Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume II Part 3

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 6]

53. Particular care should be taken of the empty milk bottles. They should never be used for anything except milk. Before they are returned to the dairyman to be used again, they should first be rinsed with cold water, then washed thoroughly with hot, soapy water, and finally rinsed with hot water. If there is illness in the home, the washed bottles should be put into a pan of cool water, allowed to come to a boil, and permitted to boil for a few minutes. Such attention will free the bottles from any contamination they might have received. The dairyman, of course, gives the bottles further attention before he uses them again, but the housewife should do her part by making sure that they are thoroughly cleansed before they are collected by him.

54. KEEPING MILK COOL IN THE HOME.--As has been pointed out, milk should, upon being received, be kept in the coolest place available, which, in the majority of homes at the present time, is the refrigerator. In making use of the refrigerator for this purpose, the housewife should put into practice what she learned in _Essentials of Cookery_, Part 2, concerning the proper placing of food in the refrigerator, remembering that milk should be placed where it will remain the coolest and where it is least likely to absorb odors. She should also bear in mind that the temperature inside of a refrigerator varies with that of the surrounding air. It is because of this fact that milk often sours when the temperature is high, as in summer, for instance, even though it is kept in the refrigerator.

55. In case a refrigerator is not available, it will be necessary to resort to other means of keeping milk cool. A cool cellar or bas.e.m.e.nt is an excellent subst.i.tute, but if milk is kept in either of these places, it must be tightly covered. Then, too, the spring house with its stream of running water is fully as good as a refrigerator And is used extensively in farming districts. But even though a housewife has none of these at her disposal, she need not be deprived of fresh milk, for there are still other ways of keeping milk cool and consequently fresh.

A very simple way in which to keep milk cool is to weight down the bottles in a vessel that is deeper than they are and then pour cold water into the vessel until it reaches the top of the bottles, replacing the water occasionally as it becomes warm. A still better way, however, so far as convenience and results are concerned, is that ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 7. As shown, wrap the bottle in a clean towel or piece of cotton cloth so that one corner of it is left loose at the top. Then place this end in a pan of cold water that stands higher than the bottle. Such an arrangement will keep the cloth wet constantly and by the evaporation of the water from it will cause the milk to remain cool.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 7]

COOKING MILK

56. POINTS TO BE OBSERVED IN COOKING MILK.--Because of the nature of milk and its const.i.tuents, the cooking of this liquid is a little more difficult than would appear at first thought. In fact, heating milk to a temperature greater than 155 degrees Fahrenheit causes several changes to occur in it, one of which, the coagulation of the alb.u.min, has already been mentioned. As the alb.u.min hardens into the layer that forms on the top of boiled milk, a certain amount of fat, sugar, and casein becomes entangled in it, and if the coagulated skin is rejected, these food substances, in addition to the alb.u.min, are lost. Another change that results from boiling is in the fat globules that remain, for these separate and exist no longer in the form of cream.

57. When milk that is not perfectly fresh is cooked with other materials or soups, sauces, and puddings it sometimes curdles. To prevent curdling, the milk should be heated as rapidly as possible before it is used with the other ingredients. While the separate heating of the milk involves a little more work, time may be gained by heating the milk while the remaining ingredients are being prepared. The curdling of comparatively fresh milk is often caused by the addition of salt, especially if the salt is added when the milk is hot. However, if a pinch of bicarbonate of soda is added to the milk before it is heated, it will not be likely to curdle even though it is not absolutely fresh.

When tomato is to be used in soup that contains milk or cream, curdling can be prevented if the milk or the cream to be used is thickened with flour or corn starch or a little soda is added to the tomato before the two are mixed. The mixing is accomplished by pouring the _tomato into the milk_ instead of the milk into the tomato. When acid fruit juices are to be added to milk or cream and the mixture then frozen, curdling can be prevented by thoroughly chilling the milk or cream in the freezer can before combining it with the juices.

58. As has already been learned, great care must be taken in the heating of milk, because the solids that it contains adhere quickly to the bottom of the pan and cause the milk to scorch. For this reason, milk should never be heated directly over the flame unless the intention is to boil it, and even if it must be boiled every precaution should be taken to prevent it from burning. It should be remembered, too, that a very small scorched area will be sufficient to make a quant.i.ty of milk taste burned. The utensil in which milk can be heated in the most satisfactory way is the double boiler, for the milk does not come in direct contact with the heat in this utensil. If a double boiler is not available, good results can be obtained by setting one pan into another that contains water.

59. Milk is often used in place of water for cooking cereals, beverages, puddings, soups, etc. This is good practice and should be followed whenever possible, for when milk is added it serves to increase the nutritive value of the food. It should be observed, however, that more time is required to cook grains or cereals in milk than to cook them in water, because milk contains more solid matter than water and is not absorbed so quickly. Another frequent use of milk is in breads and biscuits, where, as is explained in _Bread_ and _Hot Breads_, it produces a browner and more tender crust than water.

