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New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15482, 13 December 1913, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

CHRISTMAS COOKERY. Roast Goose.Roast goose is emphatically the bird for Christmas. The savoury stuffing from the roast goose is prepared from the following proportion of ingredients, according to an old recipe:—Four onions, ten sago leaves, Jib of breadcrumbs, one egg, one and ahalf tablespoonfuls of butter, with salt and pepper to taste. For the sauce, boil tho giblets in a small saucepan containing just enough water to cover them. When tender, take them from the water, chop fine, return to the water, and place in a moderate heat till needed. When the goose is done, remove it from the roasting-pan to the serving ; drain off all but a tablespoonful of the oil from the pan, set the latter on the top of the range, and add a tablespoonful of flour to the oil. Stir until smooth, then add the giblets and the water in which they were boiled, stirring all the time and pouring in more water, sufficient to make the sauce of the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Braised Turkey.-Pick, singe, and cleanse a nico turkey, and stuff it; truss and lard the breast of the bird in three rows each side with ladrons of fat bacon or pork. Put in a largo saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter, bunch of herbs, ono teaspoonful of whole peppers, ten cloves, two blades of mace, two Bcraped and sliced carrots, one turnip, five onions, four strips of celery, and one bay leaf. Place the turkey on these, cover it with a well-buttered paper, put the cover on the pan, and fry tho contents for one half-hour, during' which time shako the pan occasionally to prevent the vegetables burning. Then add to it one cupful of boiling water or stock; replace the lid, put the pan on a moderate fire or in the oven, and cook for two and a-half hours, during which time add a little more stock as that in the pan reduces. When cooked take up the turkey with a fork, removo the strings, put the bird on a baking-tin, and put it in a hot oven for 15 minutes, when it should be a nice brown colour arid crisp. Arrange on a hot. dish, garnish with stuffed onions and celery. Pour the gravy strained on the dish, and servo at once with oyster sauce served separately.

Roast Turkey —Required: A mediumsized turkey, 21b of raw pork sausages or 9oz of fresh breadcrumbs, 4oz of chopped suet, 2oz of lean ham or bacon, two eggs, one teaspoonful each of powdered herbs and grated lemon-rind, three tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, seasoning, milk if needed. If sausage stuffing is to be used, and of course it is less trouble, slit tho sausages open, scrape out the sausage meat, and pack it in under the loose skin at the neck end of the bird. Draw the flap of skin neatly over, and skewer it in position. Do not draw the skin too tightly, or it would split. If herb stuffing is to bo used mix the crumbs, suet, chopped bacon, herbs, lemon-rind, and parsley with seasoning and wellbeaten eggs. If it seems at all crumbly ■add a little milk. Use this stuffing as directed for the sausage variety. Some people like both kinds used, one inserted in tho neck and tho other in the tail end of the bird. When stuffed and trussed .tie a slice of fat bacon over the breast, and roast the turkey before a clear, sharp fire or in a quick oven, basting it frequently. A bird weighing from 71b to 101b will require about two to two and a-half hours' cooking. lor the last, twenty minutes remove the protecting piece of bacon. When cooked remove any strings .and skewers there may be, place the bird on a hot dish, and garnish it with a pound of fried sausages cut in halves | lengthwise, rolled, toasted bacon, and little balls of the stuffing, egged, crumbled, and fried. These little extras help to make ; the, turkey "go" further. A tureen of r thick . brown gravy will be handed, with it, after pouring a little of it round the bird, and. a second tureen of well-flavoured bread sauce will follow. Mince Pies.-Take a piece of puff paste, roll -to the thickness of a penny piece; butter the pans lightly, line tho pans with the puff paste, place in the mincemeat made as under:—Trim and wet the edges of the paste with milk, cover with the paste, trim, press the edges closely and crimp, prick a hole in tho centre of the top, egg, and dust some fine white sugar over. Bake for 20 minutes in a moderate oven. Mincemeat— 71b of currants, well picked and clean, of finely-chopped beef suet, the lean of a sirloin of beef minced raw and finely-chopped apples (Kentish or Golden Pippins) each 3Jlb; citron ■lemon-peel, and orange-peel, cut small, each Jib; fine moist sugar, 21b; mixed spice loz; the rind of four lemons and four Seville oranges; mix well, and put in a deep pan. Mix a bottle of brandy and white wino, the juico of the lemons and oranges that have been grated together in a basin; pour half over, and press down tight with the hand, then add the other half, and cover closely. Some families make one year to use the* next. Mincemeat ala Soyer—Take 4Jlb of kidney beef suet, which skin and" chop very finely; have also jib. of candied lemon and orange peel, the same of citron, ljlb of lean cooked beef, and 3Jlb of apples, the whole separately chopped very fine, and put into a large pan with 4Jlb of currants, well washed and picked 2oz of mixed spice, and 21b of sugar! Mix the whole well together with tho juice of eight lemons and a pint of brandy place it in jars, and tie down until ready for use;.-ljlb of Malaga raisins, well stoned and chopped, may likewise be added to the above. • It is ready for use in a few days. ' Plum Pudding-Take ljlb of raisins stoned, lb of currants well washed and picked, the same quantity of flour and sue , lib ° fine white bread - rubbed well, 21b of orange and lemon peel, Jib of citron peel cut into square pieces brown sugar 4oz, one nutmeg grated fine' Joz of mixed spice, a wineglassful of brandy, four tablespoonfuls of white vine two eg ps well beaten, and a little salt' Mix and boil for eight hours. Christmas Cake.-Take 21b of pounded sugar candy, 21 of flour, 21b of' butter 36 eggs 41b of currants, lib of raisins stoned and chopped, Jib of almonds I blanched and chopped. Jib of citron, lib i of candied orange-peel, the same of candied lemon-peel, a largo nutmeg pounded. ioz of powdered allspice, Joz of powdered mace, ginger, cinnamon, and coriander, and half a pint of brandy. All the ingredients should be well dried, the white of the eggs well beaten up separately from the yolks, tho butter stirred and beaten almost to a cream, then add the rest gradually, taking care they are well beaten and mixed. Have ready a large tin, well lined with buttered paper; pour in the cake, and bake in a slow oven for at least four hours. Smaller proportions may be adopted. Brandy Sauce.—Half a pint of water, about a dessertspoonful of butter, sugar to taste, sufficient cornflour to thicken it a little (about an ounce), and a tablespoonful of brandy. Do not allow it to boil after adding the spirit.

