Part 2

Most grains require prolonged cooking, and slow cooking is preferable to fast. They are frequently served in the form of mush, and too often in an underdone state. Thorough cooking not only breaks up the food, but partially digests the starch contained in it.

Salt should be added to the water before stirring in the grain or meal.

All grains and meals should be put into actively boiling water to prevent them from having a raw taste, and allowed to boil fast until they “set,” or thicken, and cease sinking to the bottom; till then they should be stirred frequently, but gently, to prevent burning. After the grain has thickened, it should be stirred very little, or none at all.

Enough grain or meal should be used to make the mush quite thick and glutinous when done. Watery or sloppy mush is neither palatable nor strengthening to the digestive organs when used constantly. In fact, it should not be considered necessary to have mush every morning. A change occasionally to drier foods is better for the digestion.

An excellent utensil for cooking grains is a milk or mush boiler, generally called a double boiler. This consists of one vessel set inside of another, the inner one containing the grain to be cooked, the other partly filled with boiling water. An ordinary saucepan, however, will do very well, if smooth, and by greasing the inside with a little butter before putting in the water, the tendency of the grain to adhere to the saucepan will be greatly obviated.

If a double boiler is used, allow the grain to boil in the inner vessel standing directly over the range until it “sets,” then cover and place in the outer vessel, the water in which must also be boiling in order that the cooking process be not checked; then leave to cook slowly until done. From three to four hours is not too long when the double boiler is used. Grain prepared in this way may be cooked on the previous day and simply warmed up again the next morning for breakfast. What is left over from any meal may be used in the next preparation.

If a hastily prepared mush is required, perhaps nothing better than the rolled oats can be employed, these requiring not more than half an hour’s cooking, as they are already partially cooked in their manufacture; but even these are improved by longer cooking in a double boiler.

It is very important, when making any kind of mush, that the water be boiling rapidly, and kept thus while stirring in the meal; for unless the grain or meal is thoroughly scalded when stirred in, not even prolonged cooking will take away the raw taste.

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OATMEAL MUSH

To a quart of boiling water add a pinch of salt, sprinkle in a cupful of oatmeal, and boil rapidly for about ten minutes, or until it sets, stirring frequently with a fork. Then place over the hot water in the lower boiler and cook from one to three hours. Just before serving, remove the cover and stir lightly with a fork to allow the steam to escape. This makes the mush more dry. Serve with baked apples, cream, fresh fruit, or with the juice from stewed fruit. Oatmeal is richer in nitrogen than any other grain, and therefore very nutritious. But to be wholesome it must be well cooked, and not served in a pasty, undone mass.

ROLLED OATS

This is much preferred by some, as it requires only a short time to cook. Make as above, only using two cupfuls of the meal to one quart of water. An ordinary saucepan does very well for this, but the double boiler is better.

ROLLED OATS AND SAGO MUSH

Wash and soak one-third cup of sago in a little cold water. Stir one and one-half cups of rolled oats into one quart of salted, boiling water. Cook for fifteen minutes, then stir in the sago, and cook as much longer. Serve with cream, stewed fruit, or fruit juice.

GRAHAM MUSH

Into three pints of rapidly boiling water, properly salted, stir dry, one heaping pint of sifted Graham flour. Cook slowly for one hour on the back of the range, stirring but little after the first few minutes. Serve with milk or cream, and a very little sugar if desired.

GRAHAM MUSH WITH DATES

Cook as above. Take a cupful of dates, cut in two, removing the stones, and stir into the mush just before taking from the fire. Serve with milk or cream. Steamed raisins or stewed figs may be used instead of dates. Serve hot, or pour out into cups or molds, first wet with cold water, and serve cold with cream.

BOILED RICE

Wash one cup of rice, and put to cook in four cups of boiling water, slightly salted. Cook quite rapidly for the first fifteen minutes, stirring a little occasionally to prevent sticking to the pan. Then cover closely, and cook slowly on the back of the range without stirring. When nearly done, add a cup of sweet milk, cook until tender, and serve with milk, cream, or stewed fruit. If the rice has been soaked overnight, put to cook in an equal quantity of boiling water, or equal parts of milk and water, and cook for about half an hour.

