HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 74

HOME INTERESTS.

MEAT AND POTATO BALLS.

Half a pound of mashed potatoes, pepper and salt; Jib of meat, one teaspoonful of parsley, one egg. Chop the meat finely, mix with the potatoes; season nicely with pepper and salt. Add the parsley and the egg, well beaten; roll into balls about the size of a small egg, using flour to keep the mixture from sticking to one's hands. Brush with egg, and toss them, in crumbs. Fry in deep fiat, which must be smoking hot. Put up in a hot dish, and serve. PUREE. OP ONIONS.

Pour Spanish onions, flour, half a. pint of stock, butter, browning, fried bread. Mince the onions very small and fry them in some butter until a good brown colour; drain them and put them in a stewpan with the stock and cook until they are soft enough to put through a sieve; put them back in the pan with half the quantity of stock, a thickening of butter and flour, and a little piece of browning; cook for a few minutes, garnish with sippets of fried bread, and serve very hot. HUNTER'S MUTTON.

Cold mutton, one eschalot, one teaspoonful of minced parsley, one ounce and a-half of glaze, one dessertspoonful of chutney, one large tablespoonful of red-currant jelly, salt, pepper, ribbon potatoes. Cut the mutton into rather thick slices, free them from skin and fat, and dust with pepper and salt; place the glaze in an enamelled stewpan, and as soon as it has melted add to it one tablespoonful of eschalot finely minced, the parsley, chutney, and jel-y; when very hot add the slices of mutton. When the meat is thoroughly hot through, dish up and serve immediately with ribbon potatoes.SAUSAGES AND MACARONI. One pound pork sausages, |lb macaroni, one breakfastcupful stock, two tomatoes, or the equivalent in tinned tomatoes, one tablespoonful grated cheese, salt, pepper, one teaspoonful finely-chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful butter. Break the macaroni in short pieces, put it into plenty of boiling salted water to boil for ten minutes, drain off the water, and add the stock, also one of the tomatoes, cook very slowly for about half an hour, or until the macaroni is tender; add the butter, almost all the parsley, the cheese and seasoning, and keep hot while the sausages are being cooked I —indeed, they should be put on some time before the macaroni is ready. Have ready a clean frying pan, prick the sausages with a needle, put them into the pan, which should be cold, and cook them very slowly for about 23 minutes It is a good plan to put a plate

over them; they cook then without drying. Arrange the macaroni on a dish, place the sausages round hiio! some pieces of tomato, sprinkle finely-chopped parsley over, and serve hot Tfle macaroni is very nice served alone, or in place of sausages nicely fried pieces of bacon or liver and bacon.

OYSTER FRITTERS. Take six oysters, a few pieces of thinly-cut bacon, salt, pepper, lemon juice, tw> tablespoonfuls of flour, one tabiespc salad oil or butter, one egg. Beard t ,te — this means removing the dark

