GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2086, 30 October 1880, Page 2

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY.

[From “ Scribner's Monthly.”] FETING AND BBOILING. Brillut-Savarin says, in an aooount of a conversation with bis cook, “ You are an excellent potagiste (i.e., soup-maker, but are weak in the matter of frying.” This weak* neea is common to so many cooks, and bis directions are so clear and concise, that the quotation may be continued : —“ The chief element of success in frying is the surprise ” a very French and very graphic way of stating the fact. “To produce this, the fat must be sufficiently hot.” When the meat is browned, “draw back the pan, that the cooking may not be too quick—that the juices, which have been sealed up, may in the slower process undergo the changes necessary to blend them and give them flavor.” Inexperienced cooks are apt to think that as soon as fat begins to bubble up it is hot enough, and that it will burn if left longer over the Are. Burnt fat would, of course, ruin everything, but the danger of burning is less than might be supposed. The fat should not only bobble, but begin to smoke. A degree of heat less than this will causa potatoes to wilt, looking brown on one side and pallid on the other. Fish will bo freckled with brown, with a gelatinous skin and a greasy flesh. To test whether the fat is hot enough, when the “ sizzling ” has ceased for a minute or two, and the smoke begins to appear, drop a small square of bread into it; if the bread crisps and browns at once, put in your fish or outlets immediately. If the bread causes only a quiet “ sizzling,” and does not brown in a minute or two, the fat is not hot enough. Breaded chops, cutlets, Ac., are often thought to be unattainable luxuries in families where inexperienced cooks are the rule. The result is too often, it is true, a greasy piebald failure. Yet with finely-grated bread crumbs, and with due attention to the surprise—that is, to having the fat very hot and an abundance of it—nothing is easier to do well. The bread crumbs and egg come off, for one of three reasons—the fat is not hot enough, or there is not enough of it in the pan, or else the bread crumbs are too coarse or uneven. If you hare no broad stale enough to crumble finely, dry out some slices in a cool oven. Let the article to be fried be perfectly clean and wiped dry, dip it in a mixture of two beaten eggs, a dessert spoonful of oil and one of water. When the pan is ready and the fat hot enough, cover with broad crumbs and plunge at once into the pan. There should be enough fat in the pan to cover the fish or chops. When cooked sufficiently—which can be determined, in the case of fish, by seeing if the flesh readily leaves the bone when a knife is inserted—take them up. If the fat has been hot enough and the article large, it will bo of a fine brown color before it is thoroughly done, in which cate withdraw the pan from the fire to finish the cooking. Sift salt evenly over the fried meat or fish, and lay them for a minute on a sheet of paper before putting them on the napkin on which they are to be served.

Breaded veal-cutlets are improved by being well beaten, and cut into suitable pieces for serving, and by having the juice of lemon squeezed over them an hour or two before they are to be used. Fried dishes should be garnished with parsley, which can be kept always at hand by potting a few roots in the fall and rearing oa a kitchen window plant. Fish dipped in milk, and then in flour, will fry a fine brown; this is the best substitute for eggs and crumbs. Broiling is a favorite mode with English and Americans of dressing meat and flsh. On the Continent, where frying is so perfectly done as to be healthful, it it less popular. To broil well is considered a test of a cook’s skill, and is undoubtedly n test of her carefulness.

A bright hot fire, yet not too hot, a smooth clean gridiron, and attention to one or two points, can scarcely fail to give good results. Chops or steaks should be neither salted nor peppered before they are broiled. If very lean they will bo better dipped in a little batter which has been made hot in a plate. Tnrn the meat very soon after it has been put on fire, and continue to turn frequently until done. (The dampers should be always first turned back, that the odor may go up the chimney.) If there is any danger of burning, throw some salt on the fire and raise the gridiron. Small birds should be strung on a skewer, not too closely together, first having been rubbed over with butter. They should be served on buttered toast. Chickens are difficult to broil well, without either burning or leaving the joints raw. To avoid this, first break the bones slightly with a rolling-pin, that they may lie flat, and put the chickens in the oven for a short time. Then rub them over with butter, and broil until crisp and brown. Covering them with a sauoepan-lid will also concentrate the heat and help to cook them thoroughly through without burning; turn them frequently, and baste with a brush or feather dipped in warm butter. All broiled dishes should be served very hot. _ Ksh may be cooked in the same way, rubbing the bars of the gridiron with suet or salt to prevent the skin sticking. Delicate fish must be broiled in paper. 1 will here give the two receipts for white sauce (or “melted butter," as English cooking books call it) alluded to in Paper No. 1. If a small quantity is desired, take 2oz. of butter, mix with it a scant tablespoonful of flour. When mixed, put it into a thick saucepan, with a cup of warm milk or water. Then stir over the fire one way until the butter has dissolved, and with it the flour. Let it boil a minute or two, stirring constantly; add salt and white pepper, or cayenne. This is the best English method, and if the directions are carefully followed the sauce will be rich and quite free from lumps.