Science in the Kitchen. by Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

M >> Mrs. E. E. Kellogg >> Science in the Kitchen.

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_DIRECTIONS FOR SERVING FRUITS._

APPLES.--In serving these, the "queen of all fruits," much
opportunity is afforded for a display of taste in their arrangement.
After wiping clean with a damp towel, they may be piled in a fruit
basket, with a few sprigs of green leaves here and there between their
rosy cheeks. The feathery tops of carrots and celery are pretty for this
purpose. Oranges and apples so arranged, make a highly ornamental dish.

Raw mellow sweet apples make a delicious dish when pared, sliced, and
served with cream.

BANANAS.--Cut the ends from the fruit and serve whole, piled in a
basket with oranges, grapes, or plums. Another way is to peel, slice,
and serve with thin cream. Bananas are also very nice sliced, sprinkled
lightly with sugar, and before it had quite dissolved, covered with
orange juice. Sliced bananas, lightly sprinkled with sugar, alternating
in layers with sections of oranges, make a most delicious dessert.

CHERRIES.--Serve on stems, piled in a basket or high dish, with
bits of green leaves and vines between. Rows of different colored
cherries, arranged in pyramidal form, make also a handsome dish.

CURRANTS.--Large whole clusters may be served on the stem, and when
it is possible to obtain both red and white varieties, they make a most
attractive dish. Put them into cold water for a little time, cool
thoroughly, and drain well before using. Currants, if picked from the
stems after being carefully washed and drained, may be served lightly
sprinkled with sugar. Currants and raspberries served together, half and
half, or one third currants two thirds raspberries, are excellent. Only
the ripest of currants should be used.

GOOSEBERRIES.--When fresh and ripe, the gooseberry is one of the
most delicious of small fruits. Serve with stems on. Drop into cold
water for a few moments, drain, and pile in a glass dish for the table.

GRAPES.--Grapes need always to be washed before serving. Drop the
bunches into ice water, let them remain ten of fifteen minutes, then
drain and serve. An attractive dish may be made by arranging bunches of
different colored grapes together on a plate edged with grape leaves.

MELONS.--Watermelons should be served very cold. After being well
washed on the outside, put on ice until needed. Cut off a slice at the
ends, that each half may stand upright on a plate, and then cut around
in even slices. Instead of cutting through the center into even halves,
the melon may be cut in points back and forth around the entire
circumference, so that when separated, each half will appear like a
crown. Another way is to take out the central portion with a spoon, in
cone-shaped pieces, and arrange on a plate with a few bits of ice. Other
melons may be served in halves, with the seeds removed. The rough skin
of the cantaloupe should be thoroughly scrubbed with a vegetable brush,
then rinsed and wiped, after which bury the melon in broken ice till
serving time; divide into eighths or sixteenths, remove the seeds,
reconstruct the melon, and serve surrounded with ice, on a folded
napkin, or arranged on a bed of grape leaves. Do not cool the melon by
placing ice upon the flesh, as the moisture injures the delicate flavor.

ORANGES.--Serve whole or cut the skin into eighths, halfway down,
separating it from the fruit, and curling it inward, thus showing half
the orange white and the other half yellow; or cut the skin into
eighths, two-thirds down, and after loosening from the fruit, leave them
spread open like the petals of a lily. Oranges sliced and mixed with
well ripened strawberries, in the proportion of three oranges to a quart
of berries, make--a palatable dessert.

PEACHES AND PEARS.--Pick out the finest, and wipe the wool from the
peaches. Edge a plate with uniform sized leaves of foliage plant of the
same tints as the fruit, and pile the fruit artistically upon it,
tucking sprays or tips of the plant between. Bits of ice may also be
intermingled. Yellow Bartlett pears and rosy-cheeked peaches arranged in
this way are most ornamental.

PEACHES AND CREAM.--Pare the peaches just as late as practicable,
since they become discolored by standing. Always use a silver knife, as
steel soon blackens and discolors the fruit. If sugar is to be used, do
not add it until the time for serving, as it will start the juice, and
likewise turn the fruit brown, destroying much of its rich flavor. Keep
on ice until needed for the table. Add cream with each person's dish.

