Evening star., 1932-11-04

YF YOU own a steamer, 1t should pc
put to use every day. 1t will save
time and fuel and will produce
well cooked foods. You can COOK
a weeks supply of breakfast cereal
at one time by using the steamer, as
1t takes only the same amount OF tline
and fuel as it would to COOK LOT one
meal. II your steamer holds quarts
put into six glass fruit jars rice. oat-
meal hominy grits or cracked wheat:
The wheat should first soak In cold
water for several hours, or overnight.
Use one cupful Of dry cereal to four
cupfuls of cold water and add tea
spoonful of salt to each quart. Adjust
the rubbers and covers as when can
ming fruit, and steam for three or 1our
hours. Tighten the covers and cool,
and you will have perfectly cooked
cereal that will keep until you are ready
to use it. 1t may be served cold or
warmed in few minutes.
Brown your meat before putting IL
into a steamer and it will have the full
flavor of the roast. You Will get the
best results in all steamer cooking by
having the water in the bottom of the
steamer boiling before you place any
food in to cook. If the cold raw food
is placed in a. cold or lukeWarm steam
er, the food will be tasteless. 1t will
take only a small fire to keep the
steamer at work after the contents
reach the boiling point
Steam YOUR vegetables instead of boil
ing them, whenever you can. 1t takes
a little longer, about quarter or half
longer, but the vegetables are very good
cooked this way. All their salts are not
washed out in kettleful OF boiling
water If you wish to cook green peas,
to- Itch t@at
them in. Steam them for half an hour
in an ordinary steamer, or less time In
a pressure cooker. When done, pour
over them a cream sauce. or dress them
with melted butter. You can steam
corn and string beans and young car
rots. Even beets are better steamed
than boiled Nothing is better than a
steamed potato unless it is baked po-
tato Many other vegetables could be
added to the list. AS to salt, If the
vegetable Is a root, keep the salt away
until the cooking is finished. If the
vegetable grew above the, ground
sprinkle a little salt over before you
steam it.
If vegetables have scorched while
boiling them in a kettle, set the kettle
in a pan of cold water and bring the
water in the second utenSil to boil.
When this is done, pour the water out
and repeat AS rule, unless the vege-
tables were very badly scorched, they
will not taste of it after being treated
in this way.
Creamed Dishes.
The various creamed dishes, such as
salmon asparagus, dried beef, bacon,
cooked eggs. and Others are excellent
luncheon dishes and not especially
e.; IT, %I1a
sauce, blend the fat with the flour in
scalded milk. The hot milk helps to
dissolve the starch, and you can finish
the cooking over hot water without
much stirring. When cooked and thick,
add the meat or fish. and finish cook
ing, covered, over hot water. Waiting
will make little difference in the serv-
ing of these double boiler creamed
dishes.
Celery leaves, besides being used
with the small twigs as garniSh for
meat or fish ana as nests for salad,
are sometimes dried until crisp, pow
dered, and used to flavor soups and
meats. When this is done, the tops are
usually placed in pan large enough
for them to lie separate and placed in
a warm oven. Then they are rubbed
to a powder and sometimes mixed
with salt.
For creamed celery, use half as much
medium thick white sauce as you have
diced celery. The celery should be
cooked until tender in enough salted
water to cover it. The water may be
added to the white sauce of the cream
ed celery, in which case the white
sauce should be made little thicker,
or it may be added to soup STOCK
Sometimes a little chopped. pimento is
liked added to the white sauce for the
creamed celery. When there is not
enough of the celery to be served as a
separate creamed vegetable, it may be
combined with some other vegetable,
such as peas or string beans that are
to be served creamed, or the cooked,
diced celery is good addition to maca-
roni and cheese. Combine the celery
with the macaroni at the time the
cheese sauce is added. then cover with
buttered crumbs and grated cheese, and
bake.
Oven Dinners.
Do not forge. macaroni, spaghetti
and noodles when you are planning
dinners that can be cooked in the oven
without watching There is a great
variety OF delicious combinations that
you can make with these wholesome
foods. To begin with, there is cheese
and macaroni as a welcome change
from potatoes. You can combine
macaroni with sea food, with meats OF
all kinds, with vegetables, with peanut
butter, or with chicken. Any of these
are substantial enough for the main
dish, and If you include vegetables,
they make an entire meal
How would you like macaroni with
curried lamb, macaroni with scalloped
clans, or macaroni with peas and
bacon. All of these dishes are rich in
nourishment. Any of these dishes may
be prepared in the morning, arranged
in a casserole or baking dish, and put
away in the refrigerator until it is time
to put them in the oven. Whenever
you serve an oven-cooked meal, 1t is