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Miss Parloa's New Cook Book · Chapter 22Part 22

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Rolls should be made into smooth little balls, and should be placed in even rows in a shallow pan. Breakfast rolls, are first made into little balls and then rolled between the hands until three inches long. They are placed close together in even rows in the pan. Dinner and French rolls, after being made into little balls, are put on a well-floured board, and a little, well-floured rolling-pin, two and a half inches in diameter, is pressed nearly through their centre. The rolls are to be so placed in pans as not to touch each other. Being so small, and baking so quickly, they have a sweet taste of the wheat.

The best-sized pan for loaves is made of block tin; is eight and a half inches long, four and a half wide, and three deep. Those for wheat bread should be greased very slightly with either butter or lard. For rye, Indian, or Graham, they must be greased thoroughly, as the dough clings more to the tins. There are many kinds of bread that can be made readily and safely after once learning to make good common bread. It is difficult to give exact rules for flour, as it varies, some kinds requiring much more water than others. The "new process" flour has so much more starch, and packs so much more closely than the "old process," that one-eighth less is required, or one-eighth more of liquid; but if the flour is weighed, the same amount of water is taken for a pound of flour made by either process. The best flour is always the cheapest for bread. As there is no one article of food of so great importance for the health and happiness of the family as bread, make it as nearly perfect as possible.

Yeast.

Put two quarts of water and two table-spoonfuls of hops on to boil. Pare and grate six large potatoes. When the hops and water boil, strain the water on the grated potatoes, and stir well. Place on the stove and boil up once. Add half a cupful of sugar and one-fourth of a cupful of salt. Let the mixture get blood warm; then add one cupful of yeast, or one cake of compressed yeast, and let it rise in a warm place five or six hours. When well risen, turn into a stone jug. Cork this tightly, and set in a cool place. As poor yeast is the chief cause of poor bread, pains should be taken to make yeast properly and to keep it well. It must never be allowed to stand in a warm room after it has risen, and the jug in which it is kept should be carefully washed and scalded each time the yeast is renewed. As much care must be taken with the stopper as with the jug. When it is convenient to get fresh cakes of Fleischmann's compressed yeast, it will be much better and cheaper to use them than to make your own. This yeast is wholly free of any injurious substance, and with it good bread can always be made, provided the flour is good and the rules are followed.

Yeast Bread, No. 1.

With these materials two loaves can be made: Two quarts of flour, half a cupful of yeast, nearly a pint and a half of water, half a table-spoonful each of lard, sugar, and salt. Sift the flour into a bread-pan, and, after taking out a cupful for use in kneading, add the salt, sugar, yeast, and the water, which must be about blood warm (or, say one hundred degrees, if in cold weather, and about eighty in the hot season). Beat well with a strong spoon. When well mixed, sprinkle a little flour on the board, turn out the dough on this, and knead from twenty to thirty minutes. Put back in the pan. Hold the lard in the hand long enough to have it very soft. Rub it over the dough. Cover closely, that neither dust nor air can get in, and set in a warm place. It will rise in eight or nine hours. In the morning shape into loaves or rolls. If into loaves, let these rise an hour where the temperature is between ninety and one hundred degrees; if into rolls, let these rise an hour and a half. Bake in an oven that will brown a teaspoonful of flour in five minutes. (The flour used for this test should be put on a bit of crockery, as it will have a more even heat.) The loaves will need from forty-five to sixty minutes to bake, but the rolls will be done in half an hour if placed close together in the pan; and if French rolls are made, they will bake in fifteen minutes. As soon as baked, the bread should be taken out of the pans and placed on a table where it can rest against something until cool. It should then be put in a stone pot or tin box, which has been thoroughly washed, scalded and dried, and be set away in a cool, dry place.

Yeast Bread, No. 2.

One cupful of Indian meal, two quarts of flour, one pint and a half of boiling water, one table-spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, half a cake of compressed yeast. Pour the boiling water on the Indian meal. Stir well, and set away to cool. When blood warm, add the yeast, salt and sugar to it. Stir this mixture into the flour, and proceed as for yeast bread, No. I.

Bread Made with Dried Yeast.

Two quarts of flour, one yeast-cake, one generous pint of water, blood warm; one table-spoonful of sugar, one of butter, one teaspoonful of salt. Dissolve the yeast in the water, and stir gradually into one pint of the flour. Set in a warm place for two hours. It will then be risen to a sponge. Stir it into the remainder of the flour. Knead well, and put in a warm place to rise. It will rise in about five hours if the heat is about seventy-five or eighty degrees. Or, it will rise during the night in a heat of sixty degrees. In the morning treat like yeast bread, No. I.

