Better Meals For Less Money - free ebook by Marietta McPherson Greenough

NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1917

Copyright , 1917, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY...

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PREFACE

With the steadily increasing cost of all staple foods the need of intelligent buying, cooking, and serving is greater than ever before: more money must be spent for food, or more consideration must be given to selecting and using it. For those who would continue to serve their households well, and whose allowance for food has not kept pace with prices, there is only one alternative, and that is, to use more of the cheaper foods, and to prepare and combine them so skilfully that economy shall not

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GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR ECONOMY

In order to buy, prepare, and serve food to the best possible advantage, an elementary knowledge of the composition and nutritive value of foods, and the necessary food requirement of the family, is essential. Many books are published on these subjects, but from the government publications alone (see page 255) an excellent working knowledge may be obtained. Only the merest outline can be given here, and this should be supplemented by further reading. Briefly stated, food is divided into three ch

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SPECIAL NOTICE

All ingredients in these recipes should be measured level, and the standard teaspoon, tablespoon, and half-pint measuring cup should be used. Unless otherwise stated, one apple, onion, orange, etc., means one of medium size. Sift flour before measuring, and fill cup lightly. Use pastry flour, unless otherwise directed, for thickening soups and sauces, and in all recipes where baking powder is used; use bread flour in all recipes where yeast is used. The majority of these recipes are planned to s

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COMMON WAYS OF COOKING FOOD

Baking is cooking in confined heat in the oven. Examples: bread, cake, meat. This method when applied to meat is commonly called roasting. Before baking, see that the oven is clean and heated to the desired temperature. Boiling is cooking by immersion in water at 212° F. Examples: potatoes, cabbage, macaroni. Braising is a combination of stewing on the top of the range, and baking in the oven, with or without vegetables. Examples: tough meats, fowl, whole liver. Broiling or Grilling is cooking o

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APPETIZERS AND RELISHES

Mix, and serve in four small glasses or lemon shells, with six small clams or oysters in each. Shrimps, prawns, or lobster may be used instead of clams or oysters. Peel and cut small tomatoes in quarter-inch slices; cut thin rounds of bread the same size as tomatoes; toast bread, spread with Mustard Butter (see No. 459), or salad dressing, and cover with a slice of tomato; season lightly with salt and pepper, and cover with thin slices of cooked chicken livers. Garnish with parsley. Mix devilled

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BEVERAGES

Beat the eggs until light; add the other ingredients, and strain into glasses. Serve very cold. (This recipe fills four tumblers.) Pick over and wash grapes, barely cover with water, and cook until soft and white; drain through cheesecloth, and to each quart of juice add one cup each of water and sugar; bring to boiling point, skim, bottle, and cork tightly. When cold, dip corks into melted paraffin. Beat egg until very light, add grape juice and sugar, and beat again, add milk, beat well, pour

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SOUPS WITHOUT MEAT

When fresh asparagus is served as a vegetable, cook the tough ends in the same water, which should be lightly salted. Press through a sieve, add the water, and for each three cups add one-half teaspoon of onion juice and one cup of hot milk. Thicken with one tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of flour blended together. Add pepper, and salt if necessary. Soak beans over night in cold water; drain; add one quart of water, bacon, and onion, and cook three hours or until beans are soft, replac

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SOUPS AND STEWS WITH MEAT OR FISH

Cook stock, onion, and celery for fifteen minutes, and strain; add hot milk and seasonings, and thicken with chicken fat and flour blended together. The amount of salt will depend upon the quantity in the stock. Celery salt may be used in place of celery tops. Heat stock to boiling point, add other ingredients, and simmer half an hour or until rice is tender. Add salt if necessary. Ham stock in place of chicken stock makes an excellent soup. Remove necks and gills from clams, and chop fine; simm

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CHOWDERS

Cook salt pork and onion slowly for ten minutes; add boiling water, and strain into chowder kettle; add potatoes, and cook twenty minutes; remove necks of clams, chop fine, add with the soft part to the potatoes, and cook ten minutes; add seasonings, hot milk, and crumbs, and serve with pilot crackers. The salt pork and onion may be served in the chowder if preferred. Cook salt pork and onion together slowly for ten minutes; add boiling water, and strain into chowder kettle; add potatoes and sea

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FISH[6]

