Chapter 23 assembled 20jy02

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Chapter 23

Planning and Preparing Meals

884 General Information.

Our bodies cannot get the materials to keep them in good working order from anywhere except our food. If we keep our bodies short of some essential foods the results are bound to show sooner or later.

But in planning meals, their food value is not the only important thing to consider.

I would list the important points to consider in meal planning as follows:

1. Nutritive value.

2. Palatability.

3. Digestibility.

4. Cost.

5. Time and labour required in preparation.

To different people one is more important than another. To the gourmet it will probably be palatability; to the ardent dietician, nutritive value; to the dyspeptic, digestibility; to the busy woman, time and labour. For very many, cost is the most important. Good meal-planning should try to achieve a balance between all these.

1. NUTRITIVE VALUE

I have already given brief notes on the nutritive value of the individual foods in each chapter under the heading Food Value.

The foods the body needs for good health can be put in three main groups.

Body-building Foods

Calcium for bones and teeth found in milk, cheese, fish, green vegetables, and bread.

Protein for muscles found in cheese, milk, eggs, meat, fish, and in dried peas and beans, and nuts.

Iron for blood - found in liver, green vegetables, eggs, beef, heart, kidney, bread, dried fruit, black treacle, cocoa, and chocolate.

Protective Foods

These are vitamins which protect the body from ill-health.

Vitamin A - found in liver, cod-liver oil, pilchards, herrings, milk, cheese, eggs, green and yellow vegetables.

Vitamin B found in bread, flour, oatmeal, potatoes, peas, beans and lentils, yeast, eggs, and nuts.

Vitamin C - found in green vegetables, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tomatoes, black currants, rosehips, and potatoes.

Vitamin D - found in cod-liver oil, butter, margarine, pilchards, sardines, and herrings.

Foods for Warmth and Energy

These are all the fats and oils, all the sugars and sweets, bread, flour, cakes and biscuits, oatmeal, rice, semolina, and breakfast cereals.

The most practical household method I have found for planning meals which include the necessary foods is given in the following Menu Planning Guide. If you follow this as closely as possible you will be including all the foods needed to keep the family in good health. It is suitable for adults and all except very small children who have their own special requirements.

MENU PLANNING GUIDE

(For quantities see page 14)

Foods to include for each person every day.

NB. The number and kind of meals taken is a matter of habit and personal preference. The important thing is to include all the essential foods each day.

2. PALATABILITY

This covers the serving of attractive-looking food, good flavouring and cooking, and combining foods which go well together.

Combining foods which go well together is learnt by experience, and is very largely a matter of personal taste and habit. The sort of meal most English people enjoy, for example, is very different from that a Chinese family would choose. Who can say one is right and the other wrong. The important thing is that the meal should contain the foods needed for health, be eaten with pleasure, and easily digested.

With many recipes I have given suggestions for ways of serving the dishes, such as the sort of sauce or vegetable to choose. I think beginners will find this helpful as a guide.

3. DIGESTIBILITY

To most people this means a lack of discomfort after a meal. A good meal-plan does not include two foods which are difficult to digest. Chief among these are fried foods, pastry, cream, and any dish containing a lot of fat or oil, fatty meat, shell-fish, twice-cooked, or reheated food, and sometimes cheese.

Most people can take cheese as the main course, while if served as an extra at the end of an already adequate meal, it would cause indigestion. It is more easily digested if served grated, and this is the best way for children. If cheese is cooked it should be done lightly and not allowed to become tough or stringy.

Very sweet food causes digestive upsets. Children should not be allowed unlimited sweets between meals. They are best at the end of a meal, when they just add to the satisfied feeling without doing harm.

Fried foods are responsible for more indigestion than any others. This is because a fatty coating prevents the digestive juices from getting to the food properly, and it stays in the stomach too long, causing a feeling of discomfort. Another reason is that fat is often allowed to smoke and burn during frying, when it produces a substance very irritating to the stomach and intestines. If you are studying your digestion, figure, and complexion you should cut fried foods down to the minimum.

4. COST

Unfortunately an inexpensive diet generally contains too much bread and too many buns and cereal foods, because these are cheaper than other essential foods. By using the cheaper foods from each group in the Menu Planning Guide it is possible to have a balanced diet which is still inexpensive.

It is important to try to have the full amounts of milk and vegetables. The cheapest vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, and carrots, and the cheapest fish, herrings, are the most valuable nutritionally. Lentils or dried peas or beans mixed with some milk or cheese are an excellent

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meat substitute in food value and can be made very tasty. Oatmeal porridge is just as good as the more expensive prepared breakfast cereals.