CREAM OF WHEAT

To four parts of boiling water previously salted, add one part cream of wheat, sprinkling it in with the hand, and cook slowly for about an hour. Serve hot with cream or stewed figs.

CORN-MEAL MUSH, NO. 1

Into three pints of boiling water, salted, sprinkle one pint of corn-meal. Cook slowly for an hour, stirring occasionally. Serve with plenty of milk or cream. Very good and nutritious, especially for winter.

CORN-MEAL MUSH, NO. 2

Put to boil one quart of water, adding one teaspoonful of salt. Mix smooth one tablespoonful of flour and two cupfuls each of milk and corn-meal. Stir this gradually into the rapidly boiling water; boil about half an hour, stirring frequently. Serve as soon as done, with rich milk.

CORN-MEAL SQUARES

Take cold, left-over corn-meal mush, cut into rather thick slices, and then into inch squares. Put the squares into a tureen, and pour over them some hot milk or cream. Cover the dish, let stand a few minutes, and serve.

BARLEY MUSH

To each cupful of pearl barley, previously washed, add five cups of boiling water, a teaspoonful of salt, and cook in a double boiler for three or four hours. Serve with cream, lemon sauce, or stewed fruit.

BOILED WHEAT

To one part of good, plump wheat add five parts of cold water, a little salt, and cook slowly from four to six hours, or until the grains burst open and are tender. If soaked overnight, less time for boiling will be required. Add a little more water while cooking if necessary, but avoid much stirring. Serve hot or cold with milk, cream, fruit, or fruit juice. A very simple and wholesome dish.

GLUTEN MUSH

Into three pints of rapidly boiling, salted water stir one pint of gluten; cook in a double boiler for several hours.

HOMINY

Soak, then put to cook in enough boiling water to cover. Cook gently for several hours, being careful not to stir after the grains begin to soften. Add a little more water if needed. Season with salt when done. A quantity may be cooked at a time, and warmed up with a little cream or butter as needed.

CRACKED WHEAT

Cook the same as hominy and oatmeal, using three parts of boiling water to one of cracked wheat. When done, turn into cups or molds first wet with cold water. Nice served cold with cream. Seedless raisins may be cooked with it.

GRANULATED WHEAT

Use the same proportion and cook the same as cracked wheat. Serve warm or cold with good sweet cream.

CORN-MEAL CUTLETS

Cut cold corn-meal mush into slices three inches long and one inch wide; roll each piece in beaten egg, slightly salted, then in grated bread crumbs; place on an oiled tin in the oven till nicely browned. Other mushes may be treated likewise.

BROWNED RICE

Place a small quantity on shallow tins, and brown in the oven till a golden yellow, stirring frequently so that it may brown evenly; then steam for about an hour in a steamer over boiling water or in a steam cooker, allowing two parts of hot water to one part of rice. When done, it should be quite dry and mealy. It may be eaten dry, or served with brown or lentil sauce, or rich milk or cream.

BAKED MUSH

Cook any of the foregoing mushes as directed, and as soon as done, turn into a pan, crock, or a round tin can, first wet with cold water, or oiled, to prevent sticking. If brushed over the top with oil, a crust will not form. When cold, cut into slices from one half to three fourths of an inch thick, place on oiled tins, and bake till a nice brown. A quart of cooked mush will make about a dozen slices.

TOASTS

“A meal—what is it? Just enough of food To renovate and well refresh the frame, So that with spirits lightened, and with strength renewed, We turn with willingness to work again.”

The appetite is subject to education; therefore learn to love that which you know to be good and wholesome.

The most _expensive_ food is spoiled when served up burnt or tasteless; the _cheapest_ may be delicious with the proper seasoning.—_Lantz._

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Toast makes a very nice breakfast dish, and is easily and quickly prepared. It can be made in a variety of ways which are both simple and wholesome. When properly prepared, it furnishes abundant nourishment, and is easily digested.

