BREAD MAKING AND YEAST

Good bread depends as much on having good yeast, as on having good flour. The cheapest flour in the end is always the best There is no one thing on which the health of a family so much depends as on good, well-baked bread. Biscuits made of baking powder, or soda and cream tartar, are, when made right, very nice, -and often it is very convenient to make them, but they are not so healthy as biscuit made of good yeast. In order to secure good bread, great care should be taken to make the yeast a special object. There are a great variety of ways of making good >y east. I will give a number of receipts, all hav- ing been tried and found good

Sop Yeast.

Take a good handful of fresh hops, pour boiling water, let it boil till the water is sufficiently strong of the hops ; have sifted flour enough to make a batter, not too thin, by straining the boiling hop water over it; let it cool; if you have a quart, put half teacupful of white sugar, a spoonful of salt and a teacupful of good, fresh yeast. Set it away to rise. When you wish to make your bread, take flour enough to make a

116 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

sponge sufficient to make the amount of dough you wish, wet it to a batter with warm (not hot) water; have three or four well mashed potatoes and a teacup- ful of the hop yeast; let this rise well, and then make up your bread ; add salt ; work your bread well, but not too stiff. When you make out your rolls, give them ample time to rise well.

Grated Potato Yeast.

Take two or three potatoes, if not large, two if good size ; grate them and pour boiling water on them, and set it in a vessel on the stove, and stir like starch till it is well cpoked and clear ; while it is hot stir in flour sufficient to make a strong batter; when cool, if too thick, thin it with the water in which your potatoes have been boiled, (if they have been peeled ;) add a teacupful of good yeast ; let it rise well, and it is tit for use. It is well to make your yeast, or sponge, for bread, near dinner time, in order to have the potato water to put into it.

Bottled or Jug Yeast.

( MRS. ZIMMERMAN. )

Yeast that will Keep Six Months. — Take ten or twelve good sized ripe potatoes, wash them well and put them to boil with the skins on in a gallon of water, boil till done ; take them out of the water, and wash them while hot, (peeling them ;) then take two good handsful of hops and boil well in the potato

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water, then strain the water over the mashed potatoes ; add one cupful of brown sugar and one of salt, and a half cupful of ginger; boil the hops through one or two waters, to get all the strength out of them ; let it cool; add a half pint of the same kind of yeast or of baker's yeast; after standing in ajar 24 hours, put in bottles or in a jug, and cork tight ; set in the cellar for use. One large spoonful is enough for one loaf of bread. Make sufficient sponge to make the bread; add your yeast, and let it lighten; it will be salt enough.

Bottled Yeast.

Thicken two quarts of water with fine flour, four or five spoonsful; wet the flour with a little water till it is smooth and free from lumps, boil near half an hour, sweeten with half a pound brown sugar; when near cold, put into it four spoonsful of fresh yeast ; put it into a jug, shake well together; let it stand one day to ferment near the fire, without being corked. There will be a thin liquor on the top, which must be poured off; shake the remainder, and cork it up for use. Take, always, four spoonsful of the old to ferment the next quantity, keeping it always on hand.

Potato Yeast, with Mashed Potatoes.

Boil well, and mash six or seven good sized pota- toes ; stir in flour while they are hot, and save the water in which they were boiled to thin it with ; add a

118 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

little salt, a half cupful white sugar, and a teacupful of good, fresh yeast. I have learned from experience that it is a piece of economy to make yeast near din- ner time, or make it so you can use the water in which your potatoes have been boiled for dinner. You can boil enough for dinner and your yeast, thus saving the water, which is the life of good bread. For buns, English tea cakes and Spanish buns, I always use the yeast made of the grated potatoes. It must be made and used fresh. Bread and rolls of all kinds must be watched, carefully, kept warm but not hot' bread should never be allowed to be heated while it is rising. It is the care given to bread from the making of the yeast, till it is taken out of the oven, that gives success in bread making.

Sally Lunn.

One quart flour,

Piece of butter size of an egg,

Three tablespoonsful sugar, (white, if prefer- red,)

Two eggs,

Two teacupsful milk,

Two teaspoonsful cream tartar,

One teaspoonful soda,

A little salt.

Stir the cream tartar, salt, and sugar into the flour ; add the eggs without beating, the butter melted, and one cup of the milk. Dissolve the soda in the other cup of milk, and stir all together. Bake in three pans,

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the size of a breakfast plate, fifteen or twenty minutes.

Soda Biscuit.

Into one quart of flour, stir two teaspoonsful cream tartar and a little salt, add two tablespoonful rich cream or one of butter, dissolve one teaspoonful soda in a little hot water ; mix with milk soft.

Bread Cake.

( MRS. N. W. BROADWELL. )

One pint of bread sponge,

One pint of brown sugar,

Half a pint of butter,

Two eggs,

Spices to suit the taste.

Raisins, currents and citron, one pound of each, (or more or less to suit the convenience,) the more fruit, of course, the richer; stir in flour enough to make it stiff enough to drop clear from the spoon; one tea- spoonful of soda; put it in pans, and let it rise as you would bead; bake slowly. This is nice without fruit.

Make a sponge as for bread ; add to one quart of the sponge —

Two eggs,

One teacupful of sugar,

Two-thirds of a cupful of butter,

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Cinnamon and nutmeg, (if it suits the taste.) Beat all well together; let this lighten well; then work in flour enough to make, as for any other rusk, (not too stiff;) set it where it will be warm enough to rise quickly ; when thoroughly light take a piece of the dough, dredge flour on your breadboard and roll the dough out as for biscuits; then cut it into strips about an inch and a half wide ; butter the top of each strip, sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on the butter, and then with the hands roll each strip till it is as large/ as an ordinary biscuit ; grease a pan ; set these endwise in the pan and set to lighten ; then bake slowly, they resemble snails. The remainder of the dough can be made out in the same way. Some make a portion of the dough in this way, and roll the rest and cut out or make out with the hand. Rolling these snail fashion makes them very nice; the butter makes them flakey and easy to break open.

Soufle Biscuit.

Cut up four ounces of butter in a quart of flour ; make it into a smooth paste with new milk ; knead it well, add a little salt, and roll out as thin as paper; cut out the cakes with a tumbler, and bake quickly. Serve hot.

Cream Cakes.

Beat three eggs very light, stir them into a quart of cream, alternately with a quart of flour, and add one

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wine glass of strong yeast, (good potato yeast is best,) and a little salt. Cover the batter and set it near the fire to rise. When quite light, stir into it a large tablespoonful of butter that has been warmed (not melted) by the lire. Bake the cakes in muffin rings, and send to table hot. Split with your fingers and butter. A knife put into them makes them sodden.

To Make Yeast.

Five large potatoes, one quart of boiling water, one cup of brown sugar, one cup of yeast. Boil your po- tatoes, and sift them; add your sugar, when milk- warm, your yeast; half a cup is sufficient for two loaves.

Common Bread Cake.

Take the quantity of a loaf from the dough, when making white bread, and knead well into it two ounces of butter, two of sugar, and eight of currants. Warm the butter in a teacupful of good milk. By the addi- tion of an ounce of butter or sugar, or an egg or two, 'you may make the cake better. A teacupful of raw cream improves it much. It is best to bake it in a pan, rather than as a loaf, the outside being less hard.

Milk Yeast.

In case you should get out of yeast, and are in a hurry, make milk yeast. Take one pint of new milk, pne teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of flour stir- —12

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red in, stand it in a kettle of water by the stove, and keep it lukewarm all the time. "When very light, add lukewarm water, make into loaves or biscuit, and let them rise by the fire before cooking.

One cupful butter, One cupful sugar, Half cup of yeast, Half pint milk. Make it stiff with flour; add, if you like, nutmeg.

66 Peculiars," or Graham Puffs.

To one pint of Graham flour, add one pint of milk and one egg. Stir in the flour slowly, till it becomes a smooth (not thick) batter. Use no soda, nor yeast. Bake immediately. The best bakepans are of cast iron, with twelve sockets which must first be heated, then greased, filled and instantly returned to the oven. If new, the pans should be first scoured with soap and sand, then greased, heated and rewashed. Puffs may also be made without the egg, with milk and water, or all water. They may also be made of rye flour or corn meal. The corn meal requires an egg. This receipt is sufficient for twenty-four puffs.

Butter Biscuit.

Sift one quart of flour in a pan, and make a hollow in the centre large enough to admit a pint of milk and

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one pint of yeast; mix into a sponge, set it to raise; in the morning add one pound of melted butter, and knead in as much flour as will, with another pint of warm milk make soft dough ; make out the biscuit in pans to rise; when sufficiently light, bake in a well heated oven.

One quart flour,

One pint milk,

One-quarter pound of butter warmed in the milk,

Two well-beaten eggs,

One teaspoonful mace or cinammon,

One wine glass and a half of fresh yeast. Mix well and set away to rise; divide into pieces of equal size; knead each piece separately, and put them into a pan to rise again. When quite light, bake in a moderate oven.

Dutch Rolls.

One quart flour,

Two eggs,

Half pint of milk,

One tablespoonful butter,

One gill yeast.

Beat the eggs, add the milk to them with the melted butter; pour this into the flour, having first put in the yeast. It must be mixed softer than bread, and if not moist enough, add more milk. Let it rise before baking.

124 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Raised Muffins.

Melt a tablespoonful of butter in one pint of

A little salt, Two eggs, Half gill yeast. Flour, to make a thick batter.

Rye Drop Cakes.

One egg, Two cupsful rye, Two cupsful flour, Half a cupful sugar, A teaspoonful salt, A teaspoonful cream tartar, Half a teaspoonful soda, A teaspoonful melted butter, A cupful and a half of milk.

Drop from a spoon on a flat pan, and bake half an hour.

German Waffles.

Warm a quart of milk, cut up and soften in it one- quarter pound of butter. Beat eight eggs, and stir in with one-half pound of sifted flour, two tablespoonsful of good, strong yeast ; set it in a warm place to rise. When well risen it is time to bake in greased waffle irons.

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Pop Overs.

( ELLA MOREAN, ST. LOUIS. )

One teacupful sweet milk, One teacupful flour, One egg.

Beat till very light, and have well greased your muffin pans and drop them in; set them in the oven. It takes but a few minutes, they will puff up, and are done.

Sour Milk Griddle Cakes.

To one quart thick, sour milk, stir in wheat flour until it is quite a batter, add a little salt. When the griddle is hot enough, dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in a little hot water ; stir it into the batter quickly and bake the cakes. Soda should never be put into any kind of cakes or corn bread until it is just ready to go into the oven, as the effervescence takes place, ?nd if it is put in before, its effect is in a great measure lost.

One teacupful yeast, Three eggs, One teacupful flour, One pint sweet milk, A little salt.

Let it rise until it is quite light, and bake in well greased muffin rings.

126 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Buckwheat Cakes.

To a quart of buckwheat flour an even teaspoonful of salt ; stir in warm wateE till it is the consistency of thin batter; beat it thoroughly, add half a cupful of good yeast; set the batter where it will be a little warm, if made over night. A spoonful of soda dis- solved in hot water and stirred in in the morning, improves them very much.

_— — - '•*

Buckwheat Cakes with Sour Milk.

This can be made at any time, and at a moment's notice. Take your buckwheat and mix it with good, sour milk, a little salt, a teacupful of indian meal ; mix it just stiff enough for cakes; add a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in warm water, stir in and bake.

Corn Meal Cakes.

Take one or two eggs, according to the quantity you wish to make; beat well; add salt, then sour milk, and next your corn meal; beat all together. Dissolve a spoonful soda in hot water, and stir in well. Have your griddle hot and well-greased with a piece of salt pork, if you have it.

Have three eggs, well beaten, sour milk and a little salt; stir in flour till it is sufficiently thick, a very little thicker than for griddle cakes. Dissolve soda in

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hot water, stir it in the batter, and beat all well to- gether. Have your waffle irons well heated on both sides before putting the batter in ; bake them a nice, light brown.

