| ARTICLES OF DIET. | Mode of Preparation. | Hours/Min. |
|---|---|---|
| Pork, recently salted | Fried | 4 15 |
| " | Boiled | 4 30 |
| Turkey, wild | Roasted | 2 18 |
| " tame | " | 2 30 |
| " | Boiled | 2 25 |
| Goose, wild | Roasted | 2 30 |
| Chickens, full-grown | Fricasseed | 2 45 |
| Fowls, domestic | Boiled | 4 00 |
| " | Roasted | 4 00 |
| Ducks, tame | " | 4 00 |
| " wild | " | 4 30 |
| Soup, barley | Boiled | 1 30 |
| " bean | " | 3 00 |
| " chicken | " | 3 00 |
| " mutton | " | 3 30 |
| " oyster | " | 3 30 |
| " beef, vegetables, and bread | " | 4 00 |
| " marrow-bones | " | 4 15 |
| Pig's feet, soused | " | 1 00 |
| Tripe, soused | " | 1 00 |
| Brains, animal | " | 1 45 |
| Spinal marrow, animal | " | 2 40 |
| Liver, beef, fresh | Broiled | 2 00 |
| Heart, animal | Fried | 4 00 |
| Cartilage | Boiled | 4 15 |
| Tendon | " | 5 30 |
| Hash, meat, and vegetables | Warmed | 2 30 |
| Sausage, fresh | Broiled | 3 20 |
| Gelatine | Boiled | 2 30 |
| Cheese, old, strong | Raw | 3 30 |
| Green corn and beans | Boiled | 3 45 |
| Beans, pod | " | 2 30 |
| Parsnips | " | 2 30 |
| Potatoes | Roasted | 2 30 |
| " | Baked | 2 30 |
| " | Boiled | 2 30 |
| Cabbage, head | Raw | 2 30 |
| " " with vinegar | " | 2 00 |
| " | Boiled | 4 30 |
| Carrot, orange | " | 3 13 |
| Turnips, flat | " | 3 30 |
| Beets | " | 3 45 |
| Bread, corn | Baked | 3 15 |
| " wheat, fresh | " | 3 30 |
| Apples, sweet, mellow | Raw | 1 30 |
| " sour | " | 2 00 |
| " " hard | " | 2 50 |
Milk is more easily digested than almost any other article of food. It is very nutritious, and, on account of the variety of the elements which it contains, it is extremely valuable an article of diet, especially when the digestive powers are weakened, as in fevers, or during convalescence from any acute disease. Eggs are also very nutritious and easily digested. Whipped eggs are digested and assimilated with great ease. Fish, as a rule, are more speedily digested than is the flesh of warm-blooded animals. Oysters, especially when taken raw, are very easily digested. We have known dyspeptics who were unable to digest any other kind of animal food, to subsist for a considerable period upon raw oysters. The flesh of mammalia seems to be more easily digested than that of birds. Beef, mutton, lamb, and venison are easily digested, while fat roast pork and veal are digested with difficulty. According to the foregoing table vegetables were digested in about the same time as ordinary animal food, but it should be remembered that a great part of the digestion of these is effected in the small intestine. Soups are, as a rule, very quickly digested. The time required for the digestion of bread is about the same as that required for the digestion of ordinary meats. Boiled cabbage is one of the most difficult substances to digest.
Cookery. "Cookery," says Mrs. Owen, "Is the art of turning every morsel to the best use; it is the exercise of skill, thought, and ingenuity to make every particle of food yield the utmost nourishment and pleasure, of which it is capable." We are indebted to this practical woman for many valuable suggestions in this art; and some of our recommendations are drawn from her experience.
Soups. The nutritious properties, tone, and sweetness of soup depend in the first place upon the freshness and quality of the meat; secondly on the manner in which it is boiled. Soups should be nicely and delicately seasoned, according to the taste of the consumer, by using parsley, sage, savory, thyme, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, or any of the vegetable condiments. These may be raised in the garden, or obtained at the drug stores, sifted and prepared for use. In extracting the juices of meats, in order that soups may be most nutritious, it is important that the meat be put into cold water, or that which is not so hot as to coagulate the albumen (which would prevent it from being extracted), and then, by slow heat and a simmering process, the most nutritious properties will be brought out.
Beef Soup may be made of any bone of the beef, by putting it into cold water, adding a little salt, and skimming it well just before it boils. If a vegetable flavor be desired, celery, carrots, onions, turnips, cabbage, or potatoes, may be added, in sufficient quantities to suit the taste.
Mutton Soup may be made from the fore-quarter, in the same manner as described above, thickened with pearl-barley or rice, and flavored to suit the taste.
Boiled Fish. Clean the fish nicely, then sprinkle flour on a cloth and wrap it around them; salt the water, and, when it boils, put in the fish; let them boil half an hour, then carefully remove them to a platter, adding egg sauce and parsley. To bake fish, prepare by cleaning, scaling, etc., and let them remain in salt water for a short time. Make a stuffing of the crumbs of light bread, and add to it a little salt, pepper, butter, and sweet herbs, and stir with a spoon. Then fill the fish with the stuffing and sew it up. Put on butter, salt, pepper, and flour, having enough water in the dish to keep it from burning, and baste often. A four pound fish will bake in fifty or sixty minutes.
Broiled Steak. Sirloin and porter-house steaks should be broiled quickly. Preserve them on ice for a day or two and their tenderness is much increased. Never broil them until the meal is ready to be served.
Boiled Meat. When meat is to be boiled for eating, put it into boiling water, by which its juices are coagulated and its richness preserved. The slower it boils, the more tender, plump, and white it will be. Meat should be removed as soon as done, or it will lose its flavor and become soggy.