The Business of Being a Housewife / A Manual to Promote Household Efficiency and Economy

SOME HEARTY MEAT SUBSTITUTES

Jean Prescott Adams

SOME HEARTY MEAT SUBSTITUTES

EGGS

Although hens’ eggs are more commonly in use, the eggs of ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys are all used as food.

USES

The various uses of eggs in cooking may be listed as follows:

1 As a substitute for meat
2 To clear soup and coffee
3 To thicken sauces, etc.
4 To make certain foods light, omelet, soufflÉs
5 As a garnish
6 To improve flavor
7 To color certain foods
8 To glaze breads, rolls, etc.
9 As a leavening agent in baking

PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY

In cooking eggs, heat produces a change in both color and in firmness, the firmness, or hardness, depending on the temperature and length of time cooked. The change which takes place in the egg albumen is called coagulation. A high temperature for any continued length of time will produce a leathery consistency, which necessitates a longer time for digestion.

Soft-cooked eggs digest more quickly and more satisfactorily than do eggs prepared any other way.

The margin is slight, however, and the stomach takes care of all kinds of cooked eggs.

WAYS OF COOKING AND TIME REQUIRED TO DIGEST

	Hours to Digest
1 Boiled—	Soft	3
	Hard	3½
2 Poached		2½
3 Scrambled		3½
4 Fried		3½
5 Baked or Shirred		2¼
6 Raw		1¼

HOW TO PRESERVE

As there is a harvest time for eggs, it is necessary to insure eggs for year around use by preserving a supply for winter release.

Preserve only fresh clean eggs in the spring and early summer when they are cheap and plentiful. They may be preserved in any of the following ways:

1 Commercial cold storage is the most satisfactory method of preserving eggs.

2 Pack in sawdust, salt, bran or sand, with small end down.

3 Cover with salt brine, limewater or water glass.

4 Coat with lard, oil or paraffin.

CHEESE

PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY

Cheese is sufficiently cooked when melted. Protein is toughened by a high temperature, therefore a low temperature process should always be used in preparing cooked cheese dishes.

Cheese should be kept dry and covered, but never wholly exclude the air. If spread with melted paraffin, it will keep moist. Soft cheese should be kept in the ice box. The receptacle for cheese should be thoroughly sterilized before new cheese is placed in it.

Cheese gives character to many nourishing but indistinct-flavored foods.

HOW TO USE CHEESE

Uncooked Cheese—		Sandwiches
		Grated in Soups
		Salad
		With Pie or Pudding
		With Crackers and Coffee

Cooked—		In Scalloped Dishes
		Rarebit
		Sauces
		Croquettes
		SoufflÉs and Fondues
		Biscuits, Muffins, Cheese Sticks
		Topping for Baked Dishes

CHEESE SOUFFLÉ

Serves 4. Preparation 20 minutes. Medium in cost.

2 tbsp. butter or oleomargarine
3 tbsp. flour
½ c. scalded milk
Speck cayenne
½ tsp. salt
¼ c. grated American cheese
3 eggs

Melt the oleomargarine, add the flour and when well mixed add gradually the scalded milk. Then add salt, cayenne and cheese. Remove from the fire and add the yolks of eggs, beaten until lemon colored. Cool the mixture and fold into the whites, beaten until stiff. Pour into a buttered baking dish and cook twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve at once. Cheese soufflÉ is suitable as the main dish for luncheon, dinner or supper.

CHEESE SAUCE

Serves 5. Preparation 20 minutes.

2 c. medium white sauce
1 c. grated cheese

Make a medium white sauce. To each cup of sauce add half a cup of grated cheese and cook in double boiler until melted.

Use as a sauce over macaroni, spaghetti, rice, hominy, escalloped vegetable dishes, over toast as mock rarebit, or as a foundation for cream of cheese soup.

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