Cookery.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 15 May 1912, Page 2

Cookery.

Dumplings.— Mix and sift two cupfuls of flour, four teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Work in two teaspoonfuls of butter, using the tips of the fingers, and add gradually seven-eighths cupful of milk. Drop by spoonfuls in a buttered steamer, put over a saucepan of boiling water, cover closely, and steam 12 minutes.

To Make Curacoa.— Boil a quart of water in a clean stew,pan. Add to it, bit by bit, one pound of dark brtown sugar candy. When this has dissolved boil up the syrup, then pour into a deep dish to cool. Into a quart of spirits of wine drop 120 drops of bitter (orange. When the Jatter is dissolved and is quite cold, mix it with the above syrup. Filter and, bottle the liqueur for use.

Jugged Beef.— Cut the beef in square pieces, put it into a deep jar, add to it three-quarters of a pint of water, a little cayenne pepper, and salt; stick six cloves into a large onion, and put all into the oven for two and a half hours. Ten minutes before it is served put to it a little flour and butter, and stir it up well; then set it intio the oven again, and serve up for the table. This is for two pounds of beefsteak.

Luncheon Sardines.— Melt four tablespoonfuls of butter, and one-third of a cupful of soft, stale bread crumbs, and stir until well blended; then add one cupful of milk. Bring to the boiling point and add two hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped, and one small box of sardines (freed from bones and separated into small pieces). Again bring to the boiling point and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Serve on pieces of buttered toast and garnish with toast points and parsley.

Durham Cutlits— A quarter of a pound of cold meat, four teaspoonfuls of fine bread crumbs, one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour, a quarter of a pint of water, a dessertspoonful of Worcester sauce. Put butter into a saucepan, add flour, stir until well blended, then add water and Worcester sauce. Cook thoroughly, stirring all the time, pour into a basin, add bread crumbs and meat (chopped finely), mix well, spread on a dinner plate. Set aside to get cold. Cut into eight cutlets, dip in egg and bread crumbs, and fry a nice brbwn in boiling lard.

White Soup —Take a quarter of a pound of cold veal or poultry, a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds, a thick slice of stale bread, a piece of fresh lemon-peel, three-quarters of a pint of cream or new milk, a blade of pounded mace, the yolks of two hardboiled eggs, and two quarts of white stock. Reduce the almonds in a mortar to a paste, with a spoonful of water; add the meat, previously pounded with the bread, beat together, add the chopped lemonpeel and the mace; pour over the boiling stock, and simmer for one hour. Rub the eggs in the milk, put into the soup, and bring up to boiling pjoint.

French Cake Icing. —This icing or frosting is more economical than any other and keeps indefinitely, so that a quantity can be made and put away in covered jars ready for use. Boil without stirring one teacupful of sugar, one-third cupful of water, oneeighth of a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and flavouring. • It is done when it forms .a soft disc if dropped in cold water. Let stand without' stirring until lukewarm, then beat until it is smooth and creamy. If it befconjes grainy it has been cooked too long, or has been stirred too long. For caramel icing use one-fourth of a cupful of water to one cupful of brown sugar.

Stewed Oxtail. —This is an excellent dish, but one that is apfc to be forgotten. Joint the tail carefully, and fry it in two ounces of dripping till nicely browned. Take up the tail, and put in an onion and a carrot sliced. When lightly fried put back the pieces of meat, cover with stock, and stew very slowly for three hours. When quite tender, put the pieces of tail on a hot dish. Skim the fat off the gravy and strain it. In a clean saucepan put one ounce of butter and stir in one ounce of flour till blended, then add gradually one pint of the gravy. Let it come to the boil, season to taste, j. colour a nice brown, and pour over | the meat. Serve very hot.

Beef Stew with Dumplings.—Buy 51b. of the cheaper cuts of beef. Wipe the meat, remove from bone, cut in l£in. cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour. Cut some of the fat in small pieces and melt down in frying-pan. Add meat and stir constantly. When well brown, ed, put in saucepan and rinse fryingpan with one cupful of boiling water, that none \>f the goodness may be lost. Add to meat the remaining fat, and the bone sawn in pieces. Cover, with boiling water and boil for five minutes; then let it simmer until the meat is tender, the time required being about ths/ee 'hours. Add two-thirds cupjful each of turnip and carrot cut in Jin. cubes; half an onion cut in thin slices, with salt to taste, the last hour, of (Rooking. Parboil four cupfuls of potatoes, cut in one-fourth inch slices, in salted water, to cover, five minutes; drain, and add to stew 15 minutes before serving time. Remove the bones and pieces of fat, and then skim. Thicken with one-fourth cupful of flouTi diluted with enough cold water to pour easily. Turn into a deep hot dish and surround with dumplings.