PINEAPPLES.--The pineapple when fresh and ripened to perfection, is
as mellow and juicy as a ripe peach, and needs no cooking to fit it for
the table. Of course it must be pared, and have the eyes and fibrous
center removed. Then it may be sliced in generous pieces and piled upon
a plate, or cut into smaller portions and served in saucers. No
condiments are necessary; even the use of sugar detracts from its
delicate flavor. Pineapples found in our Northern markets are, however,
generally so hard and tough as to require cooking, or are valuable only
for their juice, which may be extracted and used for flavoring other
fruits. When sufficiently mellow to be eaten raw, they are usually so
tart as to seem to require a light sprinkling of sugar to suit most
tastes. Pineapples pared, cut into dice or small pieces, lightly
sprinkled with sugar, to which just before serving, a cup of orange
juice is added, form a delicious dish.

PLUMS.--Plums make a most artistic fruit piece, served whole and
arranged with bunches of choice green grapes, in a basket or glass dish.
A fine edge may be made from the velvety leaves of dark purple foliage
plants.

PRESSED FIGS.--Look over carefully, and select only such as are
perfectly good. They may be served dry, mixed with bunches of raisins,
or steamed over a kettle of boiling water. Steamed figs make an
excellent breakfast dish, and are considered much more wholesome then
when used dry. Steamed raisins are likewise superior to dried raisins.

RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, DEWBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES AND WHORTLEBERRIES,
require careful looking over to remove all insects, stems, and over-ripe
fruit. Blueberries and whortleberries frequently need to be washed. They
are then drained by spreading on a sieve or colander. Perfectly ripe,
they are more healthful without condiments; but sugar and cream are
usually considered indispensable.

If necessary to wash strawberries, they should be put into cold water, a
few at a time, pushed down lightly beneath the water several times until
entirely clean, then taken out one by one, hulled, and used at once.
Like all other small fruits and berries they are more wholesome served
without cream, but if cream is used, each person should be allowed to
add it to his own dish, as it quickly curdles and renders the whole dish
unsightly; if allowed to stand, it also impairs the flavor of the fruit.

FROSTED FRUIT.--Prepare a mixture of the beaten white of egg,
sugar, and a very little cold water. Dip nice bunches of clean currants,
cherries, or grapes into the mixture; drain nearly dry, and roll lightly
in powdered sugar. Lay them on white paper to dry. Plums, apricots, and
peaches may be dipped in the mixture, gently sprinkled with sugar, then
allowed to dry. This method of preparing fruit is not to be commended
for its wholesomeness, but it is sometimes desirable for ornament.

KEEPING FRESH FRUIT.

Of the numerous varieties of fruits grown in this country, apples and
pears are about the only ones that can be kept for any length of time
without artificial means. As soon as fruit has attained its maturity, a
gradual change or breaking down of tissues begins. In some fruits this
process follows rapidly; in other it is gradual. There is a certain
point at which the fruits are best suited for use. We call it
mellowness, and say that the fruit is in "good eating condition." When
this stage has been reached, deterioration and rotting soon follow. In
some fruits, as the peach, plum, and early varieties of apples and
pears, these changes occur within a few days after maturity, and it is
quite useless to attempt to keep them; in others, like the later
varieties of apples and pears, the changes are slow but none the less
certain. To keep such fruits we must endeavor to retard or prolong the
process of change, by avoiding all conditions likely to hasten decay.
Even with ordinary care, sound fruit will keep for quite a length of
time; but it can be preserved in better condition and for a longer
period by careful attention to the following practical points:--

1. If the fruit is of a late variety, allow it to remain on the tree as
long as practicable without freezing.

2. Always pick and handle the fruit with the greatest care.

3. Gather the fruit on a dry, cool day, and place in heaps or bins for
two or three weeks.

4. Carefully sort and pack in barrels, placing those most mellow and
those of different varieties in different barrels; head the barrels,
label, and place in a cool, dry place where the temperature will remain
equable. Some consider it better to keep fruit in thin layers upon broad
shelves in a cool place. This plan allows frequent inspection and
removal of all affected fruit without disturbance of the remainder.

5. Warmth and moisture are the conditions most favorable to
decomposition, and should be especially guarded against.

6. The best temperature for keeping fruit is about 34 deg. F., or 2 deg.
above freezing.

Another method which is highly recommended is to sprinkle a layer of
sawdust on the bottom of a box, and then put in a layer of apples, not
allowing them to tough each other. Upon this pack more sawdust; then
another layer of apples, and so on until the box is filled. After
packing, place up from the ground, in a cellar or storeroom, and they
will keep perfectly, retaining their freshness and flavor until brought
out. The _Practical Farmer_ gives the following rough but good way to
store and keep apples: "Spread plenty of buckwheat chaff on the barn
floor, and on this place the apples, filling the interstices with the
chaff. Cover with the chaff and then with straw two or three feet deep.
The advantage of this is that covering and bedding in chaff excludes
cold, prevents air currents, maintains a uniform temperature, absorbs
the moisture of decay, and prevents the decay produced by moisture."

