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at least twice a week without disturbing the family's mental or
physical equilibrium. It would be well also to introduce dishes
that extend the meat flavor, such as stews combined with dumplings,
hominy, or rice; pot pies or short cakes with a dressing of meat and
vegetables; meat loaf, souffle or croquettes in which meat is combined
with bread crumbs, potato or rice.
Meat eating is largely a matter of flavor. If flavor is supplied,
the reduction of meat in the diet can be made with little annoyance.
Nutrition can always be supplied in the other dishes that accompany
the meal, as a certain proportion of protein is found in almost every
food product. The meat that we use to obtain flavor in sauces and
gravies need not be large in quantity, nor expensive in cut. The poor
or cheap cuts have generally more flavor than the expensive ones,
the difference being entirely in texture and tenderness, freedom from
gristle and inedible tissue. There are many cereals, such as rice,
hominy, cornmeal, samp and many vegetable dishes, especially dried
beans of all kinds, that are greatly improved by the addition of meat
sauce and when prepared in this way may be served as the main dish of
a meal.
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley has stated that the meat eating of the future will
not be regarded as a necessity so much as it has been in the past, and
that meat will be used more as a condimental substance. Europe has for
years used meat for flavor rather than for nutriment. It would seem
that the time has come for Americans to learn the use of meat for
flavor and to utilize more skillfully the protein of other foods.
It may be difficult to convince the meat lover that he can radically
reduce the proportion of meat in his diet without detriment to health.
Many persons adhere to the notion that you are not nourished unless
you eat meat; that meat foods are absolutely necessary to maintain the
body strength. This idea is entirely without foundation, for the foods
mentioned as meat substitutes earlier in this chapter can be made to
feed the world, and feed it well--in fact, no nation uses so large a
proportion of meat as America.
The first step, therefore, in preparing ourselves to reduce meat
consumption is to recognize that only a small quantity of meat is
necessary to supply sufficient protein for adult life. The growing
child or the youth springing into manhood needs a larger percentage of
meat than the adult, and in apportioning the family's meat ration this
fact should not be overlooked.
The second step is to reduce the amount purchased, choosing cuts that
contain the least waste, and by utilizing with care that which we do
purchase. Fat, trimmings, and bones all have their uses and should be
saved from the garbage pail.
Careful buying, of course, depends on a knowledge of cuts, a study
of the percentage of waste in each cut, and the food value of the
different kinds of meat. Make a study of the different cuts, as shown
in the charts on pages 36, 37, and armed with this knowledge go forth
to the butcher for practical buying.
Then comes the cooking, which can only be properly done when the
fundamental principles of the cooking processes, such as boiling,
braising, broiling, stewing, roasting and frying are understood.
Each cut requires different handling to secure the maximum amount of
nutriment and flavor. The waste occasioned by improper cooking is a
large factor in both household and national economy.
It has been estimated that a waste of an ounce each day of edible meat
or fat in the twenty million American homes amounts to 456,000,000
pounds of valuable animal food a year. At average dressed weights,
this amounts to 875,000 steers, or over 3,000,000 hogs. Each
housekeeper, therefore, who saves her ounce a day aids in this
enormous saving, which will mean so much in the feeding of our men on
the fighting line.
So the housekeeper who goes to her task of training the family palate
to accept meat substitutes and meat economy dishes, who revolutionizes
her methods of cooking so as to utilize even "the pig's squeak," will
be doing her bit toward making the world safe for democracy.
The following charts, tables of nutritive values and suggested menus
have been arranged to help her do this work. The American woman has
her share in this great world struggle, and that is the intelligent
conservation of food.
SELECTION OF MEAT
BEEF--Dull red as cut, brighter after exposure to air; lean, well
mottled with fat; flesh, firm; fat, yellowish in color. Best beef from
animal 3 to 5 years old, weighing 900 to 1,200 pounds. Do not buy wet,
soft, or pink beef.
VEAL--Flesh pink. (If white, calf was bled before killed or animal too
young.) The fat should be white.
MUTTON--Best from animal 3 years old. Flesh dull red, fat firm and
white.
