For those who still hesitate whether to adopt paper-bag cookery or not, it may be as well to repeat the solid advantages of this method. For one thing, it minimises labour and saves time, thus going far to solve the servant problem. The cook who has not the never-ending labour of cleaning saucepans and baking-tins, who has leisure for reasonable rest and recreation, is a contented being, not likely to give notice at awkward moments. The expense of most labour-saving domestic utensils prevents their adoption in households where means are limited, but the bags necessary for paper-bag cooking cost the merest trifle.

Only those who live in small houses or flats know the misery of having each meal heralded by a violent smell of cooking, which invades every room, and robs the average person of all appetite; the tenant of those uncomfortable dwelling-places known as “Maisonettes” knows only too well what it is to inhale the fragrance of the downstairs burned onion or frying bloater; while the occupants of the lower maisonette suffer from audible and pungent remarks upon the odours from their kitchen, remarks which frequently lead to friction. Now, paper-bag cookery does not smell.

Paper bags are cheap. The young couple setting up modestly in life are spared the outlay of an expensive range of cooking utensils; the occupant of cramped apartments has not to endure the obtrusive little kitchen in bed-or sitting-room, and the thrifty housewife has not the continual necessity of replacing a worn-out saucepan or burnt-out frying-pan. And these things run into money. All that is necessary for the equipment of the up-to-date paper-bag cook is, of course, a kettle for boiling water, a conservative boilerette (Welbank) for the cooking of these few dishes not amenable to paper-bag treatment, and an egg saucepan. For though eggs are delicious cooked in a paper bag, it would be an extravagance to light the oven up for that purpose alone. Perhaps a frying-pan might also be included, but the rest of the kitchen outfit may consist entirely of “Papakuk” bags.

DOING WITHOUT A KITCHEN.

With the aid of paper-bag cookery, the up-to-date householder may eliminate the kitchen altogether, thus gaining another room. The small flat at a moderate rent usually consists of one sitting-room, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It is equally unpleasant to sit in the room in which one has just dined, or to take meals in the room where they have just been cooked. With a little contrivance and ingenuity, the kitchen may be transformed into a neat little dining-room, a gas stove erected in any convenient recess or in the bathroom, and with paper-bag cookery, nothing more elaborate will be needed.

BEDROOM COOKERY.

For the business woman, living in one room, ordinary cooking is out of the question, yet most landladies refuse to cook for their lodgers, except at a high charge, and restaurant living is expensive. Ordinary cooking, too, means more or less heat and odours, incompatible with keeping the one room fresh and neat. In this case, too, paper-bag cookery solves the difficulty.

“WILD WEST” COOKERY.

Paper-bag cookery has been seized upon with thankfulness by a girl who went out to keep house for a brother in the “Wild West,” and found the toil of cooking with rough and old-fashioned utensils beyond her capacity. So incessant were her labours, so unsatisfactory the results, that she hailed with joy and gratitude a newspaper article and some bags sent her by a compassionate relative, and now writes triumphantly that all her cookery troubles are over.

INVALID DIET.

How weary invalids get of the eternal boiled whiting and boiled chicken is well known. The poor invalid who besought his doctor's permission to have his whiting fried, and who, receiving it with the proviso it should be fried in water, burst into tears when the dish was set before him, would have been charmed with the fish cooked in a paper bag. A whiting, a chop, a fillet of chicken thus cooked are all as savoury as if fried, yet as light and digestible as when boiled.

INVALID'S CHOPS.

Trim every morsel of fat from the chop, and put it without water or seasoning into a very well greased bag. Cook it fifteen or twenty minutes according to the thickness, and serve it with any seasoning or sauce the doctor sanctions.

INVALID'S CHICKEN.

With a very sharp knife, cut neat fillets from the breast of a plump chicken; brush each fillet over with oiled butter, put into a greased bag, and cook fifteen minutes.

INVALID'S WHITING.

