Part 1
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Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
A row of three small leaves has been used to separate some sections. These are indicted by [Leaf].
A FRIEND IN THE KITCHEN
Or What to Cook and How to Cook It
Containing About 400 Choice Recipes Carefully Tested Together with Plain Directions on Healthful Cookery; How to Can Fruit; A Week’s Menu; Proper Food Combinations; Rules for Dyspeptics; Food for Infants; Simple Dishes for the Sick; Wholesome Drinks; Useful Tables on Nutritive Values of Foods; Time Required to Digest Foods; Weights and Measures for the Kitchen; etc.
by
MRS. ANNA L. COLCORD
Sixteenth Edition, 160th Thousand
“_There is religion in a good loaf of bread._” “_Bad Cooking diminishes happiness and shortens life._”
Review and Herald Publishing Association Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C.
Copyrighted 1899, 1908 by the Author. All rights reserved.
INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS
PAGE
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD COOKING 4
SOUPS 7
CEREALS 13
TOASTS 18
BREADS 21
FRUITS 35
VEGETABLES 47
SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 58
SUBSTITUTES FOR MEATS 60
EGGS 66
OMELETS 68
PUDDINGS 69
CUSTARDS AND CREAMS 75
SAUCES 77
PIES 80
CAKES 86
WHOLESOME DRINKS 91
SPECIALLY PREPARED HEALTH FOODS 94
SIMPLE DISHES FOR THE SICK 98
FOOD FOR INFANTS 101
MISCELLANEOUS 102
A WEEK’S MENU 105
SABBATH DINNERS 106
FOOD COMBINATIONS 107
TIME REQUIRED TO DIGEST VARIOUS FOODS 107
NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FOODS 108
HOW TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN 109
RULES FOR DYSPEPTICS 110
THE PULSE IN HEALTH 111
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES FOR THE KITCHEN 111
HOUSEHOLD HINTS 111
THE ART OF ARTS
Some maids are gifted with the art Of painting like the masters; To dullest canvas they impart The freshness of the pastures.
While others, with their ready pen, Find hours of busy pleasure In polished prose, or then, again, In light poetic measure.
Another, like a woodland bird, May set the sad world ringing With carols sweet as ever heard; Here is the art of singing.
But there’s a maid and there’s an art To which the world is looking,— The nearest art unto the heart,— The good old art of cooking. —_Selected._
PRACTICAL ’OLOGIES
DAUGHTER.—“Yes, I’ve graduated, but now I must inform myself in psychology, philology, bibli—“ PRACTICAL MOTHER.—“Stop right where you are: I have arranged for you a thorough course in ‘roastology,’ ‘boilology,’ ‘stitchology,’ ‘darnology,’ ‘patchology,’ and general domestic ‘hustleology.’ Now get on your working clothes.”—_Detroit Free Press._
A little girl who, when having her Scripture lesson, was asked by her sister Ruth, “Why did God make Eve?” replied, “To cook for Adam, o‘ course.”—_Christian World._
There are some tombstones upon which the inscription might very properly be written, “He died a victim to poor cooking.”
Preface
The object of this work is to furnish in an inexpensive and convenient form, plain directions on healthful cookery. Special attention has been given to the idea of presenting such recipes as will tend to make the living of the family what it should be,—simple, economical, wholesome, nutritious, palatable, and varied.
The housewife is often perplexed to know just what to cook; but if she has at hand something which will suggest to her what she desires but can not think of, she has that which is indeed a friend.
The author has tried to make the work sufficiently comprehensive to answer the demands of an ordinary household.
The recipes for the preparation of grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables occupy a large portion of the work. Cream is mentioned in a number of the recipes, but while its use is to be preferred instead of butter, especially if sterilized, substitutes have generally been suggested where it is not at hand or available.
Pains have been taken to make the recipes plain and explicit, and yet as brief as possible consistent with these ends. The amount of the various ingredients required has generally been indicated by measure, rather than by weight, as this is usually more convenient and time-saving.
