ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 5, 30 January 1892, Page 115

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

‘Mignonette.’—The following recipe for plain buns is a very easy one, and will, I hope, be what you want : Take one and a-half pounds of flour, and rub into it until smooth one and a-half ounces of butter, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Mix one ounce of German yeast with rather more than half a pint of tepid milk until it is in a cream. Make a well in the centre of the flour, and pour the yeast mixture into it, and knead into a light dough. Then cover the pan with a cloth, and place in a warm place to rise for an hour and a-half. Then turn the dough out of the basin on to a floured board or slab, and mix with it a quarter of a pound of currants which have been well washed and dried. Divide the dough into small quantities, and with your fingers work it into the form of buns, and place them on a greased baking tin, and put the tin in a warm place for the buns to rise for a quarter of an hour ; then brush them lightly over with a little warm milk, and bake them in a quick oven for about fifteen to twenty minutes. ‘Clara.’ —Here is a simple and inexpensive entree which I have much pleasure in giving you.—Make a forcemeat of six ounces of white meat, rabbit, chicken, or veal ; pound it until quite smooth, and then rub through a sieve. Add to this one and a half ounces of beef suet finely chopped, one ounce of bread crumbs, two yolks and one white of egg, and season the whole well with pepper and salt. Then take six sheep’s feet, and after they are thoroughly cleansed put them in a pan, cover with cold water, add a little salt, and bring the water quickly to the boil. Then drain and rinse the feet, and place them in a stewpan, cover with cold water, add some fresh vegetables, a bunch of herbs, some peppercorns, and a little salt, and let the whole simmer gently for about three hours until the feet are quite tender. Then take them out of the pan, split them open when they have cooled a little, and remove the bones ; season the inside with finely chopped parsley, eschalot, and thyme, mignonette pepper, and salt, and spread a layer of forcemeat over the seasoning. Close the feet and tie them with string, rub them over with a little butter, and fry them a nice brown. Lastly, sprinkle some flour over them, and let them simmer gently for about half an hour. Then serve split open and arranged round a heap of some nice vegetable, such as spinach or green peas in the centre of the dish. ‘ Maggie.’—The elder-flower ointment was the thing our grandmothers relied upon to keep their skins free from sunburn and chap. Elder-flower water was also regarded as a great specific in cooling and freshening the skin. Elder flower ointment is indeed infinitely preferable to modern creams and it is easily made. Go into the meadows and low places around streams, gather a basketful of the broad panicles of flowers that in summer make the elder bushes one mass of white blossom, strip the flowers from the stalks, and put a pound of them in a porcelain-lined vessel with a pound of nice sweet hog’s lard. Simmer them until they become crisp, then strain while still liquid into little earthenware jars or cups. Anoint the face and neck with this both before and after exposure to the sun or to the hot dry winds that work such havoc with the complexion.