Sticks.

Four cupfuls of flour, one table-spoonful of sugar, one-fourth of a cupful of butter, one cupful of boiled milk, the white of an egg, one-fourth of a cake of compressed yeast, one scant teaspoonful of salt. Dissolve the butter in the milk, which have blood warm. Beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth. Dissolve the yeast in three table-spoonfuls of cold water. Add all the other ingredients to the flour, and knead well. Let the dough rise over night, and in the morning make into balls about the size of a large English walnut. Roll each of these balls into a stick about a foot long. Use the moulding board. Place the sticks about two inches apart in long pans. Let them rise half an hour in a cool place, and bake twenty-five minutes in a very moderate oven. Sticks should be quite dry and crisp. They cannot be if baked rapidly.

Graham Bread.

With this material two loaves or two dozen muffins can be made: One pint of water or milk, one of flour, one large pint of Graham, half a cupful of yeast, half a cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt. Have the milk or water blood warm, and add the yeast. Sift the flour into a deep dish. Add the milk and yeast, gradually, and beat until wholly smooth. Set in a rather cool place (about sixty degrees) to rise over night. In the morning add the salt and sugar and then the Graham, a little at a time, beating vigorously all the while. When thoroughly beaten, turn into pans, and let it rise an hour in a temperature of from 90° to 100°. Bake an hour.

Togus Bread.

Three cupfuls of sweet milk and one of sour, three cupfuls of Indian meal and one of flour, half a cupful of molasses, one teaspoonful of saleratus, one of salt. Steam three hours.

Brown Bread.

One cupful of rye meal, one of Indian meal, one of molasses, two of flour, one pint and a half of sour milk, a teaspoonful of soda, an egg, one teaspoonful of salt. Mix the dry ingredients together. Dissolve the soda in two table-spoonfuls of boiling water. Add it and the milk to the molasses. Stir well, and pour on the other mixed ingredients. Beat the egg and add it. Mix thoroughly, and pour into a well-buttered tin pan that holds two quarts. Steam four hours, and then put in the oven for half an hour.

DRINKS.

Cocoa.

Cocoa is rich in nutritive elements. Like milk, it has all the substances necessary for the growth and sustenance of the body. It is the fruit of a small tree that grows in Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and other islands. The fruit is in shape like a large, thick cucumber, and contains from six to thirty beans. There is a number of forms in which it is sold in the market, the most convenient and nutritious being chocolate. Next comes cocoa, then cocoa nibs, and lastly cocoa shells. The beans of the cocoa are roasted in the same manner as coffee. The husks or shells are taken off and the beans then ground between hot rollers. Sometimes the husks are not removed, but ground with the bean. The ground bean is called cocoa; and mixed with sugar, after being ground very fine, is termed chocolate. Vanilla is often added as a flavor. Sometimes the cocoa is mixed with starch. When the bean is broken in small pieces, these are called nibs.

To Make Cocoa.

Put a gill of the broken cocoa in a pot with two quarts of water, and boil gently three hours. There should be a quart of liquid in the pot when done. If the boiling has been so rapid that there is not this quantity, add more water, and let it boil once again. Many people prefer half broken cocoa and half shells. If the stomach is delicate, this is better than all cocoa. Sugar and milk are used, as with coffee.

Shells.

Use twice the quantity of shells that you would of broken cocoa, and boil twice as long.

Chocolate.

Scrape fine an ounce (one of the small squares) of Baker's or any other plain chocolate. Add two table-spoonfuls of sugar, and put in a small saucepan with a table-spoonful of hot water. Stir over a hot fire for a minute or two, until it is perfectly smooth and glossy, and then stir it all into a quart of boiling milk, or half milk and half water. Mix thoroughly, and serve at once. If the chocolate is wanted richer, take twice as much chocolate, sugar, and water. Made in this way, chocolate is perfectly smooth, and free of oily particles. If it is allowed to boil after the chocolate is added to the milk, it becomes oily and loses its fine flavor.

Coffee.

