The Skilful Cook Part 81

The meat is then served with the carrots, turnips, and parsnips, as a garnish, and a little of the liquor poured round for gravy.

The cabbage is served in a vegetable dish.

To make the soup, put two quarts of the liquor into a saucepan. When it boils sprinkle in the sago, or tapioca, and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dr. Kitchener's Broth.

_Ingredients_--4 oz. of Scotch barley.

4 oz. of sliced onions.

2 oz. of dripping.

3 oz. bacon.

4 oz. oatmeal.

5 quarts of the liquor from meat.

_Method._--Wash the barley, and soak it in water for two hours.

Put the meat liquor on to boil.

When boiling, add the barley and the onions.

Let it boil gently for an hour and a half.

Then put the dripping into another saucepan, and fry the bacon in it.

Then add, by degrees, the oatmeal; stir until it forms a paste.

Then pour in the broth.

Season with pepper and salt to taste, and set it by the side of the fire to simmer for thirty minutes; the soup is then ready.

Crowdie.

_Ingredients_--1 gallon of liquor from meat.

pint of oatmeal.

1 onion.

Pepper and salt.

_Method._--Put the liquor into a saucepan on the fire.

Mix the oatmeal to a paste with cold water.

Pour it into the liquor when boiling.

Stir until it thickens.

Add the onion, finely-chopped, and pepper and salt to taste.

Boil gently, stirring occasionally, for half an hour.

BREAD AND CAKES.

In making bread be careful that the yeast is good; otherwise the bread may be heavy. The German and French yeast will do quite as well as the brewers', and are generally more easily procured. The French yeast is the closest and strongest, but, though less is required, bread made with it will take longer to rise than that made with German. The yeast may be tested by mixing it with a little sugar; if it is good, it has the power of dissolving the sugar to a syrup. Everything made with yeast should be allowed a proper time to rise. A quartern loaf will generally be ready to make up in about two hours after the dough is set, but the time of rising will vary according to circ.u.mstances--for example, in cold weather it may not rise so quickly as in hot. For making bread, warm the pan or tub the dough is to be mixed in, but do not make it hot. Take care that the flour is dry, and free from lumps. The water used must be warmed, but care must be taken that it is neither too hot nor too cold.

A certain amount of warmth is necessary for the growth of the yeast, but too great heat kills it. The water, therefore, should be lukewarm. When the dough is mixed, sprinkle the top with a little flour to prevent a crust forming; the pan should then be covered with a cloth and placed on a chair in a warm place, free from draught. It may be placed with advantage before the oven or boiler, but should not be put directly in front of a fire. When the dough is exposed to too great a heat it gets moist and sticky, is very difficult to make up, and is heavy when baked.

When the dough has risen sufficiently, it should be well kneaded, and then made up into loaves. These loaves are then set on floured tins to rise in a warm place for about twenty minutes before they are baked. The oven should be very hot for the first twenty minutes, and then very much moderated: a sharp heat is necessary at first to throw up the bread; but the rest of the time the heat applied should be moderate. The same heat is required in baking cakes: a sharp heat at first, to throw them up, and moderate afterwards, so that they may get cooked through without the crust burning. The sugar in cakes causes them to burn very quickly. It is, therefore, a wise precaution to line the tin, even for a plain cake, with foolscap paper.

Currants used in cakes should be well washed and dried before they are used, and any stones removed from them. Sultanas should be rubbed in flour, and the stalks picked off. Raisins should be stoned, and cut in two or three pieces.

To cream b.u.t.ter is to work it about in a basin with the hand, or wooden spoon, until it is the consistency of cream.

The cake tins should be kept in a dry place, and before using should be well greased, especially at the bottom.

A Quartern Loaf.

_Ingredients_--3 lb. of flour.

1 pint of water.

oz. of salt.

1 oz. of German yeast.

_Method._--Put 3 lb. of flour into the pan.

Make the water lukewarm, and mix it with the yeast.

Make a hole in the middle of the flour, and mix in the water smoothly and gradually.

Knead lightly for a minute or two.

Sprinkle with a little flour, and set to rise in a warm place for about two hours.

Then knead well for about a quarter of an hour, working in the remainder of the flour.

Make it into a loaf, and put it in or on a floured tin.

Set it to rise for about twenty minutes, and then bake.

The oven must be very hot for the first few minutes, and then the heat must be _much_ lowered, that the bread may get well cooked through.

Vienna Bread.

_Ingredients_--2 lb. of Vienna flour.

2 oz. of b.u.t.ter.