How To Clarify Fat

When through frying, add a pared potato, cut in slices, to the fat, and let stand on back of range until potato has browned. Remove potato and strain fat through a cheese cloth. Fat clarified in this way may be used indefinitely.

How To Clarify Melted Butter

Let melted butter stand in a dish on back of the range until the salt has settled, then pour off butter, leaving sediment in the bottom of the dish.

How To Avoid The Burning Of Fat

When fat is put on the range to heat for frying, put in a cube of bread. If the fat is forgotten, the bread will burn first, and the odor of the burned crumb will attract the attention. The burned flavor cannot be removed from burned fat.

How To Try Out Suet

Cut the suet in small pieces, place in top of double boiler, cover, and cook over hot water until all the fat is tried out; strain through a cheese cloth. This can be done in the oven if the top of the range is crowded.

How To Lard

Larding is accomplished by cutting strips of salt pork lengthwise with the rind two inches long and one quarter inch wide, and with aid of the larding needle drawing these pieces through the surface of the meat, taking a stitch an inch long and a quarter inch deep.

How To Test Fat For Frying

Heat the fat. When a blue smoke begins to appear, drop in a cube of bread; if the bread browns a golden brown in forty seconds, the fat is hot enough for any food which has previously been cooked. Uncooked food requires a longer, slower frying; the cube of bread should brown in sixty seconds for such food.

Food cooked in fat tested in this way should never soak fat if one is careful to put a small enough quantity of food in at a time - not enough to cool the fat.

How To Croquettes

For meat croquettes, cold cooked meat should be freed from skin and gristle, and cut quite fine, then mixed with a thick sauce to as soft a consistency as it is possible to handle. Chill before shaping. For vegetable croquettes the vegetables should be boiled, then mashed and seasoned. Chill before shaping.

How To Shape

Allow one rounding tablespoon of croquette mixture for each croquette, roll into a round ball, roll ball in crumbs, then shape either like a cylinder or pyramid; when all are perfect and uniform, dip in egg, then in crumbs.

How To Prepare Sweetbreads

Soak in cold water from the time they come from the market until used. Drain, cover with two cups cold water, add four cloves, one and a half teaspoons salt, two tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice, and a slice of onion; simmer for one half hour, drain, cover with cold water, remove tubes and membranes. Broil whole; or if for larding, dip in egg, wrap in cheese cloth, and press under weight over night.

How To Caramelize

Place sugar in clean agate-ware frying pan, and stir continually until the sugar becomes a golden brown sirup.

How To Poach

Place food to be poached in frying pan half filled with boiling salted water. Cook below the boiling point from three to eight minutes.

How To Cream Butter

Place butter in bowl, and mash against the sides of the bowl, with a spoon, until of a creamy consistency.

How To Cut And Fold

Pour mixture into bowl, and cut through and through mixture with a spoon, then take up some of mixture in spoon, and turn spoon completely over, and fold under mixture. Continue this process until mixture is blended.

How To Crease Frosting

When frosting is nearly cold, cut with a silver knife, wiping knife after making each crease.