HOUSEHOLD NOTES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 20, 12 March 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

HOUSEHOLD NOTES.

UP-TO-DATE COOKERY. BRAISING. Braising is a manner of cooking which is little practised in New Zealand. Jt is, however, very popular on the Continent. The process is a combination of roasting and stewing, and these are two of the most economical methods of cooking. Perhaps that may he a reason why braising is so favourably regarded by the women of France, who, while highly skilled in the culinary art, never lose sight of the great Household virtue ot economy. In France every household possesses a braising pot. This resembles a. large stewpan; but in the lid it hns deep hollows in which charcoal is placed, with the result that when the pot iff placed on the fire whatever is being cooked is at one and the same time browned on the top and stewed underneath in a delicious sauce, the flavour of the latter permeating the meat. For those who would like to take up this method of cooking the lack of a braisin<r pot need not prove a hindrance. If the recipev are carefully followed one can successfully turn out the various dishes mentioned by using an ordinary stewpan. BRATSED OX KIDNEY. Put into a stewpan one and a half teacupfuls of stock, half a teaspoonful of made mustard, a sliced tomato, and a little piece of carrot and turnip, cut up with sufficient pepper and salt to season the dish. Take an ox kidney, which, besides beTng steeped in cold salted water for a quarter of an hour, lias been washed and dried and the fat removed. Place the kidney in the stewpan, the rounded side being put downwards. Cover with a buttered paper, which siiouM be tucked well down at the sides, put on the lid, and then place the pan in the oven for two hours or longer if necessary—until in fact the kidney has been cooked. Before dishing remove the lid and the paper for a few minutes to permit of the kidney being browned. Dish on a hot ashet, boil down the gravy unfit it has become thick, then strain it over the kidney, and make a neat border of sippets of toast around the"'dish. BRAISED RABBIT. For this dish the sauce should b» made beforehand. To make it put a tablespoonful of vinegar into a stewpan, and allow it to evaporate; then add a desertspoonful of butter or dripping, and, when it is smoking hot, fry in it a chopped onion. After it has been browned, remove the onion from the pan, and add the liver and kidneys of the rabbit, when these have been carefully washed, dried, and chopped, add also the head of the rabbit, and a small piece of bacon cut up. Allow these to get well browned, add a chopped toma. to, a piece of carrot cut up, a blade of mace, a clove or garlic (the latter can be done without), half a teaspoonful of extract of meat, and a tablespoonful ol flour. Stir all these ingredients briskly, and return the browned onion to the pan, nnd ;■!-(>. if fiked, a quarter of a teaspoonful ol tlour Stir all these ingredients briskly, and return the browned oiiiun to the pah, and alxo. if liked, a quarter of a tea- j spoonful of powdered thyme and a litth- sprig of paisley, uith pepper and! salt to'sea-.o'n. 'vow add t,\ dl I breakfas'teupiui- ol stock, and stir the mixture until it boiis. Put on the lid and allow the dish to cook gently for j three-quarters of an hour, and then strain it. After the sauce has' been cooked pns pare the rabbit. Have it steeped in salted water far half-an-hour, and then washed, dried, and cut into joints Brown the rabbit well in hot fat in the stewpan, pour the sauce over it, covet with a buttered paper and with the lid, and allow it to simmer gently in tho oven until the rabbit is tender. This takes from one hour to two hours, the period depending on the age of the rabbit. Dish the rabbit, pour the sauce over it. and decorate with a cauliflower previously boiled and cut into sprigs .Mashed potatoes are nice when served with braised rabbit. Two rabibts maj be cooked in the same amount of sauce, of a rabbit with a piece of mutton. BRAISED ONION'S. Peel four good-sized onions, keeping them whole. Put a dessertspoonful of dripping into a stewpan and, when hot, fry the onions carefully all round. When the onions are nicely browned add to the pan one and a half teacupfuls of stock, a teaspoonful of extract of meat, a level teaspoonful of salt, and a shake of pepper. Put on the lid, and allow the onions To simmer gently at the side of the fire, for from one and a half to two "hours, until indeed the onions are unite tender. When ttiey are ready put the onions on a hot vegetable dish, and , to the gravy left in the pan, add a level dessertspoonful of _ cornflour which has been previously moistened to H paste with cold water. Stir these into the pan, and when it is boiling pour the sauce over the vegetable.

SOME ARISTOCRATIC AND NATIONAL PREFERENCES.