LAMB--(Spring Lamb 3 months to 6 months old; season, February to
March.) Bones of lamb should be small; end of bone in leg of lamb
should be serrated; flesh pink, and fat white.
PORK--The lean should be fine grained and pale pink. The skin should
be smooth and clear. If flesh is soft, or fat yellowish, pork is not
good.
SELECTION OF TOUGHER CUTS AND THEIR USES
Less expensive cuts of meat have more nourishment than the more
expensive, and if properly cooked and seasoned, have as much
tenderness. Tough cuts, as chuck or top sirloin, may be boned and
rolled and then roasted by the same method as tender cuts, the only
difference will be that the tougher cuts require longer cooking. Have
the bones from rolled meats sent home to use for soups. Corned beef
may be selected from flank, naval, plate or brisket. These cuts are
more juicy than rump or round cuts.
1. _For pot roast_ use chuck, crossrib, round, shoulder, rump or top
sirloin.
2. _For stew_ use shin, shoulder, top sirloin or neck.
3. _For steaks_ use flank, round or chuck. If these cuts are pounded,
or both pounded and rubbed with a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 2
parts oil before cooking, they will be very tender.
4. _Soups_--Buy shin or neck. The meat from these may be utilized
by serving with horseradish or mustard sauce, or combined with equal
amount of fresh meat for meat loaf, scalloped dish, etc.
DRY METHODS
1. _Roasting or Baking_--Oven roasting or baking is applied to roasts.
Place the roast in a hot oven, or if gas is used, put in the broiling
oven to sear the outside quickly, and thus keep in the juices.
Salt, pepper and flour. If an open roasting pan is used place a few
tablespoonfuls of fat and 1 cup of water in the pan, which should be
used to baste the roast frequently. If a covered pan is used basting
is unnecessary.
Beef or mutton (5 to 8 lbs.) 10 min. to the lb. 10 min. extra
Lamb (5 to 8 lbs.) 12 min. to the lb. 12 min. extra
Veal (5 to 8 lbs.) 15 min. to the lb. 15 min. extra
Pork (5 to 8 lbs.) 25 min. to the lb. 25 min. extra
Turkey 20 min. to the lb.
Chicken 30 min. to the lb.
Duck 30 min. to the lb.
Goose 30 min. to the lb.
Game 30 min. to the lb.
2. _Broiling_--Cooking over or under clear fire. This method is used
for chops or steaks.
Sear the meat on both sides. Then reduce the heat and turn the meat
frequently. Use no fat.
_Time Table_--(Count time after meat is seared).
1/2 inch chops or steaks, 5 minutes
1 inch chops or steaks, 10 minutes
2 inch chops or steaks, 15 to 18 minutes
3. _Pan Broiling_--Cooking in pan with no fat. _Time table same as for
broiling_ chops, steaks, etc.
4. _Sauteing_--Cooking in pan in small amount of fat. Commonly
termed "frying." Used for steaks, chops, etc. _Time table same as for
broiling._
MOIST METHODS
1. Boiling--Cooking in boiling water--especially poultry, salt meats,
etc.
2. Steaming--A method of cooking by utilizing steam from boiling
water, which retains more food value than any other. Too seldom
applied to meats.
3. Frying--Cooking by immersion in hot fat at temperature 400 to 450
degrees Fahrenheit. Used for croquettes, etc.
If a fat thermometer is not available, test by using small pieces of
bread. Put into heated fat:
A--For croquettes made from food requiring little cooking, such as
oysters, or from previously cooked mixtures, as rice, fish or meat
croquettes, bread should brown in one-half minute.
B--For mixtures requiring cooking, as doughnuts, fritters, etc., bread
should brown in one minute.
COMBINATION METHODS
1. Pot Roasting--Cooking (by use of steam from small amount of water)
tough cuts of meat which have been browned but not cooked thoroughly.
Season meat. Dredge with flour. Sear in hot pan until well browned.
Place oil rack in pot containing water to height of one inch, but do
not let water reach the meat. Keep water slowly boiling. Replenish as
needed with boiling water. This method renders tough cuts tender, but
requires several hours cooking.
2. Stewing--A combination of methods which draws part of flavor into
gravy and retains part in pieces which are to be used as meat.