The ordinary cellar underneath the dwelling house is too warm and damp
for the proper preservation of fruit, and some other place should be
provided if possible. A writer in the _American Agriculturist_ thus
calls attention to an additional reason why fruit should not be stored
beneath living-rooms: "After late apples are stored for the winter, a
gradual change begins within the fruit. It absorbs oxygen from the air
of the room, and gives off carbonic acid gas. Another change results in
the formation of water, which is given off as moisture. The taking up of
oxygen by the fruit and the giving off of carbonic acid, in a short time
so vitiates the atmosphere of the room in which the fruit is kept, that
it will at once extinguish a candle, and destroy animal life. An
atmosphere of this kind tends to preserve the fruit. There being little
or no oxygen left in the air of the room, the process of decay is
arrested. Hence it is desirable that the room be air tight, in order to
maintain such an atmosphere."

The production of carbonic acid shows that a cellar in or under a
dwelling, is an improper place for storing fresh fruit. When the gas is
present in the air in sufficient proportion, it causes death, and a very
small quantity will cause headache, listlessness, and other unpleasant
effects. No doubt many troubles attributed to malaria, are due to gases
from vegetables and fruits stored in the cellar. A fruit cellar should
be underneath some other building rather than the dwelling, or a fruit
house may be built entirely above the ground. A house to keep fruit
properly must be built upon the principle of a refrigerator. Its walls,
floor, and ceiling should be double, and the space between filled with
sawdust. The doors and windows should be double; and as light is
undesirable, the windows should be provided with shutters. There should
be a small stove for use if needed to keep a proper temperature in
severe weather.

TO KEEP GRAPES.--Select such bunches as are perfect, rejecting all
upon which there are any bruised grapes, or from which a grape has
fallen. Spread them upon shelves in a cool place for a week or two. Then
pack in boxes in sawdust which has been recently well dried in an oven.
Bran which has been dried may also be used. Dry cotton is employed by
some. Keep in a cool place.

Some consider the following a more efficient method: select perfect
bunches, and dip the broken end of the stems in melted paraffine or
sealing wax. Wrap separately in tissue paper, hang in a cool place, or
pack in sawdust.

TO KEEP LEMONS AND ORANGES.--Lemons may be kept fresh for weeks by
placing them in a vessel of cold water in a very cool cellar or ice
house. Change the water every day. Oranges may be kept in the same way.
The usual method employed by growers for keeping these fruits is to wrap
each one separately in tissue paper, and put in a cool, dry place.

TO KEEP CRANBERRIES.--Put them in water and keep in a cool place
where they will not freeze. Change the water often, and sort out berries
which may have become spoiled.

COOKED FRUIT.

Perfectly ripe fruit is, as a rule, more desirable used fresh than in
any other way. Fruits which are immature, require cooking. Stewing and
baking are the simplest methods of preparation.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING FRUIT.--The utensils for stewing
should be porcelain-lined, or granite ware. Fruit cooked in tin loses
much of its delicate flavor; while if it be acid, and the tin of poor
quality, there is always danger that the acid of the fruit acting upon
the metal will form a poisonous compound. Cover with a china plate or
granite-ware cover, never with a tin one, as the steam will condense and
run down into the kettle, discoloring the contents. Use only silver
knives for preparing the fruit, and silver or wooden spoons for
stirring. Prepare just before cooking, if you would preserve the fruit
perfect in flavor, and unimpaired by discoloration. In preparing apples,
pears, and quinces for stewing, it is better to divide the fruit into
halves or quarters before paring. The fruit is more easily handled, can
be pared thinner and cored more quickly. Peaches, apricots, and plums,
if divided and stoned before paring, can be much more easily kept whole.

Cook in a small quantity of boiling water, and if economy is a point to
be considered, do not add sugar until the fruit is done. Sugar boiled
with an acid will be converted into glucose, two and one half pounds of
which only equal one pound of cane sugar in sweetening properties. It
will require a much larger amount of sugar to sweeten fruit if added
before the cooking process is completed. Fruit should be cooked by
stewing, or by gentle simmering; hard boiling will destroy the fine
flavor of all fruits, and especially of berries and other small fruits.
Cinnamon, cloves, or other spices, should not be added, as their
stronger flavors deaden or obliterate the natural flavor, which should
always be preserved as perfectly as possible. If desirable to add some
foreign flavor, let it be the flavor of another fruit, or the perfume
of flowers. For Instance, flavor apple with lemon, pineapple, quince, or
rose water.

