COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 815, 19 October 1905, Page 25

COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

(By “ Cuisinieb,” in “L.V. Gazette.”)

APPLES AND PLUMS

Chemically, the apple is composed of vegetable fibre, albumen, sugar, gum, chlorophyl, mallic acid, lime and water. Furthermore, the chemists say that the apple contains a larger percentage of phosphorus than any other fruit or vegetable. The phosphorus is admirably adapted for renewing the essential nervous matter, lecithin, of the brain and spinal cord. It is, perhaps, for the same reason, roughly understood, that the old •Scandinavian traditions represent the apple as the food of the gods, who, when they felt themselves to be growing feeble and infirm, resorted to this fruit to renew their powers of mind and body. The acids of the apple are of signal use to men of sedentary habits, whose livers are sluggish in action; these acids serving to eliminate from the body noxious matters which, if retained, would make the brain heavy and dull, or bring about jaundice or skin eruptions, and other allied troubles. Some such an experience must have led to our custom of taking apple sauce with roast pork, rich goose, and like dishes. The mallic acid of ripe apples, either raw or cooked, will neutralise any excess of chalky matter engendered by eating too much meat. Tt is also a fact that such fresh fruits as the apple, the pear, and the plum, when taken ripe and without sugar, diminish acidity in the stomach rather than provoke it. Their vegetable juices are converted into alkaline carbonates, which tend to counteract acidity. The plum is an agreeable and refreshing fruit, which may be cooked in a great number of ways. There are many variety of plums, the most esteemed being Magnum Bonum, Victoria, Orleans, greengage, and damson.

I will now give a few well-tested recipes of fruit dishes. Apple Charlotte.—This is a favourite dish, and is one of the most enticing methods in which apples can be sent to table. Pare, core, and slice three pounds of good cooking apples, and stew them gently to a pulp, with a little sugar, and the thin rind of two lemons chopped small. Butter a mould well, line it bottom and sides with thin slices of stale bread dipped in melted butter, and fill with the apple. Let the pieces of bread overlap each other, so that the pulp may not escape. Lay a thin slice of bread, the shape of the mould, over the top; cover it with a plate, put a weight on it, and bake it for an hour in a quick oven. Turn it out, and serve hot with sifted sugar.

Apple Dumplings.—Take some apples of equal size, and peel them. Cut them in quarters and.take the cbres out, then put them together again. Prepare some ilaky or short paste, and roll out two rounds for each apple. Cover each apple with these, the two rounds just overlapping in the middle. If cut with a crimper they will look prettier. The pioper way to. do it is to put the apple on one round, moisten the edges, and press closely. Then put the other round over and press again. Bake at a moderate heat, sift sugar over before serving) and send sugar to table. A little spice, or a clove, and a teaspoonful of brown sugar may be baked with each dumpling, but I do not think that any spice improves the flavour of a good apple. Boiled apple dumplings are prepared in the same way as the above, .but a suet paste should be used. Tie each dumpling in a little cloth, and boil for an hour or more, according to the thickness of the paste and the size of the apples.

Apple Fool.—Take two pounds of apples, pared and cored. Put them into a saucepan with a cupful of water, one or two cloves, and sugar to taste. Let them simmer till quite soft, and beat them with a wooden spoon. Mix with them, gradually, a pint of new milk, boiled and allowed to become cold, sweetened and flavoured.

Apple Pie.—Make a good light crust, wet the edge of a pie-dish, and lay a, thin strip all round. Pare, core, and slice a sufficient number or apples, and lay them in the dish with a little sugar, and any flavour that may be liked, such as powdered ginger, a few cloves, grated lemon rind with the juice of the lemon, a little ground cinnamon, etc. Lay a crust over the top, and ornament with pastry cut into leaves. If the apples are dry, the parings and cores may be boiled with a little sugar and flavouring, and the strained juice added to the fruit. Bake the pie in a quick oven for three-quarters of an hour. It may be served either hot or cold, and with or without custard or cream.

Apple Custard Pudding.—Take a dozen finely flavoured apples, peel and core them. Boil them with the rind of two lemons, half a pound of sugar, and a cupful of water, until they will pass through a sieve. Let them get cold, then add to them a little butter, and the whites of four eggs, well whisked. Beat

all together until the mixture is : mouth and firm. Turn into a well-buttered dish, and bake in a quick oven for about half an hour. Sift a little sugar over, and serve either hot or cold.

Swiss Apple Bidding.—Butt.r a deep pie-dish. Fill it with alternate layers of apple slices, sweetened, and flavoured, and rusks which have been soaked in milk and beaten with a fork. Let the top and bottom layers be of rusks. Pour melted butter over the whole, and bake until nicely browned, which will take about forty minutes. Serve with sifted sugar.

Stewed Apples.—Apples are very nice simply pared, cored, sliced, and gently stewed with a little white wine, sugar and flavouring. They are prepared in fifteen to twenty minutes, and, served with custard, are a pleasant substitute

icr apple pie. They may be mixed witj plums or other fruit. 1 must hold over my plum recipes tint next week.