HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 74

HOME INTERESTS.

CLOTTED CREAM.

As clotted cream is not always to be obtained, the folowing will be found a good substitute: — Take one pint of ordinary raw cream, pour it into a jug, and let it stand in a saucepan of boiling water until it is lukewarm. Take the cream out and stir into it c dessertspoonful and a-half of essence of rennet. Let it^ stand 1 a. few minutes; then break up lightly with a fork, and it will be found beautifully clotted.

BANANA CREAM PIE.

Line a deep pie-plate with a crust, and fill with thin slices of banana. Beat the yolks of two eggs with two tablespoonfuls of sugar; add one teaspoonful of orange extract and one cupful and a-half of rich milk; pour over the bananas and bake like custard, then cover with a meringue made of the whites of two eggs and two heaping teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar. Brown lightly in the oven.

PORT WINE SAUCE.

Required: Half a gill of brown sauce, two wineglassfuls of port wine, the juice of one lemon, half a teaspoonful of castor sugar, three tableepoonfuls of strong stock. Put all the ingredients into a bright pan, bring to the boat, and ikim well. Then strain the sauce into a hot tureen.

CHILLI SAUCE.

Two pounds of tomatoes, six red peppers chopped fine, four onions chopped fine, one cupful and a-h«if of brown sugar, one quarter cupful of ealt, three cupful s of vinegar, half a teaapoonful of powdered cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger, quarter of a teaspoonful of ground cloves. Boil together for three hours, bottle, and seal.

VANILLA SAUCE.

Half a cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, two cupful* of water, one large tablespoonful of flour, one teaspoonful and a-half of vanilla; make the flour smooth with part of the water, and cook all together over hot water; add the flavouring last.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE. Half a cupful of butter, the juice of & lemcn, the yolka of two eggs, cayenne pepper, ball a cupful of boiling water, half a teaepoanful of salt. Beat tfie butter to a cream, tn«n add the yolks, one by one, the lemonjuice, pepper, and salt. Bilt the bowl in which these axe mixed in a saucepan of boiling water, beat with an egg-beater until the tauce begins to thicken 1 , and add the boiling water, beating all the time. When like a soft custard, it is done. The bowl, if thin, should be kept over the fire only about five minutes, if the water keeps boiling ftll tli* time,

EGG LEMONADE.

In one pint •of water dissolve Jib granulated sugar, squeeze in the juice of four lemons, and, add a cup of cracked ice. Have ready the yolks and whites of four fresh eggs beaten separately ; beat the whites until stiff, mix together and stir into the lemonade. Before serving, taste, and add more sugar if desired.

EGGS WITH CUCUMBERS

Melt 3oz butter in a stewpan. Peel, quarter, and slice finely a Inedium-sized cucumber, and shred oa to this a bunch of spring onions or a couple of Spanish onions. 'Audi these to the butter* season with pepper and salt and . half a tea spoonful of lemon-juice. Simmer all together for about 10 minutes. Have ready six hard-boiled ejrgs cut* into thick slices, and allow these to become quite hot in the mixture; then, laet of «li, stir in a spoonful of cream. Put on a hot dish and serve with a border of nicely-^boiled rice

EGGS AND TOMATOES.

Take as many round, smooth tomatoes as there axe persons to serve. Cut a thin slice from the top of each for a cover, and scoop out just apace enough to hold an egg. Put a little butter in the bottom of the cavity, drop in the egg carefully so as not to break the yolk, season with salt and pepper, place a dot of butter on top of the egg, adjust the cover, and bak« about 20 minutes, or until the tomato is tender*. Grated cheese may ba sprinkled over the' egg before the cover is out in place. Have a little' hot water in the bottom of the pan in which, the tomatoes 'are baked.' ■ *

A RICH PLUM CAKE.

