Wednesday, January 30, 2013

OATMEAL. Recipe

OATMEAL. Recipe.

Put one cup of rolled oatmeal and one teaspoonful of salt in the top of a double boiler. Add two and one-half cups of boiling water, stir with a fork, and cook two or three minutes on top of the stove. Then set into the lower part of the double boiler containing boiling water and let it cook, without stirring, forty-five minutes or longer. Oatmeal.

I am now going to prepare that simple and very common dish, oatmeal, but I think, like the common dish of potatoes, it is very often spoiled in the cooking. The two difficulties in making a palatable dish of oatmeal are that it is too frequently stirred, and that it is not cooked long enough. The time is not objectionable, in such a thing as that, for the reason that while the oatmeal is cooking you can be doing ever so many things; I suppose one reason why the old-fashioned oatmeal has gone out of use is because it took such a long time to cook it—twentyfour hours not being any too long. This steam-cooked oatmeal will cook very nicely in three-quarters of an hour, and most any housekeeper gives an hour to the preparation of a breakfast.

By all means have a double boiler or a tea-kettle steamer, or something that you can put over hot water, so that you will not need to stir the oatmeal at all from the time it is put over until it is done, as the stirring will make it pasty. Use two cupfuls of rolled oatmeal. Put in two teaspoonfuls of salt, after which put in two and one-half times as much water as you have oatmeal. This is a very good proportion, tuough it can be varied to suit the taste. As it is a starchy food it should be put, like potatoes and other starchy vegetables and grains, into boiling water, or have boiling water put onto it To insure its starting to cook quickly I will am it right over the fire for a few minutes, so that it will begin to boil. Then 1 will put it in this steamer, in the top of the teakettle until it finishes cooking. When you put the water in you will need to stir it a little to mix it, and it is very much better to stir it with a fork; it does not mash it as much as a spoon does.

Beef Chart

There is a great deal said, pro and con, about oatmeal as an article of diet Some writers and speakers are condemning it as being too harsh. I think it is like a good many things, the value of which we must determine ourselves. If we can eat oatmeal, and it does not hurt us, we know that there is very good nutriment in it; if it does hurt us, we can substitute something else. Properly cooked it is digestible for most people, I think, and this rule of cooking it applies just as well to the various other cereals, excepting as to time, and possibly the proportion of water. Any of the preparations of wheat especially may be cooked in the same way. The California breakfast food is a most palatable dish, and will take the place of oatmeal, especially in summer.

Oatmeal has more fat than wheat has, but not so much as cornmeal. If your family do not like these breakfast foods try and persuade them by every possible means to eat them, by serving them in various ways. Oat meal is very nice with baked apples or apple sauce. Dish up the oatmeal, put the apples on top, and then pour your cream over that, and people who are not fond of oatmeal will eat it in this way when they cannot eat it plain. Apple sauce is also nice with wheat

You get your fruit and mush in combination; it saves time, and you also get a healthful dish. I presume there are some in the room who do not like sugar and cream, but I shall have to serve it in the most common way, as I cannot suit all tastes. It is said that if we would eat our oatmeal without sugar, but with plenty of cream, it would be very much better for us. Oatmeal mush should never be eaten by itself. While it does not need mastication it does need to be mixed with the saliva, and that is one reason why it is sometimes indigestible. When it gets into the stomach the gastric juice has very little action on the starch. The saliva which is mixed with the food in the mouth is what tells in the digestion of the starch.

Title: A Handbook of Agriculture. Author: Wisconsin Farmers' Institutes. Publisher) Wisconsin Farmers' Institutes., 1895. Original from: the University of California. Digitized: Sep 2, 2009

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Haggis: A Traditional Scottish Dish

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland, is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and boiled for approximately three hours, and left to get cold. When required for use it is simmered again for about an hour. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a sausage casing rather than an actual stomach.

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish, considered the national dish of Scotland as a result of Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis of 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: turnip and potato), boiled and mashed separately, and a dram (a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper.

While Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish, it has no historic confirmation of having originated in Scotland. There is a lack of historical evidence that could conclusively attribute its origins to any one place. The first known written recipe for a dish of the name (as 'hagese'), made with offal and herbs, is in the verse cookbook Liber Cure Cocorum dating from around 1430 in Lancashire, North West England

In the absence of hard facts as to haggis' origins, popular folklore has provided some theories. One is that the dish originates from the days of the old Scottish cattle drovers. When the men left the highlands to drive their cattle to market in Edinburgh, the women would prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the glens. They used the ingredients that were most readily available in their homes and conveniently packaged them in a sheep's stomach allowing for easy transportation during the journey. Other speculations have been based on Scottish slaughtering practices. When a Chieftain or Laird required an animal to be slaughtered for meat (whether sheep or cattle) the workmen were allowed to keep the offal as their share.

January 25. Robert Burns (1759–1796) Burns supper, Robert Burns Day, Burns Night (Scotland and Scottish community). Burns suppers may be formal or informal. Both typically include haggis (a traditional Scottish dish celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis), Scotch whiskey and the recitation of Burns' poetry. Formal dinners are hosted by organizations such as Burns clubs, the Freemasons or St Andrews Societies.


[Image Credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en Photographer: zoonabar http://flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/]

Recipe

Major Ingredients:

1 pound beef (450g) heart, cut into 2-inch-wide strips.
1 pound beef (450g) liver.
1/2 pound (225g) lamb stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes.
1 1/2 cups peeled and finely chopped yellow onion.
4 tablespoons Scots whisky.
1 tablespoon of Egg nog
2 cups oatmeal, toasted on a cookie sheet in a 375F (200°C) oven for 10 minutes).

Seasonings:

2 teaspoons salt.
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
1 teaspoon dried thyme, whole.
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary.
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
Casing
3 beef CAPS (Talk to a sausage shop about these).
1 cup distilled white vinegar.
1/2 tablespoon salt for soaking.

Preparation:

Place the beef heart in a 4-quart (about 3-3.5 litres) covered pot and just cover with cold water. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Add the beef liver and lamb stew meat, and cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the contents of the pot and cool. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Grind everything coarsely.

In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients, except for the beef caps, vinegar, and salt for soaking. Mix well and set aside. Rinse the beef caps in cold water. Turn them inside out and soak them in 2 quarts of cold water with the salt and vinegar for 1/2 hour. Drain them and rinse very well, inside and out.

Divide the meat mixture into three parts. Fill the beef caps with the meat mixture and tie the ends off with string. Two will have to be tied on just one end, but the third piece will be tied on both ends. Prick the Haggis all over with corn holders or a sharp fork. Place in a steamer and steam for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Serve the Haggis, sliced, with beef or lamb gravy.

Text Credits: Wikipedia || wikibooks.org Cookbook

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Fried Chicken

This dish is best when the chicken is killed the same day it is fried. Cut off the wings and legs, cut the breast in two, and also the back. Wash well and throw in weak salt and water, to extract the blood. Let it remain for half an hour or more. Take from the water, drain and dry with a clean towel, half an hour before dinner.

Lay on a dish, sprinkle a little salt over it, and sift flour thickly first on one side and then on the other, letting it remain long enough for the flour to stick well. Have ready on the frying-pan some hot lard, in which lay each piece carefully, not forgetting the liver and gizzard.

Cover closely and fry till a fine amber color. Then turn over each piece and cover well again, taking care to have the chicken well done, yet not scorched. Take the chicken up and lay in a hot dish near the fire. Pour into the gravy a teacup of milk, a teaspoonful of butter, a saltspoon of salt, and one of pepper. Let it boil up and pour into the dish, but not over the chicken. Put cs\v1rlIe’d parsley round the edge of the dish and serve.—Mrs. ‘ - 0

Housekeeping in Old Virginia: Containing Contributions from Two Hundred and Fifty of Virginia's Noted Housewives, Distinguished for Their Skill in the Culinary Art and Other Branches of Domestic Economy.