Unripe fruit is improved by making the cooking quite lengthy, which acts
in the place of the ripening process, changing the starchy matter to
saccharine elements. In cooking fruit, try to preserve its natural form.
The more nearly whole it is, the better it looks, and the more natural
will be its flavor.

Apples are best cooked by baking. Pears and quinces are also excellent
baked. The oven should be only moderately hot; if the heat is too great,
they brown on the outside before they are done throughout. In cooking
fruit by any method, pains should be taken to cook together such as are
of the same variety, size, and degree of hardness; if it is to be cut in
pieces, care should be taken to have the pieces of uniform size.

_RECIPES._

BAKED APPLES.--Moderately tart apples or very juicy sweet ones are
best for baking. Select ripe apples, free from imperfections, and of
nearly equal size. Wipe carefully and remove the blossom ends. Water
sufficient to cover bottom of the baking dish, should be added if the
fruit is not very juicy. If the apples are sour and quite firm, a good
way is to pare them before baking, and then place them in an earthen pie
dish with a little hot water. If they incline to brown too quickly,
cover the tops with a granite-ware pie dish. If the syrup dries out, add
a little more hot water. When done, set them away till nearly cold, then
transfer to a glass dish, pour the syrup, which should be thick and
amber colored, over them. Sour apples are excellent pared, cored, and
baked with the centers filled with sugar, jelly, or a mixture or chopped
raisins and dates. They should be put into a shallow earthen dish with
water sufficient to cover the bottom, and baked in a quick oven, basting
often with the syrup. Sweet apples are best baked without paring. Baked
apples are usually served as a relish, but with a dressing of cream they
make a most delicious dessert.

CITRON APPLES.--Select a few tart apples of the same degree of
hardness, and remove the cores. Unless the skins are very tender, it is
better to pare them. Fill the cavities with sugar, first placing in each
apple a few bits of chopped citron. If the skins have been removed,
place the stuffed apples on a flat earthen dish with a tablespoonful of
water on the bottom; cover closely, and bake till perfectly tender, but
not till they have fallen to pieces. If the skins are left on, they may
be baked without covering. When cold, serve in separate dishes, with or
without a spoonful or two of whipped cream on each apple.

LEMON APPLES.--Prepare tart apples the same as for citron apples.
Fill the cavities made by removing the cores with a mixture of grated
lemon and sugar, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each apple, and
bake. Serve with or without whipped cream.

BAKED PEARS.--Hard pears make an excellent dessert when baked.
Pare, halve, remove seeds, and place in a shallow earthen dish, with a
cup of water to each two quarts of fruit. If the pears are sour, a
little sugar may be added. Bake, closely covered, in a moderate oven
until tender. Serve with sugar and cream. Tart pears are the best for
baking, as the sweet varieties are often tasteless.

BAKED QUINCES.--Pare and remove the cores. Fill the cavities with
sugar, put in a shallow earthen dish, and add water to cover the bottom;
bake till soft, basting often with the syrup. If the syrup dries out
before the fruit is perfectly tender, add a little more hot water.

PIPPINS AND QUINCE.--Pare and quarter nice golden pippins, and cook
in boiling water until reduced to a jelly. Add two or three quinces
sliced, and simmer slowly in the jelly until the quince is tender. Add
sugar to taste. Serve cold.

BAKED APPLE SAUCE.--Pare, core, and quarter apples to fill an
earthen crock or deep pudding dish, taking care to use apples of the
same degree of hardness, and pieces of the same size. For two quarts of
fruit thus prepared, add a cup of water, and if the apples are sour, a
cup of sugar. Cover closely, and bake in a moderate oven several hours,
or until of a dark red color.

Sweet apples and quinces in the proportion of two parts of apple to one
of quince, baked in this way, are also good. Cut the apples into
quarters, but slice the quinces much thinner, as they are more difficult
to cook. Put a layer of quince on the bottom of the dish, alternating
with a layer of apple, until the dish is full. Add cold water to half
cover the fruit, and stew in the oven well covered, without stirring,
until tender.

Pears may be cooked in a similar way, and both apples and pears thus
cooked may be canned while hot and kept for a long period.

BAKED APPLE SAUCE NO. 2.--Prepare nice tart apples as for No. 1.
Bake, with a small quantity of water, in a covered pudding dish, in a
moderate oven, until soft. Mash with a spoon, add sugar, and when cold,
a little grated orange rind.