5. TIME AND LABOUR SAVING

For the busy woman the written menu plan is the best way out. A few minutes spent once a week working out the meals for each day will make shopping and catering much easier. Most people find it best to plan from Saturday to Saturday or Friday to Friday. The fact that you probably have to alter the plan as you go along does not make it any less useful. You will be able to make out a list of non-perishable foods needed for the week and buy them all at once, leaving only the perishables to get every day. You will find, too, that if you have a plan you can often do some preparation for the next meal or for next day while cooking the current one. A plan leaves your mind free for other things, instead of the eternal worry of what to get for the next meal. The busier you are, the more valuable you will find this method of catering.

885 Preparing Meals (for the beginner).

One of the most difficult things for a beginner is to organize the preparation and cooking of a meal so as to have everything ready on time.

The quickest way to learn this is to do a little planning on paper first. Write down the dishes with the rough time each will take to cook, according to the recipe. Then write down the time you must be ready to start cooking each one. Be sure to start preparing the ingredients well beforehand, so that you are ready to begin the actual cooking on time.

After doing this a few times it will become almost automatic, and you will be able to do the planning in

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your head; but I always go back to this method for special occasions, such as cooking for a party. There is nothing like a little careful planning beforehand to see you through without worry and fuss.

When you are very new to cooking it is always a good plan to have one course cold - e.g. the pudding, which can be prepared in advance. Then you will be able to give all your attention to the main dish. If you are attempting a new or complicated recipe, make the rest of the meal simple.

886 Recipes Suitable for Lunch, High Tea, or Supper.

Whatever the third meal of the day may be called, it does present a problem to many housewives. Far too often the solution is bread, buns, cake, and tea, which is not the ideal for most people. If possible, serve a body-building food of some kind - e.g. fish, cheese, or milk -and a vegetable or salad.

Below is a list of suggestions for recipes which would be suitable for the main dish of this meal.

CHEESE DISHES. Cheese Pudding, #181 or #777; Macaroni Cheese, #555; Baked Macaroni and Tomatoes, #556; Cheese Fondue, No. 180; Chutneyed Cheese, #179; Cheese Savoury, #178; Welsh Rarebit, Nos. #176-7; Cheese Cakes, #161.

EGG DISHES. Any in Chapter 10.

SOUPS. Substantial ones, such as Fish Chowder, #58; Mussel Soup, #54 or 59; Chestnut Soup, #55; Cream Soups, #46; Lentil Soup, #41.

FISH. Fish Roes, Nos. 298-300; Sardines on Toast, Nos. 269-70; Salmon Loaf, #268; Fish au Gratin, #240; Fish Pie, #239; Fish Cakes, #160; or any other fish recipe.

VEGETABLE DISHES. Vegetables au Gratin, #386; Vegetable Stew, #390; Broad Beans and Bacon, #399; Beans Béarnaise, #401; Cabbage and

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Bacon, #410; Stuffed Cabbage Leaves, #411; Chicory with Cheese and Bacon, #422; Onion Toast, #445; French Peas, #450; Stuffed Sweet Peppers, #453; Baked Stuffed Potatoes, #459; Potatoes with Cheese, #467; Potato Ragout, #468; Stuffed Tomatoes, #485; Scalloped Tomatoes, #486; Salads, Nos. 498-521.

MISCELLANEOUS. Corned Beef Hash, Nos. 379-80; Open Sandwiches, #790; Toasted Sandwiches, #787; Risotto, #551; Meat Cakes or Rissoles, #159.

887 Recipes Suitable for a Buffet Party.

Beverages. Fruit Punch, #805; Lemonade, #802; Tomato-juice Cocktail, #807; Jamaican Long Drink, #816; Vermouth Long Drink, #817; Rhubarb Sherbet, #808; Iced Coffee, #798.

SAVOURY DISHES. Toasted Sandwiches, #787; Vol au Vent, #719; Welsh Rarebit, #176; Lobster Patties, #282; Stuffed Eggs, #193; Crab Patties, #276; Filled Cheese Scones, #704 (using sandwich fillings); Chutneyed Cheese, #179 Open

Sandwiches, #709; Hors-d'oeuvre, Nos. 837-71; Swedish Meat Balls, #371; Salted Almonds, #883; Savouries, Nos. #872-83.

SWEETS. Apple and Orange Salad, #527; Fruit Fool, #540 (in sundae glasses); Fruit Whip, #644 (in sundae glasses); Ice-creams, Nos. 824-35; Coffee Jelly, #643; Creme de Menthe Jelly, #637; Refrigerator Cakes, #942; Chocolate Mousse, #939; Zabaglione, #937; Cream Jelly, #642; Pavlova Cake, #936; Fresh Fruit Salad, #525.