60. VARIETY OF WAYS TO USE MILK IN COOKING.--Because of the numerous purposes for which milk is required in the preparation of foods, the smallest amount of it, whether sweet or sour, can be utilized in cooking; therefore, no milk need ever be wasted. A few of the uses to which this food is oftenest put are mentioned briefly in order that the housewife may be familiar enough with them to call them to mind whenever she desires to carry out a recipe that calls for milk or when she has occasion to utilize milk that she has on hand.

Milk thickened slightly with flour and flavored with such material as corn, asparagus, celery, tomatoes, beans, peas, or fish makes a delicious soup. In bisques, or thickened soups, and in chowders, the liquid used need not be milk, but these are made very appetizing if milk is used for part or all of the liquid. Then, too, sauces or gravies made with milk, thickened with flour, and made rich with b.u.t.ter or other fat lend themselves to a variety of uses. Dice of vegetables, meat, fish, or game added to a sauce of this kind and served in pastry cases or over toast provide dishes that are delightful additions to any meal. Milk is also used as the basis for custards, blanc manges, ices, sherbets, ice creams, and tapioca, rice, and bread puddings in which eggs, starchy materials, and flavorings are added and the mixture then baked, steamed, boiled, or frozen, as the desired result may require. As is well known, milk is practically indispensable in the making of cakes, cookies, quick breads, and in fact nearly all dough mixtures. Even if it has soured, it can be used with soda to take the place of cream of tartar in mixtures that are to be made light, the lactic acid in the sour milk acting with the soda as leavening. Left-over milk in comparatively large quant.i.ties may also be used in the home for the making of cheese, although this product of milk is usually produced commercially.

RECIPES FOR MILK DISHES AND SAUCES

FOODS CONTAINING MILK

61. From the discussion given up to this point, it will be noted that milk is used in a large variety of ways and in the making of numerous dishes. However, most of the dishes in which this liquid occurs involve other important materials, so that the recipes for them are usually listed under some other ingredient or division of cookery. For instance, milk is used in the making of ice cream, but as the ice creams are included among cold desserts, recipes for them would naturally come in the Section pertaining to this subject. Milk is also an important ingredient in puddings, but the recipes for such dishes are given in the Section in which puddings and their sauces are discussed.

Because of this fact, there are only a few recipes that have milk as their basis, and this accounts for the small number of recipes here given. Chief among the recipes that involve princ.i.p.ally milk are those for junket and white sauce, and while the number of these is small and the use of the dishes not so general as some kinds of food, just as much attention should be given to them as if they occurred in greater numbers and were used more commonly. Junket is very easily made and should therefore cause the housewife no concern; likewise, little difficulty will be experienced if the directions here given for white sauces are followed explicitly.

RECIPES FOR JUNKET

62. Plain Junket.--In the stomachs of all animals that use milk as food is found a digestive ferment known as _rennin_. This is taken from the stomachs of calves, made up commercially, and sold in the form of tablets called _junket_. When these tablets are used properly with milk, they coagulate the milk and make an excellent dessert that resembles custard and that is very easy to digest. Because of its nature and qualities, this kind of dessert is used largely for invalids and children. The following recipe gives the proportion and directions for making this dessert in its simplest form.

PLAIN JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 junket tablet 1 Tb. cold water 1 qt. milk 4 Tb. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring

Dissolve the junket tablet in the cold water. Warm the milk very slowly to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, testing the temperature to make sure that it is right. If a thermometer is not on hand, this can be done by dropping a drop on the back of the hand. When neither heat nor cold can be felt from this drop of milk, it may be known to be very near the body temperature, the temperature at which rennin is active. If temperature is found to be too high, the milk must be cooled before the tablet is added. When the desired temperature has been reached, add the sugar, the alt, the junket dissolved in the water, and the flavoring. Then pour all into individual molds and keep it where it will remain warm for about 10 minutes, at the end of which it should be firm like a custard and may be cooled. Keep the junket cool until it is to be served, when it may be turned out of the mold or served in it. As junket will turn to whey if it is broken with a spoon to any extent, serving it in the mold is the better plan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8]

63. Junket With. Fruit.--The addition of fruit to junket, as in the dish ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 8, makes an attractive dessert for both sick and well people. If the fruit used is permissible in the diet of an invalid, its combination with junket adds variety to the diet. In the making of this dessert, all juice should be carefully drained from the fruit before the junket is poured over it. Canned or fresh fruits may be used with equally good results.

JUNKET WITH FRUIT (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 junket tablet 1 Tb. cold water 1 qt. milk 1/4 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt Flavoring 8 halves of canned peaches or 1 c. of berries or small fruit

Make a junket as directed in the preceding recipe. Drain all juice from the fruit and place a half peach or a spoonful of fruit in the bottom of each of the eight molds and pour the junket over it to fill the mold.

