Part 144 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOILED-PUDDING MOULD.]

1197. To prevent a pudding boiled in a cloth from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, place a small plate or saucer underneath it, and set the pan _on a trivet_ over the fire. If a mould is used, this precaution is not necessary; but care must be taken to keep the pudding well covered with water.

1198. For dis.h.i.+ng a boiled pudding as soon as it comes out of the pot, dip it into a basin of cold water, and the cloth will then not adhere to it. Great expedition is necessary in sending puddings to table, as, by standing, they quickly become heavy, batter puddings particularly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOILED-PUDDING MOULD.]

1199. For baked or boiled puddings, the moulds, cups, or basins, should be always b.u.t.tered before the mixture is put in them, and they should be put into the saucepan directly they are filled.

1200. Scrupulous attention should be paid to the cleanliness of pudding-cloths, as, from neglect in this particular, the outsides of boiled puddings frequently taste very disagreeably. As soon as possible after it is taken off the pudding, it should be soaked in water, and then well washed, without soap, unless it be very greasy. It should be dried out of doors, then folded up and kept in a dry place. When wanted for use, dip it in boiling water, and dredge it slightly with flour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PUDDING-BASIN.]

1201. The _dry ingredients_ for puddings are better for being mixed some time before they are wanted; the liquid portion should only be added just before the pudding is put into the saucepan.

1202. A pinch of salt is an improvement to the generality of puddings; but this ingredient should be added very sparingly, as the flavour should not be detected.

1203. When baked puddings are sufficiently solid, turn them out of the dish they were baked in, bottom uppermost, and strew over them fine sifted sugar.

1204. When pastry or baked puddings are not done through, and yet the outside is sufficiently brown, cover them over with a piece of white paper until thoroughly cooked: this prevents them from getting burnt.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

RECIPES.

CHAPTER XXVII.

VERY GOOD PUFF-PASTE.

1205. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of b.u.t.ter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water.

_Mode_.--Carefully weigh the flour and b.u.t.ter, and have the exact proportion; squeeze the b.u.t.ter well, to extract the water from it, and afterwards wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain. Sift the flour; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following manner to make the paste, using a very _clean_ paste-board and rolling-pin:--Supposing the quant.i.ty to be 1 lb. of flour, work the whole into a smooth paste, with not quite 1/2 pint of water, using a knife to mix it with: the proportion of this latter ingredient must be regulated by the discretion of the cook; if too much be added, the paste, when baked, will be tough. Roll it out until it is of an equal thickness of about an inch; break 4 oz. of the b.u.t.ter into small pieces; place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over, roll out again, and put another 4 oz. of b.u.t.ter. Repeat the rolling and b.u.t.tering until the paste has been rolled out 4 times, or equal quant.i.ties of flour and b.u.t.ter have been used. Do not omit, every time the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin, to prevent both from sticking. Handle the paste as lightly as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin. The next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry requires particular attention. Do not put it into the oven until it is sufficiently hot to raise the paste; for the best-prepared paste, if not properly baked, will be good for nothing. Brus.h.i.+ng the paste as often as rolled out, and the pieces of b.u.t.ter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, a.s.sists it to rise in _leaves_ or _flakes_. As this is the great beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method.

_Average cost_, 1s. 4d. per lb.

b.u.t.tER.--About the second century of the Christian era, b.u.t.ter was placed by Galen amongst the useful medical agents; and about a century before him, Dioscorides mentioned that he had noticed that fresh b.u.t.ter, made of ewes' and goats' milk, was served at meals instead of oil, and that it took the place of fat in making pastry. Thus we have undoubted authority that, eighteen hundred years ago, there existed a knowledge of the useful qualities of b.u.t.ter. The Romans seem to have set about making it much as we do; for Pliny tells us, ”b.u.t.ter is made from milk; and the use of this element, so much sought after by barbarous nations, distinguished the rich from the common people. It is obtained princ.i.p.ally from cows' milk; that from ewes is the fattest; goats also supply some. It is produced by agitating the milk in long vessels with narrow openings: a little water is added.”

MEDIUM PUFF-PASTE.

1206. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 8 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 4 oz.

of lard, not quite 1/2 pint of water.

_Mode_.--This paste may be made by the directions in the preceding recipe, only using less b.u.t.ter and subst.i.tuting lard for a portion of it. Mix the flour to a smooth paste with not quite 1/2 pint of water; then roll it out 3 times, the first time covering the paste with b.u.t.ter, the second with lard, and the third with b.u.t.ter. Keep the rolling-pin and paste slightly dredged with flour, to prevent them from sticking, and it will be ready for use.

_Average cost_, 1s. per lb.

b.u.t.tER IN HASTE.--In his ”History of Food,” Soyer says that to obtain b.u.t.ter instantly, it is only necessary, in summer, to put new milk into a bottle, some hours after it has been taken from the cow, and shake it briskly. The clots which are thus formed should be thrown into a sieve, washed and pressed together, and they const.i.tute the finest and most delicate b.u.t.ter that can possibly be made.