The proper foundation for all toasts is zwieback (pronounced zwībäck), or twice-baked bread. This may be made from either fresh or stale bread, the fresh making the more crisp and delicious for dry eating. The bread should be light and of good quality. That which is sour, heavy, and unfit to eat untoasted, should never be used for toast.

Toasts afford an excellent opportunity for using up left-over slices of bread, and its use is therefore a matter of economy as well as of securing variety in diet.

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ZWIEBACK, OR DRY TOAST

Cut fresh or stale light bread, either white or brown, into slices half an inch thick, place on tins, and bake slowly in a moderate oven until browned evenly throughout. Care should be taken not to scorch the bread. It should not be put into an oven that is merely warm. It should be baked, not simply dried. The common method of toasting merely the outside of the bread by holding it over a fire is not the most wholesome way of preparing toast. When properly made, it will be crisp throughout. Zwieback may be prepared in quantity and kept on hand for use. It furnishes a good article of diet, especially for dyspeptics, eaten dry, or with milk or cream.

MILK TOAST

Scald one cupful of milk in double boiler, then add one teaspoonful of cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water; stir until it thickens. Cook about ten minutes, then add one teaspoonful of butter, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, and pour it over six slices of zwieback, previously moistened with hot water or milk.

TOAST WITH CREAM SAUCE

Prepare a cream sauce as directed on page 77. Moisten five or six slices of zwieback by dipping them quickly into hot water or milk, place them on a dish, and pour over the hot cream sauce.

ASPARAGUS TOAST

Prepare asparagus by washing each stalk free from sand; remove the tough portions, cut the stalks into small pieces, and stew in a little hot, salted water; drain off the water as soon as done, add a cup of milk, and season with a little butter and salt. Cream may be used instead of the milk and butter. Moisten the zwieback with hot milk, and place in a dish. Pour over the stewed asparagus, and serve hot.

BERRY TOAST

Prepare zwieback as above. Take fresh or canned strawberries, raspberries, mulberries, or other fruit, mash well with a spoon, add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on the slices of zwieback previously moistened.

EGG TOAST

Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk or cream, season with a sprinkle of salt, and serve hot with a poached egg on each slice. For poached eggs see page 66.

BANANA TOAST

Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk. Mash the bananas into a pulp, or cut into thin slices, and place some on each slice of toast.

FRUIT TOAST

Take stewed apricots, peaches, or plums, rub through a colander, heat to boiling, thicken with a little cornstarch, sweeten to taste, and pour over the moistened zwieback.

CREAM TOAST

Moisten slices of zwieback in hot water, sprinkle with a little salt, and dip over each slice a spoonful or two of nice, sweet, cold cream.

BUTTER TOAST

Place each slice of zwieback on a small plate, pour over a little hot water, and quickly drain off; add a sprinkle of salt, if desired, spread lightly with butter and serve.

CRUSHED TOAST

Take fresh, but thoroughly toasted bread or crackers, or some of each, grind closely in a coffee or hand mill, or crush with a rolling-pin, and serve in small dishes with milk, cream, or fruit juice. This may be served as a substitute for the health food known as granola. Crushed toast is also a very serviceable article for use in soups and puddings.

TOMATO TOAST

Moisten slices of zwieback in hot milk, and serve with a dressing prepared by heating a pint of strained, stewed tomatoes to boiling, and thickening with a tablespoonful of flour or cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Season with salt and a little cream or butter, and pour over the toast.

BEAN PASTE

Soak one cupful of white beans overnight in cold water; put to cook in the morning in boiling water, and cook to a pulp, and till the water is quite absorbed. Rub through a colander, then add a tablespoonful of finely minced onion, one teaspoonful of powdered sage, one saltspoonful of celery salt, the juice of one lemon, two or three spoonfuls of tomato juice, if at hand, and salt to taste. Simmer together for a short time, then use cold to spread on toast or bread as a relish, or in the place of butter, or for making sandwiches.

VARIETY.—Remember, as Home Note says, that “variety of diet is important. Ill health often follows a monotonous sameness of diet. Oatmeal, bread and butter, and marmalade, are all excellent breakfast dishes of their kind, but when given every morning, for years at a time, they become positively nauseating.”

