Part 205 (2/2)

1715. CAPTAINS' BISCUITS are made in a similar manner, only of fine flour.

RECIPES.

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

TO MAKE YEAST FOR BREAD.

1716. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 oz. of hops, 3 quarts of water, 1 lb. of bruised malt, 1/2 pint of yeast.

_Mode_.--Boil the hops in the water for 20 minutes; let it stand for about 5 minutes, then add it to 1 lb. of bruised malt prepared as for brewing. Let the mixture stand covered till about lukewarm; then put in not quite 1/2 pint of yeast; keep it warm, and let it work 3 or 4 hours; then put it into small 1/2-pint bottles (ginger-beer bottles are the best for the purpose), cork them well, and tie them down. The yeast is now ready for use; it will keep good for a few weeks, and 1 bottle will be found sufficient for 18 lbs. of flour. When required for use, boil 3 lbs. of potatoes without salt, mash them in the same water in which they were boiled, and rub them through a colander. Stir in about 1/2 lb. of flour; then put in the yeast, pour it in the middle of the flour, and let it stand warm on the hearth all night, and in the morning let it be quite warm when it is kneaded. The bottles of yeast require very careful opening, as it is generally exceedingly ripe.

_Time_.--20 minutes to boil the hops and water, the yeast to work 3 or 4 hours.

_Sufficient._--1/2 pint sufficient for 18 lbs. of flour.

KIRKLEATHAM YEAST.

1717. INGREDIENTS.--2 oz. of hops, 4 quarts of water, 1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 pint of yeast.

_Mode_.--Boil the hops and water for 20 minutes; strain, and mix with the liquid 1/2 lb. of flour and not quite 1/2 pint of yeast. Bottle it up, and tie the corks down. When wanted for use, boil potatoes according to the quant.i.ty of bread to be made (about 3 lbs. are sufficient for about a peck of flour); mash them, add to them 1/2 lb. of flour, and mix about 1/2 pint of the yeast with them; let this mixture stand all day, and lay the bread to rise the night before it is wanted.

_Time_.--20 minutes to boil the hops and water.

_Sufficient_.--1/2 pint of this yeast sufficient for a peck of flour, or rather more.

TO MAKE GOOD HOME-MADE BREAD.

(_Miss Acton's Recipe_.)

1718. INGREDIENTS.--1 quartern of flour, 1 large tablespoonful of solid brewer's yeast, or nearly 1 oz. of fresh German yeast, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 pint of warm milk-and-water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COTTAGE LOAF.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TIN BREAD.]

_Mode_.--Put the flour into a large earthenware bowl or deep pan; then, with a strong metal or wooden spoon, hollow out the middle; but do not clear it entirely away from the bottom of the pan, as, in that case, the sponge (or leaven, as it was formerly termed) would stick to it, which it ought not to do. Next take either a large tablespoonful of brewer's yeast which has been rendered solid by mixing it with plenty of cold water, and letting it afterwards stand to settle for a day and night; or nearly an ounce of German yeast; put it into a large basin, and proceed to mix it, so that it shall be as smooth as cream, with 3/4 pint of warm milk-and-water, or with water only; though even a very little milk will much improve the bread. Pour the yeast into the hole made in the flour, and stir into it as much of that which lies round it as will make a thick batter, in which there must be no lumps. Strew plenty of flour on the top; throw a thick clean cloth over, and set it where the air is warm; but do not place it upon the kitchen fender, for it will become too much heated there. Look at it from time to time: when it has been laid for nearly an hour, and when the yeast has risen and broken through the flour, so that bubbles appear in it, you will know that it is ready to be made up into dough. Then place the pan on a strong chair, or dresser, or table, of convenient height; pour into the sponge the remainder of the warm milk-and-water; stir into it as much of the flour as you can with the spoon; then wipe it out clean with your fingers, and lay it aside. Next take plenty of the remaining flour, throw it on the top of the leaven, and begin, with the knuckles of both hands, to knead it well. When the flour is nearly all kneaded in, begin to draw the edges of the dough towards the middle, in order to mix the whole thoroughly; and when it is free from flour and lumps and crumbs, and does not stick to the hands when touched, it will be done, and may again be covered with the cloth, and left to rise a second time. In 3/4 hour look at it, and should it have swollen very much, and begin to crack, it will be light enough to bake. Turn it then on to a paste-board or very clean dresser, and with a large sharp knife divide it in two; make it up quickly into loaves, and dispatch it to the oven: make one or two incisions across the tops of the loaves, as they will rise more easily if this be done. If baked in tins or pans, rub them with a tiny piece of b.u.t.ter laid on a piece of clean paper, to prevent the dough from sticking to them. All bread should be turned upside down, or on its side, as soon as it is drawn from the oven: if this be neglected, the under part of the loaves will become wet and blistered from the steam, which cannot then escape from them. _To make the dough without setting a sponge_, merely mix the yeast with the greater part of the warm milk-and-water, and wet up the whole of the flour at once after a little salt has been stirred in, proceeding exactly, in every other respect, as in the directions just given. As the dough will _soften_ in the rising, it should be made quite firm at first, or it will be too lithe by the time it is ready for the oven.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ITALIAN MILLET.]

_Time_.--To be left to rise an hour the first time, 3/4 hour the second time; to be baked from 1 to 1-1/4 hour, or baked in one loaf from 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

ITALIAN MILLET, or Great Indian Millet, is cultivated in Egypt and Nubia, where it is called _dhourra_, and is used as human food, as well as for the fermentation of beer. It will grow on poor soils, and is extremely productive. It has been introduced into Italy, where they make a coa.r.s.e bread from it; and it is also employed in pastry and puddings: they also use it for feeding horses and domestic fowls. It is the largest variety, growing to the height of six feet; but it requires a warm climate, and will not ripen in this country. A yellow variety, called Golden Millet, is sold in the grocers' shops, for making puddings, and is very delicate and wholesome.

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