TO PREPARE ARTICLES FOR FRYING BY COVERING THEM WITH EGG AND CRUMBS
[Sidenote: The Crumbs.]
All sc.r.a.ps of bread should be saved for crumbs, as directed on page 51, the crusts being separated from the white part, then dried, rolled, and sifted. The brown crumbs are good for the first coating, the white ones for the outside, as they give better color. Where a very delicate color is wanted, bread grated from a stale loaf or rubbed through a coa.r.s.e sieve gives better results; the fresh crumbs need not be very fine.
Cracker crumbs give a smooth surface and are better for oysters than bread crumbs, but for most things bread crumbs are preferable. For meats a little salt and pepper, and for sweet articles a little sugar, should be mixed with the crumbs. Crumbs left on the board should be dried, sifted, and kept to be used again.
[Sidenote: The Egg.]
[Sidenote: Molding.]
The whole egg is generally used. The white alone will serve, but not the yolk alone, as it is the alb.u.men which is needed.
The alb.u.men quickly coagulates when put into the hot fat, and forms a coating through which the grease will not penetrate.
To one egg is added one tablespoonful of water, so as to make it thin enough to run and remove the stringiness of the egg; these are beaten lightly together, but should not be foamy, as bubbles break and leave holes for the grease to enter. Where delicate color is wanted, it is better to use the white of the egg only and fresh crumbs. Turn the crumbs on to a board; roll the articles first in the crumbs to dry them well, then place them in the beaten egg one at a time, and with a spoon pour the egg over and moisten them thoroughly; return them to the board, and completely cover them with crumbs. Soft, creamy mixtures like croquettes require delicate handling, and are easier to manage if first made into a ball,--molding them into shape being left until the second crumbing, at which time they can be rolled into cylindrical form and the ends flattened by dropping them lightly on the board. They will keep their shape better if, after being prepared, they are allowed to stand an hour or more before being fried. (See croquettes, page 293.)
[Ill.u.s.tration: 1. PIECE OF MEAT LARDED. 2. LARDING NEEDLES.
3. LARDOONS.]
LARDING
[Sidenote: Cutting lardoons.]
Larding is simply drawing small pieces of salt pork through the surface of meat. It is easily done, and so much improves lean, dry pieces of meat as to well repay the trouble. The pork for larding is best cut lengthwise with the rind, and that nearest the rind is the firmest. Cut it into slices, one quarter inch thick, and then into strips one quarter inch wide and two inches long. The lardoons can be made firmer by placing them on ice, but ordinarily this is not necessary. The larding needle holding a lardoon is pressed through the surface of the meat, taking a st.i.tch about a quarter inch deep and an inch long, then drawn through, leaving the lardoon projecting on both sides. The st.i.tches should be taken at regular intervals, so as to appear ornamental, and when all the lardoons are in they should be cut even. For birds or small pieces, the lardoons would of course be cut of a size to suit the needle used.
DAUBING
Daubing is cutting through the entire thickness of the meat in several places and inserting lardoons of salt pork. The cut is made with a thin, sharp knife.
BONING
[Sidenote: Fowls.]
[Sidenote: Meats.]
Cutting the meat free from the bones, leaving the meat whole, is called boning. This is easily done with a sharp-pointed knife, and requires but little practice to accomplish successfully. Directions for boning fowls are given on page 181. Boned fowls are usually made into galantine, but they are also good when stuffed and pressed into natural shape, or to imitate a duck or a rabbit and served hot. The butcher will remove the bones from joints of meat when requested. Boned meats make an agreeable change, and in the case of shoulder pieces make them suitable to serve as roasts (see pages 163 and 168). Chops with the bones removed, the tail ends wrapped around the meat and secured with wooden toothpicks or with small skewers until cooked, resemble in form filets mignons.
MEASURING
[Sidenote: Measuring-cup.]