Brown Bread.

( MKS. ELIZA M'DONALD. )

Make a sponge at night as for any other bread ; in the morning sift enough flour to make two small loaves ; add half a cupful of molasses and the same of brown sugar, and a little lard ; work well ; put into pans to lighten.

French Brown Bread.

Half a teacupful molasses, One pint Graham flour, One pint corn meal, One pint hop yeast sponge.

Add sweet milk to make a stiff batter, like rnush. Let it stand till light. Bake slowly.

Steamed Brown Bread.

( MBS. MACKENZIE.)

Two teacupsful and a half sweet milk, One teacupful sour milk. Three teacupsful corn meal, Two-thirds of teacupful molasses, One teaspoonful soda, One teacupful flour, A little salt.

128 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Steam three hours ; then put into the oven ten min- utes to form a crust. Eat it fresh and cut it in the pan, it is apt to crumble. Grease the pan well before putting it in to steam.

Boston Brown Bread.

One quart Graham flour,

One tablespoonful molasses,

One tablespoonful lard,

Two teaspoonsful cream tartar,

One tea spoonful soda,

Milk to make a tolerable stiff batter,

A little salt.

English Tea Cakes.

( MISS SNAPE. )

Half pint sweet milk,

Half pound butter, (melted in the milk,)

Two tablespoonsful of sugar,

One pint of sponge of potato yeast,

Four eggs,

Flour sufficient to make it into soft dough

Boiled Brown Bread.

( MRS. DR. RYAN. )

Four teacupsful corn meal, Two teacupsful flour, One teacupful molasses, Four teacupsful sour milk,

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One teaspoonf ill soda,

A little salt.

Boil four hours in a tight covered tin bucket in water kept at a boiling rate. When done, the bucket can be set in a hot oven for ten minutes. Grease the bucket well.

French Holls.

One pint flour, and make of it a thick batter with warm water; to this add:

One well beaten egg,

One tablespoonful lard, (or butter,)

A little salt,

One teaspoonful white sugar, dissolved in a

teacupful potato yeast.

Make this when risen into a dough by adding more flour ; let this rise again and make into rolls ; let it rise in the pans, and then bake.

English Buns.

( MISS SNAPE. )

One quart potato sponge,

One pint new milk,

Half cup white sugar,

Half pound butter,

A little salt.

Flour enough to make a dough, (not so stiff as com- mon dough;) cut out large, after they are light; let them rise in the pan ; wet with sugar and milk before taking out of oven.

130 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Breakfast Biscuit.

Sift one quart flour into a pan, and make a hole in the middle ; pour in not quite a pint of hot milk into which a tablespoonful of butter has been dissolved; stir this into the flour gradually, and when lukewarm add one well beaten egg, two-thirds of a cupful of good potato yeast, into which a teaspoonful of sugar and a little salt has been dissolved.

Sally Lunn without Yeast.

One pint of flour,

One tablespoonful melted butter,

One teacupful of sugar,

One teacupful of sweet milk,

One teaspoonful of soda,

Two teaspoonsful of cream tartar. Beat the butter, egg, and sugar, well together ; add a little salt ; then put in flour and milk till all is in ; bake in tins in a quick oven; split open and butter each sidey and lay one piece on the other.

French Tea Biscuit.

( MRS. M. SIMPSON. )

Take bread dough, about as much as would make a moderate sized loaf; a lump of butter, or lard, as large as an egg, two eggs, and a tablespoonful of sugar; mix well, and let rise. About an hour before tea, roll

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and cut an inch thick with a biscuit cutter ; then spread the top with butter and fold double; let them rise the hour, and when light, bake twenty minutes.

( MRS. EVA CRAVEN. )

Melt half a pound of butter and mix it well with two-thirds of a pint of milk, flour enough to make a stiif batter ; add three or four tablespoonsful of good yeast, and set in a warm place to rise ; when light, beat two eggs with half a pound of powdered white sugar ; work into the batter with the hand ; add a little salt, (unless the butter is very salty,) and a teaspoon- ful of ground cinnamon, and flour enough to make a stiff dough. Let it lighten thoroughly, make out with the hand, and when light, have ready one yelk of an egg, a little sugar and milk, well beaten ; as you take them out of the oven wet the top with it.