Cut meat into pieces suitable for serving. Cover one-half of meat with
cold water. Let stand one hour. Bring slowly to boiling point. Dredge
other half of meat with flour and brown in small amount of fat. Add
to the other mixture and cook slowly 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until tender,
adding diced vegetables, thickening and seasoning as desired one-half
hour before cooking is finished.
3. Fricasseeing--Cooking in a sauce until tender, meat which has been
previously browned but not cooked throughout.
Brown meat in small amount of fat. Place in boiling water to cover.
Cook slowly until tender. To 1 pint of water in which meat is cooked,
add 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and 1/4 cup
milk, thoroughly blended. When at boiling point, add one beaten egg, 1
tablespoon chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon cold water well mixed, Add
cooked meat and serve.
[Illustration: VEAL]
Neck for stews.
Shoulder for inexpensive chops.
Sweetbread--broiled or creamed.
Breast for roast or pot roast.
Loin for roast.
Rump for stews.
Cutlet for broiling.
[Illustration: BEEF]
[Illustration: LAMB AND MUTTON]
Neck--use for stews.
Shoulder for cheaper chops.
Breast for roast
Ribs for chops or crown roast.
Loin for roast.
Flank for stews.
Leg for cutlet and roast.
[Illustration: PORK]
Head for cheese.
Shoulder same as ham but have it boned. Has same flavor and is much
cheaper.
Loin used for chops or roast.
Ham for boiling, roasting or pan broiling.
LESS-USED EDIBLE PARTS OF ANIMAL, AND METHODS OF COOKING BEST ADAPTED
TO THEIR USE
| ANIMAL |
ORGAN | SOURCE | METHODS OF COOKING
-------------+------------+--------------------------
Brains | Sheep | Broiled or scrambled
| Pork | with egg
-------------+------------+--------------------------
| Veal |
Heart | Pork | Stuffed, baked or broiled
| Beef |
-------------+------------+--------------------------
| Beef |
Kidney | Lamb | Stewed or sauted
| Veal |
-------------+------------+-------------------------
| Beef | Fried, boiled, sauted or
Liver | Veal | broiled
| Lamb |
-------------+------------+-------------------------
Sweetbreads | Young Veal | Creamed, broiled
| Young Beef |
-------------+------------+-------------------------
Tail | Beef | Soup or boiled
| Pork |
-------------+------------+-------------------------
Tongue | Beef | Boiled, pickled, corned
| Pork |
-------------+------------+-------------------------
Tripe | Veal | Broiled or boiled
-------------+------------+-------------------------
Fat | All Animals| Fried out for cooking or
| | soap making
-------------+------------+-------------------------
| | Pickled or boiled or used
Pigs Feet | Pork | with meat from head
| | for head cheese
-------------+------------+--------------------------
COMPARATIVE COMPOSITION OF MEAT AND MEAT SUBSTITUTES
|Carbo- |Mineral|
| Water |Protein| Fat |hydrate|Matter |Calories
Name | % | % | % | % | % | per lb.
-------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------
Cheese | 34.2 | 25.2 | 31.7 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 1,950
Eggs | 73.7 | 13.4 | 10.5 | ... | 1.0 | 720
Milk | 87.0 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.7 | 310
Beef | 54.8 | 23.5 | 20.4 | ... | 1.2 | 1,300
Cod | 58.5 | 11.1 | 0.2 | ... | 0.8 | 209
Salmon | 64.0 | 22.0 | 12.8 | ... | 1.4 | 923
Peas | 85.3 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 252
Baked Beans | 68.9 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 19.6 | 2.1 | 583
Lentils | 15.9 | 25.1 | 1.0 | 56.1 | 1.1 | 1,620
Peanuts | 9.2 | 25.8 | 38.6 | 24.4 | 0.2 | 2,490
String Beans | 93.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 92
Walnuts | 2.5 | 18.4 | 64.4 | 13.0 | 1.7 | 3,182
Almonds | 4.8 | 21.0 | 54.9 | 17.3 | 2.0 | 2,940
THE ECONOMY OF MEAT AND MEAT SUBSTITUTES
Don't buy more than your family actually needs. Study and know what
the actual needs are, and you will not make unnecessary expenditures.
