CEREALS
Cereals (cultivated grasses) rank first among vegetable foods; being of
hardy growth and easy cultivation, they are more widely diffused over
the globe than any of the flowering plants. They include wheat, oats,
rye, barley, maize (Indian corn), and rice; some authorities place
buckwheat among them. Wheat probably is the most largely consumed; next
to wheat, comes rice.
TABLE SHOWING COMPOSITION
Proteid Fat Starch Mineral matter Water
Oatmeal 15.6 7.3 68.0 1.9 7.2
Corn meal 8.9 2.2 75.1 0.9 12.9
Wheat flour (spring) 11.8 1.1 75.0 0.5 11.6
Entire wheat flour 14.2 1.9 70.6 1.2 12.1
Graham flour 13.7 2.2 70.3 2.0 11.8
Pearl barley 9.3 1.0 77.6 1.3 10.8
Rye meal 7.1 0.9 78.5 0.8 12.7
Rice 7.8 0.4 79.4 0.4 12.4
Buckwheat flour 6.1 1.0 77.2 1.4 14.3
Macaroni 11.7 1.6 72.9 3.0 10.8
_Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C._
_Macaroni_, _spaghetti_, and _vermicelli_ are made from wheaten flour,
rich in gluten, moistened to a stiff dough with water, and forced
through small apertures in an iron plate by means of a screw press.
Various Italian pastes are made from the same mixture. Macaroni is
manufactured to some extent in this country, but the best comes from
Italy, Lagana and Pejero, being the favorite brand. When macaroni is
colored, it is done by the use of saffron, not by eggs, as is generally
supposed. The only egg macaroni is manufactured in strips, and comes
from Minneapolis.
Macaroni is valuable food, as it is very cheap and nutritious; but being
deficient in fat, it should be combined with cream, butter, or cheese,
to make a perfect food.
From cereals many preparations are made, used alone, or in combination
with other food products. From rice is made rice flour; from oats,
oatmeal, and oats steam-cooked and rolled,—as Rolled Avena, Quaker
Rolled Oats, H-O, etc. There are many species of corn, the principal
varieties being white, yellow, and red. From corn is made corn
meal,—both white and yellow,—corn-starch, hominy, maizena, cerealine,
samp, and hulled corn; from wheat, wheaten or white flour, Wheatena,
Wheatlet, Rolled Wheat, Pettijohn’s, etc. Rye is used for Rye Flakes,
meal, and flour; barley, for flour and pearl barley. Buckwheat,
throughout the United States, is used only when made into flour for
buckwheat cakes.
For family use, cereals should be bought in small quantities, and kept
in glass jars, tightly covered. Many cereal preparations are on the
market for making breakfast mushes, put up in one and two pound
packages, with directions for cooking. In nearly all cases, time allowed
for cooking is not sufficient, unless dish containing cereal is brought
in direct contact with fire, which is not the best way. Mushes should be
cooked over hot water after the first five minutes; if a double boiler
is not procurable, improvise one. Boiling water and salt should always
be added to cereals, allowing one teaspoon salt to each cup of
cereal,—boiled to soften cellulose and swell starch-grains, salted to
give flavor. Indian meal and finely ground preparations should be mixed
with cold water before adding boiling water, to prevent lumping.
TABLE FOR COOKING CEREALS
Kind Quantity Water Time
Steam-cooked and
rolled oats,
Rolled Avena,
Quaker Rolled 1 cup 1¾ cups 30 minutes
Oats, H-O, Old
Grist Mill,
Rolled Oats,
Steam-cooked and
rolled wheats,
Old Grist Mill, 1 cup 1¼ cups 20 minutes
Rye Flakes,
Pettijohn’s,
etc.
2¾–3¼ cups
Rice (steamed) 1 cup (according to age 45–60 minutes
of rice)
Indian meal 1 cup 3½ cups 3 hours
Vitos 1 cup 4½ cups 30 minutes
Wheatlet,
Wheatena, Wheat 1 cup 3¾ cups 30 minutes
Germ, Toasted
Wheat,
Oatmeal (coarse) 1 cup 4 cups 3 hours
Hominy (fine) 1 cup 4 cups 1 hour
Oatmeal Mush with Apples
Core apples, leaving large cavities; pare, and cook until soft in syrup
made by boiling sugar and water together, allowing one cup sugar to one
and one-half cups water. Fill cavities with oatmeal mush; serve with
sugar and cream. The syrup should be saved and re-used. Berries, sliced
bananas, or sliced peaches, are acceptably served with any breakfast
cereal.
