All meat trimmings that are sweet, and all the bones from roasts and broils, should be boiled slowly in water, to extract any nutritive elements remaining in them. The stock thus produced varies in strength and is rarely clear; nevertheless, it is of much value in the prepara- tion of soups, sauces, and made dishes. Care must be taken that the bones and meat are perfectly sweet, or a bad flavor will be developed in the process of cooking, and the stock obtained will give this flavor to any dish 108 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. in which it is used. It is advisable to boil the bones and trimmings as soon as possible, and not to wait until a large quantity has accumulated for the stock-pot. If you have any bones or meat left aftej a sirloin or porter- house steak has formed a part of a meal, do not wait a day or two in order to boil the remains of a roast of beef or poultry at the same time. Put the first remnants on the stove in a small stew-pan, with a sufficient quantity of cold water, and boil gently for five or six hours ; then strain and cool before adding to the other stock. The small amount of stock obtained — perhaps not more than three gills — may seem to be a poor return for the trouble taken. How much trouble ? Simply putting the materi- als into the stew-pan, straining and cooling the liquid after the boiling, and finally washing the strainer and stew-pan. What do you get for the work ? Three gills of stock, which will make a sauce for any kind of cold meat ; will moisten a dish of hash, when water otherwise would be used ; or will serve as a foundation in which rice, barley, tapioca, or something else may be cooked for a cream soup, making the dishes at least fifty per cent better than if water be used. Stock of this kind is, therefore, one of the most useful things prepared in the kitchen. Never forget that the materials must be sweet, and that warm stock must not be added to that which is cold. When there is any cold stock on hand, it is well to put it with the new stock about an hour before the latter is taken from the fire. This will give it a thorough scalding, and insure the stock keeping good for three or four days in winter, and a day or two in summer. In making stock, allow a quart of water to every pound of meat and bones✪ Meat Stock, and let it boil down one-half. In a well-managed kitchen there always will be at least a small quantity of this stock. Then, too, the water in which poultry or mutton was boiled may have the meat and bones added to it, and four or five hours' simmering SOUPS. 109 will give a rich stock from which a variety of soups may be made. Maigre soups are those made without meat, and are especially appropriate for fast days. Some of them are good enough for any season, and make a pleasant change from meat soups. Beef the Best Meat for Stock.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

All meat trimmings that are sweet, and all the bones from roasts and broils, should be boiled slowly in water, to extract any nutritive elements remaining in them. The stock thus produced varies in strength and is rarely clear; nevertheless, it is of much value in the preparation of soups, sauces, and made dishes. Care must be taken that the bones and meat are perfectly sweet, or a bad flavor will be developed in the process of cooking, and the stock obtained will give this flavor to any dish in which it is used. It is advisable to boil the bones and trimmings as soon as possible, and not to wait until a large quantity has accumulated for the stock-pot. If you have any bones or meat left after a sirloin or porterhouse steak has formed a part of a meal, do not wait a day or two in order to boil the remains of a roast of beef or poultry at the same time. Put the first remnants on the stove in a small stew-pan, with a sufficient quantity of cold water, and boil gently for five or six hours ; then strain and cool before adding to the other stock. The small amount of stock obtained — perhaps not more than three gills — may seem to be a poor return for the trouble taken. How much trouble ? Simply putting the materials into the stew-pan, straining and cooling the liquid after the boiling, and finally washing the strainer and stew-pan. What do you get for the work ? Three gills of stock, which will make a sauce for any kind of cold meat ; will moisten a dish of hash, when water otherwise would be used ; or will serve as a foundation in which rice, barley, tapioca, or something else may be cooked for a cream soup, making the dishes at least fifty per cent better than if water be used. Stock of this kind is, therefore, one of the most useful things prepared in the kitchen. Never forget that the materials must be sweet, and that warm stock must not be added to that which is cold. When there is any cold stock on hand, it is well to put it with the new stock about an hour before the latter is taken from the fire. This will give it a thorough scalding, and insure the stock keeping good for three or four days in winter, and a day or two in summer. In making stock, allow a quart of water to every pound of meat and bones, and let it boil down one-half. In a well-managed kitchen there always will be at least a small quantity of this stock. Then, too, the water in which poultry or mutton was boiled may have the meat and bones added to it, and four or five hours' simmering will give a rich stock from which a variety of soups may be made. Maigre soups are those made without meat, and are especially appropriate for fast days. Some of them are good enough for any season, and make a pleasant change from meat soups. Beef the Best Meat for Stock.

Records on this page

Meat Stock

Miss Parloa's kitchen companion