It is hoped that this little work will be found to be a real friend in the kitchen. That it may be such, and that it may prove a blessing to thousands in many lands, is the sincere wish of— THE AUTHOR.
A FRIEND IN THE KITCHEN Or What to Cook and How to Cook It
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD COOKING
Healthful cookery is not receiving the attention which its importance demands. Although we are living at a time when eating and drinking are carried to excess, and when elaborate bills of fare are frequently placed before us, yet plain, simple, and healthful cookery occupies but a comparatively small place in the culinary world to-day.
Good food is of primary importance. We live upon what we eat. It is not sufficient, however, merely to select good food. To be well digested and thoroughly assimilated the food must be properly prepared. The best food may be spoiled in cooking. The kind of food upon which we live, and the manner in which it is prepared, determines largely our physical well-being, and consequently much of our happiness or misery in this life.
“For love, nor honor, wealth, nor power, Can give the heart a cheerful hour When health is lost. Be timely wise; With health all taste of pleasure flies.”
Moreover, the mind is affected by the condition of the body, and the morals by the state of the mind. As, therefore, cooking determines to a large degree the condition of the body, it must also affect to a considerable extent our moral and spiritual welfare. It is not too much to say, therefore, that there is religion in good cooking.
It has been truly said that “the cook fills an important place in the household. She is preparing food to be taken into the stomach, to form brain, bone, and muscle. The health of all the members of the family depends largely upon her skill and intelligence.” As the lives of those on a steamship are in the hands of the helmsman, so the lives and the health of the members of the family are, to a great degree, in the hands of the one who prepares their meals.
Thousands are dying annually as the result of poor cooking. Food poorly prepared is not nutritious, and can not, therefore, make good blood.
Some may say they have no natural ability to cook; but any one having ordinary intelligence, with a little effort, care, and proper directions, can learn to cook well. And surely the health of the family ought to be of sufficient importance to inspire every mother with ambition to learn how to cook.
Mothers should also teach their daughters the mysteries of good cooking. They should show them that this is an essential part of their education,—more essential than the study of music, fancy work, the dead languages, or the sciences. The knowledge of these latter without the knowledge of how to care for the body and provide it with suitable nourishment, is of little worth. Meredith hit upon a great truth when he said:—
“We may live without music, poetry, and art; We may live without conscience, and live without heart, We may live without friends; we may live without books; But civilized man can not live without cooks.”
No young woman should contemplate marriage until she has first acquired a practical knowledge of simple cookery, for this is essential, whether she expects to do the cooking herself, or supervise the maid. Although bread is the staff of life, it is a sad fact that a large proportion of the daughters of the present generation do not know how to make a good loaf of bread. They have not been instructed in the useful art of cookery, so that when they have families of their own they can provide for their tables a well-cooked dinner, prepared with nicety, so that they would not blush to place it before their most esteemed friends.
There has never been an age so noted for dyspeptics as the present, and there was perhaps never before a time when there was a greater scarcity of good cooks.
“Though we boast of modern progress as aloft we proudly soar Above untutored cannibals whose habits we deplore, Yet in our daily papers any day you chance to look You may find this advertisement: ‘Wanted—A Girl to Cook.’”
Good cooking does not consist in the preparation of highly seasoned foods to pamper a perverted appetite, but in cooking with simplicity, variety, and skill natural foods in a palatable and wholesome manner. To assist in this direction is the object of this little work.
But no workman can work without materials and tools. The necessary materials for cooking are indicated in the recipes given in this book. Illustrations of many of the most necessary and useful cooking utensils will be found scattered throughout the work.
A very convenient and easily constructed wall rack, which may be placed over the kitchen work table, is shown in the following cut:
SOUPS
O hour of all hours, the most pleasant on earth, Happy hour of our dinners!—_Meredith._
Soup rejoices the stomach, and disposes it to receive and digest other food.—_Brillat Savarin._
It is important that we relish the food we eat.—_Christian Temperance._
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Soup is easily prepared, economical, and when made from healthful materials, is a very wholesome article of diet. It adds much to the elegance and relish of a dinner, and, if taken in small quantities, is a good means of preparing the whole system to assimilate a hearty meal.