Exact measurements are an important factor in the success of cooking, therefore a definite understanding of what a cupful or a spoonful means is requisite. A cupful means one half pint. A tin cup holding this amount is as necessary as a quart measure in every kitchen. They can be bought for ten cents apiece in any house-furnishing store. A spoonful of b.u.t.ter, lard, sugar, or flour means a rounding spoonful, as much rising above the spoon as is held in the bowl. A spoonful of salt or spices means only as much as the bowl holds, the top being smoothed off with a knife.[77-*] One half spoonful means the half of the contents of the bowl divided lengthwise. A heaping spoonful means as much as the spoon can be made to hold. A table giving comparative weights and measures is given on page 387.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MEASURING CUP AND SPOONS.
1. Tin measuring cup holding one half-pint.
2. Spoonful of salt, pepper or spices.
3. One half spoonful.
4. Spoonful of flour, sugar, or b.u.t.ter.
5. Heaping spoonful. (See page 77.)]
STIRRING AND BEATING
These two methods should not be confused. The object of stirring is to mix the materials. The spoon is held on the bottom of the dish, and the materials rubbed and pressed together as much as possible. It is not essential to always stir one way. The object of beating is to get air into the mixture to make it lighter, which is done by continuously lifting it up in the same way; therefore a beaten mixture must not be stirred, or the imprisoned bubbles of air will be broken and the result of the beating lost.
HOW TO STONE OLIVES
With a sharp-pointed knife cut through the olive to the stone on the blossom end and pare off the meat, turning the olive around three times, keeping the knife at not too sharp an angle close to the stone. The meat will then be in one curled piece, which can be pressed into its original shape again.
HOW TO CUT BACON
Place the bacon on a board with the rind down. With a very sharp knife slice the bacon very thin down to the rind, but do not try to cut through it. When enough slices are cut, run the knife under, keeping it close to the rind, and the slices will be free.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CUTTING BACON. (SEE PAGE 78.)]
HOW TO EXTRACT ONION JUICE
Cut an onion across and press it against a coa.r.s.e grater, moving it a very little; the juice will then run off the point of the grater.
CARAMEL
Caramel is used to color soup, gravies, etc., and serves also as a flavoring for desserts. It must be used with care for coloring, as it also sweetens. The flavor of caramel depends upon the degree to which the sugar is cooked before the water is added. It grows stronger as it becomes browner.
Put one half cupful of granulated sugar and two tablespoonfuls of water into a granite-ware saucepan, stir until the sugar has melted, then let it cook without stirring until it has turned dark brown, but not black, then add one half cupful of hot water, and let it simmer until the sugar is dissolved and cooked to a thin syrup.
TO MAKE ROUX
Put one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter into a saucepan. When it bubbles add one tablespoonful of flour and let them cook together for a few minutes, stirring all the time. If it is to be used as thickening for a white sauce or soup, do not let it color. If for brown soup or sauce, let it become brown. This amount is sufficient to thicken one cupful of milk or of stock, to make a sauce, or to thicken one pint or more of soup.
Roux can be prepared and kept in jars ready for use. The proportion of equal quant.i.ties of b.u.t.ter and flour is usually taken, and is the rule, but in some cases double the flour is used. The flour cooked in this way gives a better result than when rubbed with the b.u.t.ter and stirred into the liquid.
Cooking flour in hot fat seems to more surely burst the starch-grains, which removes the raw taste it is likely to have if cooked only in the boiling liquid.
TO MARINATE
Make a mixture in the proportion of three tablespoonfuls of vinegar to two of oil, one teaspoonful of salt, one quarter teaspoonful of pepper, one bay-leaf, one teaspoonful onion juice, and a sprig of parsley. Put it on a flat dish and lay any cooked or raw meat in the marinade for an hour or more before using, turning the pieces often. Enough flavor is absorbed to much improve meats or fish to be used for salads, fish to be fried or boiled, and other cases given in receipts. The onion juice may be omitted if desired.
SALPICON