Fried Chicken

Editor: Marion Cabell Tyree. Publisher: J. P. Morton & Company, 1879. Original from: Pennsylvania State University. Digitized: Jun 26, 2012. Length: 528 pages. Subjects: Cooking, American.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Soup Stocks

Long soaking in cold water, draws out the juices of meat and dissolves the gelatine. Soup stocks are prepared in this manner and then cooked at a low temperature. Celery leaves can be tied in a bunch and hung in a sunny place to dry, then placed in a paper bag, ready for use. The stalks and roots can be dried in a slow oven, powdered and bottled. Celery seed can be used for soups when the celery root or stalks are not at hand. Take outside leaves of dried onions, wash, dry and keep on hand in glass covered can; add while boiling to soup if dark color is desired.

Wipe and salt meat; place in soup kettle and let stand 1 hour. Add the cold water and let stand hour longer. Place on stove, let come to the boiling point. If clear soup is preferred skim now. This scum contains the chief nutritive value of the soup. If allowed to remain a large part of it will pass through the strainer.

Let soup simmer 3 hours or longer, then add the vegetables, cook one hour longer, adding more hot water, if too much has evaporated. Strain, cool, skim off the fat, add seasonings, reheat and just before serving, add the parsley. If the meat is to be served at table remove from soup as soon as tender and serve with any well seasoned sauce.

Bibliographic information: Title: The Settlement Cook Book: Tested Recipes from the Settlement Cooking Classes, the Milwaukee Public School Kitchens, The School of Trades for Girls, and Experienced Housewives. Compiled by: Mrs. Simon Kander. Edition 11. Publisher: Settlement Cook Book Company, 1921. Original from: the New York Public Library. Digitized: Aug 6, 2008. Length: 596 pages.

Soup stocks

Monday, January 14, 2013

Oatmeal

January is National Oatmeal Month. More oatmeal is consumed in January than any other month. Eating oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart disease. Many athletes eat rolled oats for the high level of complex carbohydrates and water-soluble fiber that assist slow digestion and help maintain stable blood-glucose levels. Oatmeal is more than cereal or cookies. These tips will get you rolling on Oatmeal Month.

Oatmeal is said to lower cholesterol after daily, extended use. Many claim that it can increase the production of breast milk in lactating mothers, although this has not been medically proven.

Oatmeal has been around for as long as recorded history. The Chinese wrote about it as far back as 7000 B.C.E. The ancient Greeks made oatmeal into a hot cereal thousands of years later. In American history, oatmeal is the product of several milling companies that combined to create a brand that would later be called "Quaker Oats." Quaker Oats is the most popular oatmeal, and it was created in 1901. It uses oats that, when added with boiling water, become a porridge.

There are four types of oatmeal, all of which are ground. The first type is regular oats, which are oats with the hulls removed. The second type is steel-cut oats, which are oats that are cut into halves. The third type is rolled oats, which are steamed and rolled slightly. The fourth type is quick rolled oats, which are steamed, rolled and cut into halves.

The most popular use for oatmeal is as a porridge, but it can also be used as the main ingredient in cookies. Another popular use for oatmeal in the kitchen is as a thickener. Many people grind up the oatmeal even further and add it to meats as a flavorful substitute for bread crumbs. Wet oatmeal can also be rubbed on the skin as a smoother, and oatmeal is used as an ingredient in exfoliators.

Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary tradition because oats are better suited than wheat to Scotland's short, wet growing season. Oats became the staple grain of that country. The Ancient universities of Scotland had a holiday called Meal Monday to permit students to return to their farms and collect more oats for food.


Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this in his dictionary definition for oats: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." His biographer, James Boswell, noted that Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted, "Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?"

A common method of cooking oatmeal in Scotland is to soak it overnight in salted water and cook on a low heat in the morning for a few minutes until the mixture thickens.

In Scotland, oatmeal is created by grinding oats into a coarse powder. Various grades are available depending on the thoroughness of the grinding, including Coarse, Pin(head) and Fine oatmeal.

Text Credits: eHOW January Is National Oatmeal Month || eHOW About Oatmeal || Wikipedia

Image Credit: eHOW Oatmeal

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled Eggs. — Put into a well-greased pan as many eggs as it will hold separately, each yolk being whole. When the whites have begun to set, stir from bottom of pan until done .

Another way is to beat the eggs with a spoon. To eight eggs add one-third teaspoonful salt. Heat two tablespoonfuls butter in the frying-pan. Stir in the eggs, and continue stirring until eggs set. Before they toughen, turn them out promptly into a warm dish.

