Читать книгу A Friend in the Kitchen; Or, What to Cook and How to Cook It - Anna L. Colcord - Страница 31
ОглавлениеToasts
“A meal—what is it? Just enough of food
To renovate and well refresh the frame,
So that with spirits lightened, and with strength renewed,
We turn with willingness to work again.”
The appetite is subject to education; therefore learn to love that which you know to be good and wholesome.
The most expensive food is spoiled when served up burnt or tasteless; the cheapest may be delicious with the proper seasoning.—Lantz.
Toast makes a very nice breakfast dish, and is easily and quickly prepared. It can be made in a variety of ways which are both simple and wholesome. When properly prepared, it furnishes abundant nourishment, and is easily digested.
The proper foundation for all toasts is zwieback (pronounced zwībäck), or twice-baked bread. This may be made from either fresh or stale bread, the fresh making the more crisp and delicious for dry eating. The bread should be light and of good quality. That which is sour, heavy, and unfit to eat untoasted, should never be used for toast.
Toasts afford an excellent opportunity for using up left-over slices of bread, and its use is therefore a matter of economy as well as of securing variety in diet.
ZWIEBACK, OR DRY TOAST
Cut fresh or stale light bread, either white or brown, into slices half an inch thick, place on tins, and bake slowly in a moderate oven until browned evenly throughout. Care should be taken not to scorch the bread. It should not be put into an oven that is merely warm. It should be baked, not simply dried. The common method of toasting merely the outside of the bread by holding it over a fire is not the most wholesome way of preparing toast. When properly made, it will be crisp throughout. Zwieback may be prepared in quantity and kept on hand for use. It furnishes a good article of diet, especially for dyspeptics, eaten dry, or with milk or cream.
MILK TOAST
Scald one cupful of milk in double boiler, then add one teaspoonful of cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water; stir until it thickens. Cook about ten minutes, then add one teaspoonful of butter, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, and pour it over six slices of zwieback, previously moistened with hot water or milk.
TOAST WITH CREAM SAUCE
Prepare a cream sauce as directed on page 77. Moisten five or six slices of zwieback by dipping them quickly into hot water or milk, place them on a dish, and pour over the hot cream sauce.
ASPARAGUS TOAST
Prepare asparagus by washing each stalk free from sand; remove the tough portions, cut the stalks into small pieces, and stew in a little hot, salted water; drain off the water as soon as done, add a cup of milk, and season with a little butter and salt. Cream may be used instead of the milk and butter. Moisten the zwieback with hot milk, and place in a dish. Pour over the stewed asparagus, and serve hot.
BERRY TOAST
Prepare zwieback as above. Take fresh or canned strawberries, raspberries, mulberries, or other fruit, mash well with a spoon, add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on the slices of zwieback previously moistened.
EGG TOAST
Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk or cream, season with a sprinkle of salt, and serve hot with a poached egg on each slice. For poached eggs see page 66.
BANANA TOAST
Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk. Mash the bananas into a pulp, or cut into thin slices, and place some on each slice of toast.
FRUIT TOAST
Take stewed apricots, peaches, or plums, rub through a colander, heat to boiling, thicken with a little cornstarch, sweeten to taste, and pour over the moistened zwieback.
CREAM TOAST
Moisten slices of zwieback in hot water, sprinkle with a little salt, and dip over each slice a spoonful or two of nice, sweet, cold cream.
BUTTER TOAST
Place each slice of zwieback on a small plate, pour over a little hot water, and quickly drain off; add a sprinkle of salt, if desired, spread lightly with butter and serve.
CRUSHED TOAST
Take fresh, but thoroughly toasted bread or crackers, or some of each, grind closely in a coffee or hand mill, or crush with a rolling-pin, and serve in small dishes with milk, cream, or fruit juice. This may be served as a substitute for the health food known as granola. Crushed toast is also a very serviceable article for use in soups and puddings.
TOMATO TOAST
Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk, and serve with a dressing prepared by heating a pint of strained, stewed tomatoes to boiling, and thickening with a tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Season with salt and a little cream or butter, and pour over the toast.
BEAN PASTE
Soak one cupful of white beans overnight in cold water; put to cook in the morning in boiling water, and cook to a pulp, and till the water is quite absorbed. Rub through a colander, then add a tablespoonful of finely minced onion, one teaspoonful of powdered sage, one saltspoonful of celery salt, the juice of one lemon, two or three spoonfuls of tomato juice, if at hand, and salt to taste. Simmer together for a short time, then use cold to spread on toast or bread as a relish, or in the place of butter, or for making sandwiches.
Variety.—Remember, as Home Note says, that “variety of diet is important. Ill health often follows a monotonous sameness of diet. Oatmeal, bread and butter, and marmalade, are all excellent breakfast dishes of their kind, but when given every morning, for years at a time, they become positively nauseating.”
