1. Sh.e.l.ls made with No. 5.
2. b.a.l.l.s made with No. 7.
3. Small pats made with No. 6.
4. Rolls made with No. 7.]
=TO MAKE WHITE HARD SOAP=
Save every sc.r.a.p of fat each day; try out all that has acc.u.mulated, however small the quant.i.ty. This is done by placing the sc.r.a.ps in a frying-pan on the back of the range. If the heat is low, and the grease is not allowed to get hot enough to smoke or burn, there will be no odor from it. Turn the melted grease into lard-pails and keep them covered.
When six pounds of fat have been obtained, turn it into a dish-pan; add a generous amount of hot water, and stand it on the range until the grease is entirely melted. Stir it well together; then stand it aside to cool. This is clarifying the grease. The clean grease will rise to the top, and when it has cooled can be taken off in a cake, and such impurities as have not settled in the water, can be sc.r.a.ped off the bottom of the cake of fat.
Put the clean grease into the dish-pan and melt it. Put a can of Babbitt"s lye in a lard-pail; add to it a quart of cold water, and stir it with a stick or wooden spoon until it is dissolved. It will get hot when the water is added; let it stand until it cools. Remove the melted grease from the fire, and pour in the lye slowly, stirring all the time.
Add two tablespoonfuls of ammonia. Stir the mixture constantly for twenty minutes or half an hour, or until the soap begins to set.
Let it stand until perfectly hard; then cut it into square cakes. This makes a very good, white hard soap which will float on water. It is very little trouble to make, and will be found quite an economy in a household. Six pounds of grease make eight and a half pounds of soap.
=FLOOR POLISH=
4 ounces of beeswax.
1 quart of turpentine.
Piece of resin size of hickory nut.
Cut up the beeswax and pound the resin. Melt them together. Take them from the fire and stir in a quart of turpentine. Rub very little on the floor with a piece of flannel; then polish with a dry flannel and a brush.
CHAPTER X
EGGS
There is a best way of doing everything, even if it be to boil an egg.--_Emerson._
The variety of purposes which eggs serve, the many ways of cooking them, their value as a highly concentrated, nutritious, and easily-digested food, make them one of the most useful articles of food. To have them fresh and rightly cooked is within the power of the simplest household. They hold the princ.i.p.al place as a breakfast dish, and although the original methods of cooking them may be limited to boiling, baking, poaching, etc., each one of these can be varied in an indefinite number of ways, giving a menu of eggs unlimited in extent, and thus securing always a new way of presenting them, if desired. Urbain Dubois has recently published a book giving 300 ways of preparing eggs. The varieties are attained mostly by the sauces and garnishings. It is not generally understood that sauces can be served with poached, hard-boiled, and scrambled eggs, and also with omelets.
[Sidenote: To judge of freshness and how to preserve eggs.]
[Sidenote: How to pack.]
A fresh egg should feel heavy, sink in water, and when held to a bright light, show a clear round yolk. If old, a part of the substance will have evaporated through the pores of the sh.e.l.l, leaving a s.p.a.ce filled with air, which will cause it to float on water. It will also contain dark specks. To preserve eggs it is necessary to stop the pores of the sh.e.l.ls with a coating of fat or gum or wax. This will prevent the air from entering and decomposing the nitrogenous elements of the egg. They should be packed standing on the small end, and kept in a cool, dark place. Another way of preserving them is to immerse them in a saturated solution of lime.
=BOILED EGGS=
Soft-boiled eggs should have the alb.u.men creamy, not hard. To obtain this, slow heat is required. Hence receipt No. 1 is recommended. No. 2 gives a soft egg, but the time is difficult to determine exactly. No. 3 gives satisfactory results. To have eggs hard boil them for twenty-five minutes. The yolks will then be dry and mealy. When done, place them in cold water for fifteen minutes. Then roll them lightly on the table to crush the sh.e.l.ls, which can then be peeled off easily, leaving the surface smooth and white. Use a sharp, thin knife for cutting them so the pieces will be clean and smooth.
=No. 1=
Place the eggs in warm water to heat the sh.e.l.ls so they will not crack when put into boiling water. Let the water in the saucepan boil violently; put in the eggs carefully, and when the water again bubbles, remove it from the fire; cover and let the eggs remain in it for five minutes.
=No. 2=
Put the eggs into boiling water and cook for three minutes, the water boiling all the time.
=No. 3=
Place the eggs in cold water on the fire, and remove as soon as the water boils.
