II. DOMESTIC COOKERY: The Whole Art of Cookery principles, however, on which this may be defined in a sentence, as-the best and most efficient ways of preparing raw food so as to preserve its natural qualities unimpaired and render it most palatable and nutritious. The several methods of cookery are Roasting, Baking, Boiling, Stewing, Broiling, Frying, and Toasting. A choice meal does not necessarily imply great expense or great skill in its preparation. The first requisite for a good dinner is good sense. The best authorities should be consulted for receipts, and the instructions given by them should be carried out with care and patience; the materials being chosen with taste, and cooked with a judicious regard to their appearance at table. As many French terms are employed in cookery receipts, the reader will find much assistance by turning to page 105, where will be found a definition of all the principal terms used in modern cookery. Marketing. A good and thrifty housekeeper will, if possible, go to market herself, in order to select the best pieces, and get them at the lowest price. A housewife will vary the kinds of meat which she buys, not only as they may be suitable to the seasons, but as calculated to promote the health of the family. On page 112 will be found full and explicit directions how to choose Meat, Fish, Poultry, &c., in the market. distribution ought in all cases to be made are simple and easy to be understood," and, in his estimation, these resolve themselves into symmetry of proportion in the building, and convenience to the cook. The requisites of a good kitchen, however, demand something more special than is here pointed out. It must be remembered that it is the great laboratory of every household, and that much of the "weal or woe," as far as regards bodily health, depends upon the nature of the preparations concocted within its walls. A good kitchen, therefore, should be erected with a view to the following particulars :-1. Convenience of distribution in its parts, with largeness of dimension. 2. Excellence of light, height of ceiling, and good ventilation. Easiness of access, without passing through the house. 4. Sufficiently remote from the principal apartments of the house, that the members, visitors, or guests of the family may not perceive the odour incident to cooking, or hear the noise of culinary operations. 5. Plenty of fuel and water, which, with the scullery, pantry, and storeroom, should be so near it as to offer the smallest possible trouble in reaching them. 3. For useful hints on Conduct in the Kitchen the reader is referred to page 107. 66 Before describing the way to cook, Arrangement and Economy we wish to say a few words in regard of the Kitchen.-"The distribu- to the value of punctuality in the pretion of a kitchen," says Count Rum-paration of a dinner. No meal is well ford, the celebrated philosopher and served that is not promptly served. physician, who wrote so learnedly on 'Waiting for Dinner" is a trying all subjects connected with domestic time, and there are few who have not economy and architecture, "must al-feltways depend so much on local circumstances, that general rules can hardly be given respecting it; the "How sad it is to sit and pine, The long half-hour before we dine! Upon our watches oft to look, And strive to laugh in spite of Fate! room, And leaves it in its former gloom. To preserve Fish quite fresh for a short time, requires great care. They should be kept in a very cool placean ice-house, if possible; but if that is not available, they should be laid upon a stone floor or shelf, and dipped in cold salt and water every night and morning. If it be necessary to keep them a few days longer, immerse them in a pickle of vinegar and water. Vegetables, as cabbages, and other lose their natural juices by evaporavegetables of a soft nature, quickly tion from the leaves, which soon become flaccid and poor. As heat causes lit-them to lose their juices, they should be kept in a cool, shady, and damp place, not in water, as that injures their flavour; the best method of refreshing them is to cut off a portion of the stem, and set the cut part in water. They should not be laid together in heaps, since this is apt to generate heat and fermentation. General Observations on Serving Dinner-Always have flowers on your dinner table. Let there be plenty of light during dinner, but it may be a tle subdued after the cloth is removed. All the knives, plates, glass, &c., should be bright and free from dust Above all things never attempt an elaborate dinner, unless you have the appliances and means of cooking it thoroughly well, and of serving tastefully and properly-with the regular changes of plates, knives, forks, &c. The head of a dinner-table is always occupied by the lady of the house, who sits at that end of it, with face towards the door. In the case of a gentleman (bachelor or widower) having a lady housekeeper, the gentleman will then sit at the head; if there is no housekeeper, and ladies present, the host may invite a married lady to occupy the head of the table. Best modes of Preserving Meat should be carefully examined every day in summer, wiped dry, and such parts as are beginning or seem liable to taint, particularly kernels, removed. In hot weather it may be kept for several days more than it otherwise would, by wrapping around it a linen cloth moistened with vinegar, or equal parts of vinegar and water; the acid vapour keeps off flies, and the moisture causes cold by evaporation. Fresh charcoal bruised to powder has also the property, spread Over the meat, of preventing it from spoiling for some time. Meat, when but slightly tainted, may be recovered, by boiling it for some minutes with several pieces of fresh charcoal. To preserve Fruit.