Corn Bread.

One pint well cooked rice,

One pint corn meal,

One ounce butter,

One pint milk,

Two eggs, beaten light.

Then add the milk and melted butter; beat the rice till smooth ; add the egg and milk, and lastly add the corn meal; beat all well together until light, and bake in shallow pans.

132 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Raised Muffins.

Melt a tablespoonful of butter in one pint of milk, two eggs, half a gill of yeast; flour to make a thick batter.

Johnny Cake.

Two teacupsful Indian meal, Half a teacupful flour, Two teacupsful sweet milk, One tablespoonful molasses, One teaspoonful of soda. Bake in a hot oven. "Will be light.

Spanish Buns.

Half a pint of rich milk and half a pound of butter ; let the butter warm in the milk, but not melt to oil; stir it through the milk, and set it away to cool. Beat four eggs well, and add to this milk, with half a pound of flour; stir in half a nutmeg, and two wine- glassesful of good, fresh yeast; stir all well, and add very gradually half a pound of white sugar. If this is not put in by degrees, the buns will be heavy ; add, also, by degrees, another quarter of a pound of flour, making three-fourths of a pound in all. Butter a pan, put in the buns, and set them in a warm place to rise. The time required for rising will depend a good deal on the quality of the yeast. They can be made out with the hand, or cut with a rather large cutter. When they are light and covered with bubbles, put in

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 133

a moderate oven and bake. Just before taking out of the oven, take a small, soft brush, or piece of muslin, and rub them over with a little egg and milk, with a little sugar, which will give them a nice gloss. If made according to directions, they are very nice.

Light Cakes.

To three-quarters of a pound of fine flour, add one- half pint of lukewarm milk, mix in three spoonsful of light yeast, cover it over, and set it by the fire for half an hour to rise Work in the paste four ounces of sugar, and the same quantity of butter; make into tea cakes with as little flour as possible, and bake them in a quick oven.

Hominy Muffins.

Having washed a pint of small hominy through two or three waters, pour boiling water on it, cover and let it soak for several hours. Then put it into a thick saucepan with half a pint of boiling water, and let it boil until soft enough to mash ; drain it, and mix it well with a pint of white corn meal or wheat flour, a little salt, and a pint and one-half of milk in which two tablespoonsful of butter have been melted. When the butter is nearly cold add four tablespoons- ful of yeast, cover it, and set it in a warm place, until very light, with the surface covered with bubbles. Butter some muffin rings, set them on a hot griddle, pour into each a portion of the mixture and bake them

134 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

brown on both sides. Send them to table accordingly as they are done, pull them open with yonr fingers and butter them quickly.

Tomato Toast.

This is a nice breakfast dish; prepare the tomatoes, and stew them as directed. Toast a slice of light bread for each member of the family, and spread the stewed tomatoes evenly on each slice. If any is left, pour it over the whole; serve immediately.

Little Milk Cake for Breakfast.

Place on a table or slab —

One pound of flour,

Half a teaspoonful of salt,

Two teaspoonsful of sugar,

Three teaspoonsful of fresh yeast,

Two ounces of butter,

Have some new milk, pour in a gill, mix all to- gether, adding more milk to form a nice dough ; then put some flour in a cloth, put the dough in, and lay it in a warm place; let it rise for about two hours, cut it in pieces the size of eggs, roll them even, and mark the top with a sharp knife ; egg over and bake quick ; serve hot or cold.

England Pancakes.

Mix a pint of milk, five spoonsful of fine flour,

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seven yelks and four whites of eggs, and a very little salt; fry them very thin' in fresh butter, and between each strew sugar and cinnamon. Send up six or eight at once.

Make any plain batter as for pancakes; put pared apples, sliced and cored, into the batter, and fry some of it with each slice. Currants, or sliced lemon as thin as paper, make an agreeable change, Any sort of sweetmeat, or ripe fruit, may be made into fritters.

