Cookery for Little Girls

by Olive Hyde Foster

BEEFSTEAK

Different kinds of steak need to be cooked in different ways. Tenderloin, porterhouse, and sirloin are best broiled over a hot fire, or pan broiled by being turned frequently on a very hot skillet, with only the fat that comes from the steak itself. Serve on a hot platter, with butter, pepper and salt. Round steak is nice cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in flour, and cooked quickly in some of the suet, first put in the pan until tried out. Lift browned pieces of the steak (for this needs more cooking than tenderer meat), on to a hot platter, add a little butter to the fat in the pan, stir in a scant tablespoon of flour, stir well until smooth and brown, then pour in quickly a cupful of cold water, and continue to stir until well thickened. This gravy will be smooth and of nice flavor, and can be poured over the meat. Season, of course, with salt and pepper to taste.

HASH

Hash, though a dish often laughed at, is always appetizing when well made. Corn beef hash indeed has quite a reputation, and is made by chopping cold corn beef rather fine, adding an equal quantity of cold boiled potatoes, chopped, wetting with enough boiling water to keep from burning, seasoning with salt, pepper and a little butter, and then allowing to cook gently for at least twenty minutes. All kinds of hash need to simmer for quite a while, in order to blend the flavor of the meat and the potatoes, and give the delicate taste that marks a carefully prepared dish. Beef, particularly browned scraps, finely minced, and mixed with an equal quantity of minced cold boiled potatoes, seasoned and prepared as just directed, is very good for breakfast served on rounds of buttered toast. And either kind can be allowed to brown down in the pan and then turned out on a hot plate, rolled over with a nice thick crust. Any kind of meat can be used, however.

LAMB PIE

A lamb pie is an attractive way of using up small pieces of cold lamb. Cut off all scraps and gristle, and add enough cold gravy to cover. Season well with salt and pepper, and simmer twenty minutes. Take a pudding dish, invert a small cup in the bottom, pour in the hot meat, add half a can of peas, cover with a crust of light biscuit dough, and bake until brown. Before sending to the table lift crust and remove cup, which has drawn up the gravy. Serve with either mashed or baked potatoes.

DRIED BEEF

Dried beef dressed in cream is always an appetizing dish and very quickly made ready. The child should first take a half-pound of chipped beef and tear it into small pieces, removing all strings and fat. Then put in a stew-pan, cover with cold water and let come to a boil. While it is heating, however, she should stir smooth one tablespoonful butter and one tablespoonful flour. When the water boils on the beef she must pour off half (or it will be too salty), and add an equal amount of milk. Into this stir slowly the mixed butter and flour, season with pepper and let boil until thick. Some people like the addition of two well-beaten eggs, but I prefer the beef plain, with the gravy rather thick, served on rounds of hot buttered toast. The toast could be made first and set where it will keep warm, and thus save the time of making afterwards, for a dish of this kind cools very quickly, and should be sent to the table as soon as ready.