| OCR Text |
Show d Difficult Problems of CooEing Solved JM ' What To Do When You Can't How the Housekeeper Can Extricate Herself from Unexpected 3! Pitfalls in the Kitchen hII By LILY HAXWORTH "WALLACE il H0"71 fton docs tho 'ouns or ,ncx B fi PQrIcnccd housekeeper almost Ht- jffll J B " crally wring her hands In despair 2l when she finds that ono of tho fi. imporUnt Ingredients of a partially jtg completed dish la not in tho house, or lt r when, at the last moment, somothlng MX ' goes wrong that threatens to ruin a MJ, ; carefully-planned repast? Tho moral, Z&L ft courac, Is "don't begin to make any- PlJU J thing until you are certain that you y?T f have everything you require In making p(m it," but morals arc 'an unsatisfactory 3vtr tn'nK at best, and, In time of cmer- JjbI gency, when your guests arc waiting flBJ" and the dinner promises to bo spoiled, Hi it Is far better to have a fund of knowledge knowl-edge and commonsense that will enable you to meet thc contingency and triumph tri-umph over tho apparently Insurmountable Insurmount-able obstacle. Somo of the bC3t dishes over invented owe their discovery to accident, and such an emcrgenoy lis rearty the opportunity to display your culinary skill. Undoubtedly it Is "trying," when a particularly nice dlah of whipped cream is wanted, to find that, despite one's best efforts, the croum will not whip, but persists In sending off splashes of liquid over table, apron and wall. Don't waste any more time trying to make It do uhat It Won't, but add tho whlto of I an egg to the contents of the bowl; let both egg and cream become thor- ' oughly chilled, then try again, and tho result will Justify the use of tho egg. And, by thc way, don't forget to cover each egg yolk with cold water, that It m.iy not dry before some such use Is found for It Perhaps thc trouble is that tho guest one delights to honor has come Just when then is no cream that can bo served In tho coffee. Vcll. neer mind. JuBt beat an egg lightly, divide It among the cups, and pour tho hot coffee cof-fee over It Tho result will be a Tlch, delicious beverage which may bring the question, "Whoro do you buy such delicious coffee, my dear7" Havo you ever tried to make croquettes cro-quettes In warm weather, when, do what you will, tho mlxturo would not become firm enough to handle easily In molding" Take a teaspoonful of granulated gelatlno, soak It a moment in cold water, then dissolve It over boiling water, adding as little liquid as possible to tho gelatine, stir Into tho croquctto mlxturo and set aside until the gelatine has had time to solidify The cioquettes can then be shaped without any furthor trouble Apart than this ease In shaping, they are likely like-ly to be more palatable than if mado stiff enough to be handled In tho first place, becaubo tho heat of frying will dissolve tho gelatlno again and thc Inside In-side of thc croquettes will be woft and creamy, as good croquettes should be Just enough cold chlckon to make a nice llttlo chicken salad for supper, but no celeryl Did you ever try to substitute n little Andy-shaved, Arm cabbage? Many people will never And out tho difference if thc cook has had the forethought to season tho salad I with celery salt instead of plain salt. and those who discover tho substitute aro not likely to object, because tho salad will tasto Just as good, and that is tho main thing, anywaj . Pork chops and milk gray havo been promised for supper, and there Is no milk. As tho old proorb ttaohes us, it never was any uso crying over split milk, so make the gray with water, add that yolk of egg left over from some other dish, and sprlnklo a little minced parsley over the chops after dishing them. Tho paisley looks pretty and It adds a flavor of Its own to tht gravy, so your success may bo not unlikely un-likely greater than If you had cairlcd out your original plans But, suppose ThanksgU lng or Christmas Christ-mas comes and, perhaps, thc flrBt In tho new home with all tho family there, Just a wee bit critical as to thc accomplishments ac-complishments of John's new wife, and the plum pudding has broken in thieo places whllo being turned out of the mold! Tho white of an egg again bless thoso dear hens what should wo do without them? Beat tho white stiffly, stiff-ly, add a tablcspoonful of sugar, spread over thc pudding and place tho whole In tho oven Just long enojgh to acquire a golden tinge. Cut up two or three crystallized cherries, if you have them, and uso them as a decoration, and the last state of the pudding will Indeed be better than If the accident had novor occurred Perhaps you ?ro making Jelly, and try as you may, It will not "Jell." Try tho experiment of adding the Juice of a lemon or a quarter of a cupful of whlto vinegar, and tho chances aro that thc dim ulty will bo Immediately overcome. over-come. Frequently mayonnaise dressing will persist In curdling, dcpltc nil tho cook's care. The trouble may bo duo to one of threo causes. FIrsr, thc oil may havo ' B been added too rapidly; second, the mayonnaise may havo been mudo In too warm a place; third, tho s,alt may have been added to the yolk of egg instead in-stead of being reserved until the drcs-lag drcs-lag was fully mixed. No matter what tho