In cooking a fowl, to ascertain when it is done, put
a skewer into the breast, and if the breast is tender the fowl is done. . . .
A roast of beef is much nicer if, when you put it into the pan to bake,
you set it on the hot stove ; let it brown on one side, then turn and
brown on the other; then add the hot water and seasoning and bake in
a hot oven and the juice is retained in the meat. . . . Meat and poultry
will lose their flavor and firmness if left in the water after they are done ;
as will also fish, which will break to pieces. ... A spoonful of stewed
tomatoes in the gravy of either roasted or fried meats is an improve-
ment. ... A little ginger put into sausage meat improves the flavor. . . .
In gravies and milk porridge the salt should not be added until the dish
is prepared.
Vegetables should not be washed until just before cooking. ... If
the hands are kept in water while peeling and slicing onions the eyes
will not suffer. It is particularly desirable that this should be done
when preparing small onions to pickle. . . . Turnip-peel, washed clean
and tied in a net, imparts a flavor to soups. Celery leaves and ends
serve the same purpose. . . . Have all the good bits of vegetables and
meats collected after dinner and minced before they are set away, that
13
194: HOUSE-KEEPING.
they may be in readiness to make a little savory mince meat for supper
or breakfast. Take the skins off potatoes before they are cold. . . .
Cucumbers if sliced into very cold water will be made crisp and better,
even if not perfectly fresh. . . . Onions may be soaked all night without
taking the flavor out of them. . . . Potatoes ought not to stand too long
in water, for it takes the starch out of them and makes them tasteless.
. . . Old potatoes may be freshened up by plunging them into cold water
before cooking. . . . To bake potatoes quickly, pour boiling water over
them and let them stand a minute or so before putting into the oven.
... To boil potatoes so they will be dry and mealy, when the skin
breaks pour off the water and let them finish cooking in their own
steam. . . . Potatoes at any time of the year can be made mealy if boiled
in salt water and drained and then covered with a thick towel and left
in the back of the range five minutes. . . . Cold potatoes, mashed with
peas, make an excellent and light peas pudding. . . . There is a green-
ness in onions and potatoes that render them hard to digest. For
health's sake put them in warm water for an hour before cooking. . . .
A lump of bread about the size of a billiard ball, tied up in a linen bag
and placed in the pot in which greens are boiling will absorb the gases
which oftentimes send such an unpleasant odor to the regions above, or
a small piece of charcoal in the pot with boiling cabbage removes the
smell. The reason why cabbage emits such a disagreeable smell when
boiling is because the process dissolves the essential oil. The water
should be changed when the cabbage is half boiled, and it will thus
acquire a greater sweetness. ... A few slices of potatoes put in the lard
while frying doughnuts will keep them from burning. . . . Take the
turnip and cabbage stocks that have been sprouting during the winter,
wash them nicely, cut them as you do cabbage for slaw ; put in a deep
dish and pour sweetened vinegar over them.
Page 172
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
In cooking a fowl, to ascertain when it is done, put a skewer into the breast, and if the breast is tender the fowl is done. . . . A roast of beef is much nicer if, when you put it into the pan to bake, you set it on the hot stove ; let it brown on one side, then turn and brown on the other; then add the hot water and seasoning and bake in a hot oven and the juice is retained in the meat. . . . Meat and poultry will lose their flavor and firmness if left in the water after they are done ; as will also fish, which will break to pieces. ... A spoonful of stewed tomatoes in the gravy of either roasted or fried meats is an improvement. ... A little ginger put into sausage meat improves the flavor. . . . In gravies and milk porridge the salt should not be added until the dish is prepared.
Vegetables should not be washed until just before cooking. ... If the hands are kept in water while peeling and slicing onions the eyes will not suffer. It is particularly desirable that this should be done when preparing small onions to pickle. . . . Turnip-peel, washed clean and tied in a net, imparts a flavor to soups. Celery leaves and ends serve the same purpose. . . . Have all the good bits of vegetables and meats collected after dinner and minced before they are set away, that
they may be in readiness to make a little savory mince meat for supper or breakfast. Take the skins off potatoes before they are cold. . . . Cucumbers if sliced into very cold water will be made crisp and better, even if not perfectly fresh. . . . Onions may be soaked all night without taking the flavor out of them. . . . Potatoes ought not to stand too long in water, for it takes the starch out of them and makes them tasteless. . . . Old potatoes may be freshened up by plunging them into cold water before cooking. . . . To bake potatoes quickly, pour boiling water over them and let them stand a minute or so before putting into the oven. ... To boil potatoes so they will be dry and mealy, when the skin breaks pour off the water and let them finish cooking in their own steam. . . . Potatoes at any time of the year can be made mealy if boiled in salt water and drained and then covered with a thick towel and left in the back of the range five minutes. . . . Cold potatoes, mashed with peas, make an excellent and light peas pudding. . . . There is a greenness in onions and potatoes that render them hard to digest. For health's sake put them in warm water for an hour before cooking. . . . A lump of bread about the size of a billiard ball, tied up in a linen bag and placed in the pot in which greens are boiling will absorb the gases which oftentimes send such an unpleasant odor to the regions above, or a small piece of charcoal in the pot with boiling cabbage removes the smell. The reason why cabbage emits such a disagreeable smell when boiling is because the process dissolves the essential oil. The water should be changed when the cabbage is half boiled, and it will thus acquire a greater sweetness. ... A few slices of potatoes put in the lard while frying doughnuts will keep them from burning. . . . Take the turnip and cabbage stocks that have been sprouting during the winter, wash them nicely, cut them as you do cabbage for slaw ; put in a deep dish and pour sweetened vinegar over them.