LA BONNE CUISINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

LA BONNE CUISINE.

ECONOMY IN FOOD.

USEFUL HINTS. < ( (By A FRENCH CHEF.) } What economies can I make without ' impairing the health of the rising generation? There are many. One is . butter or jam, not butter and jam. Yet ; another rule, a two-course supper for all at 7.30, instead of schoolroom supper at seven for those under 14, and late dinner in the dining room at eight o'clock for the others. This is a great economy in food and labour, and 1 have worked out many menus that are nutritious and great favourites with the family. Cold Rabbit Pie. Here is one, the French call it Pate de La pin, but it is nothing more nor less than honest-to-goodness rabbit pie. Start with cold rabbit pie; this is not made with pastry. You take two or three rabbits, according to the size of your family party, joint them and parboil them in a large saucepan filled with water, flavoured with onion, celery, ami salt. When partly cooked remove the meat from the bones, replacing bones in saucepan to simmer in the water and vegetables. Line a fireproof dish with three or four slices of bacon —cheap end of "streaky" is quite good Then nearly fill the dish with layers of rabbit and. if you can spare them, two hard-boiled eggs sliced, and cover with another layer of bacon. Press this down. Strain your stock and melt and mix with it one leaf of gelatine and pour over the rabbit and bacon. Potatoes in Jackets. Allow this to cook in a moderate oven for about an hour and place in the larder to cool, when the gravy will set into a thick jelly, and you will have an excellent rabbit pie There is no waste, and the children love it. It can certainly "do"' two meals of six to a meal. Potatoes iu jackets and beetroot salad will go excellently with this. The second course can be a Swiss apple pudding, using up any apples over from apple sauce or apple tart; put through a sieve and cook in a piedisli with interlayers of brown breadcrumbs and brown sugar, and some melted margarine— the best quality. Mashed Potatoes. Mashed potatoes are absurdly easy to prepare, and it is nothing but sheer inattention to detail which produces those strange piles of odd-looking and lumpy greyisli-white stuif we sometimemeet in their place. The potatoes must be well cooked to begin with, but it does

not really matter whether they have been boiled or steamed; whether they have come out of the pan this minute, or several hours ago. When you cook potatoes, especially for the purpose of maslimg them, it will save you trouble to steam them. If they have been boiled you must drain them very thoroughly. Put them in a clean pan. add about loz of butter or good beef dripping for ilb of potatoes. Put the pan over a gentle heat and -mash them continuously until there is no trace of lumpiness. You can use an ordinarr fork, or a proper potato masher. You will season them with pepper and salt, and most people prefer to add two or three tablespoonfuls of milk. Cookery Cameos. When eggis are dearer, mix flour and water to a smooth, thin cream to take the place of a beaten egg. 'when coating fish or rissoles with breadcrumbs. Fresh boiled beetroots may be skinrned while hot. cut in small cubes, tossed in hot butter, sprinkled with chopped parsley, dud served as a hot vegetable. When frerh figs are plentiful they may take the place of grape-fruit. Cut each partially in quarters, open out j>etalwise, and sprinkle centre with lemon juice and castor su;rar. When making tea "lift"' the leaves by stirring briskly as soon as the boiling water is poured on the leaves. When boiling meat put the side that will be tippermost on the serving dish towards the bottom of the saucepan. Tinned pink salmon is less expensive than the red variety, and not «o line in flavour, but a good-brand proves useful for such dishes as fish cake or kedgeree. When browning potatoes under the joint, blanch them first (cover .vith cold water, boil up, and strain), to prevent a leathery skin forming. I>.» not put soda into water used for boiling cauliflower, or the flower will turn yellow. Fresh fish is liked, particularly if fried with a crisp crust. Try simple dishes, plainly cooked, well seasoned, and varied. Avoid elaborate dishes, too much canned food, and food smothered in white sauce. Use tested recipes, collect a lot, then rotate them.