Wash and dry four slices of cod steak, season with salt and pepper, put in baking pan, and pour around them one-half cup of water and one tablespoon of shortening; bake twenty-five minutes, basting often. Remove skin and bone, and pour over fish either Cheese Sauce (see No. 188) or Egg Sauce (see No. 195). Sliced halibut may be baked in the same way. Wash and dry a three-pound fish, fill with Fish Stuffing (see No. 210), and sew together. Place on a rack in a dripping pan, season with salt and p

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WARMED-OVER FISH

Scald milk with onion, carrot, and bay leaf for fifteen minutes; strain; melt butter, add flour, and blend well; add milk, and stir until smooth; add seasonings and fish; turn into a greased baking dish, cover with crumbs, and bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes. Or arrange a border of mashed potato on a platter, and turn the creamed fish into the center, omitting the crumbs. Line a deep greased dish with well-seasoned mashed potato to a thickness of one inch; fill to within one inch of the top w

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SALT AND SMOKED FISH

Wash fish, and soak in lukewarm water for half an hour; put in baking pan, add one-half cup each of milk and water, and bake about twenty-five minutes, basting often. Remove to platter, spread with butter, and strain liquid in the pan over fish. Arrange smoked, boned herring on pieces of entire wheat bread; place on platter, and pour hot milk over them, allowing three-quarters of a cup for six slices of bread. Brown in a hot oven. Soak mackerel in cold water for twelve hours; drain, and rinse wi

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MEATS[7]

Wash a four-pound piece of beef flank or any other of the cheaper cuts. Cover with boiling water, bring to boiling point, and skim; slice and add two carrots, two onions, and one white turnip; cook slowly for four hours or until meat is very tender; add two teaspoons of salt when half cooked; pack meat solidly into a deep bread pan, putting the grain of the meat lengthwise; place pan in a shallow pan to catch the overflow, put an empty bread pan on top of meat, and press with two heavy flatirons

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WARMED-OVER MEATS

Simmer tomatoes, gravy, and seasonings for fifteen minutes, and press through a sieve; add beef cut in small pieces, and spaghetti, and pour into a greased baking dish; cover with crumbs which have been mixed with the drippings and butter melted together. Bake in a moderate oven about fifteen minutes. A can of condensed tomato soup may be used in place of the tomato sauce. Any meat may be used. Melt drippings, add flour, onion, and seasonings, and cook two minutes; add stock and milk, and stir u

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SAUCES AND STUFFINGS FOR FISH AND MEATS

Add to Drawn Butter (see No. 194) one and one-half teaspoons of anchovy paste and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Peel and scrape bananas, and force through coarse sieve; melt butter, add sugar, lemon juice, seasonings, and bananas; stir until hot, and serve with cold roast beef. Simmer stock, onion, carrot, and parsley fifteen minutes, and strain; melt shortening, add flour, and blend well; add stock and seasoning, and stir until smooth; add butter just before serving. Cook butter until brown, b

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EGGS

For a soft-boiled egg, place egg in rapidly boiling water and boil from three to five minutes. For hard-boiled eggs, place in rapidly boiling water and boil twenty minutes, or cover with boiling water and cook in the double boiler one hour. For a soft-cooked egg, not boiled, place egg in a small saucepan of boiling water, cover, and let stand on back of range from six to eight minutes, when the albumen should be evenly coagulated throughout. The time for cooking in this way will depend upon the

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CHEESE AND NUTS

Mix in order given; fill Croustades (see No. 473), and put in a hot oven until cheese melts. Serve immediately, before cheese toughens. Mix in order given, turn into a greased baking dish, and bake in a slow oven twenty-five minutes. Mix in the order given, beating the yolks until thick and light, and the whites until very stiff; pour into a greased baking dish, bake twenty-five minutes in a slow oven, and serve at once. Put milk in a large bowl, add boiling water, and let stand five minutes; po

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VEGETABLES[8]

Soak beans in cold water over night; drain, cover with cold water, heat to boiling point, and simmer until beans are very tender but not broken; place in an earthen bean pot, add seasonings and pork (which has been scalded, scraped, and scored in half-inch squares); fill pot with boiling water, cover, and bake slowly for eight hours. Uncover for the last hour. Replenish water as needed. Soak beans over night in cold water; drain, add seasonings, bacon fat, and water, and simmer two hours; remove

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CEREALS, MACARONI, AND RICE

Add meal to boiling salted water by sifting it slowly through the fingers, while stirring rapidly with the other hand. Boil for ten minutes, and cook over hot water for two hours. Serve hot as a cereal. Or pour into one-pound baking powder boxes to cool; slice, dip in flour, and sauté in butter; or dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve either for breakfast, or as an accompaniment to roast pork, or, with sirup, for dessert. Put salt and boiling water in top of double boiler, place in