APPLES STEWED WHOLE.--Take six large red apples, wash carefully,
and put in a fruit kettle with just enough boiling water to cover. Cover
the kettle, and cook slowly until the apples are soft, with the skins
broken and the juice a rich red color. After removing the apples, boil
the juice to a syrup, sweeten, and pour over the apples.

STEAMED APPLES.--Select pound sweets of uniform size, wipe, cut
out the blossom-ends, and pack in a large pudding dish. Pour in a cupful
of water, cover the dish closely, set in a moderate oven, and steam till
the apples are tender. Remove from the dish, and pour the liquor over
them frequently as they cool.

COMPOTE OF APPLES.--Pare and extract the cores from moderately
tart, juicy apples. Place them in a deep pudding dish with just enough
water to cover them. Cover, place in a moderate oven, and stew until
they are tender. Remove the apples and place in a deep dish to keep hot.
Measure the juice and pour it into a saucepan, add a few bits of lemon
rind, and boil up until thickened almost like a jelly. While the juice
is boiling, heat some sugar, one tablespoonful to each cup of juice, in
the oven, and add to the juice when thickened. Pour scalding hot over
the apples, and cover until cold.

APPLE COMPOTE NO. 2.--Pare eight or ten rather tart, finely
flavored and easy-cooking apples, carefully removing the cores, and put
them into a broad, shallow, granite-ware saucepan with just enough hot
water to cover the bottom. Cover tightly and place over the fire. The
steam will cook the apples tender in a short time. Do not allow them to
fall to pieces. Make a syrup by dissolving one cup of sugar in a pint of
hot water. Add three teaspoonfuls of the juice of canned pineapple, and
pour over the apples while both are hot.

STEWED PEARS.--Select some fine Bartlett pears which are ripe, but
have hardly begun to soften; remove the skins, cut in halves or
quarters, and take out the seeds. Put loosely in a granite-ware kettle,
and add a pint of water for three and a half quarts of fruit. Cover
closely, and when it begins to boil, set it where it will just simmer
until the top pieces are tender. Serve cold. Sugar will not be necessary
if the fruit is of good quality.

SMOOTH APPLE SAUCE.--If fruit is not sufficiently perfect to be cut
into uniform quarters, a good way to prepare it is to pare, core, and
slice into thin slices. Cook in as small a quantity of water as
possible, the fruit covered closely, so that the top portion will steam
tender as soon as the bottom, and when done rub through a colander, or
beat smooth with a wooden spoon or an egg beater. Let it cool before
adding sugar. A little lemon peel may be added to the fruit just long
enough before it is done to flavor it, if desired.

BOILED APPLES WITH SYRUP.--Halve and remove the cores of a half
dozen nice apples, leaving the skins on. Boil till tender in sufficient
water to cover them. Take out with a fork into a glass dish. Add to the
juice three or four slices of a large lemon; boil for ten or fifteen
minutes; sweeten to taste; then pour over the apples, and cool.

STEWED APPLES.--Select fine fruit of a sub-acid flavor and not
over-ripe. Pare, remove the cores and all blemishes, and divide into
sixths if large, into quarters if small. Put into a porcelain or
granite-ware kettle with enough boiling water to cook and leave a good
liquor. Cover, and simmer gently, without stirring, from one to two
hours. Do not add sugar till cold. Be careful not to break the fruit in
serving.

STEWED CRAB APPLES.--Select perfect fruit. Wash and stew in but
little water until they are very soft. Rub through a coarse sieve or
colander to remove the seeds and skins. Sweeten to taste.

SWEET APPLE SAUCE WITH CONDENSED APPLE JUICE.--For the juice, wash,
divide, and core rather tart apples and cook until softened with one cup
of water for every six pounds of fruit. When soft, put into a percolater
and drain off the juice or extract it with a fruit press. Boil until it
is reduced one half. Skim if needed while boiling, and if not perfectly
clear allow it to settle before using. A considerable quantity of the
juice may be thus prepared and put into stone jars, to be used as
needed. For the sauce, pare, core, and quarter sweet apples. Put into a
porcelain kettle with enough of the condensed juice to cover. Cook
slowly until tender.

APPLES WITH RAISINS.--Pare, core, and quarter a dozen or more
medium sized sour apples. Clean thoroughly one fourth as many raisins as
apples, and turn over them a quart of boiling water. Let them steep
until well swollen, then add the apples, and cook until tender. Sugar to
sweeten may be added if desired, although little will be needed unless
the apples are very tart. Dried apples soaked over night may be made
much more palatable by stewing with raisins or English currants, in the
same way.