-Fruit should be gathered just before it is ripe; the floor and shelves of the room on which the fruit is placed should be strewn with straw, and the fruit should be laid on this without being suffered to come into contact with each other. Poultry and Game must be hung in a cool place, covered with a muslin net to keep off the flies and dust. Roasting, Boiling, Stewing, &o. ROASTING.-This is the most simple and in many respects the best mode of cooking ordinary joints and poultry. As a general rule the cook will allow fifteen minutes to every pound of meat, and in the case of white meats, -as lamb, veal, and pork-a little longer. Make up a good large fire, let it be brisk, clear, and steady, and you then can obtain any heat you require by regulating the distance of the joint from the fire. Large joints should be placed at a moderate distance for the first quarter or halfhour, and then brought gradually nearer. For this quarter of an hour the meat does not require basting, but from the time it is placed closer, it should be continually basted (first with butter or lard, and afterwards with its own dripping) until cooked. The meat should never be nearer to the fire than six to eight inches. Do not sprinkle the meat with salt when first put down, as this draws out the gravy. Fine flour should be lightly dredged over it from time to time, and a little salt when nearly done. Very lean meat will sometimes need to have paper placed over it for the early part of the roasting, or it will scorch. In stirring the fire, always remove the dripping-pan, or ashes may fall in. If a bottle-jack be used, the hook should be so placed as to take in a bone, and the thickest part of the meat should hang downwards. If a spit, then slide it in along the bones, avoiding the prime parts of the joint, and be careful to spit the meat evenly if it will not turn well, use balance-skewers with sliding heads. BEEF.-The Sirloin should never be less than three of the short ribs, and to be first-rate, when cooked, it should not weigh less than about ten pounds. Cover the joint with buttered paper, and place it about a foot and a half from the fire. About an hour after it has been down, take off the paper, and bring the joint nearer the fire, and from that time until done dredge from time to time with flour and salt, basting continually with its dripping. When the joint is done, empty the dripping-pan into a basin, remove the fat from the gravy, and pour the latter into a well-dish, garnished with finely-scraped horseradish. Place the joint in the dish, and serve very hot. Yorkshire pudding cooked under this joint is much liked. Ribs, Rump, Aitch-bone, and other joints of Beef, require similar treatment. MUTTON should never be cooked until it has hung for fully forty-eight hours. In winter you can sometimes keep it a fortnight, and it will be all the better for it. The Saddle should be covered with buttered paper, and placed about a foot and a half from the fire. The roasting of this joint does not take quite so long in proportion as any other. Keep the paper on until within a quarter of an hour of the meat being done, then remove it, dredge lightly with salt and flour. Serve with its own gravy, and red-currant jelly. Haunch of Mutton.-Cover with paper as for saddle, but remove it half-an-hour before the joint is cooked. Baste well with butter, or its own dripping, and dredge slightly. Serve with its own gravy and red-currant jelly. Mashed potatos should accompany this joint, and, if in season, French beans. Leg of Mutton is better cooked with the bottle-jack than the spit. Cover with paper, which remove ten minutes before done; baste with butter or its own dripping, and dredge slightly. Serve same as haunch, with the proper vegetables. Shoulder of Mutton should not be basted while roasting, but instead rubbed sparingly with butter. White onion sauce is usually (see Receipt) served with this joint. Loin and Neck of Mutton, should be roasted like haunch, and served very hot. LAMB is roasted in the same way as mutton; but as a rule will require to be better done. A little lemon-juice squeezed over the joint when nearly ready for table, is, by many, considered an improvement. Mint sauce is always served with roast lamb. VEAL should be eaten fresh, and should never be allowed to hang more than thirty-six to forty-eight hours in summer, and four days in winter. The prime joints for roasting are the fillet and the loin. Roast as for beef. The Fillet requires great care in roasting. It should have the bone removed, and the cavity filled with stuffing (see Receipt.) Then fold the udder, and flap round and skewer tight. Cover the top and bottom with buttered paper, and put down to the fire. Let it be quite close for the first quarter-of-an-hour, during which time the joint must be well rubbed with butter, and then remove it to about two feet from the fire, so that it roasts slowly. Keep the paper on all the time, and by these means you will have veal a fine light brown |