Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-20
Table and Kitchen.
Practical Suggestions About What to
Eat and How to Prepare Food.

should provide yourself with every con-
venience necessary for cooking and see
that your supply of utensils and materials
is kept up In this way much valuable
time may be saved and veXation of spirit
avoided
A resourceful cook can accomplish good
and surprising results under the most adj
verse conditions. But it is not the wisest
economy to put her intelligence and will
ingness too often to the test, except when
unusual demands make it unavoidable.
One can easily improvise a double boiler
that will answer so far as the method of
cooking the food demands; but this make
shift utensil may be very inconvenient to
handle and more time may be consumed
in it's use than required in using the
proper utensil
Altering Recipes.
Without a thorough knowledge of pro-
portions an inexperienced cook should not
attempt to alter recipes in their impor-
tant points. When it is expedient to re-
duce or increase the amount given the
accomplishment is not difficult; but when
you are short in the given and necessary
quantity of one of the principals you
must be careful to reduce others in the
same proportion. For example, in MAX
ing soup stock you find the quantity
of meat on hand less the weight called
Tor in recipe given, which directs you to
use little less than a quart of water
to each pound of bone and meat. Unless
your stock meat is rich in gelatnous SUBJ
stance you must reduce the quantity of
water and every other ingredient to CORE
Spond; otherwise you will have poor stock
and soup.
FIavOrfngs and SeasonfnEs.
These being ingredients that simply af-
feet the taste, in the composition of a dish,
you may change vary them to suit the
occasion, providing you adhere to the law
of combination and blend them carefully
Salt. pepper and onion are the seasonings
that are, as rule, too heedlessly or gen.
erously INDUCED in. Remember the French
manner of using onion, "a SUSPICION"
which gives us that delightful and intangi-
Bile flavor that makes so many of their
dishes enjoyable, even to the pronounced
onion hater.
In using spices one can readily substitute
one for another particularly in meat
dlshes. II cloves are called for and you
nave none, a bit of mace or grating of nut
meg Will answer as well.
The Use of Substitutes.
If your recipe calls for something not on
hand or readily obtained, consider whether
this ingredient is one of the essential parts
OF the dish and cannot be changed without
disastrous results, or whether it is a mere
answer just well. Wine is usually con-
sldered optional. but if you wish to make
VINE soup, wine jelly lobster Newburg,
and d1sapprove of the use of wines in COOK
ing, some other fiavoring will not do lust
as well, for the wine gives the distinctive
character to the dish.
H. on the other hand the recipe Is for a
sauce and directs you to use cream milk
Will answer as well and the sauce can he
enriched by an extra addition of b1Itter
washed and stirred into the sauce lust he
iore removing from the fire, but not AL
loMeu TO COOK Ice cream may be made
WIN milk instead of cream by cooking part
OF the milk. in a double boiler with the
sugar, for ten minutes, cooling and then
duuihg the other portion of milk and fla
n VOL: Eggs are frequently added to en-
il'ii MIX III frozen creams but only in a
certain class. Gelatine or merineue stirred
INTO the frozen cream will give the smooth
ness and body of pure cream. If charlotte
russo or trif1eS are to be made Won cannot
substitute anything for the cream hecanse
tne whipped cream is the chief substance
OF the dish; but you can make varIy
t tiat delicate dessert that may substi-
tute, II a white and gold dessert 10 do
sired, with milk, cornstarch and white of
Eggs whipped, or lemon jelly whipped to a
troth, with the whites of eggs folded in no
ierno turning INTO mold Serve orange or
NA'ioi VI 'ahllla sauce with these.
In Making Cakes.
III making cakes one must be careful to
We 'he exact proportion Of flour, eggs
ana milk. The quantity of butter depends
upon the quality of cake desired whether
more or less rich.
When using a new flour. It is hotter IN
bake tiny sample cake before putting tho
batter IN the cake tins. 1t takes but q Few
minutes and in this way you can ascertain
S you nave too much not enough
iiour' IL the batter is too stiff do not add
more milk or water than the recipe calls
lor' an extra egg will do the work Muf-
ms and light breads should depend more on
the baking powder for their liphtness tban
upon eggs, as they must he as far removed
from rich. sweet cakes as possible MANY
muffn recipes calling for three eggs wouId
be better if only two were used
TO Thicker or Thin Sauces.
III by any chance you allow your sauce to
become too thick, thin it with a little hot
stock or broth. If too thin, do not ruin it
completely by adding more flour, but sep
arate two eggs, mix the yolks well with
three or four tablespoonfuls Of the sauce,
adding a level tablespoonful of butter.
when smooth, take the sauce from the fire
and stir it gradually into the egg mixture:
then return to the fire for two or three
minutes, but do not allow 1t to boil or the
egg will harden or "curdle" and your
sauce still be too thin.
A brown sauce should have a larger pro-
portion of flour to butter than for a white
its thlckening properties.
A boiled dressing that calls for two eggs
may be made just as nice with one by SUBJ
shutting for one egg tablespoonful Of
cornstarch and two tablespoonfus Of salad
oil. The latter should be beaten into the
dressing after 1t is made and removed from
the fire.
Rice CrOquettes.
Plain rice croquettes, to be served as
a vegetable, are made by washing half a
cup of rice, then steaming in a double
boiler, with half cup of water and half
a level teaspoonful Of salt until rice OBJ
serbs all the water. Then add half a pint
Of hot milk; cover and cook slowly until
the rice Is soft. Take from the fire; add
two level tablespoonfuls of butter and the
Slightly beaten yolks Of two eggs with
a slight f1avoring Of nutmeg. Spread the
mixture out to cool, form into small CYL
inder- shaped rolls; dip into egg and roll
in fine bread crumbs and fry in deep fat
same as other Jeroquettes.
Brown Kidney Stew.
Cut open the kidneys and throw into cold
water soak for one hour changing the
water several times it colors. Drain
and cover with fresh cold water and set