Cereal with Fruit
¾ cup Wheat Germ
¾ cup cold water
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
½ lb. dates, stoned, and cut in pieces
Mix cereal, salt, and cold water; add to boiling water placed on front
of range. Boil five minutes, steam in double boiler thirty minutes; stir
in dates, and serve with cream. To serve for breakfast, or as a simple
dessert.
Fried Mushes
Mush left over from breakfast may be packed in greased, one pound
baking-powder box, and covered, which will prevent crust from forming.
The next morning remove from box, slice thinly, dip in flour, and sauté.
Serve with maple syrup.
Fried Corn Meal Mush, or Fried Hominy
Pack corn meal or hominy mush in greased, one pound baking-powder boxes,
or small bread pan, cool, and cover. Cut in thin slices, and sauté; cook
slowly, if preferred crisp and dry. Where mushes are cooked to fry, use
less water in steaming.
Boiled Rice
1 cup rice
2 quarts boiling water
1 tablespoon salt
_French Chef_
Pick over rice; add slowly to boiling, salted water, so as not to check
boiling of water. Boil thirty minutes, or until soft, which may be
determined by testing kernels. Old rice absorbs much more water than new
rice, and takes longer for cooking. Drain in coarse strainer, and pour
over one quart hot water; return to kettle in which it was cooked;
cover, place on back of range, and let stand to dry off, when kernels
are distinct. When stirring rice, always use a fork to avoid breaking
kernels.
Steamed Rice
1 cup rice
1 teaspoon salt
2¾ to 3¼ cups boiling water (according to age of rice)
Put salt and water in top of double boiler, place on range, and add
gradually well-washed rice, stirring with a fork to prevent adhering to
boiler. Boil five minutes, cover, place over under part double boiler,
and steam forty-five minutes, or until kernels are soft; uncover, that
steam may escape. When rice is steamed for a simple dessert, use
one-half quantity of water given in recipe, and steam until rice has
absorbed water; then add scalded milk for remaining liquid.
=To wash rice.= Put rice in strainer, place strainer over bowl nearly
full of cold water; rub rice between hands, lift strainer from bowl, and
change water. Repeat process three or four times, until water is quite
clear.
Rice with Cheese
Steam one cup rice, allowing one tablespoon salt; cover bottom of
buttered pudding-dish with rice, dot over with three-fourths tablespoon
butter, sprinkle with thin shavings mild cheese and a few grains
cayenne; repeat until rice and one-fourth pound cheese are used. Add
milk to half the depth of contents of dish, cover with buttered cracker
crumbs, and bake until cheese melts.
Rice à la Riston
Finely chop two thin slices bacon, add to one-half raw medium-sized
cabbage, finely chopped; cover, and cook slowly thirty minutes. Add
one-fourth cup rice, boiled, one-half teaspoon chopped parsley, and salt
and pepper to taste. Moisten with one-half cup White Stock, and cook
fifteen minutes.
Turkish Pilaf I
Wash and drain one-half cup rice, cook in one tablespoon butter until
brown, add one cup boiling water, and steam until water is absorbed. Add
one and three-fourths cups hot stewed tomatoes, cook until rice is soft,
and season with salt and pepper.
Turkish Pilaf II
½ cup washed rice
¾ cup tomatoes, stewed and strained
1 cup Brown Stock, highly seasoned
3 tablespoons butter
Add tomato to stock, and heat to boiling-point; add rice, and steam
until rice is soft; stir in butter with a fork, and keep uncovered that
steam may escape. Serve in place of a vegetable, or as border for
curried or fricasseed meat.
Turkish Pilaf III
⅓ cup rice
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup canned tomatoes
½ cup cold cooked chicken cut in dice
White Stock highly seasoned
Salt and cayenne
Cook rice in boiling salted water, drain, and pour over hot water to
thoroughly rinse. Heat omelet pan, add butter, and as soon as butter is
melted add rice. Cook three minutes; then add tomatoes, chicken, and
enough stock to moisten. Cook five minutes, and season highly with salt
and cayenne. If not rich enough, add more butter.
Russian Pilaf
Follow recipe for Turkish Pilaf III, substituting cold cooked lamb in
place of chicken, and add a chicken’s liver sautéd in butter, then
separated into small pieces.
Rissoto Creole
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup rice
2¾ cups highly seasoned
Brown Stock
Canned pimentoes
Melt butter in hot frying-pan, add rice, and stir constantly until rice
is well browned. Add stock heated to boiling-point, and cook in double
boiler until soft. Turn on a serving dish, garnish with pimentoes cut in
fancy shapes, and cover with
=Creole Sauce.= Cook two tablespoons chopped onion, two tablespoons
chopped green pepper, one tablespoon chopped red pepper, or canned
pimentoes, and four tablespoons chopped fresh mushrooms, with three
tablespoons butter, five minutes. Add two tablespoons flour, one cup
tomatoes, one truffle thinly sliced, one-fourth cup sherry wine, and
salt to taste.