Learn what the various cuts of meat are, what they can be used for,
and which are best suited to the particular needs of your household.
Study the timeliness of buying certain cuts of meats. There are days
when prices are lower than normal.
Always check the butcher's weights by watching him closely or by
weighing the goods on scales of your own.
Always buy a definite quantity. Ask what the pound rate is, and note
any fractional part of the weight. Don't ask for "ten or twenty cents'
worth."
Select your meat or fish personally. There is no doubt that high
retail prices are due to the tendency of many housewives to do their
buying by telephone or through their servants.
Test the freshness of meat and fish. Staleness of meat and fish is
shown by loose and flabby flesh. The gills of fresh fish are red and
the fins stiff.
Make all the purchases possible at a public market, if you can walk
to it, or if carfare will not make too large an increase in the amount
you have set aside for the day's buying.
A food chopper can be made to pay for itself in a short time by the
great variety of ways it furnishes of utilizing left-overs.
If possible, buy meat trimmings. They cost 20 cents a pound and can be
used in many ways.
Buy the ends of bacon strips. They are just as nutritious as sliced
bacon and cost 50 per cent. less.
Learn to use drippings in place of butter for cooking purposes.
Buy cracked eggs. They cost much less than whole ones and are usually
just as good.
Keep a stock pot. Drop into it all left-overs. These make an excellent
basis for soup stock.
Don't throw away the heads and bones of fish. Clean them and use them
with vegetables for fish chowder or cream of fish soup.
Study attractive ways of serving food. Plain, cheap, dishes can be
made appetizing if they look attractive on the table.
Experiment with meat substitutes. Cheese, dried vegetables and the
cheaper varieties of fish can supply all the nutriment of meat at a
much lower cost.
Don't do your cooking "by guess." If the various ingredients are
measured accurately, the dish will taste better and cost less.
Don't buy delicatessen food if you can possibly avoid it. Delicatessen
meals cost 15 per cent. more than the same meals cooked at home, and
the food is not as nourishing. You pay for the cooking and the rent of
the delicatessen store, as well as the proprietor's profit.
Don't pay five or ten cents more a dozen for white eggs in the belief
that they are superior to brown eggs. The food value of each is the
same. The difference in shell color is due to the breed of hen.
Tell the butcher to give you the trimmings of chicken, i.e., the head,
feet, fat and giblets. They make delicious chicken soup. The feet
contain gelatine, which gives soup consistency.
Buy a tough, and consequently less expensive, chicken and make it
tender by steaming it for three hours before roasting.
Don't put meat wrapped in paper into the ice-box, as the paper tends
to absorb the juices.
Try to find a way to buy at least a part of your meats and eggs direct
from the farm. You will get fresher, better food, and if it is sent by
parcels post it can usually be delivered to your table for much less
than city prices.
MEAT ECONOMY DISHES
MOCK DUCK
1 flank steak
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon onion juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 pint boiling water
1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
Reserve the water and the flour. Mix other ingredients. Spread
on steak. Roll the steak and tie. Roll in the flour. Brown in two
tablespoons of fat. Add the water--cover and cook until tender.
BEEF STEW
1 lb. of meat from the neck, cross ribs, shin or knuckles
1 sliced onion
3/4 cup carrots
1/2 cup turnips
1 cup potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 quart water
Soak one-half of the meat, cut in small pieces, in the quart of water
for one hour. Heat slowly to boiling point. Season the other half
of the meat with salt and pepper. Roll in flour. Brown in three
tablespoons of fat with the onion. Add to the soaked meat, which has
been brought to the boiling point. Cook one hour or until tender.
Add the vegetables, and flour mixed with half cup of cold water. Cook
until vegetables are tender.
HAM SOUFFLE
1-1/2 cups breadcrumbs
2 cups scalded milk
1-1/2 cups chopped cooked ham
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 egg whites
PARSLEY SAUCE
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
For the souffle, cook together breadcrumbs and milk for two minutes.