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CROQUETTES AND FRITTERS[9]

Melt fat, add one pared and sliced raw potato, a pinch of soda, and a tablespoon of water; heat slowly, and cook until fat stops bubbling; strain through double cheesecloth. Cut any surplus fat into pieces, put into double boiler, cover, cook slowly until fat is extracted, and strain through double cheesecloth. Dry left-over bits of bread in a slow oven, put through food chopper, using finest cutter, and sift through a coarse sieve. Keep in covered jars. Break egg into a soup plate or similar sh

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SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS

Mix dry ingredients, add to egg, and stir into the hot milk; add vinegar slowly, and cook over hot water for ten minutes, stirring constantly at first. Cool, put into a preserve jar, cover, and keep in a cool place. Whipped cream may be added, if desired, before using. Allow one cup for the whole recipe. Two tablespoons of melted butter or salad oil may be added, but recipe is very good without either. Mix in order given, and cook over hot water for ten minutes, stirring constantly at first. Mel

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YEAST BREADS, MUFFINS, AND ROLLS

Put liquid, sugar, shortening, and salt in the mixing bowl; when lukewarm add the yeast cake (which has been dissolved in lukewarm water); add flour and knead well. The exact amount of flour will depend upon the quality; but enough should be used to make a smooth, soft dough which after kneading is not sticky. Cover, and let rise in a warm room until double in bulk; cut down, knead well, and shape into loaves; cover, let rise until double in bulk, and bake in a hot oven about fifty minutes. To h

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BAKING POWDER BREADS, MUFFINS, AND BISCUIT[10]

Mix and sift thoroughly four times, and store in closely covered jars. Sift dry ingredients together, and mix well with milk; turn into a greased bread tin, let stand fifteen minutes, and bake in a moderate oven fifty minutes. Raisins, dates, figs, or nuts may be added. Sift flour, salt, soda, and baking powder, and add to bran; add molasses and liquid, and beat well; turn into a greased bread pan; let stand fifteen minutes, and bake in a moderate oven one hour. Mix and sift dry ingredients; add

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WITHOUT BAKING POWDER OR YEAST

Sift flour and salt; beat egg very light, and mix with milk; mix gradually with flour; add melted butter, and beat two minutes with a strong egg beater; pour into hot greased popover cups or pans, and bake in a hot oven twenty to thirty minutes, according to size of pans. The mixture should be very cold, and the pans and oven very hot. Follow directions for mixing and baking Popovers (see No. 436). Follow recipe for Entire Wheat Popovers (see No. 437), except that Graham flour should be used in

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SHORTCAKES AND ROULETTES

Mix and sift flour, baking powder, and salt; rub in shortening with finger tips; add milk, and mix well with a knife. Spread in two greased layer-cake pans, patting with the back of a tablespoon until pans are evenly filled. Bake in a hot oven twelve minutes. If individual shortcakes are preferred, roll, cut with a biscuit cutter, and bake quickly about fifteen minutes; split, and put filling between and on top. Core and slice apples, add cranberries and water; cook ten minutes, and press throug

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SANDWICHES AND TOASTS

Press cold baked beans through a sieve; spread bread with butter, cover with a lettuce leaf, cover lettuce with beans, and sprinkle beans with chopped mustard pickle. Cover with a second piece of buttered bread. Brown bread or any dark bread may be used. Put celery and egg through the food chopper, using finest cutter; add mayonnaise, and salt if necessary; spread between thin slices of buttered brown bread. Mix equal parts of grated American cheese and chopped nut meats; season with salt and ca

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GRIDDLE CAKES, WAFFLES, AND SIRUPS

Mix and sift dry ingredients; add egg well beaten, shortening, and liquid; beat well, and cook on a hot griddle. The cakes should be small and should be served very hot with butter and sirup. Mix and sift dry ingredients, add milk and egg, and beat well; cook the same as Plain Griddle Cakes (see No. 476). Mix in order given, beat well, and cook on a hot, greased griddle. If all of the batter is not needed at once, cover what is left, and keep in a cold place; add one-half teaspoon of baking powd

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CAKES AND COOKIES[11]

Mix in order given, sifting dry ingredients together, beat well, pour into a deep pan, and bake about one hour in a slow oven. Mix sugar, shortening, water, raisins, and salt; boil five minutes; cool, and add spices, soda, and flour sifted together; beat well; pour into a greased, paper-lined bread pan, and bake in a slow oven one hour. Mix in order given, and beat vigorously for three or four minutes; bake in two layer-cake pans in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes; when partly cool sprea