Spanish Fritters.

Cut the crumb of a French roll into lengths as thick as your finger, in what shape you will. Soak in some cream or milk, nutmeg, sugar, pounded cinna- mon, and an egg. When well soaked, fry of a nice brown, and serve with butter, wine, and sugar sauce.

Corn Oysters.

One pint grated sweet corn, Half a cupful sweet milk, One teaspoonful salt, Half a teaspoonful black pepper,* Two-thirds of a cupful of flour, One egg. Beat up and fry like griddle cakes.

136 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Potato Fritters.

Boil two large potatoes, scrape them tine; beat four yelks and three whites of eggs, and add to the above one large spoonful of cream, another of sweet wine, a squeeze of lemon, and a little nutmeg. Beat this bat- ter half an hour at least; will be extremely light.

French Toast.

One loaf of stale bakers' break ; take off the crust ; cut in slices ; one pint of milk, two eggs, a little salt. Have ready a hot griddle, well buttered ; then dip the bread in the custard and fry immediately on the griddle. To be eaten with a rich sauce.

German Waffles.

Warm a quart of milk, cut up and soften in it one- quarter pound of butter. Beat eight eggs, and stir in with one-half pound of sifted flour, two tablespoons- ful of good, strong yeast ; set it in a warm place to rise. When well risen, it is time to bake in greased waffle irons.

Yankee Waffles.

One quart milk,*

Six eggs,

One-quarter pound butter,

A large gill of yeast,3

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 137

Flour, to make a batter as thick as for griddle cakes. Bake in waffle irons, as long again as you would need to bake them on a griddle.

Rye Drop Cakes.

One pint sour milk or buttermilk,

Three eggs,

One scant teaspoonful soda,

A little salt.

Meal to make a batter that will spread a little, but not run. Drop with a spoon into round tins, and bake fifteen minutes.

Flour Griddle Cakes.

Four eggs,

One quart milk,

A little salt,

One tablespoonful of butter,

One gill yeast.

Flour to make a batter as thick as for buckwheat cakes. Raise over night, and if sour, add a little soda in the morning.

Graham Gems.

These must be baked in iron pans, each little pan partitioned by itself, as they will not rise if baked' in a mass. Remove the cream from sweet milk, and for a sufficient quantity for two pans, add one egg and salt ; stir in the flour slowly until somewhat thicker than —13

138 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

pancake batter ; beat thoroughly, as it will add to their lightness ; have the oven very hot, as they must bake in fifteen or twenty minutes, or they will not be light; place the pans on the stove, and when hot, butter, and with the spoon, drop each little pan full ; place im- mediately in the oven. Carry to table hot. Cold gems steamed or warmed are nearly as good as when fresh. They should be on every table, for even dyspeptics can eat them with impunity.

Potato Fritters.

Three eggs, One quart of milk, A little flour and salt.

Thicken with mashed potatoes. Drop in table- spoonsful into boiling hot lard, and fry a light brown.

Fried Bread.

Take cold light bread, (baker's bread is best,) cut it in slices about an inch thick, pour a little sweet milk over each piece, to soften it; do' this just as you are ready to fry the bread, or it will be too soft if it soaks in the milk; have a batter made of one egg, a little milk and flour, salt, and a small quantity of baking powder ; beat this till light ; it should be about the consistency of thick cream. Have a frying pan with hot lard in it, and dip each piece of the bread into the batter, and cover both sides with it, and then fry it quickly ; be careful not to have the bread too wet with the milk

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 1.39

or it will break. Each piece should go the table whole. It is a splendid breakfast dish.

Beat Biscuit.

Two quarts of flour, Half pint lard, (well rubbed together,) One pint of cold water, One tablespoonful of salt.

Mix well, knead, and beat with a rolling pin till smooth and light.

Kentucky Yeast for French Rolls.

Boil six large potatoes ; mash them fine in the water in which they were boiled ; add a small teacupful of sugar, a teacupful of yeast, let it rise in a moderately warm place. Take a quart of flour, a lump of lard the size of a hen's egg, one teacupful of the above yeast; mix with water; make into rolls; let them rise and bake in a quick oven.

