ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 30, 25 July 1891, Page 206

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

‘Selina.’—l have a recipe for what is called the ‘best lemon pie in the world.’ Grate rind and juice of one lemon on as much sugar as the juice will moisten, four eggs (reserve two whites for frosting) ; bake crust and cook juice, sugar and eggs in an oatmeal boiler ; when it is firm, like custard, put in baked crust, put on the whipped whites and sugar ; return to oven to slightly brown. As some lemons are large, others small, no exact rule can be taken for sugar. I hope this will oe the one you want. Here is another though, called ‘delicious lemon pie’: Six eggs,separate and beat thoroughly ; one cupful of butter, two cupfuls sugar, beaten to cream, then mix yolks of eggs, juice and grated rind of two lemons ; lastly, add half the whites ; bake in moderately quick oven. With the other half of whites, beat one cup of powdered sugar, spread on top, and brown slightly. lam afraid, unless you have your own fowls, you will hardly spare the eggs just now. ‘ Chicken.’—To make the croquettes, or, as you call them, rissoles, so that they are creamy in the middle when cut, a a thick white sauce must be made, and the veal, rabbit, or chicken must be added to it. To make the sauce, fry two ounces of butter and the same quantity of flour together, without discolouring, in one saucepan ; into another put half a pint of milk, with a blade of mace and an eschalot; after the milk has come to the boil, let it simmer for five or six minutes, and then pour it by degrees on to the butter and flour which have been fried, and be sure that the sauce is smooth. Season it with pepper and salt and a very little nutmeg, and stir over the fire again until the sauce boils ; then add the raw yolks of three eggs, and let the sauce just warm and thicken, but on no account allow it to boil, or it will curdle and be spoiled. When the sauce has thickened, wring it through the tammy cloth, and then add the chicken or whatever you are going to make the croquettes of, a little ham and some mushrooms (tinned ones) should be added also, to give more flavour. These ingredients altogether should be about eight tablespoonfuls, and can be minced, cut in strips or in small rounds, it is simply a matter of taste. After adding the meat and well mixing it with the sauce, set the mixture aside until cold and stiff. Then divide in small quantities of about a dessertspoonful. Roll lightly in Hour, then entirely cover with whole beatenup egg ami freshly-made breadcrumbs, form into little cutlet shapes or in balls, using a palette knife to shape them with if you have one, and place them in a wire basket, and fry in clean boiling grease until a pretty golden colour, which will not take more than two or three minutes.

‘Stupidity.’—ls not your non-de-plume unnecessarily harsh ? To begin with, all scraps of fat and dripping should be kept, and if possible the mutton and beef dripping should be kept separately, and should always be clarified before being used ; this, as no doubt you know, is done by melting the grease, and while it is hot carefully- pour it into a basin of cold water, then when it is cold it should be taken from the basin and dried in a cloth, and it is ready for use. Mutton fat can be used with great success for frying purposes of all kinds, but the great secret is to be sure it is really hot before the fish or whatever is going to be fried is put into it. It is very easy to ascertain when the grease is really hot by putting a piece of bread into it, and when it is hot enough to use the bread will become brown almost at once,and there willalso be abluesmokerisingfrointhegrease. Inexperienced cooks are very tiresome about frying, and will not take care to see that the grease is really hot before they use it. Each time that the grease is used it should be strained through muslin to remove any piece of bread, etc., from if, and it can be used over and over again, the only thing is, care must be taken that it does not burn. Fish, which is going to be fried, should be rubbed with flour before being masked with egg and bread crumbs, and it should be kept in salt and water up to the time it is required for cooking. You can make really very good pastry and cakes with dripping, and for this purpose I would advise you to use the beet dripping. As you are not very skilled in pastry-making, for open tart and also for fruit tarts I should advise you to make short paste, as it is so easy to make, and is very good to eat also. Take a pound of Hour, eight ounces of dripping, and rub the dripping into the Hour until quite smooth, then add two ounces of castor sugar, and when eggs are cheap, the yolks of two eggs will improve the pastry very much ; then mix into a stiff' paste with cold water, roll out, and use. The appearance of the paste is very much improved by brushing it over with a little cold water, and then sprinkling it with a little lump sugar which has been crushed. This paste should be cooked

in a fairly hot oven, but it must not be allowed to become brown. Another kind of pastry, which I call rough puffpastry, can be made thus : Take eight ounces of Hour and six ounces of lard and butter or dripping, and cut the grease up in the Hour in small pieces ; add a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt and a little lemon juice, and enough cold water, which must be added by degrees until the Hour, etc., is in a stiff dough. Then well Hour a board, and turn the paste on to it and roll the paste out, then fold it into three and turn it round so that the rough edges are next to you, and roll and fold the paste again ; this must be continued twice more, then the paste will be ready to use. When you make this paste you must keep all the edges as neat as possible all the time, and when rolling do so as evenly as you can, and don’t use more Hotfr than is absolutely necessary to Hour the board and rolling-pin.