Part 34
This way of preserving yeast is very convenient for keeping through the summer; or for conveying to a distance.
EXCELLENT HOME-MADE YEAST.--Yeast should always be kept in a glass bottle or a stone jug, and never in earthen or metal. Before you make fresh yeast, empty entirely the vessel that has contained the last; and if of stone, scald it twice with boiling water, in which it will be well to mix a little clear lye. Then rinse it with cold water, till perfectly clean. If you have not used lye in scalding it, dissolve some potash or pearlash in the rinsing-water, to remove any acidity that may linger about the vessel, and may therefore spoil the new yeast. If you keep your yeast in glass bottles, the water must be warm, but not hot; as scalding water may crack them: also melt some potash or pearlash in this water. The vessel for keeping it being purified, proceed to make your yeast. Have ready, in a kettle over the fire, two quarts of boiling water; put into it a very large handful of hops, (as fine and fresh as possible,) and let the water boil again with the hops in it, for twenty minutes or more. Sift into a pan three pints of wheat flour. Strain the liquor from the hops into a large bowl, and pour half of it hot over the flour. Stir it well, and press out all the lumps till it is quite smooth. Let the other half of the liquid stand till it is cool, and then pour it gradually to the rest; mixing it well, by stirring as you proceed. Then take half a pint of good strong yeast--brewers’ or bakers’ yeast, if you can get it fresh; if not, you must use some that has been left from your last making, provided it is not the least sour; stir this yeast into the mixture of hop-water and flour; put it immediately into your jug or bottles, and cork it loosely till the fermentation is over, (which should be in an hour,) and it will then be fit for use. Afterwards cork it tightly. It will keep better if you put a raisin or two into the bottom of each bottle, before you pour in the fresh yeast. Into a stone jug put half a dozen raisins.
All yeast is better and more powerful for being fresh. It is better to make it frequently, (the trouble being little,) than to risk its becoming sour by endeavouring to keep it too long. When sour, it becomes weak and watery, and tastes and smells disagreeably, and will never make light bread; besides being very unwholesome. The acidity may be somewhat corrected by stirring in some dissolved pearlash, sal-eratus, or soda, immediately before the yeast is used; but it is better to have it good and fresh, without the necessity of any corrective. Yeast should always be kept in a cool place.
Those who live in towns where there are breweries have no occasion to make their own yeast during the brewing season; and in summer they can every day supply themselves with fresh yeast from the baker’s. It is only in country places where there are neither brewers nor bakers that it is expedient to make it at home. For home-made yeast, we know the above receipt to be excellent.
Sweet cakes, buns, rusks, &c., require stronger and fresher yeast than bread; the sugar will otherwise retard their rising.
INDIAN BREAD, OR PONE.--Four quarts of Indian meal sifted.--A large half pint of wheat flour.--A heaping table-spoonful of salt.--Half a pint of strong-fresh yeast.--A quart of warm water.--Sift into a large deep pan, the Indian meal and the wheat flour; mixing them well. Make a hole in the centre. The water must be warm, but not hot. Mix it with the yeast, and pour them into the hole in the midst of the meal. Take a spoon, and with it mix into the liquid enough of the surrounding meal to make a thin batter, which you must stir till it is quite smooth, and free from lumps. Then strew a handful of wheat flour over the surface, scattering it thinly, so as to cover the whole. Warm a clean cloth, and lay it folded over the top of the pan. Then set it in a warm place to rise, nearer the fire in winter than in summer. When it is quite light; and has risen so that the flour on the surface is cracked, strew on the salt, and begin to form the whole mass into a dough; commencing round the hole that contains the batter, and adding, gradually, sufficient lukewarm water (which you must have ready for the purpose) to mix it of the proper consistence. When the whole is completely mixed, and the batter in the centre is thoroughly incorporated with the dough, knead it hard for at least half an hour. Then, having formed the dough into a round lump in the middle of the pan, strew a little more flour thinly over it. Cover it, and set it again in a warm place for half an hour. Then flour your paste-board, divide the dough equally, and make it into two loaves. Have the oven ready. Put in the loaves directly, and bake them about two hours or more. Indian meal requires always more baking than wheat. When you take them out, it is well to wrap each loaf in a clean, coarse towel, previously sprinkled with cold water; and rolled up damp till the bread is baked. Having thus wrapped up the loaves, stand them on end to cool slowly. The damp cloths will prevent the crust from hardening too much while the loaves are cooling.