Kentucky Buttermilk Yeast.

Boil a quart of buttermilk, throw in a teaspoonful salt ; take from the fire and let it cool ; stir in a suf- ficient quantity of flour to make the consistency of common yeast, put in a half teacupful of yeast; let it rise in a moderately warm place. Take a quart of flour, a piece of butter or lard the size of a hen's egg; mix it entirely with the yeast, work well ; set it to rise, work over; make into rolls; rise and bake.

140 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Boiled Bread.

Four cupsful of sour milk or cold water, One cupful molasses, One teaspoonful soda, Four cupsful of Indian meal, Two cupsful of flour, One teaspoonful salt. Steam four hours.

Graham Flour Cakes.

One cupful sweet milk, Two eggs, beaten light, A small lump of butter, One teaspoonful soda, Two tablespoon sf ill molasses, A little salt, Graham flour.

Mix well and soft enough to drop into greased muffin pans.

Jffush Muffins.

( MRS. ABLE. )

Four tablespoonsful mush,

One tablespoonful lard or butter,

A little salt,

One quart milk,

Six eggs, beaten seperately, the whites very

light, and added last.

Flour to make the consistency of pound cake. Bake in muffin pans quickly.

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Brown Bread.

( MRS. ABLE. )

Scald one teacupful corn meal ; when cold, stir in one cupful molasses, one pint yeast; stiffen with un- bolted flour ; mix it soft, it will look rough ; it should not be kneaded, but mixed as soft as possible, and when put in the pan to rise, smooth it over with the hand. Let it rise, and bake slowly.

Milk Biscuit.

( MRS. ABLE. )

Two pounds flour,

A quarter of a pound lard,

One teaspoonful salt,

One pint milk,

One teacupful yeast.

Put salt into the flour, then rub in the lard ; add the milk and yeast, mixing well with a spoon as the dough is soft. Set it to rise at 10 o'clock in the morning; at 3 p. m. stir well with a spoon ; at 5 p. m. roll them out with just sufficient flour to prevent sticking to the board; cut, put them in pans to rise. Bake twenty minutes.

Sally Lunn.

Seven cupsful flour, Three eggs, One pint milk,

142 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Half cupful butter,

One cupful yeast.

Mix well, and set to rise for supper; roll thin, put in pie pans ; when done split them open and butter each half, laying one upon the other.

Cheap Waffles.

Two pints flour, Two pints sweet milk, One teaspoonful lard, One teaspoonful soda, One teacupful butter milk, One teacupful mush. Salt to the taste ; have irons hot, and bake quickly.

Corn Bread.

One quart of corn meal ; pour boiling water over it, just enough to wet it through, beat it well; then beat three eggs separately, and add to the meal, when cool, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of lard ; grease a pan well, and put the dough in large spoonsful an inch apart.

Good Corn Bread.

One quart corn meal, One pint sour milk, Three eggs,

One small teaspoonful of soda. Take a part of the meal, and enough milk to wet

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 143

the meal ; then put in the yelks of the eggs and beat till light; add the rest of the milk and meal alter- nately; dissolve the soda in a tablespoonful of boiling water, and stir in; add salt, and a tablespoonful of melted lard, have it hot, and stir in briskly; grease your pan, and have it hot before pouring in the meal.

Cream Pancakes.

Mix the yelks of two eggs with half a pint of good cream and a very little sugar, flour enough to make a thin batter; beat the eggs till very light; add a little cream ; then flour till free from lumps, and beat to a smooth paste ; add 'sugar, and the rest of the cream ; have your griddles well-greased and hot; fry the cakes as thin as possible. Send to the table hot.

Quire of Paper Pancakes.

