Read Ebook: Twenty-Five Cent Dinners for Families of Six by Corson Juliet

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Composition and nutritive value of Meat, Blood, and Bones--How to choose Meat--Beef--Mutton--Lamb--Veal--Pork--Poultry--Game Birds--Fish--Vegetables--Fruit 10

Effect of different methods of cooking--Roasting or Baking--Broiling--Boiling and Stewing--Frying--Cooking Salt and Smoked Meats--Seasoning Food--Dried Celery and Parsley--Dried Herbs--Table Sauce--Celery Salt--Spice Salt--Lemon, Orange, and Vanilla Tinctures--Table for Measuring Food 16

Tea--Coffee--Cocoa and Chocolate--Beer--Barley Water--Milk--Lime Water 20

Comparative price and nutritive value of different kinds of bread--Homemade Bread--Rice Bread--Potato Bread--Pulled Bread--Bread made with Baking Powder--Breakfast Rolls--Tea Biscuit--Nutritive value of Macaroni--Macaroni Farmers' Style--Macaroni with Broth--Macaroni with White Sauce--Macaroni with Cheese--Macaroni Milanaise Style--Macaroni with Tomato Sauce--Tomato Sauce--Rice--Rice Panada--Boiled Rice--Rice Milanaise Style--Rice Japanese Style 24

Nutritive value of Soup--General directions for making Soup--Scotch Broth without Meat--Pea Soup--Thick Pea Soup--Bean Soup--Lentil Soup--Onion Soup--Spinach Soup--Francatelli's Vegetable Soup--Vegetable Porridge--Rice Milk--Fish Soup--Fish Chowder--Mutton Broth--Veal Broth--White Broth--Cream Soup--Beef Broth--Norfolk Dumplings--Meat Brewis 31

Value of Leguminous Vegetables for Hard Workers--Oatmeal and Peas--Peas-Pudding--Peas and Bacon--Baked Peas--Peas and Onions--Baked Beans--Stewed Beans--Fried Beans--Beans and Bacon--Boiled Lentils--Stewed Lentils--Fried Lentils--Indian Corn Meal--Polenta--Cheese Pudding--Hasty Pudding--Johnny Cake--Indian Cakes--Indian Bread--Boiled Indian Pudding--Baked Indian Pudding 38

Nutritive value of Fish--Pickled Fish--London Fried Fish--Fish and Potato Pie--Fish Pudding--Fish and Potato Pudding--Codfish Steaks--Red Herrings with Potatoes--Cheap Meats--Sheeps' Head Stew--Oxtail Stew--Beef Pie--Baked Heart--Stewed Kidneys and Potatoes--Pig's Kidneys--Kidney Pudding--Gammon Dumpling--Bacon and Apple Roly-poly--Mutton and Onions--Pork and Onions--Veal and Rice--Irish Stew--Sheep's Haslet--Baked Pig's Head 43

Comparative nutritive value of Puddings, Pies, and Cakes--Swiss Pudding--Cream Sauce--College Puddings--Cream Rice Pudding--Half-pay Pudding--Bread Pudding--Cup Custards--Fruit Dumpling--Apple Dumplings--Baked Apple Dumplings--Lemon Dumplings--Rice Croquettes--Fruit Tarts--Rice Cake--Rock Cakes--Caraway Cake--Soft Gingerbread--Sweet Biscuits 62

Directions for making cheap and enjoyable delicacies from Fruit--Apple Black Caps--Apple Snow--Apple Cakes--Cherry Cheese--Candied Cherries--Currant Salad--Iced Currants--Comp?te of Damsons--Stuffed Dates--Stewed Figs--Comp?te of Gooseberries--Gooseberry Cheese--Gooseberry Fool--Grape Jelly--Green Gage Comp?te--Pine Apple Julep--Lemon Snow--Melon Comp?te--Orange Salad--Orange and Apple Comp?te--Peach Salad--Cold Comp?te of Pears--Stewed Prunelles--Quince Cakes--Quince Snow--Iced Raspberries--Raspberry Salad--Comp?te of Strawberries--Strawberry Drops--Comp?te of Mixed Fruits--Fruit Juice 67

MARKETING.

The most perfect meats are taken from well-fed, full-grown animals, that have not been over-worked, under-fed, or hard-driven; the flesh is firm, tender, and well-flavored, and abounds in nutritious elements. On the other hand, the flesh of hard-worked or ill-fed creatures is tough, hard, and tasteless.