All Indian bread, and every sort of Indian cake is best when quite fresh.
Excellent bread may be made of equal proportions of wheat, rye flour, and Indian; or of three parts wheat and one part Indian. All bread should be kept closely secluded from the air, wrapped in cloths, and put away in boxes or baskets with tightly-fitting lids.
Should you find the dough sour, (either from the heat of the weather, or from standing too long,) you may recover it, by dissolving in a little lukewarm water, a tea-spoonful of pearlash, sal-eratus, or soda. Sprinkle this water all over the dough. Then knead it in, so that it may be dispersed throughout. Then put it into the oven as soon as possible; first tasting the dough, to discover if the sourness is entirely removed. If not, mix in a little more pearlash, and then taste it again. Take care not to put too much of any of these alkaline substances, lest they communicate a disagreeable, soapy taste to the bread.
When you buy corn meal, it will keep better if the whole is sifted as soon as you get it. Avoid buying much at a time, unless you can keep it in a very cool place. When sour it is unfit to eat.
INDIAN RYE BREAD.--Two quarts of Indian meal. Two quarts of rye meal.--Three pints of milk or water. Two teaspoonfuls of salt.--Half a pint of strong fresh yeast. Having sifted the rye and Indian meal into a large pan, mix them well together, adding the salt. Boil the milk or water in a sauce-pan, and when scalding hot pour it on the meal, and stir the whole very hard. If too stiff, add a little more warm water. Let it stand till it becomes only of a lukewarm heat, and then stir in the yeast. Knead the mixture into a stiff dough, and knead it long and hard for at least half an hour. Then cover the pan with a thick cloth that has been previously warmed, and set it near the fire to rise. When the dough is quite light, and cracked all over the top, take it out of the pan; divide the mass in half; make it into two loaves; knead each loaf well for ten minutes or more; and then cover and set them again near the fire, for about half an hour. By this time have the oven ready, put in the loaves directly, and bake them at least an hour and a half. This bread is considered very wholesome.
Should you find the dough sour, you may rectify it by kneading in a tea-spoonful of soda or pearlash, dissolved in a little warm water.
INDIAN WHEAT BREAD.--This is made in the above manner, substituting wheat for rye flour.
In any sort of home-made bread (either white or brown) a handful or more of Indian meal will be found an improvement, rendering it moist and sweet.
BOSTON RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.--Two quarts of Indian meal.--Two quarts of rye meal.--Half a pint of strong fresh yeast.--Half a pint of West India molasses.--A small table-spoonful of salt. Sift the rye and Indian meal into a large pan or wooden bowl; and mix them, well together, adding the salt. Have ready half a pint of water, warm but not hot. Mix with it the molasses, and then stir into it the yeast. Make a hole in the middle of the pan of meal; pour in the liquid; and then with a spoon work into it a portion of the flour that surrounds the hole, till the liquid in the centre becomes a thick batter. Sprinkle the top with rye meal; lay a thick cloth over the pan; and set it in a warm place to rise. In three or four hours it should be light enough to appear cracked all over the surface. Then pour into the middle (by degrees) about a pint of warm water, (it must not be hot,) and as you pour, mix it well all through the dough, till the whole becomes a round mass. Sprinkle some rye flour on the dough, and having floured your hands, knead it long and hard, (at least half an hour, and after it ceases to stick to your hands,) turning it over as you proceed. Then sprinkle the dough again with flour, cover it, and again set it in a warm place to rise. Have the oven ready, and of the proper heat, so that the bread may be put in as soon as it has completely risen the second time. When perfectly light, the dough will stand high, and the surface will be cracked all over. This quantity will be sufficient for a common-sized loaf. Set it directly into the oven, and bake it about two hours. When bread has done rising, it will fall again if not put into the oven. As soon as it is done, wrap it immediately in a clean coarse towel wrung out of cold water, and stand it up on end till it is cool.
