Part 11

6 lbs. codfish 12 qts. water 1¹⁄₂ cups butter 2 doz. eggs 3 cups milk ³⁄₄ teaspoon pepper

Cook it as directed for Creamed Salt Codfish, No. 2 on page 84.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Codfish Balls

2 qts. raw, salt codfish, in small pieces 4 qts. potatoes, in 1-inch pieces About 12 qts. cold water 8 eggs ¹⁄₄ cup butter 1 teaspoon pepper

Cook it as directed on page 85.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Pot Roast

12 lbs. beef from round or rump 1¹⁄₂ oz. beef drippings (3 tablespoons) Flour 1 tablespoon salt ¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper 1 cup carrot 1 cup turnip 1 cup onion 1 cup celery 4 bay leaves 3 qts. water

Have the butcher bone and roll the meat, if it is from the rump. Wipe it with a damp cloth, dredge it with flour and brown it on all sides in the drippings. Wash, pare, and cut the vegetables into pieces. Put all the ingredients with the hot, browned meat, into a cooker-pail, add the water, boiling hot, let it boil for thirty minutes and put it into a cooker for nine hours or more. Before serving bring the meat to a boil, remove it, put it in a warm place, and make three quarts of brown sauce. Strain the liquor in the pail and use it for the sauce. If there is fat on the top of the liquor remove it and use it in making the sauce.

Serves fifty persons.

Brown Sauce

¹⁄₂ cup butter or fat ³⁄₄ cup flour 2 teaspoons salt ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper 1 qt. stock or water

Make it as directed on page 184.

Serves sixteen or twenty persons.

Beef à la Mode

12 lbs. round of beef ¹⁄₄ lb. fat salt pork Flour 3 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 cup sliced onion ¹⁄₂ teaspoon allspice ¹⁄₂ teaspoon grated nutmeg ¹⁄₂ teaspoon whole cloves ¹⁄₃ cup rendered beef fat About 3 qts. water

Cook it as directed on page 95, except that there need not be an outer pail of boiling water.

Serves fifty persons.

Irish Stew

5 lbs. clear meat 2¹⁄₂ qts. potatoes, in dice 2¹⁄₂ cups turnips, in dice 2¹⁄₂ cups carrots, sliced 1¹⁄₂ cups onions, sliced 2¹⁄₂ cups celery, in pieces 3 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 2¹⁄₂ cups flour ¹⁄₄ cup clear fat 4¹⁄₂ qts. water

Cook it as directed on page 100.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Beef Stew à la Mode

10 lbs. beef brisket Flour 1 cup rendered fat 1¹⁄₂ cups sliced onion ¹⁄₃ cup salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1 lemon, sliced Water to cover

Buy twenty-five or thirty pounds of brisket to get ten pounds of clear, lean meat. Cook it as directed on page 97.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Boiled Dinner

8 lbs. lean, salt pork ¹⁄₄ pk. turnips ¹⁄₃ pk. beets 1 qt. carrots 5 heads cabbage 1¹⁄₄ pks. potatoes 2 teaspoons pepper Water to cover

Cook it as directed on page 96.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Cannelon of Beef

6 lbs. lean meat, chopped Grated rind 1¹⁄₂ lemons ¹⁄₃ cup chopped parsley 1 doz. eggs 2 tablespoons grated onion ²⁄₃ cup clear fat or butter ³⁄₄ teaspoon nutmeg 3 tablespoons salt ³⁄₄ teaspoon pepper 1¹⁄₂ qts. soft breadcrumbs

Cook it as directed on page 101.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Okra Stew

6 lbs. clear, lean mutton ²⁄₃ cup clear beef fat 1¹⁄₂ cups flour 2 cups sliced onion 3 qts. tomatoes 3 qts. okra, in pieces 3 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper 3 qts. water

Cook it as directed on page 111.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Creamy Potatoes

1 pk. potatoes 4 qts. milk ¹⁄₃ cup salt 1 tablespoon pepper 1¹⁄₃ cups butter

One peck of potatoes will make about ten quarts when prepared for creamy potatoes. Melt the butter in the cooker-pail, add the milk, and, while it is heating, slice the potatoes which have been pared and soaked, for two hours or more, in cold water. As each quart of potatoes is sliced put it into the hot milk. The potatoes will thus be heated to boiling point, quart by quart. Add the seasoning. When boiling, after the last quart of potatoes has been added, put all into the cooker for one hour or more.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Veal Loaf