causes may have been, however, theio is one sure remedy. rem-edy. Tako a fresh yolk of an egg, put in a clean, cold, dry bowl, and add the curdled dressing, a -very llttlo at a time, Just as tho oil should havo been added in tho first place. After the curdled dressing has all been added, proceed as usual, with moro oil. Occasslonally tho housewife. In her haste, prepares boiled custard in an ordinary or-dinary saucepan, rather than allow the extra timo required for scalding tho milk In a doublo boiler. If pre-paicd pre-paicd In this manner there Is always danger tho custard v 111 curdle, owing to tho lntcnso hcut to which It Is subjected. sub-jected. If It should do this, remove It from tho fire instantly, turn It into a cold bowl and beat It vigorously with an egg-beater This frequently mukes the custard "come" again, but If It fails to icspond to this treatment, add a level lev-el tablcspoonful of cornstarch, moistened moist-ened with cold water, to tho curdled mixture, turn Jt Into a double boiler and return to the fire long enough to cook the cornstarch. Strain after cooking. cook-ing. It will doubtloss sometlmos happen that, despite tho greatest care, bread dough will rcfuso to llse. but icmalns In a solid mass apparently devoid of life and lightness. It seems a hopeless task to try to mako anything of it. but If a fresh yeast cako Is moistened and ndded to the solid mass of dough, a llttlo moie flour sifted In, If necessary to absorb thc extra molsturo, and the whole loft in. a warm place, carefully piotecled from draughts, It Is almost a certainty that the extra yeast "will work and in an hour or two the dough will bo light und fluffy and ready to mold Into loaves. In bread making it is woll to remember remem-ber that yeast which has been overheated over-heated Is dead yeast, whllo yeast which has been chilled is only sleeping. It Is possible to coax tho sleeping yeast Into doing its duty by tho Judicious application appli-cation of steady warmth not heat but If the yeast cake has been killed by the application of too great heat, nothing will remedy tho trouble, unless it be tho addition of more yeast, which will act on thc solid mass of dough. Again It sometimes happena that a pie Is wanted, but there Is neither lard nor butter for the crust In such a caso tako drippings, which should always al-ways bo strained Into a Jar after roaBt ing meats, and reserved for frying, of for any other cooking where dripping can be mado to tako tho placo of thc more oxpensivo butter and lard. Placo the grcaso In a bowl and boat to a light crcarn with a spoon or fork, then add a squeeze of lemon Julco and half a teaspoonful of baking powder to thc creamy mass, and uso Just as any other "fat. Especially when the pic is to bo eaten hot. tho drlpplng3 will ferve the purposo so well that the cook will wonder why she has not always used them for the plainer plea. When Uie weather Is hot and thc lco melts rap'dly it Is often a question of a good deal of Importance to keep uncooked un-cooked meat fresh and free from taint-It taint-It Is not always possible 'to provide meat for ono day only; neither is It desirable de-sirable to cook it all at once, necessitating necessi-tating serving It in the same form several sev-eral times. In such a case, vcoVcr tlio uncooked meat with either buttermilk or plain sour milk. Immorao It entirely and putjjt In as cool a place ab pos- slblc. Change tho milk at thc end of H twenty-four hours If the meat is not M cooked by this time and repeat tho IH process. The only change which will H bo noticed will be that meat treated in M this way will bo more tender than when M cooked without having been subjected M to tho milk bath. H When croquettes are to be cooked, M and at the last moment It Is discovered H thut thoie Is not sufficient fat in which H to fry them, It Is not wise to iuii tho M risk of having them "soak grease" by H being cooked in a shallow pan with a M little fat In it. Instead, prepare tho H croquettes a3 usual, but, when they jH aro egged nnd bread crumbed, Instead IH of frying, bake them In a hot oven, and M they will bo moro digestible and Just H as clollelous as If fhey wcro cooked by B the ordinary method. H Instead of tho old, tiresome way of grating chocolate, tako tho amount re- jH quired, In a china or granlto dish, and BVJ set the dish in a pan of hot water, or J In the top of tho teakettle, allowing tho BBS water to boll until tho chocolato is melted, which will be In a few mln- ftBJ utes, always rcmembeiing that two squares of the unsweetened chocolato KVJ equal one cupful of grated. H In making fruit cako or cookies, al- ! ways get the raisins and currants roady at least a half hour before they HBBJ are needed. Then cover them, -with water and placo on tho back of tho HHVJ stove to simmer until tho water has IH cooked away When the flour Is sifted jHH over thc rent of tho cako mixture. Just H beforo stirring it In turn tho fruit into IH tho flour nnd stir both In togcthor. " IjM that the raisins and currants, bclng VM covered with tho flour, will not gQ to IM tho bottom. By doing this, It Is not jH nocc9sary to let the cake stand long JH baton- using; indeed It can be cut the H day It Is made. !?, H lil |
