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http://www.archive.org/stream/hygieniccookbook00joneiala/hygieniccookbook00joneiala_djvu.txt

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Having demonstrated the effects of bad material and management
of it,, we will consider what are the best materials and the best meth-
ods of preparing and cooking them.

Bread, to be the most wholesome and palatable, should contain but
two ingredients unbolted flour from the best quality of wheat or other
grain, and pure water. The following, so far as I know, are the
preferable methods of making it, arranged in the order of their re-
spective merits :

UNLEAVENED BREAD.

No. 1. GEMS. Into cold water stir Graham flour sufficient to make
a batter a trifle thicker than that used for ordinary griddle cakes. Bako
from one-half to three-quarters of an hour in a hot oven in small tip
patty- pans two inches square and three-fourths of an inch deep

BREAD AND BREAD-MAKING.

NOTE. This makes delicious bread. No definite rule as to the proportions of flour
and water can be given, owing to the difference in the absorbing properties of various
brands of flour. Of some kinds, the batter will require to be made considerably stiffer
than the consistency above mentioned. A little experience -will enable any person tc
approximate thfi right proportions with sufficient exactness. The flour should be stirred
into the water very slowly in the same manner as in making mush. No more stirring
is necessary after the flour is all added. If hard water is used in making them, they
are apt to be slightly tough. A small quantity of milk will remedy this defect.

Many persons have failed of sucess in making this bread from neg-
lecting one very essential requisite the size of the pans in which it
is baked. If they are larger than the dimensions given, the bread will
be heavy ; if smaller it will be dry and hard. But made this size,
and filled full, if the flour be properly ground, the batter the right con-
sistency, and the oven hot, (a hot oven being absolutely indispensable
to success,) it will rise one half, and be almost as light and porous as
sponge cake.

E. “We used separate pans for some time, but found them quite inconvenient.
We have them now formed and wired together as represented in the above cut, and
find them a very great improvement. If iron pans are used they must be heated hot
each time before filling.

Any tinman can make them, or with less trouble and no more expense, they may be
procured of MILLEK & WOOD, No. 15 Laight St., N. Y., who to supply the continued
demand for them, have had heavy iron moulds cast to form them, and can supply them
ftt the rate of $1.25 per square of a dozen tins.

No. 2. DIAMONDS. Pour boiling water on Graham flour stirring
rapidly till all the Hour is wet Too much stirring makes it tough.
It should be about as thick as can be stirred easily with a strong iron
spoon. Place the dough with plenty of flour upon the moulding
board, and knead it for two or three minutes. Roll out one half an
inch thick, and cut in small cakes or rolls. If a large quantity is re-
quired, roll about three-fourths of an inch thick, and cut with a knife
in diamond shape. Bake in a very hot oven forty-five minutes.

NOTE. The names by which these two kinds of bread are known in our Institution
are merely arbitrary. Years ago the guests of the house christened No. 2 “diamonds,”
from their shape. No.- 1 being of quite recent introduction, and, as many think, much
superior, some facetious patient, on their first appearance, sutrarested “ perns’” as an ap-
propriate name, and, accordingly, “gems” went the round of the tables till the soubri-
quet became firmly attached to them.

No. 3. GRAHAM BISCUIT. Make Graham mush as for table.
When cool, mix with it Graham flour sufficient to roll well. Knead
for a few minutes, roll three-fourths of an inch thick, cut with a com-
mon biscuit cutter, and bake in a hot oven from thirty to forty-five
minutes.

No. 4. GRAHAM BISCUIT. (ANOTHER FORM.) Stir into cold water,
Graham flour enough for a rather soft dough ; knead it for five or ten
minutes, and bake the same as No. 3.

NOTE. “When these have become a little dry or hard, cut in small pieces, cover with
sold water, soak till thoroughly soft, when the water should oe all absorbed. Strain
through a collander, mix Graham flour sufficient to roll, and bake in the same form ai
t first. This id even superior to the original bread.

BREAD AND BHEAD-MAK.INO. 9

No. 5. WHEAT MEAL CRISPS. Make a very stiff dough of Gra-
ham flour aM cold water : knead thoroughly, roll as thin as possible
and bake for \wenty minutes in a hot oven.

No. 6. GRAHAM CRACKEUS are made by mixing cold water and
Graham flour together, and kneading very thoroughly. They can
only be well made by the machinery used in cracker bakeries.

EYE AND OAT-MEAL BEEAD.

Unbolted rye or oatmeal, prepared after recipe No. 4, makes excel-
lent and wholesome bread for those who like the peculiar flavor On
these grains.

COEN CAKE.

Pour 1 quart boiling water on 1 quart corn meal, and stir quickly.
Wet the hands and form the dough into small round cakes one-halt
an inch thick. The addition of a few raspberries, huckleberries, or
any subacid fruit, is a decided improvement. Sweet apples, chopped
fine, are also excellent.