Choose a good-sized but not coarse whiting; have it filleted; roll up each fillet and put them into a thickly buttered bag with one tablespoonful of milk. Cook ten minutes.

INVALID'S PORRIDGE.

This may be cooked in a buttered bag alone, or cooked in a dish enveloped in a bag. Both methods are excellent. For the first, take a pint of milk and add when boiling enough rolled oats to make a batter; add salt to taste, and put into a well buttered bag and cook twenty minutes. If a dish be used, the porridge may be made thinner, and must be cooked longer, about thirty minutes. If the ordinary medium oatmeal be used, it must be soaked in cold water overnight, in a pie-dish. Next morning, add as much more water as will be needed, add a little salt. Put the dish into a greased bag and cook forty-five minutes. This porridge is not suitable for invalids, but is excellent for children.

BREAKFAST DISHES.

There are a great many breakfast dishes, besides ham and eggs which are very much nicer cooked in a paper bag.

LIVER AND BACON

is one. Cut a calf's or sheep's liver into thin slices, flour both sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper; put into a thickly buttered bag and cook for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, have ready as many thin rashers of bacon as there are slices of liver and put them in a bag five minutes before the liver is done. Dish both together on a very hot dish and serve immediately.

BROILED KIDNEYS.

This is another very savoury breakfast dish. Foreign kidneys answer very well; skin them, cut in halves, and wrap each half in a thin rasher of fat bacon. Put them on a skewer to keep them in position, place in a buttered bag, and cook fifteen minutes.

A GERMAN BEEFSTEAK

is very nice for a hearty breakfast eater. Mince finely half a pound of steak, removing skin, gristle, and fat; mix well with a finely minced onion, half a teaspoonful minced parsley, and pepper and salt to taste. Flatten into an oblong shape, sprinkle on each side with flour, put into a well greased bag, and cook twenty minutes. Then cut a hole in the bag, drop in an egg, and cook three minutes longer.

SAUSAGE ROLLS

are also very good. Take four or five pork sausages, and wrap each when skinned in an oblong piece of pastry, short crust or puff pastry according to taste. Put into a well buttered bag and cook twenty minutes.

RISSOLES

make a nice change for breakfast, and are easily and quickly made. Roll out some light, shortcrust paste. Have ready some finely minced cooked meat, nicely seasoned, and mixed to a thick paste with gravy which has been thickened with flour. Put a little heap of this at regular intervals on half the pastry, cover with the other half and cut out each rissole with a pastry-cutter, pressing the edges well together. Put into a well greased bag, and cook twenty minutes.

BACON AND MUSHROOMS

are a favourite country dish. Half a pound of freshly gathered mushrooms should be trimmed, peeled, wiped, and put into a buttered bag with half a dozen thinly cut rashers of bacon, and a piece of butter rubbed together with a dessertspoonful of flour, a little salt and cayenne pepper. Cook thirty minutes.

SURPRISE SAUSAGES.

Half a pound of sausage-meat is rolled into the shape of an egg, and a cupful of cold mashed potato is mixed with a well beaten egg and a little salt and pepper. Cover the sausage-meat completely with the potato mixture, brush over with the beaten yolk of an egg, roll it in fine bread-crumbs, highly seasoned; put the whole into a greased “Papakuk” bag and cook fifteen minutes.

BAKED HAM

Take a corner or gammon of bacon, or a small picnic ham; make a paste of flour and water and completely cover the ham with it, rolled out to about half an inch in thickness. Put in a greased bag and cook in a moderate oven, allowing thirty minutes to the pound. When done, paste and skin come away easily and the flavour and aroma are exquisite.

COD'S ROE

makes a nice breakfast dish. It is first boiled or steamed until thoroughly done. When quite cold, cut in thick, firm slices, brush over with oiled butter, dredge thoroughly on both sides on flour, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put into a well buttered “Papakuk” bag, and cook twelve minutes.

EGG CUTLETS.