All animal flesh is composed of albumen, fibrin, and gelatin, in the proportion of about one fifth of its weight; the balance of its substance is made up of the juice, which consists of water, and those soluble salts and phosphates which are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of health. It is this juice which is extracted from beef in the process of making beef tea; and it is the lack of it in salted meats that makes them such an injurious diet when eaten for any length of time to the exclusion of other food.

The flesh of young animals is less nutritious, and less easily masticated than that of full grown animals, on account of its looser texture. Beef, which has firmer and larger fibres than mutton, is harder to digest on that account, but it contains an excess of strengthening elements that is not approached by any meat, save that of the leg of pork.

The tongues of various animals, the fibres of which are small and tender, are nutritious and digestible; the heart is nutritious because it is composed of solid flesh, but the density of its fibre interferes with its digestibility; the other internal organs are very nutritious, and very useful as food for vigorous persons on that account, and because they are cheap. The blood of animals abounds in nutritive elements; the possibility of its use as a general food has closely engaged the attention of European scientists; notably of the members of the University of Copenhagen, who recommend its use in the following forms, in which it is not only suitable for food, but also capable of preservation for an indefinite time. First, as sausages, puddings and cakes--being mixed with fat, meal, sugar, salt, and a few spices--to serve as a much cheaper substitute for meat, and intended especially for the use of the poor classes; and second, as blood-chocolate, more especially suitable to be used in hospitals, as well as otherwise in medical practice, in which latter form it has been recommended by Professor Panum, at a meeting of physicians at Copenhagen, and is now being employed in some of the hospitals of that city.

Bones consist largely of animal matter, and earthy substances which are invaluable in building up the frame of the body. In order to obtain all their goodness, we must crush them well before putting them into soups or stews.

Read this sentence about BOB-VEAL carefully, and be sure to remember it. It is the flesh of calves killed when two or three weeks old, or that of "deaconed calves," which are killed almost as soon as they are born, for the value of their skins. This practice cannot be too harshly condemned as a criminal waste of food; for a stock raiser, or farmer, who knows his business can feed his calves until they reach a healthy maturity, without seriously interfering with his supply of milk. The flesh of BOB-VEAL is a soft, flabby, sticky substance, of a ropy gelatinous nature; and, being the first flesh, unchanged by the health-giving action of air and food, it is devoid of the elements necessary to transform it into wholesome food. IT SHOULD NEVER BE EATEN.

Turkeys are good when white and plump, have full breasts and smooth legs, generally black, with soft loose spurs; hen turkeys are smaller, fatter, and plumper, but of inferior flavor; full grown turkeys are the best for boiling, as they do not tear in dressing; old turkeys have long hairs, and the flesh is purplish where it shows under the skin on the legs and back. About March they deteriorate in quality.

Young ducks and geese are plump, with light, semi-transparent fat, soft breast-bone, tender flesh, leg joints which will break by the weight of the bird, fresh colored and brittle beaks, and windpipes that break when pressed between the thumb and forefinger. They are best in fall and winter.

Young pigeons have light red flesh upon the breast, and full, fresh colored legs; when the legs are thin, and the breast is very dark, the birds are old.

Although fish contains more water and less solid nutriment than meat, it is generally useful from its abundance and cheapness; and certain kinds which are called red-blooded, are nearly as nourishing as meat: oily fish satisfies hunger as completely as meat; herring, especially, makes the people who eat it largely strong and sinewy. Sea fish are more nourishing than fresh water varieties.

Sea fish, and those which live in both salt and fresh water, such as salmon, shad, and smelts, are the finest flavored; the muddy taste of some fresh water species can be overcome by soaking them in cold water and salt for two hours or more before cooking; all kinds are best just before spawning, the flesh becoming poor and watery after that period. Fresh fish have firm flesh, rigid fins, bright, clear eyes, and ruddy gills. Oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels, should be eaten very fresh, as they soon lose their flavor after being removed from the shell.

Lobsters and crabs should be chosen by their brightness of color, lively movement, and great weight in proportion to their size; you ought always to buy them alive, and put them head first into a large pot of boiling water, containing a handful of salt; they will cook in about twenty minutes.

All juicy vegetables should be very fresh and crisp; and if a little wilted, can be restored by being sprinkled with water and laid in a cool, dark place; all roots and tubers should be pared and laid in cold water an hour or more before using. Green vegetables are best just before they flower; and roots and tubers are prime from their ripening until they begin to sprout.

