HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 75

HOME INTERESTS.

POTATO SOUP. Eequired: On© pound of potatoes, on© small onion, one pint of hot milk, loz of butter, one and a-half pints of boiling white stock (made from whits meat—i.e., veal or chicken) or water, two sticks of celeiry, £oz of semolina or small sago, or crushed tapioca, salt, .pepper. Wash, peel, and slice potatoes, laying them in cold water directly they arc cut, in order to prevent them discolouring. Wash and chop the celery, peel and slice the onion; melt the butter in a clean, bright pan; add all the vegetables, and turn them about in the butter over the fire for eight minutes, but do not let them colour in the least. Add the water, and a little salt, and boil the soup gently until the potatoes are soft. Rub through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon. Rinse out the saucepan, pour back the soup, add the milk, re-boil it, and, when boiling, shake in the semolina, stirring it all the time. Boil it until the semolina floats and is quite transparent; probably eight minutes. Then add the seasoning, and note if the consistency be that of good cream. If too thick, add more hot milk. If too thin, either a little more semolina, cooking - it again thoroughly, yi else boil the soup a little to reduce it. Serve with toast or croutons. FRICASSEED RABBIT'. Required: One rabbit (or chicken, or pheasant), 2cz of butter, ljoz of flour, a small piece of carrot, turnip, and celery, one Wnnn. a few sprigs of parsley,

a small bit 01 mace, 3oz of bacon, salt and pepper, one pint oi milk and water, or pot liquor. Soak the rabbit in tepid salted water for half an hour (a chicken 3r pheasant would not require this). Next cut it into neat, small joints; put them in stewpan with the milk and water, the vegetables, parsley, mace, and a little salt. ' Put on the lid, and let the contents simmer for about three-quarters of an hour, 01 until quite tender. Meantime, in another pan, melt the butter; stir in the flour, and let it cook for three minutes, without letting it colour, Next strain in the etock from the rabbit, and' stir over the fire until it boils. Season carefully to taste; add the joints of rabbit and a teaspoonful of leomon juice. Re-heat. Arrange the joints neatly on a hot dish, strain the sauce over, and garnish with the bacon (cut thin, rolled and toasted), also slices of lemon. FISH CROQUETTES. Required: One lightly-filled breakfastcupful of any cooked, finely-chopped fish, 2oz of flour, 2oz of butter, one gill each of milk and fish stock, two tables'poonfuls of cream, two raw yolks of eggs, one whole egg, salt, cayenne, breadcrumbs, half a lemon, fryingfat. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir the flour smoothly into it, add the milk and fish stock, and stir this sauce over the fire until it boils. Add the two yolks of eggs, and reheat the sauce to bind them. Stir in the fish, being careful to see it is free from skin and bone. Add the strained juice of the lemon and a careful seasoning, being very cautious with the cayenne. Now turn the mixture on to a plate to cool. When it can be handled easily, shape it into evensized ballr or cylinder-like ' shapes. Roll each in fine, dry, white crumbs; next brush them civer with the beaten egg, and »gain roll them in breadcrumbs. Now comes the actual frying. See if a distinct bluish smoke is rising from the fat. If so put in a few croquettes at a time, and fry them a pretty bright golden brown. They will only take a minute or so. Lift them out cif the fat, let as much as possible drain back into the pan, and turn the croquettes on to soft paper to drain off any grease still remaining. Keep these first fried ones hot whilst the .remainder are fried. Reheat the fat before putting in each lot of croquettes—this is— impoiritant! When all are fried, dust off* any dark specks (burnt crumbs), arrange the croquettes on a lacepaper on a hot dish, garnish them with fried parsley, and, if liked, serve any nice fish sauce with them. These croquettes are very nice made with lobster, shrimps, or about two dozen bearded, blanched, and quartered oysters. FRIED SWEETBREADS AND BACON. Take two sweetbreads, some pieces of

