Vegetables, such as corn and canned peas, may be used instead of bread crumbs to stuff tomatoes. Use salt, pepper, and butter with these vegetables.
Use a granite, glass, or earthenware utensil for cooking tomatoes. (See Suggestions for Cooking Fruits.)
SCALLOPED TOMATOES [Footnote 3: NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--Recipes for both fresh and canned vegetables are given so that a selection depending upon the season can be made.]
1 can or 1 quart tomatoes 1 tablespoonful salt Dash pepper 3 cupfuls bread crumbs 3 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute
If fresh tomatoes are used, plunge them into boiling water, then drain and peel and cut into pieces.
Mix the salt and pepper with the tomatoes and pour into a buttered baking- dish. Cover with buttered crumbs (see Stuffed Tomatoes) and bake at 400 degrees F., 30 to 40 minutes. Cover during first part of baking to prevent the crumbs from browning too rapidly. Serve hot. A scalloped dish should be served from the dish in which it is baked.
Green tomatoes may be scalloped in the same manner as ripe tomatoes.
Soft or dried bread crumbs may be used in scalloping tomatoes. Use only 1 cupful of the dried crumbs.
TO GREASE OR OIL A PAN OR BAKING-DISH.--Heat slightly the pan or dish to be oiled. Put a bit of fat on a small piece of clean paper. Then rub the heated pan or dish with the paper. This is a most satisfactory method because little fat is required and the utensils used for oiling do not have to be cleaned. Often a spoon or cup that has contained fat may be wiped with a piece of paper and the latter used for greasing a pan. It is well for a housekeeper to have a boxful of pieces of paper in the kitchen for this purpose. Some authorities consider a pastry brush a satisfactory means of applying melted butter for oiling. Much fat, however, clings to the bristles of the brush and the brush needs frequent and careful cleaning.
Butter, oleomargarine, lard, vegetable fats, or oils may be used for oiling pans or baking-dishes.
QUESTIONS
In stuffed tomatoes, note that the seasonings are added to the crumbs before they are buttered. Why?
Why test the tomatoes with a knitting needle or skewer rather than with a fork?
What kind of baking-pan--tin, granite, or earthenware--is best to use for Stuffed or Scalloped Tomatoes? Why? (See Suggestions for Cooking Fruits, p.65)
Are tomatoes sold by weight or by measure, i.e. by the pound or peck?
What is the price of tomatoes per pound or peck?
How many slices of bread are required to make 2 cupfuls of crumbs?
How many slices in one loaf of bread?
LESSON III
FUELS AND COMBUSTION--SAUTED AND BAKED SQUASH
FUEL.--In order to cook foods, heat in some form must be applied. This heat is obtained usually by burning some substance. Thus the first requisite for obtaining heat is something to burn, i.e. a fuel. The fuels commonly used in households are,--wood, coal, kerosene, and gas. Although electricity is not a fuel, its use in cooking is so well established that it should be mentioned as a source of heat.
HEAT; KINDLING TEMPERATURE.--There are fuel substances everywhere,--paper, cloth, wood, etc. These materials do not burn unless heated; even gas does not burn by simply turning on the stopcock. But if a piece of paper is placed in contact with glowing iron, the paper burns. It burns because it is heated. If the blazing paper is placed in contact with kindling wood and coal, the kindling wood soon begins to burn because it is heated by the burning paper. The coal burns when it is heated by the burning wood. All fuels must be heated before they will burn.
When one thinks of the ease with which paper "catches fire" and of the difficulty of making hard coal burn, it becomes evident that some substances require only a small amount of heat before they will burn, while others require much heat. Different materials, then, require different degrees of heat to burn. The phosphorus and other substances on the tip of a match ignite readily. The heat that is developed by rubbing the tip over some surface is sufficient to make the phosphorus burn.