Foods and Household Management Part 29

=12. Apple pie filling.=

Use juicy, tart apples. Pare, cut in quarters, core, and slice apples into pie dish, filling it heaping full. Add 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Any flavor desired may be used, lemon rind, or spices. A little b.u.t.ter gives an agreeable flavor.

=13. Lemon pie filling.=

_Ingredients._

1 heaping tablespoonful cornstarch {1 egg whole, or mixed with {yolks of 2 eggs A little cold water Juice and rind of 1 lemon Large cup hot water A very little salt Piece b.u.t.ter the size of walnut Whites of 2 eggs 1 cup sugar Powdered sugar, 1 tablespoonful

_Method._

Mix the starch with the cold water, add the boiling water and cook until it thickens, and add the b.u.t.ter and sugar. Beat the egg (or yolks) and add the other ingredients. Add the lemon last. When the pie is done, if two yolks were used, beat the whites with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar, place on the top, and brown in a moderate oven.

=14. Meat or chicken pie.=

Use left-over, cooked meat. Cut the meat into dice or small bits and fill the dish. Sprinkle with salt and moisten with gravy, if possible. If not, add 1 cup hot water and dredge lightly with flour. Have top crust only.

How would the time for cooking this pie compare with that for deep apple pie?

EXERCISES

1. What are the chief ingredients of batter mixtures and doughs?

2. Explain leavening by air.

3. Why is steam a leavening agent?

4. How is gas formed for leavening purposes?

5. How does the presence of b.u.t.ter or other fat affect the stiffness of a mixture?

6. What are the important points to remember in mixing ingredients?

7. Why are baking-powder biscuits mixed differently from popovers?

8. What are the most practical oven tests?

9. Why is a loaf cake baked longer than cookies?

10. How many m.u.f.fins, average size, can be made from a pint of flour?

11. Compare the cost of homemade cake with bakers' cake.

12. What are the advantages of the homemade over the bakers', or the bakers' over the homemade?

CHAPTER XII

YEAST BREAD

Yeast bread when well made is a food of which the palate never tires, and it is usually recognized as a part of every well-planned meal. The quick breads are a convenient subst.i.tute at times, but they are not the staff of life in the same sense, and are, on the whole, less widely used.

The making of a perfect loaf of bread is the goal of all those who aspire to excel in cookery; and the art of bread making requires not only a clear understanding of the underlying principles, but patience and persistence in experimentation and practice until a uniformly perfect product is achieved. The fact that in yeast we have a living organism with which to deal makes the whole process a delicate one, in which every detail is of importance, whether it be a matter of ingredients, proportions, methods of mixing, or temperature.

=The standard of good bread.=--There will always be some difference of opinion in regard to a desirable quality in bread, and individual preference will control the final result, whether the crumb of the bread shall be dry and porous or somewhat more moist and finer in grain. French bread is of the former type, the English preferring a close grain and solid loaf. Allowing for these differences, it is still possible to standardize bread, and to state in percentages the different points to be considered in judging a loaf.

We must consider the _size_ and _symmetry_ of the loaf, in order that the interior of the bread may be baked to the very center, without overbaking or burning the crust, and therefore very large loaves should be avoided.

The _crust_ should be uniform in color, the shade ranging from a light golden to a darker brown, and the quality may be soft or crisp, but never tough. The _crumb_ should be light, the cavities evenly distributed throughout the loaf and of uniform size. It should also be elastic, tender, and yet not pasty, evenly baked without streaks and heavy portions near the crust, and the color should be creamy rather than a snowy white.

(Fig. 55.)

The following score cards will be useful in judging loaves, and in the bread contests which are interesting and helpful.

BREAD SCORE CARD 1

I. General Appearance 15% 1. Shape 2.5% 2. Size 2.5% 3. Crust 10.0% (_a_) Color (_b_) Smoothness

II. Internal Appearance 55% 1. Depth of crust 10% 2. Texture (lightness) 15% 3. Crumb 30% (_a_) Moisture} Elasticity} (25%) (_b_) Color (5%)

III. Flavor 30% ---- 100%

BREAD SCORE CARD 2

I. External Appearance 20% 1. Shape 5% 2. Size 5% 3. Crust 10% (_a_) Color (_b_) Smoothness

II. Internal Factors 50% 1. Depth of crust 10% 2. Texture 20% 3. Crumb 20% (a) Moisture (15%) (b) Color (5%)

III. Flavor 30% ---- 100%

NOTE.--These two score cards are the average of the work of sixty students in judging bread in experimental cookery, Department of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College, Columbia University. See also Bulletin 25, University of Illinois.

=Digestibility and nutritive value.=--Bread of the standard described is readily digestible when at least twelve hours old and stands high in nutritive value. Figure 51 compares the composition of several varieties.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 51.--Composition of bread.]

Like the cereals, it has considerable protein, and some fat, but is highest in starch. The white bread, unless made with milk, has very little ash. A slice almost one inch thick weighing 1.38 ounces, from a baker's five-cent loaf, will yield 100 Calories.

=The cost of bread.=--The table in Chapter XVII states the amount of protein and energy obtained for ten cents from bread as compared with other common foods, and makes the fact clear that bread is essentially one of the cheapest foods, remaining relatively so whatever the general fluctuations in food prices may be.

A pound loaf of bread at the bakery should cost five cents, the cost being slightly less when the bread is made at home, even taking the fuel into account. It is an open question, however, whether bread should be made at home or bought at the bakery, all the circ.u.mstances being weighed in the balance by the individual. (See Chapter XVII.) In America, we need to learn to dictate and control the methods in the public bakeries because bakers' bread is being used more and more, although it is said that 50 per cent is still made at home. If bread is to be bought, it is necessary for the housekeeper to understand the bread-making process and the standard of good bread that she may criticize intelligently, and force the public bakeries to furnish bread made under ideal conditions. Such bread is supplied in France, where the housekeepers in the city, though noted for their thrift, do not think of bread making at home as a practical or economical procedure. It must be understood that the baker's oven is fitted to do better work than the small oven of the average kitchen, and if the public through laws and inspection will control the quality of the materials used and the cleanliness of the process, baker's bread will be a useful "ready-cooked" food.

=The ingredients of bread.=--The essential ingredients are flour, water, and yeast. The liquid may be milk, or milk and water, the milk changing the flavor slightly and increasing the nutritive value, while the cream in the milk increases the tenderness of the crumb and crust. The non-essentials include salt to develop flavor, sugar sometimes added to hasten fermentation and also for flavor, and a fat to increase tenderness, as, for instance, b.u.t.ter or some cheaper fat. Spices and dried fruits are used in sweet breads, and when eggs are added sweet bread becomes a plain cake having a delicious and characteristic flavor.

=The characteristics of good flour=.--The average composition of flour is as follows: