Saturday, January 29, 2011

Old Fashioned Cooking Tips

I've been baking a lot lately, partly to save money, and partly for the joy of it. Last week I made two types of cookies, brownies and lemon bread. Winter is such a good time to try new bread and cookie recipes. Later in the week I'll share a few I've tried.

Today I have cooking tips from the Home Comfort Cook Book, published in 1948. Can we ever really have too may kitchen or cooking tips?

To keep a bowl steady when mixing, place it on a wet, folded cloth.

If the top of a cake is sprinkled with flour as soon as it is taken from the oven, icing will spread more easily and not be so likely to run off.

To cut boiled eggs more easily, dip the knife in water beforehand.

Dip fish into scalding water for a minute to scale more easily.

A teaspoon of vinegar added to the water in which white fish is boiled improves flavor and makes flesh firmer.

Juices of spiced and pickled fruits are good for basting meats, especially ham or tongue.

Save liquids from pickles to use for pickled beets, slaw or for moistening meat or fish sandwich fillings.

Use damp scissors to cut marshmallows, dates and figs easily.

To bake potatoes faster, quickly boil in water 10 minutes first, then put in a hot oven.

For crisp, edible skins, scrub well, dry and rub with bacon fat before putting in oven.

To make rice white and fluffy, add 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar to each quart of water while cooking.

To prevent brown sugar from hardening place it in tightly closed container. If already hard, soften it by placing in a slow oven . Or place in closed fruit jar with slice of soft bread.

Mary Emma gives us tips for keeping our own cooking journal:

~Brenda

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Equivalents For Older Recipes & More

I decided today to share some equivalents from my 1950 edition of the Culinary Arts Institute of Encyclopedic Cookbook. These are some I picked that not only are useful in general cooking, but will help if you enjoy making recipes from older cookbooks and need to know what to use in place of an ingredient.

EASY SUBSTITUTES

When the recipe calls for---

1 cup sweet milk in a batter, you can use 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1/2 cup water.
OR 1 cup skim milk and 2 tbsp. fat (oil, butter etc.)

When you need--
1 ounce chocolate you can use 4 tbsp. cocoa and 1/2 tbsp. butter or margarine.

When a recipe calls for 1 cup granulated sugar--

Use 1 cup brown sugar, packed
OR 3/4 cup honey, but reduce the liquid slightly

2 cups corn syrup, reducing liquid

1 1/2 cups maple syrup, reducing liquid

STANDARD CAN SIZES
8 ounces (may be listed as oz, or Z) = 1 cup
Picnic No. 1= 1 1/4 cups
12 ounce=1 2/3 cups
No. 300=1 3/4 cups
No. 1 tall=2 cups
No. 2=2 1/2 cups
No. 2 1/2=3 1/2 cups
No. 3=4 cups
No. 3 squat=2 3/4 cups
No. 5=7 1/3 cups
No. 10=13 cups
No. 1 square= 1 pound
No. 2 1/2 square=31 ounces

MISC. SUBSTITUTES
1 bouillon cube = 1 tsp. extract

1 tbsp. cornstarch=2/3 tbsp. arrowroot
OR 1 3/4 tbsp. wheat or rice flour

1 tbsp. fresh grated horseradish= 2 tbsp. bottled

1 1/2 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca=1/4 cup pearl tapioca soaked at least one hour

ON OFL: The biscuits didn't turn out. What went wrong?