When it is possible buy your vegetables by the quantity, from the farmers, or market-gardeners, or at the market; you will save more than half. Potatoes now cost at Washington market from one to one dollar and a half a barrel; there are three bushels in a barrel, and thirty-two quarts in a bushel; now at the groceries you pay fifteen cents a half a peck, or four cents a quart; that makes your barrel of potatoes cost you three dollars and sixty-three cents, if you buy half a peck at a time; or three dollars and eighty-four cents if you buy by the quart. So you see if you could buy a barrel at once you could save more than one half of your money. It is worth while to try and save enough to do it.

All fruit should be bought ripe and sound; it is poor economy to buy imperfect or decayed kinds, as they are neither satisfactory nor healthy eating; while the mature, full flavored sorts are invaluable as food.

Preserved and dried fruits are luxuries to be indulged in only at festivals or holidays. Nuts are full of nutritious oil, but are generally hard to digest; they do not come under the head of the necessaries of life.

HOW TO COOK, SEASON, AND MEASURE.

Before beginning to give you receipts, I wish to tell you about the effect of cooking food in different ways. We all want it cooked so that we can eat it easily, and get the most strength from it, without wasting any part of it. I will tell you some very good reasons for making soup and stew out of your meat instead of cooking it in any other way.

The following table shows how much is wasted in the different ways of cooking we have just spoken of. Four pounds of beef waste in boiling or stewing, about one pound of substance, but you have it all in the broth if you have kept the pot covered tightly; in baking one pound and a quarter is almost entirely lost unless you have plenty of vegetables in the dripping pan to absorb and preserve it; in roasting before the fire you lose nearly one pound and a half. Do not think you save the waste in the shape of drippings; it is poor economy to buy fat at the price of meat merely for the pleasure of trying it out.

A very good way to cook meat and vegetables together is to put them in an earthen jar, cover it tightly, and cement the cover on with flour paste; then bake for about four hours.

If you are going to use a piece of meat cold do not cut it until it cools, and it will be more juicy. If the meat is salt let it cool in its own pot liquor, for the same reason.

BEVERAGES.

In my little book on "FIFTEEN CENT DINNERS," I decidedly advocate the substitution of milk or milk and water as a drink at meal times, for tea and coffee, on the score of economy; because milk is a food, while the two former drinks are chiefly stimulants. They are pleasant because they warm and exhilarate, but they are luxuries because they give no strength; therefore their use is extravagant when we are pinched for healthy food. It is true that when we drink them we do not feel as hungry as we do without them. The sensation of hunger is nature's sure sign that the body needs a new supply of food because the last has been exhausted; the change of the nourishing qualities of food into strength is always going on as long as any remains in the system; the use of tea, coffee, and alcohol, hinders this change, and consequently we are less hungry when we use them than when we do without them. Tea and coffee are certainly important aids to the cheerfulness and comfort of home; and when the first stage of economy, where every penny must be counted, has passed, we do not know of any pleasanter accessory to a meal than a cup of good tea or coffee.

"The Russian soldiers are said to live and fight almost wholly upon tea. The Cossacks often carry it about in the shape of bricks, or rather tiles, which, before hardening, are soaked in sheep's blood and boiled in milk, with the addition of flour, butter and salt, so as to constitute a kind of soup. The passion of the Russian for this beverage is simply astonishing. In the depth of winter he will empty twenty cups in succession, at nearly boiling point, until he perspires at every pore, and then, in a state of excitement rush out, roll in the snow, get up and go on to the next similar place of entertainment. So with the army. With every group or circle of tents travels the invariable tea kettle, suspended from a tripod; and it would be in vain to think of computing how many times each soldier's pannikin is filled upon a halt. It is his first idea. Frequently he carries it cold in a copper case as a solace upon the march."

Dr. Edward Smith sums up the physiological action of tea as follows:

"1--A sense of wakefulness.

"2--Clearness of mind, and activity of thought and imagination.

"3--Increased disposition to make muscular exertion.

"4--Reaction, with a sense of exhaustion in the morning following the preceding efforts, and in proportion to them."