SOME CHRISTMAS SWEETS. Vanilla Caramels.—Put into a saucepan 2}lb of sugar and a quart of sweet cream, and flavour quite strongly with ■ vanilla; when it reaches tho boiling-point add a saltspoonful of cream of tartar; cook to a soft ball, stirring all the time, then pour out on a damp slab just wiped off with cold water. When the mass is cold work it to a smooth cream, then roll out in a sheet Jin thick on buttered paper; mark in bars or squares, or with a caramel (marker if you have one, and let it lie for an hour on the slab, when it will bo ready for use.

Old-time Buttersci»«n._To throe cups of brown sugar add three-quarters of a cup of water, a tablespoonful of butter, a scant salt-spoonful of soda, and a tablespoonful of vanilla extract. Let it boil till it will harden when dropped from the spoon into a glass of water, then pour in thin sheets into buttered baking-pans. As it cools mark it off in squares with a knife dipped in water to keep it from sticking. Have ready squares of buttered paper, and when perfectly cold wrap the pieces of candy in them. Chocolate Creams,— two cups of fine confectioner's sugar in a half cup of water, sot upon the fire, and let it boil rapidly for 20 minutes. Turn out on a dish and stir with a large spoon till cool, adding at the same time a tablespoonful of vanilla extract. When well creamed butter the fingers and work it up in small balls. Prepare Jib of chocolate by setting it over a steamer till melted; then thrust a long pin into the balls and dip them in the chocolate, laying them upon buttered paper to dry. Treacle Candy—Put into a saucepan two pints of treacle, one pint of brown sugar, and a tablespoonful of butter. Let it boil 20 minutes, and skim occasionally, but do not stir. When done, add to the I .ixturo two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one teaspoonful of soda, and one tablespoonful of vinegar. Pour on to buttered plates, and let it stand till cool enough to pull.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS FOR CHRISTMAS. Clean Pudding-cloths: When making our Christmas puddings we always put a piece of well-greased grease-proof paper over the top of each before tying on the cloth. This prevents tho cloths from becoming greasy, and they are no trouble to wash. Most people dislike stoning raisins because of tho unpleasant stickiness. This can bo prevented by rubbing a little butter on your finger and on the knife before beginning. Raisins, all ready stoned, can be had for very little more than tho price of the . unstoned ones, but many people fancy that they are not quite so nice and moist as when freshly stoned at home. Very often at Christmas time so many good things are going that cake becomes stale. To remedy this, dip the cake for a second in cold milk. Place it in a rather cool oven, and rebake. It will taste perfectly fresh and be far more digestible than when new. A Pastry Hint: If you are making flaky pastry for mince pies, remember that it needs a very hot oven. If it is a i coal range, rake out all the bottom cinders from tho fire before heating the oven, and fill up to level with the top of the fire-bricks with small lumps of coal. Small lumps soon burn up, and make a fiercer fire than larger lumps would do. The flues should, of course, have been swept out in the morning. Flaky pastry needs an oven hot enough to make it riso at once, if it is to bo worth eating. Slow cooking spoils it. To Brown a Cako: When making a hatch of Christmas cakes, if you want (hem to brown nicely all over, try the following plan: Place a basin of cold water in the oven just before the cakes are ready to bo popped in. This prevents them from burning and at the same time •?ives them the rich brown colour that looks so appetising and is so much desired by the amateur cook. Preparing' a Floor for Dancing: Powdered borax is an excellent thing with which to give a floor a nice slippery surface for dancing. Scatter powdered borax well over it, and rub this in thoroughly with the brush or .with the feet; or, better still, let the children come and slide over it in their slippers, and it will bo in splendid condition for dancing.