CAKES. Butterfly Cakes, #681; Lemon Layer Cake, #670; Meringues, #682; Orange Cake, #670; Langues de Chat, #954 (to go with ices and fruit

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salad); Almond Macaroons, #955; Chocolate Layer Cake, #675.

PASTRY. Continental Flan, #724; Fruit Band, #947; Eclairs, #652; Jam Puffs, #719; Custard Slices, #651; Fairy Tarts, #632; Cream Crisps, #956; Cake of a Thousand Leaves, #945.

888 Recipes Suitable for a Children’s Party.

BEVERAGES. Rhubarb Sherbet, #808; Lemonade, #802; Orangeade, #806; Fruit Punch, #805.

SAVOURIES. Plain Sandwiches, #789; Open Sandwiches, #790; Toasted Sandwiches, #787;

Filled Cheese Scones, #704 (using sandwich fillings); Watercress, Radishes, Crisp Celery.

JELLIES AND COLD PUDDINGS. Fruit Salad, #525; Fruit Fool, #540; Ice-creams, Nos. 824-35; Milk Jelly Squares, #640; Cream Whip, #641; Fruit Whip, #644.

CAKES. Butterfly Cakes, #681; Layer Cakes, #670; Meringues, #682; Louise Cakes, #957; Chocolate Crispies, #958; Cherry Cake, 3#667; Jam Sandwich, #669; Chocolate Layer Cake, #675; Butter Sponge, #679; Sponge Roll, #680; Chocolate Biscuits, #694; American Doughnuts, #709; Pikelets, #766; Madeleines, #967.

PASTRY. Sausage Rolls, #747; Jam Puffs, #719; Custard Slices, #751; Fairy Tarts, #732; Eclairs, #652; Cream Puffs, Nos. 652-3.

SWEETS. Toffee Apples, #602; Crumb Fudge, #606; Coconut Ice, #607; Turkish Delight, #609.

889 Suggestions for Using Up Leftovers.

VEGETABLE TRIMMINGS. Vegetable Stock, #32; Mushroom Stock, #34.

VEGETABLES. Potato Cakes, Nos. 158-61; Vegetables au Gratin, #386; Macedoine of Vegetables, #391

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Brussels Sprouts Salad, #503; Cauliflower Mayonnaise, #504; Potato Salad, #509; Russian Salad, #510; Hors-d'oeuvre, Nos. 837-61; Oakhill Potatoes, #911; Potato and Egg Salad, #521.

FISH. Trimmings for Fish Stock, #33, and Fish Soup, #60. Cooked Fish in: Fish Cakes, #160; Fish Pie, #239; Fish au Gratin, #240; Fish Fritters, #762; Fish Sandwiches, Nos. #788 and 790; Fish Mayonnaise, #514; Kedgeree and Curried Kedgeree, Nos. 552-3.

BACON TRIMMINGS AND RINDS. For flavouring Vegetable Stock, #32, and Bone Stock, #30, and for Lentil Soup, #41, Tomato Soup, #56, Tomato Sauce, #92.

STALE BREAD. Forcemeats, Nos. 133-42; Melba Toast, #770; Sweet Rusks, #771; Dried Crumbs, #772; Buttered Crumbs, #772; Bread Custards, #773; Brown Betty, #782; Bakewell Tart, #951.

SOUR MILK. For mixing scones, cakes, and puddings and for Cottage Cheese, #168.

EGG-WHITES. Meringues, #682; Langues de Chat, #954; Almond Macaroons, #955; Vanilla Mousse, #836; Pavlova Cake, #936; Cheese Puffs, #852; Cornflake Meringues, #966; Macaroon Tartlets, #964; Coconut Macaroons, #965; White Mountain Icing, #627.

EGG-YOLKS. For brushing pastry and scones before baking; Scrambled Egg, Nos. 199-204 (adding 1 Tbs. of water to each egg-yolk. 2 yolks equal 1 egg); Custards, Nos. 217-23 (2 yolks equal 1 egg); Zabaglione, #937; Cheese Straws, #872.

MEAT. Reheating, #353; cold Meat Hash, #377; Shepherd’s Pie, #378; Corned Beef Hash, Nos. 379-80; Fricassee of Veal, #381, or Poultry; Plain, Open, and Toasted Sandwiches, Nos. 787-90;

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Chicken blanquette, #929; Creamed rabbit, #932; Tongue or Beef Salad, #861;

FRUIT. Fruit Fool, #540; Fruit souffle #541; Fruit whip #644.