5 lbs. minced veal 10 eggs 1¹⁄₄ cups melted butter 5 cups soft breadcrumbs ³⁄₄ teaspoon pepper 2¹⁄₂ tablespoons salt ⁵⁄₈ cup chopped parsley ⁵⁄₈ cup chopped onion ¹⁄₄ lb. fat salt pork 2¹⁄₂ teaspoons ground sage

Cook it as directed on page 117.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Macaroni Italienne

2 qts. macaroni, in one-inch pieces 4 qts. stewed and strained tomatoes 2 qts. stock or water 8 medium-sized onions 32 cloves 4 large bay leaves 3 tablespoons salt ¹⁄₃ cup sugar 1 teaspoon pepper 2 qts. grated or shaved cheese

Cook it as directed on page 143.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Turkish Pilaf

1 qt. rice 8 green sweet peppers (2 cups) 3 qts. tomatoes 2¹⁄₂ tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons sugar 1¹⁄₂ qts. water ¹⁄₂ cup butter

Cook it as directed on page 149, without the lower pail of water.

Serves forty-five or fifty persons.

Pork and Beans

2 qts. dried beans 1 tablespoon soda 9 qts. water 3 tablespoons salt 2 lbs. salt pork 1 cup molasses 1 tablespoon mustard ³⁄₄ teaspoon pepper Water to half cover

Soak the beans, drain them, cook them for seven hours or more, as directed on page 141, with the nine quarts of water, soda, and salt. Drain them, add the other ingredients, and bake them till browned.

Serves forty-five or fifty persons.

Boston Brown Bread

2 qts. rye meal 2 qts. granulated cornmeal 2 qts. graham flour ¹⁄₃ cup soda ¹⁄₄ cup salt 1¹⁄₂ qts. molasses 4 qts. thick, sour milk, or 3¹⁄₂ qts. buttermilk

Mix and cook it as directed on page 155. Put it into seven or eight moulds.

Serves fifty persons.

Suet Pudding

3 cups chopped suet 3 cups molasses 3 cups thick, sour milk 2¹⁄₄ qts. flour 1¹⁄₂ tablespoons soda 1¹⁄₂ tablespoons salt 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons ginger 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons nutmeg ³⁄₄ teaspoon cloves 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix and cook it as directed on page 157. Put the pudding into six moulds. Serve it with a liquid sauce.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Rice Pudding

6 qts. milk 3 cups sugar 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1¹⁄₂ cups rice ³⁄₄ teaspoon salt ¹⁄₃ cup butter

Cook it as directed on page 162, except that the outer pail of water may be omitted. If served cold and not browned, omit the butter.

Serves thirty or thirty-five persons.

Indian Pudding

3 qts. water 4¹⁄₂ qts. milk (scalding hot) 1 qt. cornmeal 2 tablespoons salt ¹⁄₄ cup ginger 1¹⁄₂ qts. molasses

Mix the dry ingredients with one pint of the water, add them to the boiling water and molasses, add the milk. Let all come to a boil and put it into a cooker for ten hours or more. Put it into baking dishes and brown it, or serve it without browning, either plain or with cream.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

6 qts. milk 3 qts. soft breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon salt 2 cups sugar 18 eggs ³⁄₄ lb. chocolate 2 tablespoons vanilla

Cook it as directed on page 164, in three pudding pans, set over cooker-pails of water.

Serves forty or fifty persons.

Stewed Apples

15 qts. prepared apples ³⁄₄ teaspoon whole cloves 7 lbs. sugar 2 lemons 1¹⁄₂ qts. water

Cook them as directed on page 168.

Serves thirty-five to forty-five persons.

Apple Sauce

1 pk. sour apples 1¹⁄₂ qts. water 3 lbs. sugar

Cook it as directed on page 168.

Serves forty-five to fifty persons.

XXIII

THE INSULATED OVEN

Many women in these days will find it difficult to believe that it is possible to bake without the constant presence of fire, but our great-grandmothers were well aware that foods continued to cook in the brick ovens long after the fire in them had burned out or was raked out. The insulated oven represents an adaptation of old-fashioned ideas to new and modern conditions. Although we cannot go back to the days of brick ovens, superior as they were, in certain respects, to the portable range with its quickly fluctuating heat and great waste from radiation, yet the insulated oven will not be found impossible or very difficult to set up, and the adventurous woman will, perhaps, not be content until she has tried this development of the fireless cooker.