Chop rather finely three hard-boiled eggs, add two tablespoonfuls of fine bread-crumbs, one of grated cheese and a little pepper and salt; mix well and bind with the beaten yolk of two eggs. Shape into cutlets, put into a thickly buttered “Papakuk” bag, and cook ten minutes.

EGG SAVOURY.

Chop four hard-boiled eggs, mix with two rashers of fat bacon cut in dice, pepper, salt, and a sprinkle of sweet herbs; put a slice of butter in a saucepan, add two tablespoonfuls of flour and stir together. Add slowly a gill of milk and stir till it boils. Then add the eggs and bacon and stir together till it is a thick mass. Turn out on a plate, and when cold form into balls. Put these into a thickly buttered bag and cook ten minutes.

CURRIED EGGS

are excellent, and very simply made. Hard-boiled eggs are cut in slices and put into a well greased “Papakuk” bag; a thick white sauce is made, and a dessertspoonful of curry powder is stirred in. This is added to the eggs, and the bag put into a hot oven for six minutes.

CREAMED EGGS

are delicious. A shallow tin is well buttered, thickly sprinkled with seasoned bread-crumbs, and two or three eggs carefully broken in. Cover with more bread-crumbs, put bits of butter over the top, pour in a tablespoonful of cream, or if cream cannot be afforded, a little milk thickened with cornflour and a morsel of butter. Slide this into a well greased bag and cook twenty minutes.

Cheese savouries are particularly good, cooked paper-bag fashion. One of the most generally approved is

CHEESE STRAWS.

Mix together four ounces of butter, four ounces of self-raising flour, four ounces of grated cheese, a little cayenne, a pinch of salt, and a well-beaten egg. Roll out, cut into thin strips, and into one or two rings. Put inside a buttered bag, cook fifteen minutes, and serve with several straws inside each ring.

CHEESE FONDUE.

Well butter a dish, put into it half a pint of milk, half a cup of fine bread-crumbs, quarter of a pound of dried cheese grated, one ounce of butter, and one well beaten egg; season with salt and pepper, put into a greased bag, and cook forty-five minutes.

CHEESE PASTRY

is a delicious morsel. Make a nice flaky paste crust, roll it out and cut into two squares. Melt three ounces of grated cheese and one ounce of butter with a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Spread this over one half of the paste, cover with the other, brush over with milk, put into a well greased bag, and cook fifteen minutes.

FRIED CHEESE.

Cut some slices of cheese, two inches long, one inch wide, and half an inch thick. Dry cheese may be used up in this way. Pour over the slices a little oiled butter, sprinkle with pepper, and leave for half an hour, turning once during that time. Make a thick batter, dip each piece in it; lay in a buttered “Papakuk” bag and cook fifteen minutes in a hot oven.

CHEESE BISCUITS.

This is a very simple but a very nice savoury. Split open several of Crawford's butter puffs, lay a slice of toasted cheese between the halves, put into a greased bag, and cook for ten minutes.

CHEESE PUFFS.

Melt one ounce of butter in a small saucepan, add a tablespoonful of water, and when it boils sift in gradually two tablespoonfuls of self-raising flour, and three of grated cheese; season to taste. Stir till the mixture leaves the saucepan, and then take off the fire. When cool, stir in a well beaten egg and set aside till quite cold. Then shape into balls, put into a buttered bag, and cook fifteen minutes in a fairly hot oven.

MACARONI AND CHEESE.

Break half a pound of macaroni into small pieces; put into a greased bag with half a cup of water, and cook for half an hour. Then put into another bag which has been thickly buttered; add four ounces of grated cheese and one ounce of butter, a little pepper and salt. Cook for ten minutes.

Many people enjoy a little stewed fruit with breakfast, and all fruits gain in flavour cooked in a “Papakuk” bag. Prunes, a recipe for which has already been given, are particularly nice cooked in this way and so are other dried fruits.