Camp cookery. Author: Horace Kephart. Edition: 2. Publisher: Outing Publishing Co., 1910. Original from: the University of California. Digitized: Sep 22, 2010. Length: 154 pages. Subjects: Outdoor cookery, Outdoor cooking.

Scrambled Egg - Beat 4 eggs light, add y2 teaspoon baking powder, i teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and beat again. Boil cup milk or milk and water mixed with i tablespoon flour in the frying pan. Cool a little and add the eggs. Stir the mixture constantly over a very low fire until the eggs are cooked but not tough.

Low Cost Cooking: Author: Florence Nesbitt. Publisher: American School of Home. Economics, 1915. Original from: Harvard University. Digitized: Jul 7, 2007. Length: 127 pages. Subjects: Cookery, American, Cooking, American, Low budget cookery.

pots and pans

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Salisbury Steak

FOR this steak choicer meat than that used in Hamburg steak is desirable. In hotels where many filets of beef (beef tenderloins) are cut into steaks or trimmed for roasting, the ends and trimmings are used for Salisbury steak. For home use the choicest cuts from the top of the round are more commonly used. The meat should be chopped exceedingly fine, or, better still, the pulp be scraped from the fibers, first on one side and then on the other.

For each pound of prepared meat take onequarter pound of beef marrow; crush the marrow and mix it evenly through the meat, then for each pound of prepared beef mix in very gradually half a cup of cold water. Press into shape; cakes are most easily handled; do not press together too compactly, and keep the edge as thick as the center, that the edge may not become overcooked while the center is. not cooked enough. Broil over coals or in gas oven, or pan-broil in an exceedingly hot frying pan. Let the meat cook on one side till a drop of meat juice appears on the top, then turn at once to cook the other side. Serve with broiled bacon and French fried potatoes.

Query No. 3979. — " Recipe for Salisbury Steak given in December, 1916.

Queries and answers

Title: American Cookery, Volume 23. Author: Boston Cooking School (Boston, Mass.) Publisher: Boston Cooking School Magazine, Company, 1919. Original from Harvard University. Digitized: Apr 19, 2007.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Baked Apples De Luxe

APPLE a day keeps the doctor away," goes the old saw so familiar to us all, but whether that prescribed apple shall be or raw is left to our own disA well-baked apple served daintily for breakfast, or as a complement to a good luncheon or dinner, is hard to surpass from both a dietetic and a savory standpoint.

The choice of apples is a most important one to insure the fluffy, crimson-cheeked, translucent globes of deliciousness which I have in mind. Large, well-flavored fruit that will not easily fall to pieces is always preferable. If the recipe calls for peeled apples, the outward appearance of the raw fruit is not of great moment, but when the apples are to be baked in their peels, I should advise King apples, Spitzenburgs, or any other bright red variety which is of good flavor and very firm texture. The spotty fruit and smaller apples may be served in many other delightful ways.

Baked Apples Glace are merely very good baked apples, but they have never failed to awaken admiration in every one who has seen or eaten them. These apples may be made as plain or as elaborate as one desires. Select the largest and reddest firm apples that you can find, and core and peel them about one-third of the way down from the stem end; then place them in a deep dripping pan or casserole which has a closely-fitting cover. Meanwhile make a thin sirup, using one cupful of sugar to one and one-half cupfuls of water for six apples, and boil it for six minutes. Pour this sirup over the apples, cover them tightly, and place in a medium hot oven, or over a low gas burner flame. Baste the apples occasionally until they arc quite tender, but still whole and perfect. Remove the cover and place one teaspoonful of sugar in the cavity of each apple, also sprinkling sugar over the peeled surface. Then place the pan under the flame.

Baked Apples De LuxeSimmer tne apples in sugar sirup until tender, basting them often. Fill the cavities and sprinkle the surface of the apples with sugar broiler in a gas range or at the top of a very hot oven, until the sugar has melted ;md the peeled section of the apple has taken on a very light, delicate shade of brown. Basting once or twice during this process helps also to make the apples look as though they had been varnished with clear melted sugar. Served with plain cream, this dish is suitable for a child or for an invalid; topped with sweetened "hipped cream, flanked by two leaves cut from a bit of angelica and just touched with a fragment of candied cherry, it is almost too pretty to eat.

