The Myrtle Reed Cook Book Part 28

RAISED FRUIT DOUGHNUTS

Cream together one heaping tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and one fourth cupful of sugar. Dissolve one half a cake of compressed yeast in one cupful of milk that has been scalded and cooled. Add half a teaspoonful of salt to the milk and yeast, combine mixtures, and work in two cupfuls of flour. Let rise until double in bulk. Mix together one half cupful of sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, a grating of nutmeg, and a pinch of allspice, one half cupful of cleaned currants, cleaned and seeded raisins, and shredded citron, mixed, and a scant two cupfuls of sifted flour. Lastly, add one egg, well beaten, knead thoroughly, and let rise until very light. Cut or tear off pieces of dough the size of an egg, drop into smoking-hot fat, and fry like other doughnuts. Drain on brown paper and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

BLUE GRa.s.s WAFFLES

Two cupfuls of thick sour cream, two cupfuls of flour, three eggs, well beaten, and half a teaspoonful of soda sifted with the flour.

Mix quickly, folding in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs last, and bake until golden brown and crisp on hissing-hot, well-greased waffle-irons.

CREAM WAFFLES

Sift together one cupful of flour, three tablespoonfuls of corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Mix one egg, well beaten, one scant teaspoonful of soda, and two cupfuls of sour milk together and gradually combine mixtures, beating hard meanwhile. Bake in hot, well-greased waffle-irons and b.u.t.ter the waffles before serving.

FEATHER WAFFLES

Four cupfuls of milk, three eggs, beaten separately. Add the milk to the yolks and a pinch of salt, then add one and one half tablespoonfuls of rich cream or melted b.u.t.ter and sifted flour enough to make the batter a little stiffer than pancake batter. Add the whites of the eggs last, beaten to a stiff froth, and stir in quickly two teaspoonfuls of baking powder.

GEORGIA WAFFLES

Two cupfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, two cupfuls of b.u.t.termilk, one cupful of melted lard, one scant teaspoonful of soda, and one egg.

Sift the flour and salt together and beat into a smooth batter with the b.u.t.termilk. Add the well-beaten egg, then the hot lard, beat thoroughly, add the dry soda, beat hard for a minute or two, and bake in hissing-hot waffle-irons.

HOMINY WAFFLES

One cupful of cold cooked hominy, one egg, well beaten, one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, one pinch of salt, two cupfuls of milk, and two cupfuls of flour sifted with one teaspoonful of baking powder. Mix thoroughly and bake in very hot waffle-irons, well b.u.t.tered.

RAISED HOMINY WAFFLES

To one cupful of cold cooked hominy add two cupfuls of scalded milk in which one half a yeast cake has been dissolved, one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, melted, a pinch of salt, one tablespoonful of sugar, and two cupfuls of flour. Mix thoroughly and set to rise over night. In the morning add two eggs, beaten separately, folding in the stiffly beaten whites last. Bake in very hot, well-greased irons.

INDIAN WAFFLES

One cupful each of flour and corn-meal, two cupfuls of thick sour milk, one cupful of sour cream, half a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two eggs, beaten separately, the stiffly beaten whites being folded in last.

Bake in a very hot, well-greased waffle-iron and serve very hot.

KENTUCKY WAFFLES

Make a smooth paste of two cupfuls of sifted flour and two cupfuls of milk, add one half cupful of softened b.u.t.ter, not melted, then the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, then the stiffly beaten whites, and, just before baking, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Beat very hard for five minutes and bake in a hissing-hot iron.

MARYLAND WAFFLES

Beat four eggs separately, the whites to a stiff froth. To the beaten yolks add a pinch of salt, two cupfuls of milk, and enough sifted flour to make a stiff batter. Beat hard until perfectly smooth and free from lumps. Thin the batter by adding gradually the beaten whites of the eggs, and a little more milk in which a level teaspoonful of baking powder has been dissolved. Add lastly one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter or lard. Have the waffle-irons very hot and well greased, and b.u.t.ter each waffle as soon as done. Crisp light waffles are delicious when served with cream and sifted maple-sugar.

PLAIN WAFFLES

Two cupfuls of sifted flour, two cupfuls of milk, one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful of melted lard, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted with the flour, two eggs well beaten, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat thoroughly and have the irons hot before mixing.

RICE WAFFLES

One cupful of cold boiled rice beaten light with one cupful of milk.

Add one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little of the milk, two eggs well beaten, and enough flour, sifted in with one teaspoonful of cream tartar, to make a thin batter. Beat thoroughly and bake in well-greased waffle-irons. Cream tartar and spices are practically certain to be pure when bought of a druggist instead of a grocer. (Not knocking the groceryman.)

RICE AND CORN-MEAL WAFFLES

One cupful of cold boiled rice, one half cupful each of wheat flour and corn-meal, one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, one half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in hot water, one teaspoonful of salt, two eggs, beaten separately, and enough milk to make a thin batter.

The waffle-irons must be very thoroughly greased and the baking must be done with great care, as these waffles are likely to burn.

SWEDISH WAFFLES

Two cupfuls of cream, whipped stiff, one half cupful of sugar, one egg beaten with one fourth cupful of cold water, one half cupful of melted b.u.t.ter, and enough flour, sifted, to make a thin batter. Fold the whipped cream in carefully just before baking, and sprinkle with sugar when done.

TENNESSEE WAFFLES

Two cupfuls of sifted flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter or lard, one egg, beaten separately, and milk enough to make a thin batter. Bake until brown in a well-greased waffle-iron.

VIRGINIA WAFFLES

Three eggs, well beaten, two cupfuls of milk, one half cupful of melted b.u.t.ter, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a pinch of salt, and enough flour to make a thin batter. Bake in hissing-hot waffle-irons.

BREAKFAST BEVERAGES

The breakfast beverage _par excellence_ is coffee, at least in American households, but, rather than have coffee poorly made, it is better to have no coffee at all. The French method of coffee making has practically superseded the old-fashioned boiled coffee. Cheap coffee, carefully made in the proper kind of a pot, has a better flavor than the more expensive brands can possibly have when improperly made.

The best coffee-pot on the market, which publishing ethics forbid us to mention by name, is made of nickel, comes in five or six different sizes, has a close fitting cover, a wooden handle, and has inside a finely woven wire strainer, which does away entirely with the questionable, and often unclean, cloth strainer. A cloth, no matter how carefully kept, will eventually become saturated with the grounds, and add the flavor of reheated coffee to the fresh brew in the pot.

The nickel coffee-pots having the wire strainer inside are easily kept clean with boiling water alone, and about once a month may be boiled out with a weak solution of baking soda.

Various blends of coffee have their champions, and the blended package coffees are, in the main, very good. It is better to buy in small quant.i.ties, a pound or two at a time, have the coffee pulverized very finely at the grocery, and keep a watchful eye on the man while he does it, lest he add alien elements to the coffee. Pulverized coffee keeps perfectly in ordinary Mason jars, tightly sealed, if bought in small quant.i.ties, as suggested.

The ideal coffee blend is two thirds Mandeheling Java and one third Arabian Mocha, but very little genuine Mocha ever reaches this country, though trusting consumers often pay high prices for what the man says is sure-enough Mocha. Pure Java is easier to get, and South American, Mexican, Cuban, and Porto Rican coffees are beginning to deserve consideration.