Soups afford an excellent opportunity for using left-over foods which might otherwise be wasted. A combination of vegetables left over from the previous day, such as a cupful of mashed potatoes, some stewed peas, beans, or lentils, a few spoonfuls of boiled rice, stewed tomatoes, or other bits of vegetables or grains, if in good order, make a very palatable and nourishing soup. The vegetables should be put all together in a saucepan with enough water to cover them, let simmer for an hour or two, then rubbed through a colander, and returned to the saucepan with sufficient water added to make the soup of proper consistency, reheated, seasoned, and served.
For seasoning soup, a few spoonfuls of cream, or a little butter or nut butter may be used, though, if properly made, it is quite relishable without.
We wish all our readers success with the following simple but delicious kinds.
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BEAN SOUP
For two quarts of soup soak one pint of beans overnight. In the morning drain, and put to cook in cold water, adding one-third cup of well-washed rice if desired; boil slowly for about two hours. When done, rub through a colander, thin with boiling water, and season with a little butter and salt.
POTATO SOUP
Pare and slice three medium-sized potatoes, and put to cook with a tablespoonful of chopped onion, or stalk of celery chopped fine, in sufficient water to cover. If celery is not at hand, one-half teaspoonful of celery salt may be used instead. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan over the fire, then add two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir well, and cook one minute; then add gradually one quart of milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Simmer for ten minutes. As soon as the potatoes are done, and the water nearly absorbed, rub, without draining, through a colander, and add them to the hot, thickened milk. Season with salt, and serve.
GREEN PEA SOUP
Add to a quart of green peas a teaspoonful of sugar and enough water to cover; cook gently until tender, and the water quite absorbed. Then rub through a colander, add a quart of milk, salt to taste, and return to the fire. Heat to boiling, then add a spoonful of flour, mixed smooth with a little butter, then to a thin paste with a little of the soup. Simmer for a few minutes, and serve with croutons. If desired, a little onion or celery may be added for seasoning during the last few minutes of cooking, and then be removed.
SPLIT PEA SOUP
Wash one cupful of dried, split peas, and soak for several hours, or overnight, in cold water. Then put to cook in three pints of cold water, and boil slowly until thoroughly dissolved, adding more water occasionally to keep the quantity good. Stir up frequently from the bottom of the kettle. Rub through a colander; add water or rich milk to make the proper consistency, and return to the fire. Brown slightly one tablespoonful of flour in a tablespoonful of butter or cooking oil, then thin it with a few spoonfuls of the hot soup; stir this into the boiling soup, with salt to taste; simmer for ten minutes, and serve. An onion chopped fine and browned with the flour may be used for seasoning; also a cupful of tomatoes may be cooked with the peas before straining, if desired.
SPLIT PEA AND VERMICELLI SOUP
Make the soup as above. Cook one-half cup of vermicelli in a cupful of boiling water for ten minutes and add to the soup.
TOMATO SOUP
Put a quart can of tomatoes in a porcelain stewpan, add a pint of water, and stew until well done. Brown lightly in a frying-pan a tablespoonful of finely chopped onion in a tablespoonful of butter or cooking oil; then mix in a tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch; thin this with a little of the soup, and then stir it into the soup. Simmer for ten minutes, run through a colander, reheat, add salt to taste, and serve hot with croutons.
CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP
Take two cupfuls of canned or fresh tomatoes, add a cupful of water, one teaspoonful of minced onion, and, if desired, a little chopped celery; stew till tender, then rub through a colander. Heat one quart of milk to boiling. Have mixed smooth one tablespoonful of butter and one level tablespoonful of flour, then thin with a little of the hot milk. Stir this into the milk as soon as it starts to boil, and cook for several minutes, adding salt to taste. Then add the tomatoes. Do not cook or let stand after the tomatoes are added, but serve at once.
LENTIL SOUP
Cook one cupful of lentils, previously soaked an hour or two in about a quart of water, until tender. Rub through a colander; return to the fire, adding enough boiling water to make a quart in all, a small onion cut in slices, and salt to taste. When heated to boiling, thicken to the consistency of cream with browned flour. Season with a little butter or a few spoonfuls of sweet cream. If butter is used it should be mixed or braided with the flour, then thinned with enough of the soup so that it can be easily poured in. Simmer for ten minutes after adding the flour. Remove the onion before serving. The German or dark lentils are usually cheaper than the Egyptian or red lentils.
LENTIL AND TOMATO SOUP
Soak one cupful of lentils in cold water for a few hours, then cook in a quart of water until tender, with one small onion, three or four fresh tomatoes, or two cupfuls of stewed ones, and a tablespoonful of nut butter, if desired. Rub through a colander, add hot water to make three pints in all, reheat to boiling, and slightly thicken with a spoonful of browned flour mixed with a little cold water. Season with a small lump of butter or a few spoonfuls of cream.
TOMATO AND MACARONI SOUP
Drop a cupful of macaroni broken into small pieces into three or four cupfuls of boiling, slightly salted, water; boil from thirty to sixty minutes, or until tender, the length of time required depending upon whether the macaroni is fresh or stale. Have stewing one quart of fresh or canned tomatoes, and when done, rub through a colander; drain the macaroni, and add it to the tomatoes, with hot water to make about three pints in all. Reheat, season with salt and a little butter, and, after removing from the fire, add a few spoonfuls of sweet cream if convenient. Serve as soon as the cream is added.
RICE SOUP
Wash one-third cup of rice and put to cook in about three cupfuls of water, adding a little salt; cook until tender. Then add one quart of milk, and salt to taste; reheat to boiling. Have ready a tablespoonful of butter mixed smooth with a tablespoonful of flour, then made thin with a little of the hot milk; pour this into the soup and simmer for ten minutes. Celery may be added for flavoring if desired. Also, if desired richer, a beaten yolk of egg, first mixed with a few spoonfuls of the hot soup to prevent coagulating, may be added to the soup a few minutes before serving.
SAGO PEA SOUP
Wash, soak, and cook one cupful of split peas in plenty of water until tender; rub through a colander, return to the fire, adding enough hot water to make three pints in all, and a few slices of onion. Wash three tablespoonfuls of sago in warm water, and stir gradually into the soup; simmer for a half-hour, or until well dissolved. Remove the onion, and season with salt. Add a few spoonfuls of thin cream or rich milk to the beaten yolk of an egg, and stir into the soup a few minutes before serving.
SAGO FRUIT SOUP (SUMMER)
Soak one-half cup of sago for an hour in a cup of cold water; then add a quart of hot water, and simmer until transparent. In the meantime cook together one cup of prunes and one-half cup of raisins in a small quantity of water. When the sago is transparent, add the fruit, together with one-half cup of currant, plum, or some other tart fruit juice, and one-half cup of sugar. This will make three pints of soup. Serve hot with croutons.
Instead of the above, rice with dried apricots, and prune or currant juice may be used.
VEGETABLE SOUP (SUMMER)
Take a cupful each of chopped turnips, carrots, cauliflower or cabbage, several young onions cut fine, one cupful of green peas, one tablespoonful parsley or bay leaves for flavoring, and stew together in a stewpan with water to cover for six or eight minutes; then drain, cover with fresh boiling water, and stew slowly until tender, and the water nearly absorbed. Strain through a colander. Add enough hot rich milk or cream to make quite thin, salt to taste, reheat, and serve.
