Mary Ronald

“ The difference between the elegance and refinement of one table and the vulgarity of another often lies merely in the manner of dishing and serving. Again, the step from plain to fancy cooking is very short. A simple and tasteful arrangement, or combination, of materials prepared in the ordinary way will make an ornamental dish. Minced chicken pressed into a ring mold to give it shape, and the center filled with a mushroom sauce, will make a more appetizing dish than if placed carelessly together with no regard to symmetry. ”

“ The difficulty of getting trained cooks at reasonable wages, the caprices of the class, whose consciences do not prevent their leaving at the moment when their services are most needed, and the many occasions that arise when a knowledge of cooking is of the greatest comfort and service, make it difficult, for those who know how to cook, to comprehend how any one can keep house without this knowledge, or how, with the inferior service generally rendered, the pleasures of hospitality can be enjoyed, or the comfort of a well-ordered culinary department experienced. ”

“ To roast beef on a spit before the fire is unquestionably the best method of cooking it; but as few kitchens are equipped for roasting meats, baking them in the oven is generally practised, and has come to be called roasting. Beef should be well streaked with fat, and have a bright-red color. Place the meat to be baked on a rack which will raise it a little above the bottom of the pan. Dredge the whole, top and sides, with flour. Place in a corner of the pan a half teaspoonful of salt and a quarter teaspoonful of pepper. Do not let them touch the raw meat, as they draw out the juices. ”

“ A white dinner is likely to be too severe, however, unless carefully managed. Delicate ferns can be mixed with white flowers without changing the effect, and a warm glow may be thrown on the table from a center light in the chandelier, screened with thin pink or yellow silk, and raised high, so as not to appear as a part of the decoration. The most beautiful pictures of snow scenes are not a dead white, but reflect the color of the sunset or atmosphere. ”

“ How to prepare the meat. The meat used in sandwiches should be chopped to a fine mince, seasoned with salt and pepper, mustard, if desired, and moistened with a little water, stock, cream or milk, or with a salad dressing, using enough to make the mince spread well. Fish can be pounded to a paste, then seasoned. Potted meats can also be used. Slices of anything that has a fibrous texture make the sandwich difficult to eat, and as knives and forks are not usually at hand when sandwiches are [365] served, it is desirable to make the primitive way of eating as little objectionable as possible. ”

“ The simplest way of cooking vegetables is usually the best; but all kinds need seasoning or to be served with a sauce. They should be cooked only until tender. The time depends upon their freshness. The same vegetable sometimes takes twice the time to cook when wilted. They should be well washed in cold water to remove all dust and insects, and if wilted, should stand some time in it to refresh them. Green vegetables are put into salted boiling water, and cooked rapidly in an uncovered saucepan. This will preserve their color. Overcooking destroys both their color and appearance. ”

“ The dinner has always something of a ceremonious character, being the time when the family all meet with the leisure to enjoy one another’s society after the labors of the day are done. It is well, therefore, to attend to the few material details which aid in making the occasion an agreeable one. Refinements are more clearly shown at table than elsewhere, and the influences of decorum at dinner are more subtle than are always recognized. ”

“ Oatmeal, hominy, cracked wheat, and other cereals which are left over can be added next day to the fresh stock, for they are improved by long boiling and do not injure the new supply, or such as is left can be molded in large or in small forms, and served cold with cream, or milk and sugar. In warm weather cereals are nicer cold than hot. Cold hominy and mush, cut into squares and fried, so that a crisp crust is formed on both sides,—also hominy or farina, rolled into balls and fried,—are good used in place of a vegetable or as a breakfast dish. ”

“ The slow, long cooking obtained in simmering water best destroys the fiber of meat, and tough pieces cooked in this way are made tender. To render tough pieces tender, the meat is first put into boiling water in order to fix the albumen on the surface, the heat then reduced, and the cooking done at the simmering point, which is 185°. Hence, water at different stages of heat is used, according to the object in view, and the result is as definite as that of the different degrees of heat in an oven, so this point should not be considered as of little importance. ”

