ON FRYING AND BROILING.
FRYING is one of the operations in cookery in which there are more
failures than any other, or, at least, there appear to be more, because
the failure is always so very apparent. Nothing can make a dish of
breaded cutlets on which are bald white spots look inviting, or
livid-looking fish, just flaked here and there with the bread that has
been persuaded to stay on. And, provided you have enough fat in the
pan--there should always be enough to immerse the article; therefore use
a deep iron or enameled pan--there can be but two reasons why you fail.
Your fat has not been hot enough, or your crumbs have not been fine and
_even_.
Many suppose when the fat bubbles and boils in the pan that it is quite
hot; it is far from being so. Others again are so much nearer the truth
that they know it must become _silent_, that is, boil and cease to boil,
before it is ready, but even that is not enough; it must be silent some
time, smoke, and appear to be on the point of burning, then drop a bit
of bread in; if it crisps and takes color directly, quickly put in your
articles.
These articles, whether cutlets or fish, must have been carefully
prepared, or herein may lie the second cause of failure. Any cookery
book will give you directions how to crumb, follow them; but what some
do not tell you is, that your bread-crumbs should be _finely sifted_;
every coarse crumb is liable to drop off and bring with it a good deal
of the surrounding surface.
I also follow the French plan in using the egg, and mix with it oil and
water in the proportion of three eggs, one tablespoonful of oil, one of
water, and a little salt, beat together and use. It is a good plan to
keep a supply of _panure_ or dried bread-crumbs always ready. Cut any
slices of baker's bread, dry them in a cool oven so that they remain
quite colorless, or they will not do for the purpose. When as dry as
crackers, crush under a rolling-pin, and sift; keep in a jar for use.
In no branch of cooking is excellence more appreciated than in that of
frying. A dish of _filets de sole_ or cutlets, crisp and golden brown,
is an ornament to any table, and is seldom disdained by any one. Apropos
of _filets de sole_; it is very high-sounding yet very attainable, as I
shall show. I was staying with a friend early in spring, a lady always
anxious for table novelties. "Oh, do tell me what fish to order, I
should like something fried, now that you are here to tell cook how to
do it; she hasn't the wildest idea, although she would be astounded to
hear me say so." "Have you ever had flounders?" I asked. "Flounders!" My
friend's pretty nose went up the eighth of an inch, and her confidence
in my powers as counselor went down to zero. "Flounders! but they are a
very common fish you know." "I know they are very delicious," I
answered. "Order them, and trust me; but I must coax the autocrat of
your kitchen to allow me to cook and prepare them myself."
An hour before dinner I went into the kitchen, put at least a pound of
lard into a deep frying-pan, and set it where it would get gradually
hot, then I turned my attention to the fish; they were thick, firm
flounders, and were ready cleaned, scraped, and the heads off. I then
proceeded to bone one in the following way: Take a sharp knife and split
the flounder right down the middle of the back, then run the knife
carefully between the flesh and bones going toward the edge. You have
now detached one quarter of the flesh from the bone, do the other half
in the same way, and when the back is thus entirely loose from the bone,
turn the fish over and do the same with the other part. You will now
find you can remove the bone whole from the fish, detaching, as you do
so, any flesh still retaining the bone, then you have two halves of the
fish; cut away the fins, and you have four quarters of solid fish. Now
see if the fat is very hot, set it forward while you wipe your fish dry,
and dip each piece in milk, then in flour. Try if the fat is hot by
dropping a crumb into it; if it browns at once, put in the fish. When
they are beautifully brown, which will be in about ten minutes, take
them up in the colander, and then lay them on a towel to absorb any fat,
lay them on a hot dish, and garnish with slices of lemon and parsley or
celery tops.
Now when this dish made its appearance, my friend's husband, a _bon
vivant_, greeted it with, "Aha! _Filets de sole à la Delmonico_," and as
nothing to the contrary was said until dinner was over, he ate them
under the impression that they were veritable _filets de sole_. Of
course I can't pretend to say whether M. Delmonico imports his soles, or
uses the homely flounder; but I do know that one of his frequenters knew
no difference.
Oysters should be laid on a cloth to drain thoroughly, then rolled in
fine sifted cracker dust, and dropped into very hot fat; do not put more
oysters in the pan than will fry without one overlapping the other.
Very few minutes will brown them beautifully, if your fat was hot
enough, and as a minute too long toughens and shrinks them, be very
careful that it browns a cube of bread almost directly, before you begin
the oysters. Egg and bread-crumb may be used instead of cracker dust,
but it is not the proper thing, and is a great deal more trouble. Should
you be desirous of using it, however, the oysters must be carefully
wiped _dry_ before dipping them; while for cracker dust they are not
wiped, but only drained well.