Glazed Baked Apples of another sort may appeal to those who are fond of spicy dishes. Red apples of a regular size should be chosen for this dish and should be washed, cored, and placed in the baking pan, their cavities filled with sugar and cinnamon, mixed in the proportion of one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon to one cupful of sugar. Pour enough boiling water about the apples to cover the bottom of the pan or casserole. Cover the apples closely, and bake them until of a dark, rich, red color and very tender. Then remove the apples from the pan and allow them to cool. Boil one cupful of sugar and one cupful of water for six minutes and pour this sirup over six apples. Serve the apples cold.

Baked Apples for serving with meats form an excellent way to make use of the speckled and spotted apples. Cut the fruit in quarters, but do not pare, though dark spots should be removed. Melt one-fourth cupful of butter with three-fourths cupful sugar, and mix with two quarts of the quartered apples. Place in a deep pan, cover closely, and bake slowly for one hour. Serve hot.

Baked Apples with Prune Juice make a splendid breakfast dish and a healthful one as well. Core, pare, and cut into halves crosswise the desired number of apples. Place them in a baking dish with one-half teaspoonful of butter in the center of each half; sprinkle the apples with brown or white sugar as preferred and pour prune juice, drained from the stewed prunes, over the apples. Two cupfuls of prune juice are sufficient for six whole apples.
Cover the apples and bake them till tender, basting frequently. Fifteen minutes before removing the apples from the oven take off the cover and finish the baking. Serve hot or cold with or without cream. The juice from canned fruits of any kind may also be used in the same way.

Place the pan under the broiler flame or in a hot oven until the sugar has melted and the apples have a delicate plazed appearance THE making of pies seems always to have been the bugaboo of cooking. It is discouraging to the housewife to serve a misshapen pie, or one whose crust is pale and soggy, and it is safe to say that pie-making brings forth more disparaging remarks than any other kind of cookery, so the young housewife is especially loathe to attempt it. Yet an analysis of the whole process of plain pie-making proves it to be a comparatively simple one and one which, if carefully followed, brings forth almost faultless results.


Bibliographic information Title: Good Housekeeping, Volume 70 Publisher: Hearst Corporation, 1920. Original fromL: University of Minnesota. Digitized: Mar 30, 2011

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Hamburger Steak

Hamburger Steak. Have you a recipe for Hamburger steak, a recipe that you know has been used with success by a practical butcher?

Reply.—Here is a recipe that was used by a very successful butcher during the 30 years he was in business: To every pound of meat freed from fat and gristle add a thin slice of fat pork; put this through the cutter, then add one teaspoonful of salt, a small onion cut in pieces, and a dash of pepper. Put all through the cutter to mix thoroughly and place the meat in parchment or waxed paper in half and one-pound packages.

Bibliographic information: Title: Butchers' Advocate, Dressed Poultry and the Food Merchant, Volume 39. Published: 1905. Original from: the New York Public Library. Digitized: Oct 14, 2010.

BUTCHERS' AND MARKET JOURNAL. 316288. Published Every Wednesday at 203 Broadway, New York. W. H. BOWER, GEORGE R. BOWER, General Manager, Secretary and Treasurer.

Butchers' Advocate

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Black Eyed Peas with Ham Butts

Black Eyed Peas with Ham Butts.

2 cups black-eyed peas V/2 pound salt ham butt Wash and soak the peas over night. Remove the rind

from the ham butt. Cover with cold water, cook slowly for 2 hours, add peas, and continue cooking until peas and meat are tender.

Navy beans, lima beans, split peas and lentils may be cooked in the same way.

Type III. They may be baked with various kinds of seasoning added.

Low Cost Cooking: A Manual of Cooking, Diet, Home Management and Care of Children for Housekeepers who Must Conduct Their Homes with Small Expenditure of Money. Author: Florence Nesbitt. Publisher: American School of Home Economics, 1917. Original from:the New York Public Library. Digitized: Jul 22, 2008. Length. 127 pages.

Low Cost Cooking