BOILED RICE. Quick Creamed Rice, #550; Kedgeree, #552; Curried Kedgeree, #553

COLD COFFEE. Iced Coffee, #798; Coffee Jelly, #643; Mocha Dessert, #593.

890 Cooking for invalids and Convalescents.

An invalid’s diet naturally depends on what the doctor recommends. In some illnesses the patient will be on a special diet, and these suggestions are not intended to cover such cases. They are meant for the invalid who is allowed the normal ‘Convalescent’, diet. In planning this sort of meal the following points need to be considered:

1. Be very careful to serve foods as attractively as possible, because the appetite generally needs tempting. Small portions look better than large ones. It is much better for the patient to ask for a second helping than to risk taking away his appetite by. the sight of too much food on the plate. As far as possible use small, individual dishes, as this helps to make the food. look more tempting; for example, set jellies in small moulds or cups. Coloured china, too, helps to make the tray more attractive.

2.Most convalescents need building up. Illness is generally accompanied by wasting of muscle and body-tissue, and this has to be replaced by the nutrients in food. The best foods for building up are milk and eggs, and these should always have a prominent place in invalid cookery. The eggs should always be lightly cooked so that they are easy to digest, for example coddled, see No. 188, or poached or lightly scrambled.

3. Other good foods for building up are fish, chicken,

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rabbit, cheese, and meat, though the doctor may advise leaving out the meat. They, too, should be served in their most easily digested form. Cheese should always be finely grated and, if cooked in a sauce, add the cheese after the sauce has finished cooking, and do not allow it to boil again. Fish should be steamed or poached and meat should be minced, grilled, or stewed.

4. Avoid all indigestible foods, but particularly pastry, any fried foods, highly flavoured and seasoned foods, pickles, spices, new bread, hot scones, hot buttered toast. (Toast should be thin and crisp and buttered cold.)

5. All invalids need food rich in Vitamin C. This vitamin helps them to get well, and especially to heal wounds and broken bones. Blackcurrant purée, rosehip syrup, orange-juice, tomato-juice, and green vegetables cooked quickly in very little water, see No. 379, all provide a good supply of Vitamin C. If the patient is allowed raw fruit and salads, use these as often as possible.

6. Clear soups and aspic jellies have very little building-up value, but they do stimulate the appetite, and are useful to serve before the main, and more nourishing, course. Soups containing milk are very good for invalids, and sweet jellies are much more valuable foods if they have milk or eggs added.

7. The following recipes are suitable for most convalescents:

SOUPS. Cream Soup, #46; Quickly Made Consommé, #61; Fish Soup, #60; Jellied Consommé, #32.

BEVERAGES. Lemonade, #802; Orangeade, #806; Barley Water, #801; Egg Nog, #812; Milk Posset, #811; Malted Milk, #809.

EGG DISHES. Boiled Custard, #111; Coddled Egg, #188; Steamed Egg, #198; Poached Egg, #194; Scrambled Egg, #199; Baked Custard, #218.

FISH AND MEAT. Boiled Fish, #228, with Parsley

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Sauce, #89; Steamed fish #237, with Parsley sauce #89; Creamed soft roes #298; Boiled Chicken or Rabbit, #317; Creamed chicken or Rabbit, #932; Brains, #315; Sweetbreads, #315.

VEGETABLES. Green Vegetables, #384; Mashed Potato, #457; Creamed Spinach, #458.

PUDDINGS. Ice-cream, #824; Fruit Puree, #539; Fruit Fool, #540; Sweet Sago, #559; Sago Cream, #562; Creamed Semolina, #573; Cornflour Mould, #582; Cornflour Desserts, #590; Lemon Jelly, #635; Milk Jelly, #639; cream Whip, #641; Fruit Whip, #644; Bread Custard, #773; Junket, #170.

CAKES. Jam Sandwich, #669; Butter Sponge, #679; Sponge Roll, #680.

BREAD. Melba Toast, #770; Sweet Rusks, #771.

891 Feeding the Overweight.

The chief cause of putting on weight is thought to be eating more food, especially starches and sugars, than the body requires for the energy it expends. Individual needs vary a great deal, which is why, on the same diet, one will stay thin while the other puts on weight.

Weight can be reduced by dieting if the necessary will-power is exercised. The only danger is that an ill-chosen diet may reduce the weight but at the same time disastrously affect the person’s health. This happens when the important body-building and protective foods are omitted.

The simplest and safest way of dieting is to follow the Menu Planning Guide at the beginning of this chapter, but cut down the amounts of potatoes, cereals, bread. All cakes, pastry, and sweets should be excluded from the reducing diet. Instead of puddings, serve raw fruit and/or a piece of cheese.

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