=Beefsteak Juice.=--Quickly broil a juicy steak, and after laying it
on a hot platter, cut and press it to extract all the juice; season this
with a very little salt, and pour it over a slice of delicately browned
toast; serve it at once.

252. =Salmon Steak.=--Choose a slice of salmon nearly an inch thick,
remove the scales, wipe with a dry cloth, roll it first in cracker dust,
then dip it very lightly in melted butter, and season with a dust of
white pepper and a pinch of salt; then roll it again in cracker dust,
and put it over a clear fire on a greased gridiron, to broil slowly,
taking care that it does not burn before the flakes separate; serve it
with some fresh watercresses and plain boiled potatoes. (Any
_red-blooded_ fish may be used in the same way.)

253. =Broiled Oysters.=--Dry some large oysters on a napkin; roll them in
cracker dust, dip them in melted butter as for salmon steaks, again in
cracker dust, dust over them a very little salt and white pepper, or
cayenne, and broil them on a buttered wire gridiron, over a clear fire.
They will be done as soon as they are light brown. They make a very
delicate and digestible meal.

CHAPTER XIV.

BREAD.

The preparation of wheat and other grains, in the form of bread, is one
of the most important of all culinary operations, and to many persons
one of the most difficult. It is impossible to set exact rules as to the
quantity of flour or liquid to be used, for the quality of the flour
varies as much as that of the grain from which it is made; and some
varieties, excessive in gluten, will absorb nearly one-third more liquid
than others, and produce correspondingly more bread. For this reason in
buying flour we must choose that which contains the most gluten; this
kind will remain in a firm, compact mass when pressed in the hand, and
will retain all the lines and marks of the skin; or if mixed with water
it will take up a great deal in proportion to its bulk, and will form a
tough, elastic dough. Gluten in flour corresponds with the nitrates or
flesh-formers in flesh, and abounds in hard winter wheat. The flour
containing much of it is never extremely white.

The object of making bread, that is of mixing water with the flour and
subsequently exposing the dough to intense heat, is to expand and
rupture the cells of the grain so as to expose the greatest possible
surface to the action of the digestive fluids; this is accomplished in
several ways; by the