What to Eat in Winter
by KATHLEEN RICE
Published in the Australian Women's Weekly in 1933.
COLD winter days mean a replanning of menus in order that the children shall receive extra nourishment, and the workers, leaving home early in the morning and returning often late at night, perhaps thoroughly tired out and not inclined for food, shall be tempted with dishes calculated to please the palate, and supply the carbohydrates that form energy for the body to carry on its functions with the ease that we term good health.
The home-maker has so many duties to perform in the home that often in the caring for others she is apt to overlook her own welfare. This is a big mistake, and the first point for her to remember is that when mother is not up to par, everything else in the house suffers accordingly. With curtailed incomes there are many people whose first thought in cutting down expenses is to economise in the kitchen. Such a proceeding is unadulterated folly. Food, plenty of it, the right kind, of course, properly cooked, prepared and served, is the basis of health.
If you are one of the mothers who feeds her family well, and satisfies herself with a cup of tea and bread and butter, change your ways before serious illness overtakes you.
There is a fatigue, often attributed to some physical disorder, that is the direct result of an unconscious physical hunger. So when you feel thoroughly tired out, with presumably nothing to account for it, try making some of the recipes that you will find on this page.
WINTER SALADS
HOW OFTEN through winter we think we could "Just fancy a nice salad," with the accompanying thought that salad vegetables are not very tempting in cold weather. But in Australia we are fortunate that we can procure salad vegetables all the year round, and a dish of nice, crisp lettuce, served in the leaf and garnished with grated cheese, will make a delightful rounding-off to a meal, and where they are eaten with a sao or similar biscuit, the delicious flavour is greatly enhanced.
SEASONABLE SOUPS
STEAMING, HOT SOUP is probably the favourite of all winter dishes. There is an art in cooking soup, and if a little trouble be taken in the preparation of the stock, it can be used for different varieties of the "soup family."
For the more generally used soups, meat and bones, trimmings from joints, remains of vegetables, sauces and gravies, cloves, peppercorns, can all aid in the production of a tempting brew. It is a wise plan to prepare the stock (or foundation liquid) for the soup a day before it is needed, as it is then easier to remove any surface fat.
In preparing stock it is usual to allow one pint of water for every pound of bones or meat, and 1 pint of water extra is added to allow for evaporation in cooking. Meat and bones should be chopped finely, so that the juices can escape quickly. Cover the meat and bones with the water, then bring slowly to boiling point. A teaspoon of salt will bring the scum to the top, and the scum can then be removed without difficulty. Keep the lid off the pot until the stock boils, then replace the lid and keep it on while the stock is cooking. After skimming, add the vegetables and other seasonings. After it reaches boiling point let it simmer for about six hours, but do not let it boil again; add a little cold water if necessary.
Pass through a strainer, and remove fat from surface.
PEA SOUP
TAKE 3 quarts of stock (less if desired), 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 pt. split peas, 1 stick of celery,½ teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt. Take the peas, which must have first been well soaked (many cooks prefer to soak them overnight), and add them to the stock, with the vegetables cut up finely, and boil until the vegetables are quite soft. Then pass them through a sieve. Return the soup to the pot, season to taste, simmer for about twenty minutes, then serve with snippets of fried bread or toast.
FISH SOUFFLE
TAKE 2 ozs. cooked fish, 1 oz. butter, ½ oz. flour, ¾ pint of milk, 1 egg (separate white from yolk), 1 teaspoon of Anchovy sauce, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Flake the fish up finely, then prepare a sauce with the flour, butter and milk. Stir until it thickens, then add the anchovy sauce and the yolk of egg. Place the fish into the sauce, season, and add the stiffly beaten white of the egg. Put a buttered paper round the mould (making sure that the mould is about only three-quarters full), and bake in a quick oven for half-an-hour. Variety can be made by steaming the mixture, and serving with cheese, egg or oyster sauce.
RHUBARB CAKE
DID YOU KNOW that rhubarb would make an unusual and quickly prepared filling for an appetising cake?
Cook a pound of rhubarb (with very little water) until soft. Mix in 6 ozs. sugar, two beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of flour beaten smooth with a little water. Keep cooking until the mixture thickens slightly, and then allow to cool.
Line a cake-tin with short pastry, put in the rhubarb, and bake in a moderate oven until the pastry is cooked. Sprinkle with sugar before serving.
ORANGE FRITTERS
WHEN YOU WANT a quick, tasty meal, try this. Make a batter with ½ lb. flour, ½ oz. butter, 2 eggs, salt to taste, and sufficient milk to make the batter pour into the pan smoothly. Slice and peel the oranges thickly, and fry in the batter to a light brown.
SARDINE CIGARETTES
PREPARE A PASTE, roll out thinly, cut it into pieces about 2½ inches long and about 1¼ inches wide. Then take sardines, place one in each piece of paste and wrap round, wetting the edges with milk, so that the ends will join nicely. Turn over the ends, brush with egg, roll in crumbs and fry in boiling fat. A delicious "cigarette" can be made by dipping the sardines in grated cheese or curry powder, before rolling in the paste.
WELSH RABBIT
FOR A HOT SUPPER, Welsh Rabbit is hard to beat.
For this you will need 3 or 4 ozs. cheese, 1 teaspoon of mustard, pepper and salt, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of milk. Grate the cheese, or cut finely. Stir all the ingredients over the fire or gas ring until well dissolved, and serve on hot buttered toast. This dish will make a delightful addition to poached eggs.
SAVOURY OMELET
MIX 1 dessertspoon of flour with ½ teacup of milk, beat in 2 eggs, add a pinch of pepper and salt, and a little butter. Melt ½ oz. butter in a pan, pour in the mixture, add 1 teaspoon chopped herbs, and 1 teaspoon of shredded onion, and stir until it sets. Fold over in the pan, turn into a warm dish, and serve with savoury sauce.
Source: What To Eat In Winter (1933, June 10). The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), p. 35.
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