Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/31

 more stock if necessary. At the end of that time thicken the gravy with a little flour and simmer until wanted.

Time: Two hours.

Ingredients: Six sheep’s trotters, pepper, salt, flour, butter and bacon.

Mode: Boil the trotters three or four hours, have them well seasoned with pepper and salt. Thicken the liquor with some flour, and stir in a lump of butter. Have some slices of bacon fried. When cooked, put the stew on a dish and lay the bacon on top. If liked, some chopped parsley may be added to the stew.

Ingredients: About 6 lbs. of a piece of rump, a thin slice of bacon, one onion, young carrots, two turnips, a few whole spice, cloves, and peppercorns, a sprig of celery and parsley, salt to taste, one quart of good stock.

Mode: Choose a piece of rump cut from the end where it joins the loin. If practicable, hang it up a few days. You can remove the bone or not, it improves the flavor if left. Put the joint into a saucepan and over it pour some boiling water. Boil about fifteen or sixteen minutes, and then remove it to one side of the fire. This process secures all the juices in the meat. Now put the bacon, onion, carrots (cut in lengths), turnips (sliced), spice, cloves, pepper corns, celery, parsley and salt into a braizing pan. Put in the meat and pour the stock over it, and, if you have it, add some sherry or wine. Place the braizing pan where it will just simmer for a couple of hours, and baste frequently, and when nearly done, cover the lid of the pan with hot coals. Remove the meat to a dish. [sic] Strain the sauce, pour it over, and garnish with the carrots.

This recipe is very elaborate, but the trouble is well worth taking, and one need not have braised rump very often.

OUPS, broths, etc., in hot climates, are of far more consequence than joints, made dishes, etc. The business man comes home in the middle of the day, tired, hot and hungry, yet with a disinclination to eat meat, vegetables, etc., but the very thing he feels he could enjoy is a plate of soup or a basin of broth. Failing these, he, as often as not, indulges in an extra glass of brandy, whisky, or such like, and returns to his office imagining he is a little out of sorts. Children in the same way return from school, hot and tired, and without appetite for hot meat, but no matter how tired or hot, they will manage a plate of soup, and if they take nothing else until tea-time, they will be none the worse. Soup is the very best nourishment for men, women, and children. I would advise all house-wives to let their midday meal during the hot months consist of good soup or broth, followed by a light pudding. Do away altogether with the hot joint at one o’clock. Have it cold for tea, with hot vegetables or a nice salad, if you do not care to go to the trouble of a late dinner.