There is a variety of coffees; but, unlike the teas, they do not owe their difference of flavor or color to the curing, but to the soil and climate in which they grow. Coffee grows on small trees. The fruit is something like the cherry, but there are two seeds in it. The beans are separated by being bruised with a heavy roller, and are then washed and dried. The longer the raw berry is kept the riper and better flavored it becomes. In countries where coffee is grown the leaves are used as much as the berry. Like tea, coffee must be roasted, that the fine flavor shall be developed. There are large establishments for roasting and grinding coffee. The work is done by machinery; and nearly always the grains arc evenly roasted, and just enough to give the right flavor. If the coffee, after roasting, is put in close tin cans, it will retain its best qualities for a long time. It can be ground when needed for use. Many persons think that heating the dry coffee just before making improves the flavor. There are many modes of making coffee, each having its advantages and disadvantages. Some people think that by first wetting the coffee with cold water, and letting it come to a boil, and by then adding the boiling water, more of the strength of the coffee is extracted. When there is not cream for coffee the milk should be boiled, as it makes the coffee richer. As soon as the milk boils up it should be taken off of the stove, since it grows strong and oily by much boiling. To many people it is injurious to drink coffee; but physicians say that, taken without milk, it is harmless. Some element of the coffee combines with the milk to form a leathery coating on the stomach, which impairs digestion. A great many substances are mixed with coffee, when sold, to cheapen it,--chicory, beans, peas, rye, and wheat being the commonest. To obtain it pure, the safest way is to buy it unground, unless you purchase of a strictly honest dealer. Coffee drinkers, as a rule, eat less than other people, though coffee, and also tea, have little direct food value; but they retard the waste of the tissues, and so take the place of food. The sugar and milk used with them give some nutriment.

Boiled Coffee.

The old method of boiling coffee is still practised by at least one-half the housekeepers in this country. The coffee is sometimes boiled with an egg, which makes it perfectly clear, and also enriches it. When an egg is not used a small piece of salt fish skin is boiled with the coffee to clear it.

Directions for making: A small cupful of roasted and ground coffee, one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java; a small egg, shell and all, broken into the pot with the dry coffee. Stir veil with a spoon, and then pour on three pints of boiling water. Let it boil from five to ten minutes, counting from the time it begins to boil. As soon as it has boiled enough, pour in a cupful of cold water, and turn a little of the coffee into a cup, to see that the nozzle of the pot is not filled with grounds. Turn this back, and let the coffee stand a few moments to settle, taking care that it does not boil again. The advantages of boiled coffee are that when the egg is used the yolk gives a very rich flavor, and when the milk or cream is added the coffee has a rich, yellow look, which is pleasing. It has also a peculiar flavor, which many people prefer to the flavor gained by any other process. The disadvantages are that the egg coats the dry coffee, and when the hot water is added the coating becomes hard, and a great deal of the best of the coffee remains in the grounds after boiling. Also, in boiling, much of the fine flavor is lost in the steam that escapes from the pot.

Filtered Coffee.

Another--and really the most economical and the easiest--way of making coffee is by filtering. The French coffee biggin is valuable for this. It consists of two cylindrical tin vessels, one fitting into another, and the bottom of the upper being a fine strainer. Another coarser strainer, with a rod running from the centre, is placed upon this. Then the coffee, which must be finely-ground, is put in, and another strainer is placed at the top of the rod. The boiling water is poured on, and the pot set where it will keep hot, but not boil, until the water has gone through. This will make a clear, strong coffee, with a rich, smooth flavor. The advantage of the two extra strainers is that the one coming next to the fine strainer prevents the grounds from filling up the fine holes, and so the coffee is clear, and made more easily. The upper strainer causes the boiling water to fall on the coffee like rain. In this way it is more evenly distributed, and the fine coffee is not carried through the fine strainer, as it would be if the water were poured directly on the dry coffee. When milk or cream is added to filtered coffee it does not turn a rich yellow, as in the case of that boiled with an egg. A few spoonfuls of this coffee, without sugar or milk, taken after dinner, is said to help digestion.

Vienna Coffee.

A quartet of a cupful of boiled milk. Add three table-spoonfuls of whipped cream, and fill up with filtered coffee.

Café au Lait.

This is simply one pint of filtered coffee added to one pint of milk that has come just to the boiling point.

Steamed Coffee.

Another mode of preparing coffee is to steam it. The coffee is put in a pot and boiling water poured on it. This pot, which is made to fit into a tea-kettle, is placed in the kettle, and the coffee is cooked from ten to twenty minutes, the water in the kettle boiling all the time. This will make a clear and delicious drink.

Tea.