The advantages of an insulated oven lie in the even brown and thorough baking which it gives; the development and retention of flavours, which is greater than with ordinary baking; the economy in fuel where food requires long cooking; the absence of heat in the kitchen; and the possibility of baking where only a camp-fire is obtainable.

The principle is the same whether a portable oven is insulated or a cooker-pail is utilized. There must be hot stone slabs, iron plates, fire-brick, or some such heat-radiators, which can be made very hot and which will retain their heat well. Stones or fire-brick are preferable to iron in this respect. There must be insulation for the oven or utensil, and cooking will then proceed, although somewhat differently from the familiar method of baking with a fire.

TO INSULATE AN OVEN

Choose as small a portable oven as will hold the food to be cooked, since the larger the oven the larger or more numerous the stones must be to heat it. Very large stones are heavy and awkward to manage, and with their number the cost of using the oven increases. A portable oven is on the market which is about thirteen inches in each dimension. This is a good size for a family of four or five. Cut six pieces of heavy sheet asbestos, fitting one to each surface of the oven, except the door, and two to the bottom. One of the two pieces for the bottom is to go inside the oven. Place the asbestos so that it entirely covers the oven. These pieces may be tied on temporarily to hold them in place during packing. Select a box which is at least two or three inches larger in every dimension than the corresponding dimension of the oven. It should be fitted with cover and hasp just as any cooker. Lay it, while packing, with the cover opening upward. Pack in the bottom a sufficient layer of insulating material, such as is used for other cookers, to raise the oven to within a couple of inches of the top. Place the oven, lying upon its back, on this layer with the door uppermost, and opening in the same direction as the cover of the box. Pack on all sides around it till level with the door.

If desired, a facing may be made to cover the packing material, from a piece of cloth cut a few inches larger, in each direction, than the top of the box. Draw on it a square the size of the oven. In the centre of this cut a small hole to insert the blade of scissors. From this hole cut diagonally to the corners of the square. When the cloth is put in place over the packing the triangular flaps thus made may be tucked between the asbestos and the packing, while the edges of the cloth may be tucked between the packing and the sides of the box. Fit a cushion that will fill the space left at the top and nail it to the cover of the box. Face this with a piece of the sheet asbestos nailed into place. It will be well to reinforce the nail-heads with little rounds of tin, in order to prevent them from pushing through the soft asbestos. The box is then ready for use and should be stood up on end so that the cover will open like a door, and the oven will be right side up. The extra piece of asbestos may be laid in the bottom, the stones heated, and the food put in to cook.

_Method of using the oven._ Heat the slabs very gradually the first time that they are used. It will be best to put an asbestos mat or piece of the sheet asbestos between a hot gas flame and the stones for a few minutes, not turning the gas on full force for the first five minutes. After the first using it will be safe to heat the stones directly over the flame, providing it is not burning with full force for the first few minutes. The degree of heat in the stones will regulate the heat of the oven. For most baking, the centre of the top side of the stones should be about as hot as a flatiron for ironing. This will mean that the side toward the flame is very much hotter, perhaps red hot. Another and better test is the browning of a piece of white tissue paper laid on the centre of the stones when they are put on to heat. When this grows a shade darker than manila paper, or a golden brown, the stones are right for loaf cakes, pastry, apples, potatoes, beans, scalloped dishes, most puddings, and bread. For a hot oven the paper should be a rich brown. This is suitable for biscuits, small cakes, roasting meat, etc.

Although gas is the fuel here mentioned any other fuel will serve to heat the stones, provided a hot enough flame can be procured. The stones may, when warmed, be set directly on a hot coal or wood fire to complete the heating, and, for out-of-doors use, a crude fireplace might be built up of rough stones to support the soapstones or they may be buried directly in the hot coals. In such a case it will probably be necessary to have some device, perhaps ice-tongs, for removing the stones, as the metal handles might in time become burned off, bent, or weakened so as to be unsafe.

Small soapstone griddles or foot-warmers make excellent slabs for the home-made insulated oven. Griddles are on the market that are as small as twelve inches in diameter, and foot-warmers come in many sizes. Those measuring eight by ten inches will be about as large as most women can easily handle, since they are thicker than the griddles, and are very heavy for their size. It will not be difficult to get an extra handle fitted to these, which will make them less awkward to manage. For baking many loaves of bread and cake, and for foods to cook over night, or for many hours, more than two stones may be necessary to maintain enough heat.

