HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 53

HOME INTERESTS.

Strawberry hHEHBET. — Take one quart of fresh lipeatrawberiies, three pints of water, the juice of one lemon, one tabletpoonCul of orange flower water, and J-lb sugar. Crush the strawberries to a smooth paste, add th» reat of the ingredients, except? the sugar, and let the mixture btand three hours, then strain through a cloth over the sugar, squeezing the cloth hard. Now stir until the sugar is dissolved, strain again, and sit aside in & cool place before using.

Fish Salad. — Take any cold cooked fisb, skin thtm, remove the bones, and cut in neat slices. Arrange a nice salad on a disb, with the slices of fish on the top. Beat the yolks of two fresh eggs in, a «mall basic, drop into it while you stir quickly, one way only, two tablespoon fuls of salad 0)1, then add gradually one tablespoonful of vinegar and flavour with ca;tor sugar, cayenne pepper, and salt. Coat each piece of the fish with this sauce just before sending it to table, and garnish the dish with hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, or any pretty and suitably-flavoured garnish. If liked, the yolks of the eggs may be removed, pounded wMi anchovy essence, and replaced, then cut into slices.

Oeaktge Tart. — Line a shallow pie dish with short crust. Ornament the edges and bake in a quick oven. Meauwhile prepare the filling. Grate the rind of a sweet orange into a basin, add the juice of two oranges, 2oz sugar, loz batter, and a pint of water. Boil altogether, and th/n pour over a tablespoonful of cornflower made into a smooth pas!:e with cold water. Stir all together, then add the yolks of two eggs and pour the mixture into the tart. Bake in a quick oven till quite set ; before serving garnish the tart with the whites of egg beaten to a stiff froth and sweetened with-sugar.

Green Peas a la Feancaisb. — Cook a plnb of shelled peas in boiling suited water ; when tender drain thoroughly and pat them back on the lire with not quits a gill of the water in which they were boiled, a sprinkling of Soar, and an ounce of batter. Simmer for five minutes. add pejjper. und salt to taste, and

finish by adding the yolk of an egg bearon with a tablespoonfal and a-half of cream. Serve very hot.

Mock Pigeons. — Take 21b veal cufc from the fillet, divide into slices Am thick, 2£in broad. Spread each with forcemeat which has chopped turn added to it ; tie with tape, and stew in stock for one hour. Take out, roast in the oven t'll brown,_r*move the tapes, arrange in a circls ou a hot disb, pour thick brown gravy round, and serve.

Minced Mutton or Lamb.— Cut the mea"t into nice square pieces, crack the bones and stew them tor an hour, then atrain off the stock, and add to it one large onion, cut cot too fim ly ; simmer for 20 minutss, then add one pint of new milk with seasoning to taste, thicken with two teaspooonfuls of blended flour, add the meat, and all >w to get thoroughly hot, but do not b.il. Pour into & deep dish and serve with mashed potatoes. Ve^l can be minced in tbe sams manner.

To Preserve Pineapples. — Pare the pineapples and take out the eyes ; cut them into slices a third of an inch thiok. For every pound of fruit thua weighed after being pared take lib loaf sugar and a small teacupful of water ; dissolve the sugar in the water ; skim carefully, and boil until it forms a clear syrup ; pub in the slices of pine, and boil gently until they look bright and clear. Put the preserve into jarsj cover closely, and store in a cool, dry place. f To Frost Cherries.— Choose large, ripe; sound cherries ; wipe them with a soft, dry cloth, and dip them in a liquid made of the whites of two eggs which have been whisked to a firm froth and mixed with a quarter of a pint of water. As the cherries are taken out of the egg drain them and roll them one by one in finely-sifted sugar ; put some writing paper on an inverted sieve ; put the cherries on this so that they do not touch one another, and lot them dry till wanted.

Queen Pudding.— Soak a cupful of breadcrumbs in a pint of new milk for an hour ; at the end of that time add tbree well-beaten eggs, three tablespoonfals of sugar, and essence to taste ; beat all together for about 10 rainutpg ; pour into a puddipg-dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven, spread the top with a thin layer of raspberry jam, and on. top of this drop the beaten white of an egg in irregular lumps ; pub back into the oven till it is lightly browned, then serve.

Dhop Scones. — Two teacups of flour, one teaspoonfui of cream of tartar, half a teaßpoou'ful of carbonate of sods, two tablespconfula of sugar, two eggs (beaten), a lifctls milk— enough to make a smooth batter. Mix all together to a batter as thick as that used for pancakes. Drop spoonfuls into a buttered pan, fry a light brown ou one side, then on the other.

Fruit Salad.— The greater variety of fruits you use in a fruit salad the better, and, of course, fresh fruits are much better to use than any preserved ones, though the addition of a little pineapple or peach (which can, perhaps, be oily procured in fcina) will often much improve a sslad made with gooseberries, strawberries, cherries, bananas, and currantß. The fruit should be carefully picked over and the steu s, &c, removed ; then arrange it in layers ' either in a china brwl or a . glass dish, and between each layer sprinkle castor sugar, and few currants should be used in comparison to : the other kisda of fruit. SprinMi a little brandy over the salad, about a wineglassful, place the i salad in a cold place, and' just before serving cover the top with whipped cream that! has bestn sweetened, mixing 2 z castor sugar with half a pint of cream.

Eggs Poached in Tomatoes. — Stew slowly for 10 minutes lib tomatoes and one small onion cut Quo. Season highly with salt; and pepper. Break six eggs into a bowl without beating, and when everything else is ready to serve slip them into the hob tomatoes. Lift the white carefully with a fork as it cooks, then prick the yolks, and let tEem mix with the whites and tomatoes. It should be quite soft, but with tbe red tomatoeß and the white and yellow of the egg quite distinct;. Serve at 'once on toast.

Yorkshike Pudding. — Three eggs,' three enna of flour sifted, thcee cups of milk. Beat the eggs, add the milk and then the flour ; beat up well, and pour into a pan with roast beef about one halt hour before the roast is cooked.