HOME COOKERY

Waipa Post, Volume 51, Issue 3694, 6 December 1935, Page 3

HOME COOKERY

BATTER FOR FISH. 2 ozs flour, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons milk if necessary, 1 tablespoon oil (olive or a good salad oil, which is now on the, market, made from maize). Add a pinch, of salt to the flour, then sift. Make a well in the centre and add the yolk. Blend in, then add the oil. Finally stir in .the milk, which has been warmed ever so slightly. A pinch of cayenne improves the batter. The saucepan of fat is heated until "the faint blue fume arises. Dip each fillet in the. batter. Lift out with two skewers or forks. Do not allow them to pierce the fish. Drain for a second or so, to allow the surplus batter to drip off, then lower the fish gently in.to the fat. Allow the fish to cook un- . til the batter is crisp and golden brown. VIENNA STEAKS. . Take 1 lb beefsteak, 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, 4 teaspoon chopped thyme, 1 egg, salt, peper and cayenne . and a little grated nutmeg >if liked. Mince the meat and mix into it the parsley, herbs, egg and seasoning. Flour the board well and form the mixture into little round cakes, flour them well on the outside, and fry in about 2 ozs of very hot dripping in a frying pan for about 8 minutes. Dish, in a strip of mashed potato and pour brown sauce or gravy round the dish. , *. . POTATO SCONES. Cream' half a cup of sugar and one •tablespoon butter, add one egg (beaten), then one cup mashed potatoes. Stir in 24 cups self raising flour and pinch of salt. Turn out on a floured board and knead slightly. Roll out 5 inch in thickness and cut into scones. Glaze with milk or egg and bake in a hot oven. PINEAPPLE AND TOMATO SALAD. For this novel and delicious salad half a pineapple is required, with four or six firm tomatoes. Remove the centre core of the pineapple, and cut it into slices. Wipe the tomatoes and slice them neatly with a sharp knife, Line. a. salad bowl with crisp lettuce leaves, and arrange slices of tomato and pineapple alternately on them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper add a pinch of castor sugar. Pour over .alia little pineapple juice, and just before serving put a spoonful of mayonnaise dressing on each layer. . TINNED PINEAPPLE BUTTER. Take 1 tin of pineapple and a cup of pineapple juice, 2 lbs sugar, ■] lb butter and 4 eggs. Mince the pineapple, put in saucepan with the sugar, juice, butter and beaten eggs. Stir over fire until it thickens. This makes 34 to 4 lbs and is nice for tart fillings or for sandwiches. CHRISTMAS CAKE.

Here is an excellent Christmas cake recipe from the November Australian Journal: li lbs flour, 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder, \ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon mixed . spice, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 - lb sugar, ,10 eggs, 1 lb butter, 1 lb currants, 1 lb sultanas, 1 lb seeded rais- . ins; l lb dates, l lb figs, i lb crystallised cherries, :} lb almonds, 1 gill f, brandy;: £ lb mixed peel.

&;■ .First of all prepare the cake tin. A’ Siiice a rich fruit cake takes several ' fibers to cook it is necessary to line the tin (sides and bottom) with sev- *> era! layers "of thick brown paper,

greasihg the layer nearest the cake; Prepare the fruit the day before. Clean the currants and sultanas and pick over ttuv’fotisins. Stone the dates. Cut figs and dates into small pieces. Blanch the almonds. Wash the sugar from the 4 cherries and the peel. Halve the cherries and shred the peel. Gath-

er: all the ingredients before com-

mencing. Sift the flour, salt, baking . powder and spices. Break the eggs

into a jug, from which they are ' easier to pour. All the prepared fruit should be-either 1 on a piece of kitchen paper or in a bowl. Cream the butter .and add the sugar gradually, beating nhtil the mixture is light and foamy. Add the eggs one at a time, and

' ;-beat r each one, in well; this is most ot,flakes of egg white will "Show’ in the mixture. ' Should this /occur mix in 1. tablespoon flour, then continue. Add the flour and fruit al- • -ternately, 1 tablespoon of each at a time; mix well until the given quantities are used up. Lastly, add the brandy, which improves the flavour of the fruit. ' These quantities make 1 large cake about 12 inches in diameter and 4 inches high or 2, smaller ones. Sometimes one is puzzled as to whether the consistency of the cake batter is right. A good way to judge this is to take a tablespoon of the mixture, hold it above the basin and allow it to drop. If it "pours” it is too soft for a rich fruit cake. If it requires a vigorous jerk to dislodge it from the spoon it is too dry. To give

that dark rich look to fruit cake

sometimes a few drops of caramel are added.

To make the caramel: Put 4 lb sugar and 1 teaspoon water in an old iron saucepan. When a blue smoke arises from the sugar, add 1 gill water. Allow this to boil up again, then leave it to cool. The unused caramel can be bottled for a future occasion. Another way in which to give a darker colouring to a rich cake or pudding is to warm 1 tablespoon of treacle and sift into it 1 teaspoon of bi-carbonate of soda. As it “fizzes” stir it into the cake or pudding, which has already been mixed. Cooking the cake: Of equal importance to the mixing of the cake is the way in which it is cooked. For those who use a gas or electric oven, fitted with a temperature regulator, the firing of a cake is a simple matter. When the oven is heated by wood or coal, learning how to bake is an irksome process, but it may be simpli-_ fled by use of a mercury oven thermometer.

No matter how the heat is regulated few, if any, wood fire ovens have an absolutely uniform temperature throughout. Usually there is a difference in temperature between the centre and extreme edges. Since the centre offers the largest area of uniform heat, it is there that the cake should be placed for baking. Briquettes are a great asset in maintaining a fairly regular heat. Once the cake has risen well and has started to brown, add a piece of wood about every 10 minutes nr i hour. Cook for 34 to 44 hours; for the last hour, in a one fire stove, the fire should consist of a drying embers, giving just sufficient heat to dry the cake. Should a gas or electric oven with a regulator be used set the pointer at 320 deg. F., reducing it to 260 deg. F., when the cake begins to brown. Allow 4 to 5 hours. When fired in an electric stove the mixture should be just a little firmer than that which would be baked in a wood fire stove.