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ICINGS AND FILLINGS

Boil water and sugar to 240° F., or until the sirup forms soft ball when tried in cold water; add cream of tartar and vanilla, and pour slowly upon the stiffly beaten white of egg, beating constantly until thick enough to spread without running. For caramel flavor melt one-third of the sugar first. Put ingredients in saucepan, and boil to 240° F., or until a soft ball can be formed when tested in cold water. Beat until creamy, and spread while warm. Chopped nut meats may be added. Melt chocolate

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HOT DESSERTS

Use recipe for Baking Powder Biscuit (see No. 424); roll dough very thin, brush with melted butter, and spread with one cup of chopped apple, mixed with one-fourth cup of sugar, and one teaspoon of cinnamon; roll firmly like a jelly roll, cut in three-fourths-inch slices, place in buttered pan, and bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes. Serve with hot liquid sauce. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; add egg well beaten, milk, and shortening; beat well, and spread in a greased pan,

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COLD DESSERTS

Force bananas and jelly through potato ricer or a sieve, add sugar, and heap on French toast or sponge cake. Or line individual glasses with lady fingers and fill with banana mixture. Peel and scrape bananas, force through a sieve; add grape juice, sugar, and stiffly beaten whites of eggs; pile lightly in individual glass dishes, garnish with bits of jelly, and serve at once. All materials should be very cold. Soak gelatine in grape juice five minutes; dissolve in boiling water, add lemon juice

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FROZEN DESSERTS

Use one measure of freezing salt to three measures of finely cracked ice for ice cream, sherbet, and all mixtures which are to be churned. Freeze slowly, remove dasher, pack solidly, add fresh salt and ice, and let stand for an hour before serving. To freeze mousse, bombe, and all unchurned mixtures, pack in equal parts of salt and ice, and let stand three hours. Scald milk; beat eggs slightly, add sugar mixed with cornstarch, and stir into milk; cook over hot water for twelve minutes, stirring

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SAUCES FOR DESSERTS

Melt one cup of sugar in a smooth, clean saucepan, add three-fourths cup of boiling water, and simmer fifteen minutes. Take care that sugar does not burn. Strong coffee may be used instead of water, and, if desired, one-half cup of chopped nut meats may be added. Cook sugar, one-third cup water, salt, and chocolate until sirup threads; remove from fire, add two teaspoons water, butter, and vanilla. Melt chocolate; add butter, flour, salt, sugar, and mix well; add water and boil two minutes; add

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PASTRIES

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder; rub in shortening with finger tips until mixture is like fine meal; add water gradually until a soft but not sticky dough is formed, mixing with a knife; when dough is mixed, the side of the bowl should be clean, neither sticky nor dry with flour. Slightly more or less water may be needed. Roll paste, on a lightly floured board, into an even rectangular shape; divide butter into three parts; cover two-thirds of paste with dots of butter, using one part; fold

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FRUITS, COOKED AND UNCOOKED[13]

Wash thoroughly in two or three cold waters; put in granite kettle, cover with water, and soak twenty-four hours; cook very slowly two or three hours until tender; add sugar, and simmer half an hour. Wipe and core apples, and place in baking dish (not tin); in each cavity put a stoned date, a tablespoon of sugar, and two tablespoons of boiling water; bake in a moderate oven about half an hour, basting often. Apple jelly may be used in place of dates, or sugar may be mixed with a little cinnamon

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CANDIES

Put sugar in a smooth, clean saucepan, add boiling water, and stir until dissolved; heat slowly to boiling point, add cream of tartar, and boil without stirring to 240° F., or until sirup will form a soft ball when tested in cold water. As sirup granulates around the sides of saucepan, wash down with a clean brush which has been dipped quickly into cold water; pour out upon a slightly oiled slab or large platter; as the edges begin to harden, turn them toward the center, and when the mixture is

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D.—TABLE OF CALORIC VALUES OF AVERAGE PORTIONS OF FOOD.

The following table gives the approximate number of calories and the approximate percentage of protein, fat, and carbohydrate in an average portion of food. [15] Unless otherwise stated an egg, orange, potato, etc., means one of average size....

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E.—APPROXIMATE CALORIC VALUE OF RAW FOOD MATERIALS AND THE APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF PROTEIN, FAT, AND CARBOHYDRATE.

By means of this table the fuel value of nearly all recipes may be computed. [19]...

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