The Portland daily press., 1900-02-09
HINTS FOR SIMPLE SAUCES.


Not long ago there came to me the
story Of a woman who sought place as
a trained cook. She proclaimed herself
sable to cook anything for the finest din
ner in the land"
the land"
Can you make good croquettes.
tive mistress.
Bridget hesitated.
"Shure, ma'am. to tell you the truth.
i niver gave meself the throuble to learn
how to make thin things. But for bilin'
| and bakin'. I can't be bate"
The worthy woman was repre-
sentative OF a school that still fiourishes.
alas, In which a knowledge Of "bilin' and
bakin'" Is considered all that Is neces-
sary TO constitute a trained cook. Schools
| of domestic science and the progressive
ness of the American housewife are re-
| ducing the number of the class every
year. Yet there still remain only too
many TO whom the first principles or
| sauce making are unknown. The very
name brings them terror. Ask them to
make a brown gravy or a drawn butter.
and they will do it,-after a fashion.
| Call for a butter sauce or a Spanish
sauce. and ten to one you will be Informed
| that the aggrieved domestic didn't hire
| to do fancy cookery"
Unfortunately, too many housekeep-
ers have her prejudices and her igno-
RANGES. They have taken fright at the
mere name of sauce, without tarrying to
learn how simple a thing the compound
| really is. The principle on which near
L.. FG tt,ty AA Ia
most readily grasped In all cookery. Any
| sauce.-practically, every sauce.-con-
| tains three elements. These are one
| tablespoonful of -four, one tablespoon
| ful of butter and one half pint Of liquid.
| That is ALL except a little seasoning.
Cook the three to the proper consist
ency,-the easiest OF tasks,-season to
taste, and you have your sauce.
No matter what additions may be
made in seasoning, what variations in
the liquid used,-water, milk, cream.
| tomato or oyster liquor,-the essential
principle remains unchanged.
BY judicious use OF sauces the house
keeper may vary her bill-of fare with
little expense and greater profit. 1t is
worth her while to make the small in
vestment of trouble for the sake OF the
| large return of general satisfaction.
WHITE SAUCE.
Put into a small saucepan one table,
spoonful of butter, and as II melts over
| the fire stir into 1t rounded table
| spoonful Of -four. Have ready the half
pint Of milk. and as soon as the butter
and flour are well blended and begin to
bubble, pour In the milk. Continue to
| stir without intermission until the sauce
comes to a good boil. In the course of
reaching this point, II will attain the
correct thickness. which should be that
| Of heavy double cream. Season with
| Ealtspoonful of salt and pinch OF white
pepper, and 1t is ready. 1t is invaluable
| as a medium in which to warm up fish
or white meats. to pour over poached or
shirred or chopped hard boiled eggs. or
| to use in a half dozen other ways. Onion.
| celery salt, parsley or other condiments
| of herbs may be added to the seasoning
to suit the taste.
| BROWN SAUCE.
Make as you did the white sauce. sub
| stituting q half pint of consomme or
brown soup stock for the milk and
| browning the -four instead of using II as
II is. A better color may be gained by
| the use OF a few drops of the valuable
seasoning known as kitchen bouquet.
TOMATO SAUCE.
| Cook a slice of onion and a sprig Of
| parsley for fifteen or twenty minutes in
| a half pint of tomato liouor. This NAV
| be drained from a can that has been
| opened to prepare a dish of stswed to-
| matoes, or in summer may be prepared
| from the fresh tomatoes. Cook together
a tablespoonful OF butter and one OF
flour, as in the preceding recipes. pour
the tomato liquor upon them ana cook
until the sauce has reached the right
consistency. II the tomato is very tart
II will benefit II TO add half teaspoon
full OF white sugar at the same time with
the other seasoning Of a saltspoonful OF
salt and q pinch of white pepper.
OYSTER SAUCE.
Cook twelve small oysters for three
minutes in one gill Of boiling oyster
liquor. Take them out and put them