HOME INTERESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 66

HOME INTERESTS.

POINTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT STEAMED SOUFFLES. They must be taken up directly they axe cooked. If over-cooked or under-cooked, they will shrivel and »ink. When cooking, the water should boil gently, and not teach more than one-third up the aide of the tin. It fs aloe advisable to stand the tin on a small round paatry cutter, or on a thick fold of paper, oo that it doe* not touch the

bottom of the saucepan. Before turning out a souffle remove the band of paper very carefully, and leave the souffle for a few seconds so that it can shrink a little from the sides; it is then less liable to break. STEAMED CHOP. One mutton chop, half an ounce of butter, salt and pepper. Well butter a deep plate. Trim the chop neatly, put it on the plate, cover with a piece of buttered paper, ana then with a lid (one from a saucepan will do nicely). Now place the plate over a saucepan of boiling water, and let the water continue to boil steadily for about half an hour, more or less according to the thickness of tne chop. Turn it two or three times during the cooking. Serve on a hot plate with any juice that may have come from it during the cooking, and dust it lightly with salt and pepper. OYSTER TOAST. Half a dozen oysters, half an ounce of butter, one tablespoonfui of crumba, one tablespoonful of cream, four tableapoonfula of milk, salt and pepper, a slioe of hot

buttered toast. Melt the butter in a small pan, stir in the crumbs, then add the milk and stir over the fire until the mixture boils. Whisk the cream until it will just hang on the whisk, then stir it in lightly. Beard the oysters and cut each’in quarters, then add them to the sauce, seasoning it well. Now trim off the crusts from a neat piece of hot buttered toast, and heap the mixture on it. Put it back in the oven to heat thoroughly, then serve at once. CHOCOLATE CAKE. Four ounces of flour, two ounces of ground rice, half a pound of butter, sir ounces of caster sugar, four eggs, half a pound of plain chocolate, one level teaspoontul of baking powder, two tableapoonfula of milk, vanilla, chocolate and white royal icing. Line a square or round cake tin wjth greased paper. Sieve the flour, baking powder, and ground ricC. Chop the chocolate, put it in a pan with the milk, and stir it over the fire until dissolved. Beat the butter and sugar to a very soft white cream. Beat the eggs, and add them gradually to the butter and sugar. Beat well, and aiir in the dissolved chocolate. Now mix m the flour very lightly, add a few drops of vanilla, and pour the mixture into the tin. Bake very carefully in a moderately hot oven for about an hour; care is needed to prevent this cake burning. Then turn it out carefully, peel eff the paper, and leave until cold. Trim it neatly, and brush off any crumbs. Pour over the chocolate icing evenly, and let it set. Decorate the cake with dessicated coconut, chopped Distacliio nuts, or almonds. POTATO SOUFFLE. Required: Four ounces of cooked potatoes, two ounces of butter, three ounces of sugar, three eggs, one lemon, and a pinch of salt. Rub the potatoes through a sieve, stir in the melted butter and sugar. Add .the yolks of the eggs, beating each in well, strain in the juice of the lemon, and then stir in the stiffly whipped whites of the eggs. Put into a greased souffle tin round which a band of greased paper has been tied, cover with greased paper, and steam gently for about one hour. When firm to the touch, turn on to a hot dish and hand jam sauce. Note.— If preferred, this pudding may be baked in a china souffle dish. It takes from 20 to 30 minutes to bake, ad is served iu the dish in which it is cooked. MACARONI PIE. Line a greased pie dish with* cooked macaroni. Sprinkle it with a layer of grated onion, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Over this place a layer of skinned and sliced tomatoes and a little brown sauce. Cover with more macaroni and continue these layers until the dish is full, but the top layer must be macaroni. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, put a few pieces of margarine here and there over the top, and bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour. SMALL POTATO PUDDINGS. For these unusual puddings allow half a pound of cooked potatoes, two eggs, one pint of milk, two ounces of stale cake (Madeira or sponge), two ounces of caster sugar. Sieve the potatoes and the cake. Boil the milk and pour it on to the beaten yolks of the eggs, return to the pan. and stir over low heat until the custard just begins to thicken Add the sugar (off the fire), and stir in the potatoes and cake crumbs. Return the pan to the fire, and stir until the mixture is hot. Cool slightly, and then stain the stiffly whipped whites of the eggs. When cold, shape the mixture into balls, dip these in flour, and fry in hot fat. Strain on soft paper, and serve on a d’oyley or a, hot difch. Sprinkle with caster sugar. SHREWSBURY CAKE, Ingredients: Half a pound of flour, a pinch of baking powder, a quarter of a pound of butter, three ounces of caster sugar, one egg, the juice of half a lemon. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the egg, which has been well beaten, and the lemon juice; then stir in the flour and the baking powder. Roll out the dough a quarter of an inch thick, and cut into rounds. Baked on a greased baking-sheet for 15 minutes in a moderate oven. VANILLA CAKES. Mix together two ounces each of flour and cornflour, and half a teaspoonful of baking powder. Rub in two ounces of butter, and add an ounce of caster sugar. Mix to a stiff paste with a little milk, and flavour ‘with vanilla. Bake on a greased tin in heaps for about ten minutes. SCOTCH SHORTBREAD. Ingredients: Eight ounces of butter, five ounces of caster sugar, four ounces of rice flour, four ounces of plain flour, eight ounces of self-raising flour Put butter into a warm bdsin, and in another mix flours and sugar together; add half of this to the butter; rub with the fingers, adding the rest of the flour gradually till the mixture is of the consistency of fiue breadcrumbs. Knead into a soft dough, turn out on a floured board, cut in two, and make into fiat cakes. Put the cakes into well-greased tins and prick well with a fork. Bake in a moderate oven until a pale brown colour, then lower the gas and leave to harden until golden brown. When baked, sprinkle caster sugar over and cut into fingers while hot. WELSH CHEESE CAKE. Ingredients: One egg, the weight of the eg? in sugar and butter and flour, vanilla essence, a tablespoonful of jam, a quarter of a teaspoonful of baking powder, half a pound of short crust pastry. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the egg, and beat it in well, add the vanilla essence. Sieve the flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt, and stir them lightly into the butter mixture. Roll out the pastry thinly, cut it into rounds, and line the patty pans with them. Put a little jam at the bottom of each, and three-parts fill them with the butter mixure. Bake at once in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Remove them from the patty pans, sift caster sugar over, and serve hot or cold. A STEAMED SOUFFLE. One ounce oi butler, one tablespoonfui of flour, quarter of a pint of milk, one ounce of sugar, two egg yolks and three whites. Well grease a souffle tin, and tie a band of buttered paper round the outside of it, so that it stands an inch or two above the top. If a scuffle tin is not available, use a small round cake tin. To make the panada.— This is the foundation for the souffle. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and mix together. Add the milk and etir until it boils and thickens, then keep stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of lhe pan. When the panada is cooked, draw to the side of the fire, stir in the sugar, cool slightly, then stir in the egg yolks. The latter must be added separately and well beaten in before the next is added. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to a very stiff froth, then stir in very lightly. Put this into the prepared tin, cover with a buttered paper, and steam for about half aa hour or forty minutes. When cooked, remove the band of paper and turn the souffle very carefully on to a hot dish. Have some hot jam sauce ready, pour it round, and serve at once. To make the sauce.— Mix together in s saucepan about two or three tablespoonfuis of jam and one small teacupful off water, and boil for a few minutst. If liked, the sauce can b# strained.