Useful Hints on Invalid Diet

Ladies' Mirror, Volume V, Issue 6, 1 December 1926, Page 87

Useful Hints on Invalid Diet

boils at 212° F. No cooking is done at less than 180° F. (simmering point). Fat for frying should be 360° F. When hot enough a faint blue fume arises from it and a piece of bread dropped into it becomes a golden-brown colour. If it is not hot enough the food will he greasy: if it is too hot the food will burn. After frying, the food should always be drained on crumpled paper and served on a paper d’oyley. This absorbs the surplus fat. Starchy foods (flour, cornflour, etc.), when cooked by boiling, should be boiled for at least five minutes in order to burst the starch grains. Whole grains (rice, tapioca, sago, etc.), should be boiled for at ,least 20 minutes. Foods containing albumen (meat, fish, white of egg) should be cooked gently and slowly (180°-200° F.) to prevent the albumen hardening and becoming indigestible. A beaten-up egg which is to be used for making custard, or for thickening a sauce or soup, must not be allowed to boil or it will break and curdle. Always strain it after beating it and before adding it to the other liquid. To prevent milk boiling over, grease the top of the saucepan. A dean marble in the saucepan rt Ms about and prevents the saucepan burning. Never add soda to water in which green vegetables are boiled—it destroys the vitamins. To preserve the colour, boil without a lid, and add one lump of sugar to the water. Put a small piece of charcoal into the water in which green vegetables are boiledit will remove the smell. If odd bits of celery are dried in the over thev will keep indefinitely, and can be used for flavouring soups. Parselev will keep fresh for a week or 10 davs if stored in a wide screw-topped jar. _To keep cut lemons, put the cut side down on a plate and cover with a tumbler. A jelly will turn out more easily if the mould is dioped into boilingwater for a few seconds first. Buttermilk is verv easily digested and contains mineral salts which enrich the blood. Grapes and raisins contain iron, and are therefore particularly good for anaemic people. Almonds are specially rich in fat and contain no susrar. For this reason they are often given to diahetir natients. Mutton is more easily digested than beef. but owing to very short fibres eh token is more easily digested than either beef or mutton. The reason white fish is more easily digested than oily fish is because in the former the oil is stored in one part of the body only (ex. cod’s liver), where as in the latter it is distributed over the whole of die body.

Tea Scones Sieve together ’.lb, of wholemeal flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of bakingpowder and lof salt. Rub in 2oz. or 3oz. of butter, add 2oz. of white sugar, and mix to a light dough with about three-quarters of a gill of fresh or sour milk. Knead lightly on a floured board and cut in squares. Afternoon Tea Calces Quarter lb. of butter. ]lb. of

sugar, 2 eggs. Mb. of wheaten flour. ■llb. of arrowroot. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add eggs well beaten, then the flour, arrowroot one teaspoon of baking powder sifted together. Bake in a quick oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Sultanas, currants, car r a way seeds, or lemon-peel can be added for variety. Use patty pans. Cinnamon Cal?e Take 1 egg. 3 tablespoons butter, lib S.R. flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 pint

of milk, cinnamon to taste (about half a teaspoon). Mix dry ingredients, rub in the butter, beat egg and add milk. Mix all into a soft dough. Roll till smooth and about vin. thick. Place in a shallow pan and cover the top with a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and melted butter or cream. Bake them in a quick oven. Or the cake may' be rolled ]in. thick. Put almonds, apples or peaches, etc., between two layers. May be served hot or cold with cream, if desired.