HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2983, 17 May 1911, Page 82

HOME INTERESTS.

GRILLED CHOPS, Strictly speaking, a. grilled chop should not have any made gravy served with it. The juices which flow from it should be poured over, or put a small piece of butter and. a sprinkling of pepper on the chop after it is cooked, and put it in the oven for a few minutes, umtil the butter has melted. But little pafe of Maitre d'Hotel butter served with chops are usually much appreciated. POTATO STRAWS. For these wash and scrub the potatoes, then cut them into thin slices, and cut these again into very small thin strips, like matches. Dry them lightly in a, soft cloth, then fry them a golden brown in fat from which a bluish smoke is rising. Drain by placing on hot paper. PLAIN" SUET PUDDING. Chop firua Jib of hssi suet, and mix with it, in a basin, lib flour and a pinch of salt. Add sufficient water to moke a stiff paste, then roll up the mixture in a well-floured cloth, put it into a saucepan of boiling water, and cook the pudding for about two*

hours and a-half. Serve it hot with treacly, golden syrup, or jam, or with butter and brown sugar. Similar puddings to which have been added sultanas in the making are also delicious. Suot puddings should be very light, and if well made are very nourishing for delicate children. MAITRE D'HOTEL BUTTER. Required: Half an ounce of butter, two teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, .salt and cayenne. Wash and chop the parsley very fine. Put all the ingredients on a plate, and mix them with a knife until they are all well blended together. Shape the mixture into a neat pat about a quarter of an inch thick; put it in a cold place until it is as hard as possible, then stamp it into small rounds the size of a shilling, and serve on the chops. Potato straws or ribbons are the correct thing to serve with chops. POTATO RIBBONS. For these wash and scrub the potatoes. Peel them and cut them into slices half an inch thick. Trim these all round so as lo have them a good even shape to begin with. Then carefully peel each slice round and round as if peeling an apple. The longer the strip is the better. Lay the ribbons in cold water as you cut them; then dry thein lightly, and fry them m the same way as potato straws. If liked, they may be loosely knotted before frying. STEWED SHIN OF BEEF. One pound of shin of beef, bunch of herbs salt, two tablespoonfuls of ketchup, thickening of butter and flour, two onions, one stick of celery, two carrots, two turnips pepper, pinch of mace. Place the shin of beef in a, sttewpan with sufficient water to cover it. Bring it to a boil, and remove all scum; add the celery, onions, herbs, spice, and seasoning, and simmer gently until the meat is quite tender. Peel and slice the other vegetables and cook them until tender. Take up the beef, plaoe it on tihe dish in which it is to ba served, and keep it hot. Take as much of the liquor in which the beei was cooked as will be required for gravy; put it in an enamelled saucepan with the thickening and stir it till it boils-, then strain. Put it again in the stewpan with the ketchup and seasoning, boil up once, and pour ever the beef. Garnish with the sliced carrots* and turnips. COCOAMJT ROCK CAKES.

Required are: Half-pound flouir, one tenspoonful of baking powder, three ounces of. butter, three ounces sugar, half-pound coooanut, one egg, and a little milk. Rub the butter into the flour, and add the baking powder, sugar, and the desiccated cocoanut. Now stir in the egg and milk, beat-en together. Divide into mim>erous small heaps and put these on to a greased tin, not letting them touch each other. Bake for about a quarter of an hour in a moderately hot oven. NOVEL RICE PUDDING. Take a quarter of a. pound of rice, wash, and boil it in milk; add sugar and salt to taste, and a little spice. When cooked, this should Be quite stiff. Take half of the rice out of the saucepan, and put it in a basin. Colour the remainder with a few drops f cochineal. Grease a pudding basin, put in a layer of lice, half an inch deep. Place the mould in cold water, and when the rice is set add a layer of pink rice, and another of white, and so on till the mould i 3 full; taking care that each layer is set before adding another. Stew a few washed sultanas and currants in a little wtater, - sweeten "to taste, and pour round the mould. APPLE TRIFLE. Ingredients: Four sponge cakes, a wine-* glassful of sherry or raisin wine, three eggyolks, half a pint of milk,- a teaspoonful o f . mixed cornflour, on* -and a-half pounds of apples, sugar and flavouring to taste, half an oi;noe of fresh butter, and half an ounce of gelatine. Slice the sponge- oakes, place them in a glass dish, pour over them "the wine or sherry, and let aoak for an hour or two. Make a boiled custard of the eggyolks and milk; sweeten and flavour to taste. When it begins to thicken, stir in the teaspoonful of mixed cornflour. Stand on one side to cool. Peel, core, and quarter the apples, stew them *o a pulp, with sugar and a few shreds of lemon-rind. When well mashed, stir in the butter, or, instead, a tablespoonful of thick cream, and leave till cold. Whip the egg-whites to a stiff froth, dissolve the gelatine m a little water, then put apple pulp, gelatine, and egg froth all together in a basin, and beat the mixture until it is like snow. Pour the custard over the oakes, then pile up the apple mixture in a rocky mound above the-:'custard. A fe'v split glace cherries, some angelica, or split almonds can decollate the trifle. If wine is Hot liked; the same amount of milk can be used instead of soaking the cakes. CELERY SOUP. This is a delicious soup that is easily prepared and cheap. Take half a bunch of celery, using root and outer stalks, which are strongest in flavour. Boil these about threequarters of an hour with a little chopped onion. When soft, press it through a sieve and add a pint of milk. When about to boil add a, tablespoonful of flour, and cook till it thickens, stirring all the time, and at last add a tablespoonful of butter. Serve with croutons of bread. CHEAP LEMON CHEESE. Mix the juice of one lemon with five level teaspoonfuls of soft sugar; add one beaten P u,t in a i u %< aald pl aoe t™ J u g m » pan of boiling water on the fire. Stir the mixture till it thickens. It is ready for use as soon as cool.