There are three varieties of the tea plant; both black and green tea can be prepared from them all. Green tea is made from leaves which are dried quickly, and black from leaves which have first been allowed to stand twelve hours or more before roasting. The leaves wilt and grow moist in that time, and that is what gives the dark and peculiar appearance to this tea. In making tea the pot should be earthen, rinsed with boiling water and left to stand a few moments on the stove, to dry. Put in the tea leaves, and let the pot stand a few minutes longer. Pour on boiling water, leaving the pot standing where it will be at the boiling point, yet will not boil, for from three to five minutes. For moderate strength use one teaspoonful of tea to half a pint of water. If the water is soft it should be used as soon as it boils, for boiling causes all the gases which flavor the water to escape; but if the water is hard it is best to boil from twenty to thirty minutes. The gases escape from hard water also, but boiling causes the mineral matter, which hardens the water, to settle on the bottom of the kettle, and the water becomes softer.

Lemonade.

Good lemonade can be made with half a pint of lemon juice (extracted with a squeezer, and strained), three pints of water and a generous pint of sugar. Have the drink cold. Hot lemonade is highly recommended for a cold. A glass can be made with the juice of a lemon, one large table-spoonful of sugar and a cupful of boiling water. Drink it hot.

HOW--

To Blanch Almonds.

Shell the nuts, and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand in the water a minute, and then throw them into cold water. Rub between the hands.

To Corn Beef.

For fifty pounds of beef make a pickle with two gallons of water, four pounds of salt, one and a half pounds of brown sugar, one and a half ounces of saltpetre, half an ounce of saleratus. Put these ingredients on to boil, and when they boil, skim, and put away to cool. When cold, put the beef in it. Put weights on the meat, to keep it under the brine.

To Scrape Chocolate.

If only one square of chocolate is needed, draw a line across the two squares at the end, dividing them in halves. With a sharp knife, shave off the chocolate until you come to the line. By this method there is no waste of time or material. If you want two or more squares, all that is necessary is, of course, to shave off until you come to the dividing line already there. The pound packages of Baker's chocolate consist of two cakes, each of which has eight squares; so one of these squares is an ounce.

To Use the Salamander.

The salamander is a circular iron plate, to which is attached a long handle. It is made red hot in the fire and held over the article to be browned, being careful not to have it touch. If you have not a salamander the fire shovel can be heated and used in the same way; but the shovel is not improved by the operation.

To Clean English Currants.

Pick all the stones, bits of dirt and long stems from the currants. Add one pint of flour to two quarts of currants, and rub well between the hands. This starts the stems and dirt from the fruit. Put about a pint of currants in the flour sieve and rub them until all the flour has passed through; then put them in the colander and shake until the stems have passed through. When all the fruit has been treated in this manner, put it in a large pan of cold water. Wash thoroughly, and drain in the colander. Repeat this operation three times. When the fruit is well drained, spread it on boards or flat dishes and dry in a warm place. Put away in jars.

To Remove Jellies and Creams from Moulds.

Have in a pan water enough (a little more than blood warm) to come to the top of the mould. If the mould is tin, set it in this for about half a minute; if earthen, keep it in long enough to have the heat pass through the mould. Wipe the mould, place over it the dish into which the jelly is to be turned, and turn both dish and mould simultaneously. Let the mould rest a moment before lifting it gently from the jelly.

To Whip Cream.

Very rich or very poor cream will not whip well. When too rich it turns to butter, and when too poor the froth becomes liquid almost as soon as it has been skimmed. Thick cream, that will hardly pour, should have an equal quantity of milk added to it before whipping. Such cream as one gets from the milkman will rarely be found too rich for whipping. It is more likely to be the other way; and one is often disappointed in finding it too poor to froth. The cream should be ice cold.

Have a large bowl or tin pail, rather narrow at the bottom. Place this in a pan of ice water. Have a bright tin pan in another of ice water. Put the cream in the bowl and put the whip churn in this. Hold the churn with the left hand, tipping it slightly, that the cream may flow out at the bottom. With the right hand draw the dasher lightly about half way up the cylinder; then press down hard. It must not be forgotten that the up stroke is light and the down stroke is hard. When the bowl is full, skim the froth into a tin pan. Continue this until nearly all the cream has been whipped. Draw the froth in the pan to one side, and turn the liquid cream at the bottom of the pan back into the bowl. Whip it again. A little of the cream will always become liquid again.

When the cream is for whips, or for a garnish for frozen pudding or Bavarian creams, sweeten it, and flavor with anything you please, before whipping. If the cream is very rich a Dover beater will whip it, but there is nothing that will whip cream so quickly and so well as the whip churn described in the chapter on Kitchen Furnishing.