This is a palatable, cheap, and wholesome bread.
It may be mixed thinner, with a larger portion of water, and baked in a deep tin or iron pan.
If the dough should have stood so long as to become sour (which it will, if mixed over night) restore it by kneading in a small tea-spoonful of pearlash or sal-eratus melted in a little warm water.
EGG PONE.--Three eggs.--A quart of Indian meal.--A large table-spoonful of fresh butter.--A small tea-spoonful of salt.--A half-pint (or more) of milk. Beat the eggs very light, and mix them with the milk. Then stir in, gradually, the Indian meal; adding the salt and butter. It must not be a batter, but a soft dough, just thick enough to be stirred well with a spoon. If too thin, add more Indian meal; if too stiff, thin it with a little more milk. Beat or stir it _long and hard_. Butter a tin or iron pan. Put the mixture into it; and set the pan immediately into an oven, which must be moderately hot at first, and the heat increased afterward. A Dutch oven is best for this purpose. It should bake an hour and a half or two hours, in proportion to its thickness. Send it to table hot, and cut into slices. Eat it with butter, or molasses.
INDIAN MUSH.--Have ready on a clear fire, a pot of boiling water. Stir into it, by degrees, (a handful at a time,) sufficient Indian meal to make a very thick porridge, and then add a very small portion of salt, allowing not more than a level tea-spoonful to a quart of meal. You must keep the pot boiling all the time you are stirring in the meal; and between every handful stir hard with the mush-stick, (a round stick about half a yard long, flattened at the lower end,) as, if not well stirred, the mush will be lumpy. After it is sufficiently thick and smooth, keep it boiling an hour longer, stirring it occasionally. Then cover the pot closely, and hang it higher up the chimney, or set it on hot coals on the hearth, so as to simmer it slowly for another hour. The goodness and wholesomeness of mush depends greatly on its being long and thoroughly boiled. It should also be made very thick. If well made, and well cooked, it is wholesome and nutritious; but the contrary, if thin, and not sufficiently boiled. It is not too long to have it three or four hours over the fire, first boiling, and then simmering. On the contrary it will be better for it. The coarser the corn meal the less cooking it requires. Send it to table hot, and in a deep dish. Eat it with sweet milk, buttermilk, or cream; or with butter and sugar, or with butter and molasses; making a hole in the middle of your plate of mush; putting some butter into the hole, and then adding the sugar or molasses.
Cold mush that has been left, may be cut into slices, or mouthfuls, and fried next day, in butter, or in nice drippings of veal, beef, or pork; but not mutton or lamb.
INDIAN HASTY PUDDING.--Put two quarts of milk into a clean pot or sauce-pan. Set it over the fire, adding a level tea-spoonful of salt, and, when it comes to a boil, stir in a lump of fresh butter about the size of a goose-egg. Then add (a handful at a time) sufficient Indian meal to make it very thick, stirring it all the while with a mush-stick. Keep it boiling well, and continue to throw in Indian meal till it is so thick that the stick stands upright in it. Then send it to table hot, and eat it with milk, cream, or molasses and butter. What is left may be cut into slices, and fried next day, or boiled in a bag.
INDIAN MEAL GRUEL.--This is an excellent food for the sick. Having sifted some Indian meal, mix in a quart bowl three table-spoonfuls of the meal with six of cold water. Stir it smooth, and press out the lumps against the side of the bowl. Have ready a very clean sauce-pan, entirely free from grease, with a pint of boiling water. Pour this, scalding hot, on the mixture in the bowl, a little at a time, and stir it well, adding a pinch of salt. Then put the whole back into the sauce-pan. Set it on hot coals, and stir it till it boils, making the spoon go down to the bottom, to prevent the gruel from burning. After it has come to a boil, let it continue boiling half an hour, stirring it frequently, and skimming it. Give it to the invalid warm, in a bowl or tumbler, to be eaten with a teaspoon. It may be sweetened with a little sugar. When the physician permits, some grated nutmeg may be added; also a very little wine.