VEGETABLE SOUP (WINTER)
Put two tablespoonfuls of butter into a stewpan or soup kettle, add one onion chopped fine, and brown nicely; stir frequently to prevent burning. To this add a tablespoonful of flour, mix thoroughly, then pour in slowly a pint of hot water, stirring to keep smooth. Add to this one-half cupful each of chopped carrots, turnips, and celery, one cupful of tomatoes, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of chopped or powdered parsley, bay leaves or thyme, and a slice of bread toasted very brown. Boil two potatoes for ten minutes, drain, and add them to the soup. Simmer all till well done, run through a colander, add hot water to make of proper consistency, a little more salt if desired, and serve hot.
VEGETABLE SOUP STOCK
Put into a kettle one quart of tomatoes, three pints of water, and place over the fire; add one onion, one or two pared potatoes, and one carrot, all finely chopped, one teaspoonful of celery salt, two bay leaves, and cook slowly for one hour. Run through a colander, and add salt to taste. Add to this cooked macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, corn, or rice.
BARLEY SOUP
Cook a cupful of pearl barley in three pints of water for several hours, adding water as needed to keep the quantity good. When done, add salt and a little cream, or the beaten yolk of an egg.
NOODLE SOUP
Beat the yolks of two eggs thoroughly, then add one cup of sifted flour, and knead well for five or ten minutes; divide into four parts, roll each part nearly as thin as a knife blade, and place on a clean cloth near the fire to dry. When dried sufficiently so that they will not stick together when rolled up, or be so dry as to be brittle, roll each piece up into a roll, and with a sharp knife cut or shave crosswise into very narrow slices, about one-twelfth of an inch in width. Shake out well, and let dry thoroughly. Then drop into hot salted water, and boil twenty minutes; drain off the water well, add a quart of milk, salt to taste, reheat, and serve. Noodles may be added to other soups instead of macaroni.
ASPARAGUS SOUP
Take two bundles of fresh, tender asparagus, wash, cut into short lengths, and put to cook in a quart of hot water. Let cook slowly till tender, and the water reduced one-half; rub through a colander, add three cups of milk, a spoonful or two of cream, and salt to taste. Let heat to boiling, and serve with croutons. A half cup of well-cooked rice may be stirred into the soup before serving if desired.
FOUNDATION FOR CREAM OF VEGETABLE SOUPS
Rub one tablespoonful each of butter and flour to a cream, then slowly pour into it one quart of boiling milk, stirring well. Allow to thicken, add salt to taste, and the seasoning and ingredients, as canned corn, peas, celery, asparagus, salsify, etc., desired for the soup. To make the soup richer, a beaten egg, or a few spoonfuls of cream may be put into the tureen before turning in the soup.
CROUTONS FOR SOUP
Cut bread into small cubes from one-half inch to an inch square, and brown in a moderate oven. A spoonful or two of the croutons may be placed in each plate, and the hot soup turned over them, or placed in a dish on the table for use as desired.
BROWNED FLOUR FOR SOUPS
Spread a small quantity of flour on shallow tins, and brown lightly in a moderately hot oven; stir often enough to prevent any part from scorching. A quantity may be prepared and put away in covered jars for use.
SEASONING FOR SOUPS
Ground nuts with herbs, dried and powdered nicely, flavor and enrich vegetable soups, gravies, and sauces.
HERBS FOR SOUPS
Herbs, such as bay leaves, parsley, thyme, etc., are valuable for flavoring soups, savories, and gravies. They can be obtained at a druggists, and a few cents’ worth will last a long time.
CEREALS
“O stay me with rice and with porridge O comfort me sweetly with grits! Baked beans give me plenty of courage, And cracked wheat enlivens my wits.”
No one should adopt an impoverished diet.
Bring me my breakfast—oatmeal and boiled eggs.—_A. T. Stewart, the millionaire._
Carlyle, catching a glimpse of Macaulay’s face, once remarked, “Well, any one can see that you are an honest, good sort of a fellow, made out of oatmeal.”
Dr. Johnson, who entertained a great dislike for the Scots, and lost no opportunity of saying bitter things against them, once defined oats as “in Scotland food for Scotchmen; but in England, food for horses.” He was well answered by the indignant Scotchman, who replied, “Yes, and where can you find such men as in Scotland, or such horses as in England?”
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