Boiled Macaroni
¾ cup macaroni broken in inch pieces
2 quarts boiling water
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup cream
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water twenty minutes or until soft,
drain in strainer, pour over it cold water to prevent pieces from
adhering; add cream, reheat, and season with salt.
Macaroni with White Sauce
¾ cup macaroni broken in inch pieces
2 quarts boiling water
1 tablespoon salt
1½ cups White Sauce
Cook as for Boiled Macaroni, and reheat in White Sauce.
=White Sauce.= Melt two tablespoons butter, add two tablespoons flour
with one-half teaspoon salt, and pour on slowly one and one-half cups
scalded milk.
Baked Macaroni
Put Macaroni with White Sauce in buttered baking dish, cover with
buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown.
Baked Macaroni with Cheese
Put a layer of boiled macaroni in buttered baking dish, sprinkle with
grated cheese; repeat, pour over White Sauce, cover with buttered
crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown.
Macaroni with Tomato Sauce
Reheat Boiled Macaroni in one and one-half cups of Tomato Sauce I,
sprinkle with grated cheese, and serve; or prepare as Baked Macaroni,
using Tomato in place of White Sauce.
Macaroni à l’Italienne
¾ cup macaroni
2 quarts boiling salted water
½ onion
2 cloves
1½ cups Tomato Sauce II
½ cup grated cheese
2 tablespoons wine
½ tablespoon butter
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, with butter and onion stuck with
cloves; drain, remove onion, reheat in Tomato Sauce, add cheese and
wine.
Macaroni, Italian Style
1 cup macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1½ cups scalded milk
⅔ cup grated cheese
Salt and paprika
¼ cup finely chopped cold boiled ham
Break macaroni in one-inch pieces and cook in boiling salted water,
drain, and reheat in sauce made of butter, flour, and milk, to which is
added cheese. As soon as cheese is melted, season with salt and paprika,
and turn on to a serving dish. Sprinkle with ham, and garnish with
parsley.
Macaroni à la Milanaise
Cook macaroni as for Macaroni à l’Italienne, reheat in Tomato Sauce II,
add six sliced mushrooms, two slices cooked smoked beef tongue cut in
strips, and one-half cup grated cheese.
Spaghetti
Spaghetti may be cooked in any way in which macaroni is cooked, but is
usually served with Tomato Sauce.
It is cooked in long strips rather than broken in pieces; to accomplish
this, hold quantity to be cooked in the hand, and dip ends in boiling
salted water; as spaghetti softens it will bend, and may be coiled under
water.
Knöfli
Beat two eggs slightly and add one-fourth cup milk. Add gradually to one
cup flour mixed and sifted with one teaspoon salt. Place colander over a
kettle of boiling water, turn in one-third mixture, and force through
colander into water, using a potato masher. As soon as buttons come to
top of water, remove with skimmer to hot vegetable dish, and sprinkle
with salt and grated cheese; repeat until mixture is used. Let stand in
oven five minutes, then serve.
Ravioli
1½ cups flour
½ egg
Warm water
¼ cup cracker crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped cooked spinach
1 egg
White stock
Salt
Pepper
Sift flour on a board, make depression in centre, drop in one-half egg,
and moisten with warm water to a stiff dough. Knead until smooth, cover,
and let stand ten minutes; then roll as thin as a sheet of paper, using
a rolling-pin. Cut in strips as long as paste, and two and three-fourth
inches wide, using a pastry jagger. Mix cracker crumbs, spinach, and
egg; moisten with stock and season with salt and pepper. Put mixture by
three-fourths teaspoon on lower half of strips of paste, two inches
apart. Fold upper part of paste over lower part. Press edges together
and between mixture with tips of thumbs, then cut apart, using pastry
jagger. Cook in White Stock ten minutes, take up with skimmer, arrange a
layer on hot serving dish, sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan
cheese, cover with Tomato Sauce; repeat twice and serve at once.
Tomato Sauce
⅓ cup butter
1 onion, finely chopped
¾ teaspoon salt
Few grains pepper
1 small can condensed tomato
⅔ lb. lean beef
Cook first four ingredients eight minutes. Add tomato, 1 pint of water,
and beef cut in small pieces, and cook one and one-half hours. Remove
meat before serving. Ravioli is a national Italian dish, and the cheese
and condensed tomato may be best bought of an Italian grocer.