Put the fruit into a large basin, and pour boiling water over them, covering them completely. This plumps them up nicely. Cover with a plate and leave till cold. Then pour off the water, drain the fruit quite dry, and just cover with fresh, cold water. Replace the plate and leave till the morning. Then place in a large and very thoroughly greased bag, add to each pound of fruit two ounces of sugar and any flavouring preferred, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, one of sherry or of essence of vanilla or almond. Cook for forty-five minutes.

BAKED APPLES

are unsurpassed cooked in a paper bag. Simply wash the apples, or pare them if preferred, put into a greased bag with a gill of water, and bake forty minutes. Add sugar to taste.

STEWED GOOSEBERRIES.

Put into a greased bag with sugar and a gill of water and cook thirty minutes. Or they may be first put into a dish and the dish enclosed in a bag. Currants and raspberries are best thus cooked. Fruit tarts and meat pies when cooked in a dish which is afterwards put into a bag, must have some holes pricked in the bag.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING

for eating with meat can be cooked in a “Papakuk” bag, but must first be poured into a shallow round tin which has had a slice of roast-beef dripping or of butter melted in it. Make the pudding in the usual way; 4 to 6 ozs. of self-raising flour, a pinch of salt, two well beaten eggs, and enough milk or water mixed to make a batter about as thick as cream. Put the tin into a bag and cook twenty-five minutes.

WARMING UP “LEFTOVERS.”

Paper-bag cookery is invaluable as a means of warming up cold meats. Apart from the various ways of serving up cold meat in hashes, stews, and other dishes, recipes for which have already been given, it is an excellent means of warming food which is required dished up in the same form as before.

RE-HEATING ROAST LEG OF MUTTON.

This is merely put into a well-greased “Papakuk” bag and placed in the oven to get thoroughly hot, the time depending on its weight; it will then taste exactly as if it had been freshly roasted. If part of the leg has been already consumed, cold mashed potatoes should be pressed into the space left, and shaped so that when heated and browned the leg will appear untouched.

DEVILLED MUTTON.

This is never so nice as when cooked in a “Papakuk” bag. A cold shoulder of lamb is delicious when devilled. Cut over night large gashes in the meat, and fill these gashes with dripping or butter, in which has been mixed plenty of pepper, salt, dry mustard, and a few drops of lemon juice if that flavour is liked. Leave the meat until it is nearly dinner-time, then put into a “Papakuk” bag and cook fifteen minutes.

It is the same with other joints; simply putting them into a greased bag and thoroughly heating them restores the flavour so completely that no one can tell that the meat has been previously cooked and then re-heated. This is possible only in paper-bag cookery; in ordinary cooking reheated meat is always dry and flavourless. The exact time in the oven cannot be given, as it depends on the weight; but as opening the oven door does not injure paper-bag cookery, a watch can be kept. Practice and experience are the safest guides, and the paper-bag cook will soon learn the exact time each dish requires. There will not be many failures, for a little too long will not dry up the food in the bags, and if it be underdone, it may be turned into another bag and put back into the oven. Always have the bags large enough; they may split when the food is being put in if they are a tight fit. Also, unless the bag is full large for the contents, it is somehow awkward in dishing up.

Some dexterity is required in freeing the food from the bag. If the paper is very brown, it may fall to pieces before it can be removed and bits of paper be found among the gravy. The bags should be intact and scissors used to split them open. If there is any fear of some paper remaining in the food, two hot dishes should be employed, one on which to place the bag while it is being removed, the other into which to turn the food when freed from the bag.

Many other recipes might be given, but the cook who is interested in paper-bag cookery will be able to experiment for herself in fresh directions. All the recipes in the best-known cookery-books may be worked out in paper-bag cookery, for even those which cannot be put straight into a bag without injuring their appearance—for instance, cakes of the nature of plum cake, pound cake, seed, or Madeira—can be put first into tins and then into a “Papakuk” bag with the certainty that they will gain immensely in flavour and delicacy of taste.