remembered that the gas must be lighted and left full on for ten minutes before the food is put in, and also that the lower grid must not be put in the lowest groove, or the bags will catch fire from being too near the flame. The top grid should be put in the groove nearest the top of the oven, if that will allow the bags to lie conveniently on it, and the second grid as near the first as may be convenient.

A wire grid from the ironmonger's may be added to the two usually supplied with the gas-cooker; in some ovens there is room for two additional ones. After about ten to fifteen minutes, the gas may be turned half-way down, and this degree of heat steadily maintained till the cooking is completed.

Sometimes, when people are living in apartments, there is a supply of gas, but no cooker. In such a case, it would be easy to buy a gas ring and tubing to attach it to a gas jet. Over the ring a tin oven, such as can be had cheaply from most ironmongers, should be placed, and it will be found that a paper-bag dinner will emerge most successfully from it.

Even if nothing more than a paraffin stove is to be had, still the paper-bag cook need not despair. Longer time will be needed to get the oven placed on top of a paraffin stove to the necessary degree of heat, but by remembering this, and maintaining the same steady heat, paper-bag cookery may be managed much more satisfactorily in such an oven than ordinary cooking could possibly be.

A HOME-MADE GRID.

As a wire grid in the oven is necessary, and many housewives may not be able to try the new cooking because their ovens are not fitted with a grid, here is a very cheap and simple way of making a grid that will answer perfectly.

Get a piece of ordinary wire netting, cut it to the width of the oven, then thread through the natural edge on both sides an iron or brass rod—a curtain or stair rod will do—then place in the oven as shown in the sketch. The ends of the rods must rest on the little ledge in the oven which usually supports the iron shelf, and that will give the necessary strength and support to the grid. The total cost should not be more than twopence or threepence.

DISHING-UP.

At the end of the specified time, a peep into the oven will reveal the array of paper bags, probably well browned but not burned. If there has been the slightest smell of burning paper, it should at once be looked to and the gas reduced.

TO REMOVE THE FOOD FROM THE BAG.

Let the bag lie on a dish, take a pair of scissors and rip up one side of the bag and also one end as shown by the dotted lines. Then pull the bag away and the food will remain on the dish.

A large fish-slice should be employed to remove the bag containing the meat from the oven and place it on the hot dish ready for it. A pair of scissors should be at hand to slit open the bag, which must then be dexterously removed, leaving the nicely browned, perfectly cooked joint on the dish. There will be very little gravy, as that, of course, is the juice of the meat, and the claim of the paper-bag cookery is that it seals up the juices within the meat. On no account add water to the few spoonfuls of rich, strong gravy in the dish, for that would completely spoil the delicious flavour.

In families where much gravy is desired, it must be made separately with a little stock, browned and thickened.

The potatoes can now be turned out of their paper bag into a hot dish, and the same process can be followed with peas or sprouts. Cauliflower requires gentler handling. Its bag should be slit, and the nicely cooked flower—almost all green must be cut away—suffered to glide gently into a dish filled with hot white sauce ready prepared. The pudding may continue in the oven, the gas turned very low so that it may keep hot, but not cook any longer, till it is required.

CHAPTER II.
HOW TO COOK FISH.

There is nothing which is so delicious when cooked in paper bags as fish. Boiled fish is light and digestible, but most of the nutriment and flavour are lost in the water; and although less goes to waste when the fish is steamed or cooked in a conservative cooker, there is no comparison between these methods and paper-bag cookery. The flavour is unsurpassed; there is no smell of frying or boiling fat; no risk of burning; no spoiling by overcooking; no trouble or fuss looking out the right saucepan and bringing the fat to just the right degree of heat; in short, it is the perfection of fish cookery. It is an ideal way of cooking small fish or portions of fish. A salmon steak, cooked in a paper bag, is an epicure's dream, and no one who has not eaten one cooked in this way can form any idea of its exquisite flavour. Cod cutlet is a revelation, for it acquires a new and delightful flavour, while the cheaper and coarser fish, such as hake, rock salmon, monk-fish, etc., when treated in this way, gain so much in taste as to become real delicacies.

Skate is particularly nice cooked in a paper bag. This fish, though exceedingly wholesome and easily digested, has a rather strong flavour, which is objected to by many people. Oddly enough, this strong flavour entirely disappears when the fish is cooked in a paper bag.

SKATE.

A piece weighing about a pound should be soaked for about an hour in strong salt and water, then shaken free from moisture and rubbed over with butter. Season with salt and pepper and put into a well greased bag, with one tablespoonful of water and half as much vinegar. Cook for about eighteen minutes, and serve on a very hot dish, on which a slice of butter has been melted. This is a capital supper dish.

SALMON CUTLETS.

Take a slice of salmon weighing half a pound. Rub it over with butter which has been seasoned with pepper, salt, and a few drops of lemon juice, and put it into a very well greased bag. Have the oven very hot, and cook the salmon for fifteen minutes. Slit the bag with scissors, and slip the fish on to a very hot dish. This will have all the savour of fried salmon, but with a delicious flavour and aroma peculiarly its own. If the effect of boiled salmon be desired, put a scant half-teacupful of water into the bag with the fish.

FRESH HADDOCK

is particularly dainty when cooked in this fashion. Have the fish cleaned and the head taken off. Rub both inside and out with butter, put it into a well greased bag with a tablespoonful of water, and cook for fifteen minutes. It will have the appearance of a boiled fish, and the curd-like whiteness and delicacy of its flesh will be extremely tempting, while the flavour will be far superior to that of a boiled haddock. Or, if a more savoury dish be preferred, the fish must be well dredged with flour, which has been highly seasoned with salt and pepper, then covered with bits of butter, put without water into a greased paper-bag and placed in a hot oven, the heat being maintained at the same degree for twenty minutes. The paper will become very brown, but must not be allowed to blacken or singe. The fish will then be a rich golden brown, closely resembling fried fish, but much more wholesome and digestible.