BREADS

A VOICE FROM THE CORN

“I was made to be eaten, not to be drank, To be thrashed in a barn, not soaked in a tank; I come as a blessing when put in a mill, As a blight and a curse when run through a still; Make me up into loaves, and your children are fed; But made into drink, I will starve them instead. In bread I’m a servant, the eater shall rule, In drink I’m a master, the drinker a fool. Then remember my warning; my strength I’ll employ,— If eaten, to strengthen, if drunk, to destroy.”

The wandering Arab lives almost entirely upon bread, with a few dates as a relish.

Behind the nutty loaf is the mill wheel; behind the mill is the wheat field; on the wheat field rests the sunlight; above the sun is God.—_James Russell Lowell._

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Bread stands at the head of all foods. It has very properly been termed “the staff of life.”

Why this is so is because wheat, from which bread is mostly made, contains more nearly than any other one article, all the necessary food elements required to sustain the human system, and these, too, in proper proportions, and so forms most nearly a perfect food. From it the brain, bones, muscles, and nerves, all receive a large amount of nourishment.

This being so, bread should enter largely into the daily bill of fare of every family. It is hardly too much to say that no meal is complete without it.

Where little bread is used, serious defects may frequently be observed. For instance, in some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, where no wheat has been grown, and little could be obtained, the inhabitants almost universally have poor teeth. The early decay of the teeth so prevalent among the rising generation to-day, may generally be attributed to four causes: (1) A lack of sufficient lime in the water; (2) too free indulgence in sweets, such as rich cakes, jams, and candies; (3) too large an amount of flesh foods; and (4) an insufficient supply of good, simple, wholesome bread, especially whole wheat bread.

Home-made bread, when properly prepared, is generally to be preferred to bakers’ bread. Chemicals and adulterations, as well as a lack of cleanliness and proper care in preparation, not infrequently characterize the latter, and thus give rise to serious stomach disorders. Moreover, bakers’ bread is not always obtainable, and is always necessarily more expensive than that which is home-made. The baker can not afford to work for nothing. For these reasons, every woman, and especially every wife and mother, ought to know how to make good bread. The temptation to patronize the bake shop should not outweigh the interests of the health of the family, and the duty to practise economy.

The essentials to good bread-making are three:—

1. Good flour. 2. Good yeast. 3. Proper attention.

When either of these is lacking, good results can not be obtained. Poor flour will not produce good bread; good flour and poor yeast will not make good bread; and good flour and good yeast with improper attention will not insure good bread. All three are essential.

The first thing to consider in the making of bread is the flour. Good flour will generally be found to have a creamy white tint. That which is of a bluish white is seldom the best. Good flour will fall light and elastic from the hand. Flour that retains the imprint of the fingers when squeezed, and falls in a damp, clammy mass, should be avoided.

The second essential is good yeast. One may have ever so good flour and yet make poor bread, if the flour is used in conjunction with poor yeast. Good yeast has a fresh, pungent odor, and is light and foamy; while poor yeast has a sour odor, and a dull, watery appearance.

The third essential is proper attention. In winter, bread sponge should be made at night if it is desired to have the bread baked in the early part of the day. The flour used in making the sponge should first be warmed, and the sponge covered with several thicknesses of cloth, and set in a warm place till morning.

In hot weather set the sponge early in the morning, and the bread can be baked by noon. Both the sponge and dough are best kept in an earthen crock or jar, as they are less quickly affected by drafts of air.

As soon as the sponge has risen to be light and puffy, it should receive attention immediately, if desired to have the bread white and sweet. If allowed to reach the point of running over, or falling in the center, it has stood too long. For this reason sponge set at night should be mixed late in the evening, and attended to as early in the morning as possible.

In using very active yeast, it will not be necessary to set a sponge. Mix the ingredients into a good bread dough at the first mixing, beating the batter well while stirring in the flour. The more thoroughly the batter is beaten, the less kneading the dough will require. Set the bread in this way in the morning, and it can be baked by noon.