The oven should not be opened during the baking, but if the food is not found to be cooked when it is opened, it may be quickly closed again, and left till the food is done. A succession of articles may be baked in an already heated oven by quickly removing the finished article and one or two stones to be reheated and tested, and slipped again into place. In this case the door of the oven should be instantly closed after removing anything from it. This method of baking a number of things in quick succession is very economical as a few minutes will reheat the already warm stones.

Lay one hot stone on the asbestos at the bottom of the oven with the hotter side down; put a wire oven shelf on this, and the food on the wire shelf. If the food will not rise higher than the top of the pan, a hot stone may be laid directly across the pan, but if this is not possible place the second wire shelf as close over the food as the cleats at the side of the oven will permit, and the stone on this shelf, also with the hot side down. In case more than one pan is to go in at once, and two stones will not supply enough heat, hot flatirons or stove lids may be used to supplement them. It is often convenient, when the oven is heated for baking one article, to put other things in to cook at the same time, even though they may not require browning. For instance: A chicken or roast may be cooking between two stones, while on top of the upper stone the giblets may be stewing in water, or some vegetables be boiling. It will be best in such cases to heat these foods till boiling before putting them in the oven, or they will cool it too much. Such foods, as do not require browning, will not need another stone on top. It may not be wise to put so much watery food in the oven when baking anything so critical as bread or loaves of cake, as it cools the oven to some extent.

No matter how carefully the directions are given and followed some experimentation will probably be required before a novice, or even an experienced cook, will feel at ease with this new method of cookery, since the conditions may be so variable. But there is no reason why a careful observation of results and their causes should not soon lead one to become mistress of her own insulated oven, and it is likely that she will then become sufficiently attached to it to justify her perseverance.

In case a cooker-pail is to be utilized for baking it will be well to surround it, on top, bottom, and sides, with the heavy sheet asbestos described for insulating the oven. A wire rack will be needed for separating the food from too direct contact with the hot stones, and some device, such, perhaps, as an inverted wire frying-basket for supporting the upper stone.

LIST OF ARTICLES REQUIRED FOR MAKING AND USING AN INSULATED OVEN

Box. Hinges. Hasp. Packing material, hay, excelsior, etc. Portable oven. Two or more stone slabs, or iron plates. Cooking utensils, baking pans, etc. Cloth for facing and cushion. Nails and screws. One dozen small rounds of tin about one inch in diameter. One and one-quarter yards sheet asbestos (price about 20 cents a yard).

Roast Beef

Weigh the meat, trim off all parts which will not be good to serve, and save them for soups or stews. Wipe the meat clean with a damp cloth. Dredge it well with salt, pepper, and flour, put it into a dripping pan, and cook it in an insulated oven heated as directed for roasts of meat on page 225. Heat the pan and meat a little before putting them into the oven. The time for roasting beef depends upon the size and shape of the roasts. Thick pieces weighing under ten pounds will roast rare in twelve minutes to a pound, medium rare in from fifteen to eighteen minutes, and well done in twenty-five or thirty minutes a pound. Thin pieces will take a few minutes less to each pound.

Roast Mutton or Lamb

Prepare the meat for roasting as directed for roast beef. Cook it in an insulated oven heated as directed for roasts on page 225, allowing twenty-five minutes to each pound for lamb, and from fifteen to eighteen minutes for mutton.

Roast Veal

Prepare the meat for roasting as directed for roast beef. Cook it in an insulated oven, heated as for roast beef, allowing from twenty-five to thirty minutes for each pound.

Spareribs

Wipe the meat clean with a damp cloth; sprinkle it with pepper and salt, put it in a pan, and roast it in an insulated oven, heated as directed for roasts on page 225, allowing twenty minutes or more to each pound. Heat the pan and meat a little before putting it in the oven.

Brown Gravy for Roasts

Drain away all fat from the pan, leaving the brown sediment. Add to this enough water to make the desired amount of gravy. Using this in the place of stock or water make Brown Sauce, using a measured quantity of the fat from the roast. Various seasonings may be added to this sauce to make a variety. Wine, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, currant jelly, etc., are used in this way.