“ Every kitchen can produce a stock made from odds and ends unsuitable for other purposes than the stock-pot, and this stock is most useful in preparing sauces, giving a flavor not obtained in specially prepared stock.
A French cook keeps at hand the different essences required to combine in sauces, such as a Mirepoix (vegetable flavor) , which is made by cutting into dice an onion, carrot, and turnip, celery, parsley, bay-leaf and bits of meat, frying them in fat pork or butter, then adding a little water, and simmering an hour, or until the flavor of the vegetables is extracted ”

“ Smoking fat has such a high [37] degree of heat, that certain articles are better cooked by frying than by any other method. Minced meat, rolled into the form of croquettes and fried, assumes a different character both in taste and rank from the minced meat heated in other ways. If the croquettes are coated with egg and crumbs and immersed in smoking hot fat, as the rule directs, the egg is instantly hardened, and no fat can be absorbed through it. That which covers the outside is evaporated by draining and drying in a hot place. ”

“ None of the condiments are expensive, and so little is used at a time that one bottleful lasts a long time. All the flavoring extracts are the same price, and the expense of a few almonds is only nominal, therefore it is a pity not to have a variety of such articles in the dresser, and give variety to dishes by at least the very simple means of changing flavors. A cottage pudding with a little shredded orange peel, nuts, or cocoanut in it, or with a chocolate, wine, or méringue sauce, will be an agreeable change from the plain pudding with hard sauce. ”

“ The dishes most suitable for chafing-dish cooking are stews, eggs, and cheese. Stews can be modified in a great variety of ways, the barbecue being a favorite one. The simplest way of cooking in a chafing-dish is to put a little butter in the dish, and when it bubbles add oysters, mushrooms or any article which makes its own liquor; this lacking, a little water or milk is added, and seasoning to taste.
Canned chicken, tongue, salmon, crabs, and shrimps make good dishes and are easily prepared. Paprica, a kind of red pepper, is especially good for use in chafing-dish cookery instead of cayenne. ”

“ Of all colors green is the easiest to carry out, and perhaps the most pleasing. The many shades of green give variety and contrasts. Ferns make a light and dainty centerpiece, and rival flowers in beauty. For the menu spinach gives a soup, vegetable, and coloring for sauces. Green salads are numerous. Angelica makes a decoration for desserts. Pistachio nuts give flavor and color to ice-cream, icings, and bonbons. ”

“ Some one has said, “There is as much difference between beefsteaks as between faces; and a man of taste can find as much variety in a dinner at the Beefsteak Club as at the most plentifully-served table in town.” ”

“ When the preparation of a new or a fancy dish comes to be looked upon as a pastime instead of a task, there may be discovered in America Savarins and Béchamels. We have already had a Sam Ward, but to the women should belong the honor of raising our standard of cooking, and though they need not agree with the terrible sentiment expressed by Margaret Fuller, that a woman to have influence must cook or scold, still it must be conceded that the former accomplishment will enable her to wield a potent scepter. ”

“ The cheap and the expensive articles can be equally spoiled in the cooking; while the cheap ones, well cooked, are more esteemed than the high-priced ones poorly prepared. The first thing excluded from the list of cheap nutritive foods is white bread. Refining the flour to the whiteness of the so-called best qualities takes out most of its nutritive elements, while the lower grades or brown flours retain the gluten, and make a bread which is preferred when one becomes familiar with it. ”

“ Meat cooked by broiling is exposed to a greater heat than in any other manner of cooking, and to prevent its burning, requires constant watching. Meats for broiling are cut thin, and much surface is exposed, therefore they must be at once exposed to intense heat to sear the surface and retain the juices. Frequent turning not only prevents burning, but gives slower cooking and also prevents the grease dripping into the fire, making a smoke which destroys the flavor of the meat. ”

“ The habit of fault-finding, commenting upon the dishes and wines, correcting the mistakes of servants while at the table, making apologies, etc., is reprehensible, inefficacious and vulgar, and not only interrupts conversation, but spoils the pleasure of the dinner hour. It is always difficult, and often impossible, to improve a dish after it is served ”