COEN MEAL GEMS.

Stir slowly into one quart sweet milk, corn meal sufficient to make
t very thin batter. Bake in a hot oven in the gem tins.
1*

MUSHES AND PORRIDGES,

l)r, TRALL in his excellent “Hydropathic Cook Book,” says :

“For making unleavened bread, mushes, etc., the grain should be
carefully cleaned washed, if necessary and care should be taken to
select that which is full and plump. When ground at an ordinary
flouring mill, the stones should be sharp, so as to cut the grain into
very fine particles. If ground by dull stones, the bran will be mashed
off in flakes or scales. The meal or flour should be fresh ground,
and never kept a long time, as it deteriorates surely, though slowly,
every day after being ground.”

Under the head of Mushes and Porridges, he has given a variety of
Tery excellent recipes. I cannot do better than copy the chapter
‘entire :

” The reader will observe that salt is not mentioned as an ingredi-
ent in this book. But as almost all persons are accustomed to the
use of this seasoning, I can only say to them, if they cannot bring
their appetite at once into subjection to unsalted aliment, they had
better use a moderate quantity, and gradually diminish it.

In all the cook books I am acquainted with, salt is put down as a
fixture of every dish ; and mushes, especially Indian and rice, are
usually considered as unendurably flat and insipid, unless abundantly
salted. A little experience with unsalted food, and a little self-denial,
will, however, enable all persons to relish not only mushe?, but all
other farinaceous preparations, with no other seasonings than sugar or
milk.”

“CRACKED WHEAT MUSH. As the grits swell very much in boiling,
they should be stirred gradually in boiling water until a thin rnush is
formed. The boiling should then be continued very moderately for
one or two hours.

If the grits are ground very coarse, they will require boiling five or
six hours. A large coffee mill will serve the~~purpose very well of
grinding for a family.

An ordinary iron pot will answer to boil the grits in, if they are
constantly stirred, or if the vessel stand on legs, so that the blaze of
the fire is not in immediate contact with it. The double boiler, how-
ever (found at most hardware stores,) is the most convenient to pre-
vent burning or scorching. It is a tin or iron vessel surrounded by
hot water, and contained within another vessel which comes in con-
tact with the fire.

(10)

MUSHES ASD PORRIDGES. 11

HOMINY. This is generally, in this market, prepared from the
Southern or white corn, which is cut into coarser or finer particles of
nearly uniform size. It is cooked like the wheaten grits, and usually
requires to be boiled one hour and a half. The fine-grained hominy
can be well cooked in half an hour, by boiling a few minutes and
then steaming it, without stirring, over as hot a fire as can be borne
without scorching. Two quarts of water are required for one or
hominy.

SAMP. This is merely a very coarse hominy the grains of corn
being cut or broken into very coarse particles. It should be washed
several times, and the water poured through a sieve to separate the
hulls ; and it requires boiling five or six hours.

This is made precisely like the mush of cracked wheat, or wheaten
grits. It is particularly adapted to thosj who have long suffered from
habitual constipation. To persons unaccustomed to the grain, the
effect on the bowels is decidedly laxative. The meal must be fresh
ground, and made of well-cleaned and plump grain.

INDIAN-MEAL MUSH. White and yellow corn meal are made into
the well-known mush called hasty pudding. Either kind is equally
agreeable to most persons. It should be stirred very gradually into
boiling water, so as to prevent lumping ; it should be cooked from
one to two hours.

OATMEAL MUSH. This, in Scotland, is called “stirabout.” It is a
favorite with many persons, and makes a pleasant change of dishes.
It is cooked precisely like Indian mush.

WHEAT-MEAL MUSH. This is an excellent article for infants and
young children much better than the farina, which is so extensively
employed. It will do for a change in the cases of adults, but is not
equal to the coarser preparations of the grain. It is cooked like
Indian mush.

FARINA MUSH. This is too nutrative, or, rather, concentrated, an
aliment for an every day dish, but will do occasionally for variety’s
sake. It is made into mush in the same way as Graham flour or
Indian meal.

, RICE MUSH. Put one pint of plump “head rice,” previously picked
over and washed, into three quarts of boiling water ; continue the
boiling fifteen or twenty minutes, but avoid stirring it so as to break
up or mash the kernels ; turn off the water ; set it uncovered over a
moderate fire, and steam fifteen minutes. Rice is “poor stuff” with-
out salt, say the cooks, and cook-books. If you find it so, reader, try
a little syrup or sugar.

RICE AND MILK MUSH. Boil a pint of clean head rice fifteen or
twenty minutes; pour off the water; add a little milk mixing it
gently so as not to break the kernels and boil a few minutes longer.

CORN STARCH BLANC-MANGE. Dissolve half a pound of corn starch
in a pint of cold milk ; then put it into three pints of boiling milk,
and boil very moderately five or six minutes.

12 MUSHES AND PORRIDGES.

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