=POACHED EGGS, No. 1=
The white of a poached egg should be a white, translucent, jelly-like ma.s.s. To obtain this result, which makes it an easily digested food, it must cook very slowly, the water never reaching the boiling-point. Place in a shallow pan as many m.u.f.fin-rings as you have eggs to poach. Turn in enough boiling water to just cover the rings; add a little salt. When the water boils, draw the pan to the side of the range, and break an egg into each ring. It should take at least ten to fifteen minutes to cook the eggs to the translucent state desired. Have ready even pieces of toast one half inch thick, cut into rounds a trifle larger than the m.u.f.fin-rings. Moisten them with hot water, and spread with a little b.u.t.ter. Remove the eggs carefully on a skimmer or pancake turner, and place one on each round of toast; then lift off carefully the rings, and place a spot of pepper in the center of each yolk. Arrange them symmetrically on a dish, and garnish with parsley.
=FRENCH POACHED EGGS, No. 2=
These eggs, when properly cooked, are in the shape of b.a.l.l.s, and are used for fancy egg-dishes. Have in a deep saucepan a generous amount of water; add a little salt and vinegar; the salt to raise the heat of the water, the vinegar to harden the white of the egg. When the water is violently boiling, crack the sh.e.l.l of the egg, and holding it close to the water, drop the contents quickly on the point of greatest ebullition. The egg should drop all at once, not drain into the water.
The ma.s.s will then be whole, and the violently agitated water will toss it about, giving it a round form. When sufficiently firm to hold, remove with a skimmer and place carefully on the bottom of an inverted tin to drain. Poach but one egg at a time, and remove it before the yolk hardens.
=POACHED EGG, No. 3=
Add a dash of salt to the white of an egg and whip it to a froth. Place this in a deep saucer or cup, and place in the center the whole unbroken yolk. Set the dish in a pan of boiling water; cover and let cook for two minutes. This is a good way to serve an egg to an invalid.
[Ill.u.s.tration: POACHED EGG. NO. 3. (SEE PAGE 263.)]
=FRIED EGGS=
Place a little b.u.t.ter in a very clean frying-pan. When it bubbles, turn in the eggs, one at a time, and keep the pan where the heat is not sufficient to blacken the b.u.t.ter. If the eggs are wanted hard, turn and fry them on both sides like a pancake.
=SCRAMBLED EGGS=
Beat the eggs lightly with a fork, just enough to break them. To four eggs add two tablespoonfuls of milk, one half teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of pepper. Put into a very clean frying-pan one half tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter. When it begins to bubble, turn in the eggs, and stir them constantly over a slow fire until they begin to set; then remove them from the fire and continue to stir until they are of the right consistency. The heat of the pan will be sufficient to finish the cooking, and there will not be danger of their being overcooked. They should be firm only, not hard. If the pan is perfectly clean, and the b.u.t.ter is not allowed to burn, they will have a bright clean color.
Scrambled eggs may be varied the same as omelets, by mixing with them any other thing desired. The extra material should be added when the pan is taken from the fire, and stirred with the egg until it has finished cooking. A teaspoonful of parsley, chopped fine, gives a good flavor and simple change. A little puree of tomatoes added makes a good combination. With minced chicken, veal, ham, fried bacon, mushrooms, or sweetbreads, it makes a good luncheon dish. Any pieces left over will serve the purpose, as very little is required. Garnish the dish with croutons and parsley.
=PLAIN FRENCH OMELET=
An omelet is the most difficult to prepare of any egg dish. It requires some practice to give it the right shape (which is high in the center and pointed at the ends), to have it soft inside, to give it a smooth, slightly browned surface, a texture like scrambled eggs, and to have everything perfect. The first essential is to have a perfectly clean and smooth pan. It is difficult to make a smooth omelet in a pan used for other purposes; so it is well to have one kept for this use alone. The French do not wash the omelet-pan, but scour it smooth with salt and vinegar when it sticks, and at other times rub it clean with a dry cloth. Before using the pan scour it well with dry salt to give it extra smoothness.
It is better to make several small omelets than one large one, using not more than three or four eggs for each one. Beat the eggs just enough to break them. The rule is twelve beats. To three eggs add a half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, and a half teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter broken into small bits. A teaspoonful of milk may be used or not. Have the pan evenly heated and hot, but not scorching. Put in a half teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter and let it run evenly over the pan, but not brown; turn in the eggs. With a knife or fork break the cooked surface in several places quickly, so the egg from the top may run to the bottom and cook, or press the egg away from the sides, letting the uncooked part run under. This must be done in the beginning so as not to make the surface uneven. When the egg is cooked, but yet quite soft on the top, lift the pan on one side, slip the knife under, and carefully roll the omelet to the center. Let it cook a moment to set any egg that has run out, and if the color is not right add a little b.u.t.ter, and let it run under and slightly color the omelet. Place a hot dish over the pan and turn them together so the omelet will fall in the right place; press it into good shape, doubling it under on the ends if necessary. Garnish with parsley and serve at once. Have everything ready before beginning to cook an omelet, as it will not bear being kept while the dish is heated, and the garnishing found.