Remove from fire, add ham and mix well. Add egg yolks, first beating
these well; also the parsley (one tablespoon), onion and paprika. Fold
in, last of all, the egg whites whipped to a stiff, dry froth. Turn
quickly into a well-greased baking dish and bake in moderate oven for
thirty-five minutes, or until firm to the touch; meantime, make the
parsley sauce, so that both can be served instantly when the souffle
is done; then it will not fall and grow tough.
For the parsley sauce, melt the butter in saucepan and stir in the
flour, stirring until perfectly smooth, then add the milk slowly,
stirring constantly; cook until thick, stir in the parsley and salt,
and serve at once in a gravy boat.
BATTLE PUDDING
BATTER
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
4 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
FILLING
2 cups coarsely chopped cold cooked meat
1 tablespoon drippings
1 medium-sized potato
1 cup stock or hot water
salt and pepper
1 small onion
Any cold meat may be used for this. Cut it into inch pieces. Slice the
onion and potato and fry in drippings until onion is slightly browned.
Add the meat and stock, or hot water, or dissolve in hot water any
left-over meat gravy. Cook all together until potato is soft, but not
crumbled; season with the pepper and salt. Thicken with a tablespoon
of flour and turn into a pudding dish.
Make a batter by sifting together flour, baking-powder and salt; stir
in the egg and milk, mixed with the water. Beat hard until free from
lumps, then pour over meat and vegetables in the pudding and bake
until brown.
CHINESE MUTTON
1 pint chopped cooked mutton
1 head shredded lettuce
1 can cooked peas
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon fat
1-1/2 cups broth
1 teaspoon of salt
Cook 15 minutes. Serve as a border around rice.
SHEPHERD'S PIE
2 cups chopped cooked mutton
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
2 cups hominy
1 cup peas or carrots
1/2 pint of brown sauce or water
Put meat and vegetables in baking dish. Cover with rice, hominy, or
samp, which has been cooked. Bake until brown.
SCALLOPED HAM AND HOMINY
2 cups hominy (cooked)
1 cup chopped cooked ham
1/3 cup fat
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Melt the fat. Add the dry ingredients and the liquid slowly. When
at boiling point, add hominy and ham. Stir in the egg. Place in a
baking-dish. Cover with buttered crumbs. Bake until brown.
BEEF LOAF
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sour pickle
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon celery salt
To 1 tablespoon of gelatine, softened in 1/2 cup of cold water add 1
cup of hot tomato juice and pulp. Add seasoned meat. Chill and slice.
May be served with salad dressing.
BAKED HASH
1 cup chopped cooked meat
2 cups raw potato, cut fine
1 tablespoon onion juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup drippings
1/2 cup gravy or water
Melt fat in frying pan. Put in all the other ingredients. Cook over a
slow fire for 1/2 hour. Fold and serve as omelet.
MEAT SHORTCAKE
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups chopped, cooked meat
1 teaspoon onion juice
1/2 cup gravy or soup stock
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup milk and water
Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in shortening, and mix to dough
with milk and water. Roll out to quarter of an inch thickness, bake
in layer cake tins. Put together with the chopped meat mixed with the
onion and seasoning, and heated hot with the gravy or stock. If stock
is used, thicken with a tablespoon of flour mixed with one of butter,
or butter substitute. Serve as soon as put together. Cold cooked fish
heated in cream sauce may be used for a filling instead of the meat.
SCRAPPLE
Place a pig's head in 4 quarts of cold water and bring slowly to the
boil. Skim carefully and season the liquid highly with salt, cayenne
and a teaspoon of rubbed sage. Let the liquid simmer gently until the
meat falls from the bones. Strain off the liquid, remove the bones,
and chop the meat fine.
Measure the liquid and allow 1 cup of sifted cornmeal to 3 cups of
liquid. Blend the cornmeal in the liquid and simmer until it is the
consistency of thick porridge. Stir in the chopped meat and pour in
greased baking pans to cool. One-third buckwheat may be used instead
of cornmeal, and any kind of chopped meat can be blended with the pork
if desired. Any type of savory herb can also be used, according to
taste.
When scrapple is to be eaten, cut into one-half inch slices, dredge
with flour, and brown in hot fat.
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