Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/16

12 remove will come without effort. Many of the best cooks use only a small wire with a double hook at the end and only remove just what that brings. They never wash the inside and would be surprised at the suggestion, and when one comes to think of it there really should be no occasion to wash the inside of a fowl, unless the intestines were broken or torn, and that is what one must guard against always. The gall is the chief thing to get out entire, as, if broken, it may give an unpleasant taste. When the inside is out, if not washed, it must be well wiped out with a damp cloth. If washed, it is plunged into cold water and well washed. Many people cut the outer skin and flesh away round the vent, supposing that it is not clean, but that is quite a wrong idea, for when well washed it is as clean as any part, and it spoils the look of the bird to cut it away.

The feet can be cut off at the joint below the fleshy part, but do not throw away either head or feet, they can be cleaned with hot water, the outer skin of the feet and of the beak and comb being taken off, and with the gizzard they will make a very nice gravy, or a little drop of soup for an invalid.

Make a stuffing of parsley, boiled onion, breadcrumbs, dripping, salt, pepper and one egg; stuff the breast first,then fill the body.

The young cook will do well to study her cookery book, not merely to take recipes from it, but to learn the different seasonings, flavorings and stuffings that go with the various meats, and having mastered such details, experiment on her own account. If economy is necessary in the household, she must learn to make up all cold meats and to utilize cold vegetables and scraps of dry bread, in fact, every morsel of food that comes under her hand. She should always have a supply of bread-crumbs for bread-crumbing cutlets, meat-balls, potato croquettes, etc.; for this purpose let her save all the scraps of waste bread, bake them till quite hard and brown, but not at all burnt. When she has a few minutes to spare she can grind them up in the mincing machine, and sift through a fine wire sieve, or they can be pounded in a mortar, or rolled with a rolling pin. Always sift them as you then get them of a uniform fineness. When doing cutlets, prepare them some little time beforehand, as the crumbs stick better and are not so apt to fall off in the frying. If you have not an egg, a little drop of milk will answer in which to dip the cutlet before rolling in the crumbs. If the crumbs are kept in a tin or bottle in a dry place, they will be fit to use to the last grain, but it is not wise to do a large quantity at a time—a pickle-bottle full is enough. When making meat-balls, break one or two eggs into the meat and mix quickly: this will make the meat stick together or bind far better than if the eggs are beaten up and then stirred in. Then dip the balls in more egg, and roll lightly in the crumbs. Colouring is another thing