RYE MUSH.--To make smooth rye mush, sift a quart or more of rye meal into a pan, and gradually pour in sufficient cold water to make a very thick batter, stirring it hard with a spoon as you proceed, and carefully pressing out all the lumps against the side of the pan. Add a very little salt. The batter must be so thick at the last that you can scarcely stir it. Then thin it with a little more water, and see that it is quite smooth. Rye, and also wheat flour, have a disposition to be more lumpy than corn meal, when made into mush. When thoroughly mixed and stirred, put it into a pot, place it over the fire, and boil it well, stirring it with a mush-stick till it comes to a hard boil; then place it in a diminished heat, and simmer it slowly till you want to dish it up. Eat it warm, with butter and molasses, or with sweet milk, or fresh buttermilk. Rye mush is considered very wholesome, particularly in cases of dyspepsia.
COMMON HOE-CAKE.--Take an earthen or tin pan, and half fill it with coarse Indian meal, which had best be sifted in. Add a little salt. Have ready a kettle of boiling water. Pour into the Indian meal sufficient hot water (a little at a time) to make a stiff dough, stirring it with a spoon as you proceed. It must be thoroughly mixed, and stirred hard. If you want the cakes for breakfast, mix this dough over night; cover the pan, and set it in a _cool_ place till morning. If kept warm, it may turn sour. Early next morning, as soon as the fire is burning well, set the griddle over it, and take out the dough, a handful at a time. Flatten and shape it by patting it with your hands, till you form it into cakes about the size of a common saucer, and half an inch thick. When the griddle is quite hot, lay on it as many cakes as it will hold, and bake them brown. When the upper side is done, slip a bread knife beneath, and turn them over. They must be baked brown on both sides. Eat them warm, with buttermilk, sweet milk, butter, molasses, or whatever is most convenient. If you intend these cakes for dinner or supper, mix them as early in the day as you can, and (covering the pan) let them stand in a cool place till wanted for baking. In cold weather you may save trouble by mixing over night enough to last the next day for breakfast, dinner, and supper; baking them as they are wanted for each meal. Or they may be all baked in the morning, and eaten cold; but they are then not so palatable as when warm. They will be less liable to stick, if before each baking the griddle is dredged with wheat flour, or greased with a bit of fat pork stuck on a fork. You may cover it all over with one large cake, instead of several small ones.
In America there is seldom a house without a griddle. Still, where griddles are not, these cakes may be baked on a board standing nearly upright before the fire, and supported by a smoothing-iron or a stone placed against the back. Where wood fires are used, a good way of baking these cakes is to clear a clean place in the hottest part of the hearth, and, having wrapped the cake in paper, lay it down there, and cover it up with hot red ashes. It will bake very well, (replenishing the heat by throwing on from time to time a fresh supply of hot ashes,) and when taken out of the paper they will be found sweet and good. The early settlers of our country frequently baked their Indian cakes under the ashes of their wood fires; and the custom is still continued by those who cannot yet obtain the means of cooking them more conveniently.
This cake is so called, because in some parts of America it was customary to bake it on the iron of a hoe, stood up before the fire. It is better known by that name than by any other.
COMMON GRIDDLE CAKE.--A quart of Indian meal.--Sufficient warm water to make a soft dough.--A small tea-spoonful of salt.--Put the Indian meal into a pan, and add the salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and pour in a little warm water. Then mix it with a large, strong spoon, adding, by degrees, water enough to make a soft dough. Flour your hands, and knead it into a large lump--divide it into two equal portions. Flour your paste-board, lay on it the first lump of dough, and roll it out about an inch thick. Then, (having already heated your griddle,) lay the cake upon it, spreading it evenly, and make it a good round shape. It should cover the whole surface of the griddle, which must first be greased, either with butter or lard tied in a rag, or with a bit of fat fresh pork. Butter it well; and when one side is well browned, turn it on the other, taking care not to break it. Send it to table hot, cut into three-cornered pieces--split and butter them. As soon as the first cake is sent in, put the other to bake.
This is one of the plainest and simplest preparations of Indian cake, and is very good when warm.
