Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-28
MINcE PIE AND PLUM PUDDING.
Two wholesome Dishes That Can Be Di-
gested If Made Properly.

Two wholesome Dishes That Can Be Di-
gested If Made Properly.
Mincemeat ought to be extremely
wholesome for the same reasons that
make it good to eat-its favors of sweet
and sour, of meat, apple and spice, which
relieve each other, and its finely divided
particles, which allow the choicer blend
ing of favors and save the stomach.
What gives mince pie its i'll repute as
the very spawn of nightmare are its
overdressing with suet and butter and
its drugging with spices. Spice is the
very food of the nerves, rightly used,
growing more essential as circulation
and sense dull with age. But it should
be delicately, discerningly used not to
lose its potency.
Economical cooks make mincemeat of
beef's heart, with the thick fat pared
away before cooking and the juicy flank
strips cooked with it and both boiled
down in the broth, an inexpensive foun-
dation which, minced, is as rich as
tongue or the high priced pieces-ten-
derloin, fillet or round. The fat is taken
of, the rich liquor of the meat boiled
down to gravy and added to the mince.
One quart bowl of chopped meat to three
of apple is the rule, and with this neither
suet, butter, brandy nor wine is used.
Baldwin apples are used, with one
ounce to the four bowls of mince, one
lemon and peel, two Havana oranges,
chopped, the peel boiled tender and very
finely cut, half a cup of cider jelly, two
cups Of raisins, one of currants, a table
spoonful Of cinnamon, two nutmegs and
q teaspoonful Of cloves, one coffee cup
of sugar. The juice Of the meat gives
richness instead of suet. In place of the
wine and brandy, what? One-half cup
of the best Porto Rico molasses, not
syrup, one large cup of strong tea and
one-third teaspoonful of cayenne pepper.
That gives zest that is fair imitation
of brandy and aids digestion. When the
pies are made one teaspoonful Of butter,
in small bits, is spread over the mince
before putting on the upper crust This
mince has not an indigestible ingredient
in it, while the favoring is very rich.
Fine -four mingled with oil has been a
regale ever since patriarchal times,
when Sarah set cakes before the angel
at the door of Abraham's tent. We were
meant to like it and to eat it. If, instead
of the pale brown flour mingled with
olive oil and baked on the hearth, which
Sarah used, we prefer paste of starchy
-four and animal fat which mo juices of
the stomach can dissolve any more than
they could pieces of glue, it is our own
mistake. The human family has gone
back to the primitive pastry of Mamre,
not from any superstitions about the in
iuriousness of pastry in itself, but be-
cause it likes pie and likes the best kind
of it
For pastry, use the ordinary salad oil.
With whole wheat flour or any fine
grades of Graham, it gives the sweetest,
Hakiest pastry ever eaten. Try it, with
brown -four or white, using one part oil
to three parts flour, with ice water, salt,
and pinch of baking powder. Brush
the top with milk on putting it in the
oven, which should be hot enough to
bake it thoroughly in little over ten
minutes. There is not trace of oil in
the pastry, which is more delicate than
If made with sweet butter.
Plum pudding is another wholesome
food that no careful family should be
without in winter, combining as it does
the heat making and Strengthening ele-
ments of fat, flour and raisins. The
basis of plum pudding is the finest oat-
meal, almost like -four, with little oil,
baking powder and fruits, favoring with
the aromatic Havana orange peel.
The coarser kind of oatmeal is richer
than chestnuts as filling for turkey. Use
cold boiled oatmeal and bread crumbs,
with chopped oysters, sweet marjoram,
sausage, or any usual favoring, espe-
cially celery, which gives a fine flavor
to the bird, or put pinch of ground
caraway and dash of nutmeg with the
sage and marjoram if you want new
and foreign flavor of which the ingredi
euts cannot be recognized. Dress youl
turkey and fill it overnight to let the
seasoning strike through.