Roast Chicken

Draw, stuff, and truss a chicken as directed on page 130. Put it on its back in a baking-pan, lay strips of fat salt pork on the breast, or rub breast, legs, and wings with butter or clarified veal fat. Dredge it well with salt and pepper. Heat the pan and chicken over the fire for a few minutes, and put it into an insulated oven heated as directed for roasts on page 225. Allow twenty-five minutes a pound for roasting chicken. Remove the string and skewers and serve it with Brown Gravy for Roasts to which the chopped giblets have been added. The giblets may be cooked, with salted water to cover them, in the insulated oven at the same time that the chicken is roasting; but in this case the stones should be hotter than otherwise.

Roast Goose

Singe and remove the pin-feathers from a goose. Wash it in hot, soapy water. Draw it and rinse it in cold water. Fill it two-thirds full with Stuffing for Poultry, or Potato Stuffing. Truss it, and rub the surface with butter, or lay fat salt pork on the breast. Dredge it with salt and pepper, heat it to warm the pan, and roast it in an insulated oven heated as directed for roasts on page 225, allowing fifteen or twenty minutes a pound.

Roast Leg of Venison

Prepare and cook it as roast mutton, allowing from twelve to fifteen minutes a pound for it to roast. Venison should be served rare, with Brown Gravy for Roasts, to one pint of which one-half tumbler of currant jelly and two tablespoonfuls of sherry wine have been added.

Potato Stuffing

2 cups hot potato, mashed 1 cup soft, stale breadcrumbs ¹⁄₄ cup chopped salt pork 2 tablespoons chopped onion ¹⁄₄ cup melted butter ¹⁄₃ cup milk 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon powdered sage 1 egg

Mix the ingredients in the order given.

Roast Wild Duck

Draw, clean, and truss a wild duck in the same manner as a goose. If it is to be stuffed, use Stuffing for Poultry, omitting the herbs; or merely fill the cavity with pared and quartered apples, or pared, whole onions. These should be removed before serving, but Stuffing for Poultry should be served with the duck. Roast it for from twenty to thirty minutes in an insulated oven, the stones heated a little hotter than for other roast meats. Serve it with mashed potato and currant jelly.

Grouse

Draw and clean a grouse, remove the feathers and the tough skin of the breast. Lard the breast and legs. Truss it, and lay fat salt pork on the breast. Dredge it with salt and flour, put it into the roasting-pan with scraps of fat salt pork. Roast it for twenty or twenty-five minutes in an insulated oven heated as for wild duck. Remove the strings or skewers, sprinkle it with browned breadcrumbs, and garnish it with parsley.

Roast Quail

Prepare the quail in the same way as grouse. Roast it for fifteen or twenty minutes in an insulated oven heated as for duck.

Roast Plover

Prepare and cook it the same as quail.

Potted Fish

3 shad or 6 small mackerel ¹⁄₃ cup salt ¹⁄₈ teaspoon cayenne pepper ¹⁄₆ cup whole cloves ¹⁄₆ cup peppercorns ¹⁄₆ cup whole allspice 1 onion, sliced Vinegar to cover

Clean the fish, remove the head, tail, fins, skin, and large bones. The small bones will be dissolved in the vinegar. Cut the fish into pieces for serving. Mix the salt, pepper, and spices. Pack the fish in layers in a small stone crock or deep agate-ware utensil, sprinkling the salt and adding pieces of onion between the layers. Pour over it vinegar to completely cover it. In the absence of a tight-fitting cover, use heavy, buttered paper tied on. Bake it for five or six hours in an insulated oven, the stones heated until the paper test shows a delicate brown. Potted fish will keep well if put into a cold place and kept covered with vinegar. It makes a good relish for lunch or tea.

Pork and Beans

1 cup beans 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon molasses 1 tablespoon butter, or ¹⁄₈ lb. salt pork Water to cover

Cook the beans for four or more hours, as directed in the recipe for dried navy beans. Put them into a baking-dish, add the other ingredients, gashing the pork frequently and laying it on top. Put it into an insulated oven with stones that will turn white tissue paper a golden brown. Bake them for eight hours or more.

Baked Potatoes

Select potatoes of equal size, so that they will all bake in the same length of time; wash them and bake them in an insulated oven with the stones heated till the paper is a golden brown as explained in the test on page 225. Good-sized potatoes (eight ounces) should bake about forty-five minutes. Lay them on a rack to prevent them from touching the hot stone. They will bake better than in an ordinary oven.

Macaroni and Ham

1 cup macaroni, in one-inch pieces 1 small onion, grated 1¹⁄₂ cups milk 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon flour ¹⁄₆ teaspoon pepper ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt 1¹⁄₂ cups minced, cooked ham 2 cups buttered crumbs