Chocolate is the finely ground powder from the kernels, mixed to a stiff paste with sugar, and, sometimes, a little starch. It is very nutritious; when it is difficult to digest remove from its solution the oily cake which will collect upon the surface as it cools. It is so nutritious that a small cake of it, weighing about two ounces, will satisfy hunger; for that reason it is a good lunch for travellers.

Both cocoa and chocolate are very nutritious, and are free from the reactionary influences of tea and coffee. Let us count the cost of these beverages, and see which is the best for us.

One quart of weak tea can be made from three teaspoonfuls, or half an ounce, of tea, we must have for general use a gill of milk, and four teaspoonfuls or one ounce of sugar, ; thus if we use only the above quantities of milk and sugar, one quart of tea costs three cents; if we increase them it will cost more.

One quart of weak coffee can be made from one ounce, or two tablespoonfuls of coffee, two tablespoonfuls or ounces of sugar, and a half a pint of milk, the total cost six cents.

One quart of cocoa can be made from two ounces, or eight tablespoonfuls of cocoa shells, with half a pint of milk, and an ounce of sugar, we have a quart of good, nutritious drink at six cents. It is all the better if the shells are boiled gently two or three hours. Of course the nibs, or crushed cocoa, and chocolate, will both produce a correspondingly nutritious beverage.

Try to afford at least a quart of good milk every day. It can be bought in New York now for seven or eight cents a quart; and if the children have plenty of seconds bread, or oatmeal porridge, and a cup of milk, at meal times, they will be strong and rosy.

Skim-milk, butter-milk, and whey, are all excellent foods, and far better drinks than beer or whiskey. Make a plain pudding now and then, with skim-milk, adding an ounce of suet to restore its richness. If the milk has turned a little sour add lime water to it, in the proportion of four tablespoonfuls of the lime water to a quart. If the lime water is added before the milk begins to turn it will help keep it fresh. The following is a good receipt for making lime water:

Children should never have tea, coffee, or liquor; all these drinks hurt them; give them milk, or milk and water; or pure water, if you cannot afford milk. But you had better scant their clothes than their supply of milk. If you have to limit the supply of food, deny them something else, but give them plenty of bread and scalded milk, and you can keep them healthy.

BREAD, MACARONI, AND RICE.

Homemade bread is healthier, satisfies hunger better, and is cheaper than bakers' bread. Make bread yourself if you possibly can. Use "middlings" if you can possibly get them; they contain the best elements of wheat. "Household Flour" has similar qualities, but is sometimes made from inferior kinds of wheat. Both are darker and cheaper than fine white flour; and bread made from them takes longer to "rise" than that made from fine flour. Bakers' bread is generally made from poor flour mixed with a little of the better sort; or with a little alum, which added to the wheat grown in wet seasons, keeps the bread from being pasty and poor in taste.

The prices of bakers' bread upon the streets in the eastern and western parts of the city are as follows: ordinary white bread, five cent loaf weighs three quarters of a pound: six cent loaf weighs fourteen ounces: eight cent loaf weighs one pound and ten ounces; black bread, two eight cent loaves weigh, respectively, one pound eight, and one pound ten ounces; fine French bread, eight cent loaf weighs three quarters of a pound; in the French quarter a six cent loaf weighs one pound. We advise the purchase of new flour in preference to old, because, unless flour is cooled and dried before it is packed, the combined action of heat and dampness destroys its gluten, and turns it sour; gluten is the nutritive part of the flour, that which makes it absorb water, and yield more bread. If you do not have a good oven, your bread can be baked at the baker's for about a cent a loaf. When bread is made too light it is tasteless, and lacks nourishment, because the decay caused in the elements of the flour used to make it by the great quantity of yeast employed, destroys the most nutritious parts of it. A pint of milk in a batch of four loaves of bread gives you a pound more bread of better quality, and helps to make it moist. Scalded skim milk will go as far as fresh whole milk, and you can use the cream for some other dish. One pound of pea-meal, or ground split-peas, added to every fourteen pounds of flour used for bread increases its nourishment, and helps to satisfy hunger.

Keep your bread in a covered earthen jar; when it is too stale to eat, or make into bread broth, dry it in a cool oven, or over the top of the fire, roll it with a rolling-pin, sift it through a sieve, and save the finest crumbs to roll fish or chops in for frying, and the largest for puddings. If a whole loaf is stale put it into a tight tin can, and either steam it, or put it into a moderately warm oven for half an hour; it will then be as good as fresh bread to the taste, and a great deal more healthy.

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