking powder to produce the gas. This is a much quicker process, but the bread is not liked so universally as when made with yeast. For, when yeast is used, other changes take place in the dough besides the production of the gas, that seem to give bread the characteristic flavor constantly welcome by the palate. Good flour has a slight pure smell, free from any moldy odor. ”

“ We do not mean by this simply the cooking of vegetables or the preparations of puddings, but the presentation of dishes intended to take the place of flesh, such as soups and broths made without meat, vegetable stews, lentil fritters and other healthful and nutritious dishes. A vegetarian menu is not so simple as it sounds. It requires knowledge and discrimination on the housekeeper's part to serve a solid meal without flesh or fowl. ”