A few mealy potatoes, cooked and mashed, added to the sponge, makes the bread sweeter and keeps it fresh longer. Milk used in connection with yeast should first be scalded and cooled to lukewarm.

Too much flour should not be used in mixing, as it will make the bread hard and tough; but enough should be used to make the dough firm and elastic. Turn the dough out on the molding-board and knead it, not with the tips of the fingers, but with the whole hands, from the sides into the center, turning frequently, that all portions may be thoroughly worked. When the dough is smooth and elastic, with no dry flour left on its surface, form into a smooth ball, and place back in the crock, which should be washed clean, dried and oiled, to prevent the dough from sticking. Observe how full it makes the crock; cover up warmly, and when it has doubled its bulk, form gently into loaves, handling the dough as little as possible, and place in the pans for the last rising. When the loaves are risen to twice their size, place in a moderately hot oven to bake. The oven should be hot when the bread is put in. By no means have the bread, when ready to bake, wait for the oven to be heated, as it may then become too light, run over in the oven, and possibly be sour.

When nearly ready to bake, test the oven by putting in it a piece of writing-paper; if it turns dark brown in six minutes, the oven is of about the proper heat. If bread bakes too fast, a crust is formed on the outside of the loaf which prevents the inside from becoming hot enough to dry thoroughly, and the result is that the inside of the loaf is too moist, while the outside is baked hard. Bread should not brown much under fifteen or twenty minutes after being placed in the oven. If it rises much after being put in the oven, the heat is not sufficient. Bread should be turned around in the oven if it does not rise or brown evenly.

Medium-sized loaves should be baked from fifty to sixty minutes; small French loaves about thirty-five minutes. Bread is done when it shrinks from the pan, and can be handled without burning the fingers.

When taken from the oven, the loaves should be turned out of the pans, placed on their sides, so that the crust will not soften by the steam, and covered with a thin cloth. When cold, keep in a covered stone jar or a tin box, which should be kept free from crumbs and musty pieces of bread, and scalded and dried thoroughly every few days.

As to their healthfulness, the most wholesome breads are unleavened breads, or those made without either yeast, baking-powder, soda, or cream of tartar, such as gems, rolls, and crackers. Next come those made with good yeast; then those with baking-powder, if comparatively pure; and lastly those made with soda and sour milk, or soda and cream of tartar. Baking-powder is preferable to soda. The latter should seldom if ever be used, as it is injurious to the health, being an active dyspepsia-producing article.

WHITE BREAD

Scald a quart of new or unskimmed milk, let cool to lukewarm, then stir in a dissolved yeast cake, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and enough sifted flour to make a thin batter. Cover, and set aside till light, then work in flour until a dough of the proper consistency for bread is formed. Knead until it is smooth and elastic, and does not stick to the hands or board. Place in a clean, oiled crock, and when light, form into four loaves; let rise again and bake. Equal parts of milk and water may be used if desired.

MOTHER’S BREAD

In the evening boil three small potatoes, or save them out when cooking, and mash them with a fork in a gallon crock. Put in about three cupfuls of flour, two tablespoonfuls each of salt and sugar, then pour in enough boiling water to make a good batter. Beat until smooth. Soak one cake of compressed yeast or yeast foam in one-half cup of lukewarm water, and when the batter is just warm stir in the yeast and beat until quite foamy. Set in a warm place overnight. The first thing in the morning dip about two quarts of flour in a pan, make a cavity in the center, and pour in the sponge and about a pint of warm water. Stir all together into a thin batter, and set in a warm place till after breakfast; then knead until it does not stick to the board, put it in a three-gallon crock, well oiled to prevent the dough from sticking; cover with a tin lid to keep a crust from forming over the top, then with several thicknesses of cloth, and set in a warm place until it rises up full. Then mold into loaves, place in pans, let rise again, and bake in a moderate oven for about an hour, or until the loaves shrink from the sides of the pans and do not burn the fingers when removing from the pans. Turn the bread out of the pans, and cover with a thin cloth. This will make six loaves. If the loaves are brushed over with cold water just before being placed in the oven the crust will be more crisp.

GRAHAM BREAD, NO. 1