Let it solidify and serve cold.

64. CHOCOLATE JUNKET.--Chocolate added to plain junket not only varies the junket dessert, but also adds food value, since chocolate contains a large quant.i.ty of fat that is easily digested by most persons. Where the flavor of chocolate is found agreeable, such junket may be served in place of the plain junket.

CHOCOLATE JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c. milk 2 sq. chocolate 6 Tb. sugar 3/4 c. water 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1 junket tablet

Heat the milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, testing in the manner explained in Art. 62. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan, add to it the sugar and 1 cupful of water, and cook until smooth; then cool and add to the warm milk, putting in the salt, vanilla, and junket tablet dissolved in cupful of the water. Turn the junket into a dish or into molds and let stand in a warm place until set; then chill and serve. In preparing this recipe, it will be well to note that if sweet chocolate is used less sugar than is specified may be employed.

65. CARAMEL JUNKET.--In the making of caramel junket, browned, or caramelized, sugar and water take the place of part of the milk, and while a certain amount of the sugar is reduced in the browning, the caramel is still very high in food value and adds nutritive material to the dessert. There is nothing about caramel junket to prevent its being given to any one able to take plain junket, and if it is made correctly it has a very delightful flavor.

CARAMEL JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c. milk 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. boiling water 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla 1 junket tablet Whipped cream 1/4 c. chopped nuts

Heat the milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Caramelize the sugar by melting it in a saucepan directly over the flame until it is a light-brown color; then stir in the boiling water and cook until the caramel and the water become a sirup, after which cool and add to the milk Add the salt, the vanilla, and the junket tablet dissolved in a tablespoonful of cold water Pour the mixture into a dish, let it stand in a warm place until it sets; then chill, cover with sweetened whipped cream, sprinkle with chopped nuts, and serve.

RECIPES FOR WHITE SAUCE

66. Three white sauces are commonly used for different purposes, and in each one of them milk is the basis. These sauces differ from one another in thickness, and include _thin white sauce_, which is used for cream toast and soups; _medium white sauce_, which is used for dressing vegetables and is flavored in various ways to accompany meats, patties, or croquettes; and _thick white sauce_, which is used to mix with the materials used for croquettes in order to hold them together. To insure the best results, the proportion of flour and liquid should be learned for each kind, and to avoid the formation of lumps the proper method of mixing should be carefully followed out. A white sauce properly made is perfectly smooth, and since only little care is needed to produce such a result it is inexcusable to serve a lumpy sauce. Also, nothing is more disagreeable than thick, pasty sauce, but this can be avoided by employing the right proportion of flour and milk. The ingredients and their proportions for the various kinds of white sauce are as follows:

THIN WHITE SAUCE

1 c. milk 1 Tb. b.u.t.ter 1 Tb. flour 1/2 tsp. salt

MEDIUM WHITE SAUCE

1 c. milk 2 Tb. b.u.t.ter 2 Tb. flour 1/2 tsp. salt

THICK WHITE SAUCE

1 c. milk 2 Tb. b.u.t.ter 1/4 c. (4 Tb.) flour 1/2 tsp. salt

It will be easy to remember the proportions for these three sauces if it is observed that each one doubles the previous one in the quant.i.ty of flour used, the thin one having 1 tablespoonful to 1 cupful of milk, the medium one 2 tablespoonfuls to 1 cupful of milk, and the thick one 4 tablespoonfuls to 1 cupful of milk. To produce these sauces the ingredients may be combined in three different ways, each of which has its advantages. These methods, which are here given, should be carefully observed, for they apply not only to the making of this particular sauce, but to the combining of fat, starch, and liquid in any sauce.

_Method 1_.--Heat the milk, being careful that it does not scorch. Brown the b.u.t.ter slightly in a saucepan, add the flour and salt, and stir the mixture until it is perfectly smooth and has a deep cream color. Then add the hot milk gradually, stirring to prevent the formation of lumps.

Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the sauce from scorching.

Sauce made according to this method does not require long cooking because the flour added to the hot fat cooks quickly. In fact, it is a very desirable method, for the browned b.u.t.ter and the flour lend flavor to the sauce. Many otherwise unattractive or rather tasteless foods can be made much more appetizing by the addition of white sauce made in this way.

_Method 2_.--Put the milk on to heat. While this is heating, stir the b.u.t.ter, flour, and salt together until they are soft and well mixed; then add the hot milk to them slowly, stirring constantly. Place over the heat and finish cooking, or cook in a double boiler. Sauce made by this method requires longer cooking than the preceding one and it has less flavor.

_Method 3_.--Heat the milk, reserving a small portion. Stir the flour smooth with the cold milk and add it to the hot milk, stirring rapidly.