“ Meanwhile, place in a sauté-pan some of the marrow from the bones, or a tablespoonful of drippings. When the fat is hot put in the half pound of reserved meat and cook it until it is well browned. When the water in the pot has begun to simmer, put in the browned meat and rinse the sauté-pan with a few spoonfuls of water so none of the value of the browned meat will be lost. This will give good color and also flavor to the soup. Place the pot where the water will simmer only, and leave it to cook for six hours, or until the meat is cooked to shreds and its nutriment fully extracted. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Her delicious sauce, which gives a very ordinary dish that requisite something which makes it highly esteemed, may be but the blending of many flavors obtained from little scraps.
The waste in foods need be so small as practically to have no waste material; not a crumb of bread, a grain of sugar, a bit of butter, a scrap of meat or fat, a piece of vegetable or leaf of salad, but can be utilized with profit. ”

“ The construction of ornamental pieces is as interesting as other fancy work. Making puff-paste, ice-creams, fancy molding of desserts and salads, boiling sugar, etc., are in reality simple processes, and with very little practice found to be as easy to prepare as dishes which from familiarity have come to be called plain cooking. Skill and dexterity of hand may be enjoyed in boning, trussing, and larding, and taste shown in decorating with truffles and other articles, in molding with flowers and fruits, in [39] icing cakes, in spinning sugar, and in making bonbons. ”

“ It is in little things only that fancy differs from plain cooking, but as soon as a cook comprehends the value of the appearance of dishes she is sure to think of their perfection in every other way.
There is a popular prejudice against fried foods, and a belief that abstaining from them will cure us of our dyspepsia, but if articles are properly fried they should contain no more grease than the boiled one does of water. ”

“ The fire must be clear and hot for small fish, more moderate for large ones, so the outside may not be burned before the inside is cooked. When there is danger of this, the broiler may be laid on a pan in the oven to complete the cooking. The broiler should be turned as often as the cook counts ten, and as the skin burns easily, it must be carefully watched. When done, the wires should be carefully raised from both sides so as not to break the meat, and the fish turned on to a hot dish and spread with butter, salt, and pepper, or better, a maître d’hôtel sauce. ”

“ If she were familiar with the nature of the yeast plant, and the action of heat as applied in boiling, broiling, and frying, if she could make a sauce and clear a soup, her family would be relieved from the affliction of sour bread, burned meats, and muddy soup. An ordinary kitchen servant can do these simple things well, if she is once told how, and this basis would be a guide in other work, and a safeguard against many failures. ”

“ Roasted meats have a distinctly better flavor than baked ones. The latter are likely to taste of smoke unless the oven is frequently opened for basting, as few of them are sufficiently ventilated to free them of smoke and steam. Baking is the method generally employed in small households, but where the grate of the range is sufficiently large, and the front can be exposed, it will be found no more trouble to roast than to bake the meats, and the improvement will well repay the trouble of changing a habit. ”

“ Care required in cooking cheap cuts of meat. It is, of course, very much easier to supply coarse qualities of food for a low sum than refined and dainty dishes, but, after all, it is more a matter of the care given to the preparation than of the food itself which produces refined results; for instance, beef, which is very nourishing, is least suited to these requirements, because the less expensive portions, which often contain the most nutriment, cannot be served as daintily as either veal or mutton without a large amount of care and trouble ”

“ Le Créateur, en obligeant l’homme à manger pour vivre, l’y invite par l’appêtit et l’en récompense par le plaisir.
La table est le seul endroit où l’on ne s’ennuie jamais pendant la première heure.
La découverte d’un mets nouveau fait plus pour le bonheur du genre humain que la découverte d’une étoile. ”

“ Making bread. In mixing bread, we put the yeast into warm (not hot) water; this we mix with flour, thus supplying the moisture and nourishment required. We put this mixture in a warm place to force the growth of the plant. When the dough has become sufficiently inflated we put it into the oven and raise the heat to a degree which kills the plant and fixes the air cells, and our bread is done.
Yeast. In cities, where fresh compressed yeast can be obtained, it is not worth while to prepare one’s own. ”

“ The napkin on which the croquettes are served will not be stained if they are rightly fried. Saratoga chips can be handled with a glove without soiling it. We need not be a nation of dyspeptics from eating pie when the French are not from eating puff-paste, or from hot breads when the English are not from plum pudding and pork pies. It is from the manner of preparing our foods that we suffer. ”