The Czar of all the Russias is said to enjoy native cookery even before the very best French cookery. Amongst his favourite dishe.- is fish-pie. The Empress, on the contrary, likes English dishes as prepared in this country. The Germans enjoy sauerkraut and sausages of complex character, raw tish and raw meat being the chief constituents of some of them. The Chinese think a patriarchal egg a very great delicacy. Our brave Allies, the Japanese, relish fish still quivering with life. Environment and custom certainly go far to form character and educate the palate. As proverb-making Mrs. Poyser says: "A maggot must be born i' the rotten cheese to like it, 1 reckon. "

The Jewish community lias always been celebrated for its fried fish, which is largely eaten cold. There is no question that Jewish cooks prepare fish better than Christian cooks do. The following method of frying fish has' been Adopted at Prague, where, it is said, it has been carried out without change for centuries: — Thoroughly mix six ounces of flour with an ounce of olive oil. On no account use butter for frying the fish. COW HEEL—TO DRESS. Buy the heel ready prepared. Ask for for one that has been scalded, not boiled, or nearly all the nourisarnsnt will be gone from it. Cut it into four parts and put them into a stewpan; cover with cold water, and simmer very gently for four hours; then take up the pieces, remove the bones, thicken tho gravy with a piece of butter rolled in flour, and put with it a tablcspoonful of scalded and chopped parsley, also tho juice of a lemon. Boil all together for a few minutes and serve very hot. If there be more liquid than is required for the sauce, it may be preserved, and will be found excellent to mix with soup or stews'. This dish, which is delicious as well as nourishing if properly cooked, may be served in many different ways, and as the price of cow heel is relatively small, any one of these preparations of it may enter the menu of a family where retrenchment is' necessary or where strict economy is the invaluable rule. Unless the heel is well boiled the dish made of it will lose its excellence. Not less than four hours must be allowed for the process, and tho water must never cease boiling. POTATO FRITTERS. Boil some potatoes—they should be floury—beat them until smooth, and to each two eupfuls of potato add one cup of flour, two well beaten eggs, a little salt, and milk to make a thick batter. Have ready a pan of boiling fat, drop the batter into it a spoonful at a time, and fry the fritters brown. It is bette:to cook croquettes, etc., in deep fat, than in a frying pan, and to use a wire frying basket which can be bought for a few pence at any ironmongers. When the pan is half filled with fat at the right heat, the basket and its' conteuts can be plunged into the pan, and when potato balls, croquettes, or meat rissoles are brown, they can be drawn out of the fat at once. This saves time, also trouble, and prevents over-cooking of those left longest in the fat. UNFERMENTED GINGER WINE. This wine is very wholesome, it his a very agreeable flavour, and being nonalcoholic may be acceptable to abstainers. The ingredients required are: Five drachms of best essence of ginger, turee drachms of essence of capsicums, and one ounce of burnt sugar. Mix all these ingredients very thoroughly, then stir them into five quarts of water in which four pounds of lump sugar have Icon dissolved. The water must be boiling hot when poured over the sugar, but should be almost cold when mixed with the other ingredients. Bottle the win.', and cork it securely. i i ———» TOMAiu OMEi.EJ.TE. Required: One pound of tomatoes. Cook them a little to make them tender, afterwards rub them through a sieve; add six ounces of breadcrumbs, one onion finely minced, a little parsley, and any sweet herbs 1 liked, pepper, salt, and three beaten eggs. When all :hew ingredients are thoroughly mixed, turn the whole into a greased pie-dish, and bake for forty or forty-five minutes according to the heat of the oven. Sage could be used if better liked than *weot herbs. Herbs must be powdered, or otherwise minced fine. SLEEPING SOCKS. The following is a very easy pattern, and the socks fit close to foot and a.iiile. Take three ounces of white wool —that is known as double .Berlin—which is merely a trade designate, this wool being manufactured in the north of England, not in the land of the enemy. I mention Jthis lest any fiery patriot should accuse me of fostering trade with Germany. Bone needles No. 9, or for a large size sock, No. 8. Cast on 40 stitches for the top of tho legs and knit 2 plain, 2 purl for 20 rows. At the end of the 20th row knit plain 54 stitches. Cast on 14 stitches at the end of row, so that you have 68 on needle. Work now in plain knitting, increasing the stitch at the end of each row for 10 rows. Now work 2 rows without increasing, then work 10 plain rows, taking 2 stitches together at the end of each row, then cast off. Sew up the ribbing for tho front of the leg. Join the 14 cast on stitches In'- the insltp. Sew round the toe; fold the cast off stitches side by side, and st >» them together to form the sole of the sock. This sock looks small, but it •'■ill lit almost any foot. If desired to make ii., '"g longer follow the direction for the ankle p:>rt until the required length is leached. A USEFUL HINT. Where it is intended to have any kind of poultry stuffed, the farce, or forcemeat, should be made and tne bird stuffed with it the day before it is cooked. When this is done the flavour of the meat is considerably improved. A RUSTY BOILER. If the boiler immediately after use, and while still warm, is rubbed all over with any good household soap, it will prevent rust, and will help to make the suds when the boiler is filled for the next washing day.