oyster. Butter a plate, lay the oyster on it, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a few drops of lemon juice; put another plate on the top, and place in oven or top of stove for p few minutes to warm, but do not allow them to heat much, as they become hard. Have ready two little pieces of very thin bacon- for each oyster; they should cover it. Put the flour into a basin, add a pinch of salt. . Put the yolk of the egg into a cup, add the salad oil, or if butter is used melt it and remove the scum; add also any liquid there may be on the plate on which the oysters were cooked. Strain the oyster j liquor and add half to the yolk; add the liquid in the cup to the flour, beating the mixture very well, and adding more oyster liquor if necessary. The butter at this stage should be very smooth, but scarcely . soft enough to coat the oysters. Beat the white firmly, add it to the batter, mixing it carefully. Have ready enough hot fat to cover the fritters. Put some batter on a spoon, lay on it the oyster covered with the pieces of bacon, coat with batter so as to completely cover the. oysters, push quickly, from the spoon into the smoking hot fat, and fry till brown. Drain very well. Arrange the fritters on a d'oyley, garnish with pieces of lemon and fried parsley, and serve hot. Pieces of bacon are very nice cooked in a batter "n this way without oysters. 1 CARAMEL WALNUTS. Take some walnuts, 2oz ground almonds, |lb icing sugar, one wnite of egg, a few drops of lemon juice, a few drops of vanilla essence. Shell the walnuts, keeping the nuts in halves if possible. Sieve or roll the icing sugar, mix it with the ground almonds, and make into a firm paste with the lemon, vanilla, and white of egg. The whole white may not be required. Take a small portion of the paste, roll it between the palms of the hands, place it between the halves of a walnut, roll again, and put aside to firm. Finish the paste in same way.. The walnuts may when firm; be coated with a glaze, or may be brushed with white of egg and rolled in coloured sugar. For the glaze use Jib castor or granulated sugar, half a teacupful of water, a few drop 3 of lemon juice, , or half a teaspoenful cream' of tartar. Put the water, sugar, and lemon or cream of tartar into a pan, let the sugar dissolve slowly, then boil until an amber shade. Drop the walnuts quickly into the glaze, then on to a buttered plate or paper. When finished, lift off, trim the edges with scissors, and put in little paper cases. i PARSNIPS IN PERFECTION. f Wash and scrape a dozen parsnips, and boil until tender. Take half a cup of rich milk, add a blade of mace, one tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and half . a tablespoonful of flour rubbed to a paste with a little milk. Boil up well. > MOCK MINCE PIE. i Three water biscuits rolled or ground fine, three beaten eggs, one cup sugar, one cup water, one cup molasses, one cup and a-half chopped raisins, half a cup vinegar, half a cup butter, salt Cook slowly till well blended. Bake in two pies with upper and under crust or with crossed strips for top crust. . CHESTNUT STUFFING-. ! As a change from the ordinary bread stuffing, that made with chestnuts is generally much liked. For a turkey weighing 101 b you will require one quart of large chestnuts or two quarts of small ones. Wipe and dry the chestnuts, cut a piece off the top of each, and place in a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover them. Boil until * tender when pricked with a skewer. Drain and skin them, mash well in a basin, and add to them a good tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of lemon juice. Stuff the bird in the same way a 3 you would with bread stuffing. CONSERVE'S. Take 2oz of ground almonds, 2oz of castor sugar, and one egg, and beat well together. Line patty-tins with some short pastry, put a little jam in the bottom of each, then fill up with the mixture. Bake till ready. BREAKFAST ROLLS. - Into |lb of flour rub a piece of butter the size of a walnut v one teaspoonful of baking powder and a good pinch of salt. Mix into a light dough with cold milk, make into fancy shapes, .and brush over with warm milk and bake in a quick oven. j CRISPLETS FOR BREAKFAST. I Make a batter of two tablespoonfuls of flour, one egg, one teaspoonful of baking j powder, two tablespoonfuls of milk; salt, I pepper. Cut sufficient pieces of bread, dip in boiling water to soften, cover well with the batter, fry in plenty of dripping tilt nicely browned. This is very nice with bacon. i MANILLA TOAST. I' Dissolve loz of butter in a frying pan, in it fry a sliced onion, and three good- ' sized tomatoes cut small, and season rather highly with pepper and salt. Beat up three j eggs with a little minced hami. Stir into : other ingredients till all thickens. Pour j on to squares of buttered toast, and serve ; at once. j FIG TART. t Cut lib of dried figs into thin slices, put them' in a lined pan with enough milk to j cover, 2oz of sugar, loz of butter, and & j pinch of powdered cinnamon. Stew over a slow fire till quit* soft, then let get cold. Line a piedish with a thin layer of pastry, put in the figs and some of the syrup, cover I with paste. Bake thirty minutes. Serve hot or cold, with cream or custard. ROCHESTER PUDDING. Four ounces of flour, ljoz of butter, 2oz of castor sugar, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one egg, half a teacupful of milk. Rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar and baking-powder; beat the egg well, and add the milk to it. Make a hole in the flour, pour in the egg and milk; beat all well together. Put two tablespoonfuls of dark golden syrup into a basin, and work well all round the basin. Pour in the pudding ! quickly, and steam two hours. CHERRY CAKE. Ingredient^: ilb flour, Jib butter, Jit 1 castor sugar, 5 eggs, 6oz glace cherries, teaspoonful of vanilla. Method: Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, and add the flour and eggs alternately; but do not heft* the eggs, drop each one separately into ft cup and then into the mixture. Stir well j together before adding the cherries and the ! vanilla flavouring. Grease the tin and P° ur ! in the mixture allowing an hour or more I for' baking in a very quick oven to s* ar .» with, as the fruit, being heavy, will sinlfi it the cake is slowly cooked;