Beat sixteen eggs till very light; one quart sweet milk ; take a half pound sifted flour, a little sugar, and half a pound melted butter, half a grated nutmeg, and two gills of wine ; add a little of the milk to the eggs ; then the flour, till all is in ; beat till free from lumps, and perfectly smooth and very light; then add nutmeg, wine, butter, and the rest of the milk, a teaspoonful of salt. Have a long-handled frying pan; grease well, have it hot ; put in but little batter, let it run all over the pan and very thin ; they must be cooked very lightly. Some do not turn them; if turned, shake the pan three or four times and tip it upward, and if

144 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

expert, the cake will turn over. Lay one on the other as they are cooked. Eat hot.

One cupful and a half of butter, Two cupsful and a half of sugar. Four eggs,

Three tablespoonsful rose water, One tablespoonful cinnamon. Roll thin, and bake.

Corn Cake.

Three cupsful of meal, Half cupful of flour.

Mix with sweet milk and water; let it stand all night, in the morning add —

One teaspoonful of soda, One tablespoonful of sugar, One tablespoonful melted butter, A little salt.

^Beaten Biscuit.

To make good beaten biscuits, the proportions are — Two quarts of flour, One tablespoon oval-full of lard, A good spoonful of salt.

Mix them as dry as possible, just using water enough to make a hard dough ; then work them well, and beat them with a rolling pin ; work them well, beat again, make in biscuits, and bake slowly.

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 145

French Molls.

Warm a pint of new milk with two tablespoonsful butter, a little salt; when cool, add one pound of flour, one egg, well-beaten, one tablespoonful yeast; beat all well together ; let it rise ; when very light, make in rolls and bake.

Brown Bread.

Three cupsful corn meal, Three cupsful rye flour, One cupful wheat flour, Two cupsful molasses, Three cupsful sour milk, One teaspoonful soda, A little salt. Bake.

One quart of flour, Half teacupful of potato yeast, Two eggs,

One teaspoonful of salt, One pint and a half of lukewarm milk, Two tablespoonsful melted butter. Let it rise, and when very light, bake.

Corn Bread.

One pint sour milk, One pint corn meal, One pint white flour,

14:6 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

Two teaspoonsful of soda, One teacupful of sugar, (brown,) One teaspoonful salt. Bake one hour.

Sally Limn.

One quart of milk, Half teaspoonful of soda, Three eggs, One teacupful sugar, One tablespoonful butter, Half cupful of yeast. Make into a stiff batter, and bake in pie pans.

Cracked Wheat for Breakfast.

Get your wheat at the mill, that which is cleaned for grinding; unscrew your coffee mill, so that it will grind coarse, and grind a little of the wheat first to clear out the mill; then grind one or two mills full, as may be needed; put it in a saucepan, and set that in another containing boiling water; sweeten it and grate in nutmeg; let it cook as long as it would take rice to cook. When done, dish it up and eat with cream. Do not have it too stiff, but stiff enough to dish up well. This is an elegant breakfast dish, and very nourishing.

Sift your meal, and wet up as much as you wish to

ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 147

make into mush with cold water, and beat it well to break the lumps ; make it the consistency of a thick batter ; grease a tin bucket well, put this in it, and set it in a pot of boiling water, and let it cook three or four hours. This is the finest way to make mush, all the raw meal taste is entirely destroyed, and will pour out smooth and not adhere io the bucket. When the mush is to be used for breakfast, cut it in thin slices and fry in hot lard; never put it in till the lard is smoking hot, or it will absorb the grease and be unfit to use.

Wash your rice well in two or three waters, put it into a pan and add a little water to it ; set it in a steamer over a pot of boiling water, and let it cook till done; as the water cooks out of the rice, add a little at a time of boiling water. There is no way so nice to cook rice.

Very Rich Crust for Tarts.

Eight ounces flour,

Six ounces butter,

One dessertspoonful pounded sugar,

One to two spoonsful water.

Break lightly, with the least possible handling, six ounces of butter into eight ounces of flour; add a dessertspoonful of pounded sugar, and two or three of water; roll the paste for several minutes, to blend the ingredients well, folding it together like puff crust, and touch it as little as possible :

Pie Crust.

In making pie crust or paste, care should be taken not to work or knead the crust at all ; it should be mixed quickly, and with as little handling as possible.