Required: One pound of flour, Jib buttter; Jib castor sugar, fib cherries, Jib sultanas, Jib mixed peel, Jib citron, 6oz almonds, loz mixed spice, eight eggs, the rinds of two oranges and two. lemons, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a gill of caramel, quarter of a pint of raisin or any home-made wine. Grease a cake-tin, when line it with three layers of greased paper. Put the butter and sugar into a basin and beat them till smooth with a wooden ■ spoon. Next add the eggs, beating each one in separately. Chop the peel coarsely, cut the cherries in halves, shell the almonds and shred them finely, clean and stalk tbe sultanas and " currants. Mix all the fruit together on * plate, add the spice. and the grated orange and lemon peel. Sieve together the flour, and salt, add these to the butter, etc., and next stir in the fruit, and, lastly, -the caxameil and> wine. The caramel may be omitted if preferred, and a little milk used instead. But the cake will not b» so ■ dark. Put the mixture into the tin, place the tin on a layer of salt or sand in a baking-tin. Bake it very carefully uf a moderate oven from three to four hours. If it begins to get too dark, lay a pieoe of paper across the top of it. For the first 10 minutes the cake should- be put in a quick oven; it should then have tue heal Jessened, as the 'larger the cake the slower should be the oven, otherwise ti» outside will get done while the inside is still raw. Stick a clean skewer into the middle of ■ the cake — if it comes out clean the cake is done,, if any of the mixture sticks to the skewer it requires more cooking. Take it- out of the tin, peel off the paper carefully, and put it on a sieve till cold. Then wrap it up in greaseproof paper, and put it away in a tin for a fortnight or more. The icing and decorating must be left till nearer Christmas time.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Take a quart of green gooseberries, put them, after topping and tailing them, into a pan with 4oz lo&f sugar, and stew them without water. When soft, rub them through a sieve, and then erfir into the puree half a pint of thick oream ; stir all together, add more sugar if required 1 , then when cold pour into a crystal dish. Garnish with whipped cream on the top.

GOOSEBERRY FLUMMERY. - Take 6oz rice and wash it, then put it into a pan with two pints of milk, and let it cook slowly till it get? soft and thick, then add 2oz sugar and stir well. Let it get cold, then butter or oil a mould and cover the ineide with a layer of the rice about an inch thick, leaving the inside empty till the rice sets. Then fill up with gooseberries stewed thick and soft with sugar and no water, and let. it stand till quite stiff and cold. Turn upside down carefully— just before i serving a. little time — and draw off the mould carefully so ac not to break the rice. This can also be steamed after putting in the fruit, and served hot with custard sauce.

INVALID OMELETTE.

Ingredients: One egg, one teaspoonful of milk, a little scraped raw beef, a little pepper and salt.

Separate the yolk from white of egg, and mix the yolk and the meat together, adding the salt, then beat up the white on a plate with a knife to a stiff froth. Mix altogether, and fry quickly in a hot pan, *haking the pan while cooking. ' Cook for two minutes, then double in half, turn out on a hot plate and serve quickly.

ALMOND ICING.

Required: Two pounds of ground aTmoiTde, 21b icing sugar, the whites of six or ©even eBg»;e Bg»; lemon-juice, vanilla, orange-flower water, water. Mix the almonds and sugar together; the latter should first be rubbed through a sieve. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, adYt enough of the whites, lemon-juice, vanilla. orange-flower water, and water to mix the whole to a stiff paste. Knead it till it is smooth ami thoroughly mixed. Trim the cake nicely, paring off any burnt parts. Cover the iop and sides' evenly with the almond icing, making the edge of the cake sharp andstraight. Smooth it over with a knife dipped in hot water. Put it in a cool oven to dry a, little, or it will gradually ooze through the roya.l icing. Next make

THE ROYAL ICING.

Required: Two pounds of icing sugar, the juice of two lemons, tb£" whites of six or seven eggs. Rub the icing sugar through a hair-sieve. Make a well in the centre and strain in the lemon-juice. Whisk the whites very stiffly, add some io the lemon- juice, and stir them in with a wooden spoon; continue adding white of egg till all the tugar is worked in. The icing should be to stiff that patterns can be traced in it with a spoon, and will not blur. If the eggs are small more vhites may be needed. When the icing is the right thickness, beat it with a wooden spoon for at least 16 minutes. This whitens it. Spread a thin layer of this »ver the almond ioing, smoothing it over with a tiife dipped in water. Let this icing dry in a very cool oven, then spread on a second layer, taking oare to make it very oincoth and the cake a good shape, tnd '«t it iry.