PLAIN JOHNNY CAKE.--A quart of Indian meal.--A pint of warm water.--A level tea-spoonful of salt.--Sift a quart of Indian meal into a pan. Make a hole in the middle, and pour in a pint of warm water, adding the salt. With a spoon mix the meal and water gradually into a soft dough. Stir it very hard for a quarter of an hour or more, till it becomes light and spongy. Then spread the dough; smooth and evenly, on a stout, flat board. A piece of the head of a flour barrel will serve for this purpose. Place the board nearly (but not quite) upright, and set a smoothing-iron or a stone against the back to support it. Bake it well. When done, cut it into squares, and send it hot to table, split and buttered. You may eat molasses with it.
NICE JOHNNY CAKE.--A quart of sifted Indian meal.--A small teacup of molasses, (West India is best.)--Two large table-spoonfuls of fresh butter.--A tea-spoonful of ground ginger.--Some boiling water. Having sifted the meal into a pan, rub the butter into it; add the molasses and ginger, and pour on, by degrees, sufficient boiling water to make a moderately soft dough. It must be stirred very hard. Then grease with fresh butter a board of sufficient size, spread the dough thickly upon it, and stand it nearly upright to bake before the fire, placing a flat-iron against the back of the board. The cake must be very well baked, taking care that the surface does not burn, while the inside is soft and raw. Cut it into squares when done, and send them hot to table, split and buttered.
The johnny-cake board had best be placed so as _slightly_ to slant backwards; otherwise the upper part of the cake, being opposite to the hottest part of the fire, may bake too fast for the lower part.
VERY PLAIN INDIAN DUMPLINGS.--Sift some Indian meal into a pan; add about a salt-spoon of salt to each quart of meal; and scald it with sufficient boiling water to make a stiff dough. Pour in the water gradually; stirring as you pour. When the dough becomes a stiff lump, divide it into equal portions; flour your hands, and make it into thick, flat dumplings about as large round as the top of a glass tumbler, or a breakfast cup. Dredge the dumplings on all sides with flour, put them into a pot of boiling water (if made sufficiently stiff they need not be tied in cloths,) and keep them boiling hard till thoroughly done. Try them with a fork, which must come out quite clean, and with no clamminess sticking to it. They are an excellent appendage to salt pork or bacon, serving them up with the meat; or they may be eaten afterwards with butter and molasses, or with milk sweetened well with brown sugar, and flavoured with a little ground spice.
VERY PLAIN INDIAN BATTER CAKES.--A quart of warm water, or of skim milk.--A quart of Indian meal and half a pint of wheat flour, sifted.--A level tea-spoonful of salt. Pour the water into a pan; add the salt; and having mixed together the wheat and Indian meal, stir them gradually into the water, a handful at a time. It should be about the consistence of buckwheat cake or muffin batter. Beat it long and hard. If you find it too thick, add a little more water. Have ready a hot griddle, grease it, and bake the cakes on it. They should not be larger than the top of a tumbler, or a small saucer. Send them to table hot, in even piles, and eat them with butter or molasses.
These are the plainest sort of Indian batter cakes; but if well beaten and properly baked, they will be found very good, as well as economical. It is an improvement to mix them with milk instead of water.
INDIAN MUFFINS.--A pint and a half of yellow Indian meal, sifted.--A handful of wheat flour.--A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.--A quart of milk.--Four eggs.--A very small tea-spoonful of salt. Put the milk into a saucepan. Cut the butter into it. Set it over the fire and warm it till the butter is very soft, but not till it melts. Then take it off, stir it well, till all mixed, and set it away to cool. Beat four eggs very light; and when the milk is cold, stir them into it, alternately with the meal, a little at a time, of each. Add the salt. Beat the whole very hard after it is all mixed. Then butter some muffin-rings on the inside. Set them in a hot oven, or on a heated griddle; pour some of the batter into each; and bake the muffins well. Send them hot to table, continuing to bake while a fresh supply is wanted. Pull them open with your fingers, and eat them with butter, to which you may add molasses or honey. These muffins will be found excellent, and can be prepared in a very short time; for instance, in three quarters or half an hour before breakfast or tea.
This mixture may be baked in waffle-irons, as waffles. Butter them, and have on the table a glass bowl with powdered sugar and powdered cinnamon, to eat with these waffles.