bacon, a small piece of carrot, turnip, onion, celery, two tablespoonfuls tinned tomatoes, salt and pepper, one egg, some fine white breadcrumbs, fat for frying, seme flour. Soak the sweetbreads in cold salted waiter, then wash them well. Put them into a saucepan, cover with cold water, and boil for a few minutes; drain. Remove all skin and fat from the sweetbreads, put them into a pan with encagh water or stock to barely cover the vegetables (cut up), also tomatoes. Stew them until they are tender—they ma) take from one to two hours. When reaa> cut in slices about half an -inch thica, -oil these in seasoned flour, dip in beater, egg, ■and roll in fine crumbs. Heat a fryingpaa, fry some neatly-cut pieces of bacon; if there is sufficient fat in the pan, put in the piecTes of sweetbreads and fry brown; if not, get ready some dripping. Strain the liquid in which the sweetbreads were cooked, thicken it with a little flour, and season. Arrange the sweetbreads on a long mound of potatoes, with pieces of bacon between. Pour the sauce round. A PRETTY SWEET

Take three or four whites, castor sugar, soma finely-grated chocolates, half-pint (or more) double cream, vanilla. Beat the whites very stiffly, adding one or two pinches of sugar while whisking. Allow 2oz of castor sugar to each white, sift the sugar if at all lumpy, and stir it very carefully among the whites. , Have a plain tube—the hole being about Jin in diameter —and bag, or a bag made of strong paper dms very well; in this case no- tube is required. Put the. mixture into the bag and press it out in the shape of mushrooms, making a stalk for each, 3prir.kle with fine sugar—they should be pressed out on strips of paper which are placed on an oven shelf. Put the merinsrues into a coci oven and leave to harden. When ready press in the centres, brush the flat ur.der part with white of egg, and sprinkle with chocolate, then fasten to the stalk. Whip the cream, and when it is fairly stiff add a little sugar and a few drops of vanilla. Pile the cream in the centre of a pretty dish, and arrange the meringues against it. / little green stuff such as pretty fresh parsley, cress, or fern might be arranged at the base of the dish. QUEEN BISCUITS.

A quarter of a pound of flour, ljoz of butter, 2>C'Z of sugar, loz of currants, one ■egg, a pinch of salt. Rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar, currants, and egg; then roll out very thin, and cut into small cakes. Bake in a. moderate oven from seven to ten minutes. SEMOLINA. PUDDING. Required: One pint of milk, three level table-spoonfuls of semolina, one level tablespoonful of sugar, about a quarter of an ounce of butter or good dripping', flavouring, a few grains of salt. Rub the piedish over with the butter. Rinse out a saucepan with cold water; then pciur in th<3 milk and bring it to the boil. Sprinkle in the semolina, gradually, stirring the milk all the time. Let it boil gently until the semolina has thickened the milk and dees not sink. <■ Next add the sugar and salt, and whatever flavouring you prefer. Turn the mixture into the loiedish, and baJke it in a moderate oven until it is lightly browned on the top. PEPPERMINT CREAMS. Thoroughly whip the white of an «gg, add from 10 to 15 drops of essence of peppermint, or more if liked strong, and then sift in enough fine sugar to form, a compact dough. Turn out on to a board dusted with icing sugar, and roll cut to about half an inch in thickness; m>axk out in small rounds the size of a shilling, placo on i .'lightly greased paper, and stand in s ccol oven to set. The oven door should be left open. AMERICAN TEA-CAKB. One egg, one tablespoonful of sugar, half a breakfastcupful of milk, one bi-eakfastcup-ful of flour, half a teaspoenful of carbonate of scda, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one tablespoonful of butter. Mix cream of tartar and soda with flour; add sugar and mix with egg and milk. Butter should be added last. Mixture to b© well beaten. Put in flat sandwich tin and bake in hot oven . 20 minutes. LITTLE CHOCOLATE PUDDINGS. Take one egg, its '■'•eight in flour and butter, half its we:'. :. in castor sugar, one tablaspoonful of ;~ a/ted chocolate, or half a tablespoonful of cocoa, one teaspoon-

ful of taking powder, xnd a little Vȣs .1 I ] essence. Beat buttei and sugar to a cream ; with a wooden spoon, stir in flour and j beaten egg a little at a time; beat mixture j well. Add chocolate and flavouring, and, last of all, add the baking powder. Beat j well; put into small greased moulds or cups; steam for three-quarters of an hour. *