To Boil Sugar.

The degrees of boiling sugar are variously divided by different cooks. Some give six and others as high as eight. The Stench boil sugar for nearly all their desserts. For all practical purposes a cook need understand only three stages. Put one cupful of granulated or loaf sugar and half a cupful of water on to boil. When the mixture has boiled fifteen minutes, dip the fore-finger and thumb in cold water and take up a little of the syrup between them. If, upon drawing them apart, the syrup forms a thread, it is at the second degree. This is the best stage for frozen fruits, sherbets, and preserves.

If, a little later, when some syrup is taken up with a spoon and blown hard, it flies off in tiny bubbles, it is at the fourth degree, called the soufflé. It takes about twenty minutes' boiling for this. The syrup is then used for biscuit glacé and various kinds of creams. At this stage it also gives sherbets and fruits a much richer flavor than when used at the second degree.

If, when a little syrup is taken up on the point of a stick or skewer, and dipped in cold water, it breaks off brittle, the sixth degree has been reached. This is the stage where it is used for icing fruit and cake, the dish being called fruit glacé or gâteau glacé. The syrup must never be stirred, as this will cause it to grain. Great care must be taken that it does not boil after coming to the sixth degree, as it burns quickly after that point is reached.

To Make and Use a Pastry Bag.

Fold a piece of strong cotton cloth (perhaps a foot square) from the opposite corners, so as to give it a triangular shape. On one side sew together the two edges, thus making a bag shaped like a "dunce's cap." Cut the cloth at the apex just enough to permit a short tin tube, somewhat like a tailor's thimble, to be pushed through. The tube for éclairs measures about three-fourths of an inch at the smallest opening; that for lady-fingers is three-eighths of an inch, and that for meringues and kisses, half an inch. The tubes for decorating with frosting are very small.

Fill the bag with the mixture to be forced through, and gather the cloth together at the top with the left hand. Hold the point of the tube close to the pan on which the mixture is to be spread. Press the mixture out with the right hand. If the cakes are to be large use a good deal of pressure, but if to be small, very little will do. At first, it will be hard to get the shapes, but with a little practice it will seem comparatively easy.

To Make Paper Cases.

This is not difficult, if one will carefully study for a moment the diagram below and the directions following:

Cut the paper on the dark lines--(there are eight).

Crease on every dotted line.

At each end turn the parts lettered A over that lettered B, so that the lines c rest on the line d, and one A overlaps the other.

Fold the parts B up against the backs of the parts A.

Fold inward those parts of the edges which are lightly shaded, and fold outward those which are heavily shaded.

Stick the parts of the box together with the white of an egg mixed with a little flour.

Remember that it is a box that is to be made, and after the first two steps it may be easy to guess how to complete the work. By tracing a copy of the diagram one obtains a good model one quarter of the size the case should be; that is, the square should be five inches on a side instead of two and one-half. After experimenting with this the shape may be varied to suit the taste. Stiff white paper should be used. Cases can be bought of restaurateurs. They are used for biscuit glacé, biscuit soufflé, and other dainties.

To Lard.

Larding is a simple operation. The pork should be firm and young (salt, of course). Cut thin, even slices parallel with the rind, and cut these in long, narrow strips that will fit into the needle. For beef, veal, turkey or chicken the strips should be about as large round as a lead pencil, and about three and a half inches long; and for birds, chops, and sweetbreads they should be about as large round as a match. Three slices are all that can be cut from one piece of pork, because when you get more than an inch away from the rind, the pork is so tender that it will break when in the needle.

Put the strips in a bowl of broken ice, to harden. Have the meat, if beef or veal, free of skin and gristle. Put a strip (also called a lardoon) into the needle as far as it will go. With a skewer or knife draw a line on both sides of the meat and along the upper part. Thrust the needle into the meat at one of the side lines; and when it is about half way through to the top of the piece, press the steel slightly with the thumb and fore-finger, to hold the lardoon in place until it has entered the meat. Now push the needle through to the top, and gently draw it out, leaving about three-quarters of an inch of the strip exposed at both the side and upper part of the meat That part of the pork which is hidden should be half an inch under the surface. The needle's course is as if it started under the eaves of a gable roof and came out at the ridge-pole. Continue until all the rows are filled with lardoons. Two rows are enough for a fillet of beef. If the strips are too large for the needle they will be pressed out as soon as the lower part of the needle enters the meat.