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Stewing, Mr. Buckmaster On

Stewing is a gradual simmering. It may be done in a saucepan over the fire, or in a stone jar which will stand the fire, with a lid fitting steam-tight. The common red jar is not to be recommended; it does not stand the heat, and the glaze, which is a composition of lead, often gives way in the presence of salt. Stone jars are preferable to metal saucepans; they can be easily cleaned, and they retain the heat better. For stewing, select lean meat, free from blood. The quantity of water should be about a quart to a pound of meat; but this liquor will be very rich, and it can easily be reduced, if necessary, with warm water. Add about a tea-spoonful of salt to a quart of water-I think salt is best added towards the end of the cooking, as the tendency is to harden the meat. Peas when boiled with salt pork will remain hard throughout the cooking. Bring the water gradually to the boil, remove all the scum, and let the contents simmer till the flavour of the meat is absorbed in the liquor. Remove all the fat, which can be eaten with bread, or used for puddings or frying. All and every kind of meat will do for a stew. They may be used together or separately, according to taste or convenience. The better the meat, the better the stew; but by careful stewing the coarsest and roughest parts will become soft, tender, and easily digested, which would not be possible by any other method of cooking. All the gristly parts-the feet, shanks, knuckles-should be stewed. There is no other way of cooking these parts to advantage. They require time, and this is often the difficulty and objection; but what is there to prevent a woman, when the family are all sitting round the fire in the evening, thinking about to-morrow's dinner? The fire which warms the children will also cook their dinner. The great vice of most women, not only among the poor, but among the middle classes, is that they never think of cooking till they feel hungry. Trimmings of all kinds of meat can sometimes be purchased cheaply. A woman who has but little to spend should watch her opportunities. Sheep's feet, the shank-bones of legs of mutton, and pieces of bone and gristle, are often thrown away as useless. We used formerly to send ox tails to the tan-yard, and even now much goes there which could be turned into good food. Twopence or three-pence may be well spent in the purchase of bones-although containing little meat, they contain 30 per cent. of gelatine, and may be made to yield excellent food; large bones should be broken into small pieces, and allowed to simmer till every piece of bone is white and dry. I have said nothing about flavouring or thickening, or adding vegetables. As a rule, all vegetables except potatoes may be cut into slices and cooked in the stew; or, if preferred, they may be cooked separately, and added afterwards. Carrots, turnips, parsnips, swedes, cabbages, leeks, onions, celery, beetroot, vegetable-marrow-any or all of these may be used in a stew.