Fish of any kind, fried in batter _à la Carême_ (see recipe), is very
easy to do, and very nice.
Carefully save veal, lamb, beef, and pork drippings. Keep a crock to put
it in, and, clarified as I shall direct, it is much better than lard for
many purposes, and for frying especially; it does not leave the dark
look that is sometimes seen on articles fried in lard. The perfection of
"friture," or frying-fat, according to Gouffé, is equal parts of lard
and beef fat melted together.
Yet there are families where dripping is never used--is looked upon as
unfit to use--while the truth is that many persons quite unable to eat
articles fried in lard would find no inconvenience from those fried in
beef fat. It is as wholesome as butter, and far better for the purpose.
Butter, indeed, is only good for frying such things as omelets or
scrambled eggs; things that are cooked in a very short time, and require
no great degree of heat.
The same may be said of oil, than which, for fish, nothing can be
better. Yet it can only be used once, and is unsuitable for things
requiring long-sustained heat, as it soon gets bitter and rank.
Do not be afraid to put a pound or two of fat in your pan for frying; it
is quite as economical as to put less for it can be used over and over
again, a pail or crock being kept for the purpose of receiving it.
Always in returning it to the crock pour it through a fine strainer, so
that no sediment or brown particles may pass which would spoil the next
frying.
To clarify dripping, when poured from the meat-pan, it should go into a
bowl, instead of the crock in which you wish to keep it. Then pour into
the bowl also some boiling water, and add a little salt, stir it, and
set it away. Next day, or when cold, run a knife round the bowl, and
(unless it is pork) it will turn out in a solid cake, leaving the water
and impurities at the bottom. Now scrape the bottom of your dripping,
and put it in more boiling water till it melts, then stir again, another
pinch of salt add, and let it cool again. When you take off the cake of
fat, scrape it as before, and it is ready to be melted into the general
crock, and will now keep for months in cool weather. If you are having
frequent joints it is as well to do all your dripping together, once a
week; but do not leave it long at any season with water under it, as
that would taint it. Fat skimmed from boiled meat, _pot-au-feu_, before
the vegetables, etc., go in, is quite as good as that from roast,
treated in the same way.
Frying in batter is very easy and excellent for some things, such as
warming over meat, being far better than eggs and crumbs. Carême gives
the following recipe, which is excellent:
Three quarters of a pound of sifted flour, mixed with two ounces of
butter melted in warm water; blow the butter off the water into the
flour first, then enough of the water to make a _soft_ paste, which
beat smooth, then more warm water till it is batter thick enough to mask
the back of a spoon dipped into it, and salt to taste; add the _last
thing_ the whites of two eggs well beaten.
Another batter, called _à la Provençale_, is also exceedingly good,
especially for articles a little dry in themselves, such as chickens to
be warmed over, slices of cold veal, etc.
Take same quantity of flour, two yolks of eggs, four tablespoonfuls of
oil, mix with _cold_ water, and add whites of eggs and salt as before.
Into this batter I sometimes put a little chopped parsley, and the least
bit of powdered thyme, or grated lemon-peel, or nutmeg; this is,
however, only a matter of taste.
BROILING is the simplest of all forms of cooking, and is essentially
English. To broil well is very easy with a little attention. A brisk
clear fire, not too high in the stove, is necessary to do it with ease;
yet if, as must sometimes happen, to meet the necessities of other
cooking, your fire is very large, carefully fix the gridiron on two
bricks or in any convenient manner, to prevent the meat scorching, then
have the gridiron _very hot_ before putting your meat upon it; turn it,
if chop or steak, as soon as the gravy begins to start on the upper
side; if allowed to remain without turning long, the gravy forms a pool
on the top, which, when turned, falls into the fire and is lost; the
action of the heat, if turned quickly, seals the pores and the gravy
remains in the meat. If the fire is not very clear, put a cover over the
meat on the gridiron, it will prevent its blackening or burning--if the
article is thick I always do so--and it is an especially good plan with
birds or chickens, which are apt to be raw at the joints unless this is
done; indeed, with the latter, I think it a good way to put them in a
hot oven ten minutes before they go on to broil, then have a spoonful of
_maître d'hôtel_ butter to lay on the breast of each. Young spring
chickens are sometimes very dry, in which case dip them in melted
butter, or, better still, oil them all over a little while before
cooking. There is nothing more unsightly than a sprawling dish of
broiled chickens; therefore, in preparing them place them in good form,
then, with a gentle blow of the rolling-pin, break the bones that they
may remain so.