FORM IV: SENOR GRADE (Continued)
COOKERY
The first work in cookery, for this Form, should consist of practice
lessons, which will test the ability of the class in cooking the simple
animal and vegetable foods. The recipes used for these should be such as
to attract the interest of the pupils, and each may be a combination of
several food materials. Cream soups, custards, scalloped dishes, and
shepherd's pie, would be useful for this purpose.
It is desirable that this test shall be made in as few lessons as
possible, because nearly all the time in cookery for this year will be
required for the new work, namely, a series of lessons on flour
mixtures.
OUTLINE OF LESSON ON FLOUR
Flour is a food substance ground into a powder.
1. Sources of flour:
(1) Certain cereals--wheat, rye, barley,
buckwheat, rice
(2) Potatoes.
2. Kinds of flour made from wheat:
(1) Graham flour--the entire wheat seed is
ground.
(2) Whole wheat flour--the first outer coat of
cellulose with its valuable mineral contents is
removed before the seed is ground.
(3) White flour--only the central white part of
the seed is ground.
NOTE.--The pupils should be given specimens of
fall wheat to examine, so as to compare the
outer coat of cellulose with the central white
part of the grain.
3. Composition of white flour:
(1) Starch--a fine, granular, white substance
(2) Gluten--a sticky, yellowish, elastic
substance (a protein food).
To find the substances in white flour, each pupil should mix half a cup
of bread flour with enough cold water to make a dough. She must then be
taught to knead it. This knowledge will be of use later in the bread
lessons. After it is thoroughly kneaded until it is smooth and well
blended, the dough should be washed in several waters. The first washing
water should be poured into a glass and allowed to settle, to show the
starch. After all the starch is washed away, the gluten will remain.
The gluten may then be put into a greased pan and baked, to demonstrate
that it admits of distention, and also to show that it may be stiffened
permanently by heat into any distended shape. The baked gluten should be
reserved to be used as a specimen in succeeding lessons.
4. Kinds of wheat flour:
(1) Bread flour--contains much gluten.
(2) Pastry flour--contains little gluten.
NOTE.--Macaroni is a paste made from wheat
flour which contains much gluten.
5. Tests for bread flour:
(1) The colour is a deeper cream than pastry
flour, on account of the larger amount of
gluten which it contains.
(2) When squeezed, it will not hold the impress
of the hand.
(3) When the flour is made into a dough and
washed, about one fourth of the original
quantity remains as gluten.
OUTLINE OF SERIES OF LESSONS ON FLOUR MIXTURES
LESSON I
1. Meaning of flour mixtures:
A lightened mixture of flour and liquid, with
or without other ingredients, is called a flour
mixture.
2. Kinds of flour mixtures:
(1) Batters.--(_a_) Pour batters--pancakes, popovers
(_b_) Drop batters--cake
(2) Doughs.-- (_a_) Soft dough--cookies, baking-powder
biscuits, doughnuts
(_b_) Stiff dough--pastry.
3. Methods of mixing flour mixtures:
(1) Stirring.--A roundabout movement which
simply mixes the ingredients.
(2) Beating.--An upright, circular movement,
which incorporates air into the ingredients
while being mixed.
(3) Folding.--A slow, careful beating, which
blends the ingredients without loss of the air
they contain.
(4) Kneading.--A movement of the hands to blend
the ingredients and also to incorporate air.
(5) Cutting.--A hacking movement of a knife to
mix fat through flour.
4. Framework of flour mixtures:
(1) Gluten
(2) Gluten and egg-white.
To show the framework, the gluten baked in the flour lessons should be
used. It should be pointed out as the skeleton of the mixture which
upholds the entire structure and on which the other ingredients depend.
To have light mixtures, this framework must admit of being expanded and
also of being stiffened permanently into the stretched shape. Since
egg-white has both of these necessary qualities, it may be used for a
framework either alone or in combination with gluten.
It should also be observed that a mixture of ingredients light in weight
does not prevent the framework from rising as much as heavy ones do.
The pupils will see that the framework of a mixture must increase in
size in order to make the mixture light, but it must be made very clear
that, while heat stiffens any framework, it will not distend it. Some
other agency is required for this.
5. Lightening agents used in flour mixtures:
(1) Air.--Incorporated by beating, kneading,
and sifting.
(2) Steam.--Incorporated in the form of a
liquid which, when heated, changes to steam.
(3) Carbonic acid gas.--Formed in the mixture
by the chemical union of soda with some acid.
Examples: soda and sour milk; soda, cream of
tartar and water; soda and molasses.
The lightening agents, air and steam, may be taught from the samples of
baked gluten. Experiments will show how to produce the carbonic acid
gas.
Experiments:
1. Put into a thick glass 1/8 tsp. of soda and
1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar. Mix, and note the
result. Stir in 1/8 cup of cold water, and note
the result.
2. In No. 1, use hot water in place of cold,
and note the result.
3. Put 1/4 cup of sour milk in a glass. Stir
into the milk 1/4 tsp. of soda, and note the
result.
4. Put 1 tbsp. of molasses in a glass. Stir
into the molasses a pinch of soda, and note the
result.
Baking-powder:
It may now be explained that, for the sake of convenience, soda and
cream of tartar may be obtained already mixed, in accurate proportions
of two parts of acid to one of the soda. This mixture is known as
baking-powder. As very little moisture is necessary to start the action
of the powder, a little cornstarch is added to it to keep it dry. For
the same reason, it should always be kept tightly covered.
Soda is made from common salt and is cheap, but the source of cream of
tartar makes it expensive, so that good baking-powder cannot be low
priced. If such be advertised, it is usually adulterated.
As soon as the foregoing principles of flour mixtures are understood,
they should be put into practice. The lessons on cake, bread, and pastry
should follow in the order named, with as much practical work in
connection with each as the time will allow.
CAKE MAKING
LESSONS II AND III
1. Classes of cake:
(1) Cakes without butter.--These mixtures
contain no heavy ingredients and have little
weight depending on the framework. They are
lightened by air and steam only. Examples:
sponge cake, angel cake.
(2) Cakes with butter.--These are mixtures
having ingredients of greater weight; and the
three lightening agents--air, steam, and
carbonic acid gas are used to raise them.
Examples: pound cake, chocolate cake, nut cake,
etc.
NOTE.--Practice should be given in making at
least one of each kind of cake, to demonstrate
the method of mixing employed.
2. General directions for making cake:
(1) Attend to the fire, so as to have the oven
at a proper heat.
(2) Grease the pans thoroughly; greased paper
may be used to line the bottom of the tin, but,
in the case of fruit cake, the whole tin should
be lined.
(3) Have everything ready, so that the mixing
may be quickly done.
(4) Use pastry flour.
(5) Use fine granulated sugar to ensure its
being dissolved.
(6) Blend the ingredients thoroughly, and at
the same time incorporate as large an amount of
air as possible.
(7) Fill the pan about two-thirds full, pushing
the mixture well to the corners and sides, so
as to leave a depression in the centre.
(8) Attend carefully to the baking.
3. General rules for mixing cake:
(1) Cake without butter--
(_a_) Separate the yolks and whites of the
eggs.
(_b_) Beat the yolks until thick and
lemon-coloured.
(_c_) Add sugar to the yolks gradually and
continue beating; add the flavouring.
(_d_) Beat the whites until stiff and dry, then
_fold_ them into the first mixture.
(_e_) Gradually sift and fold in the flour
until well mixed.
(2) Cake with butter--
(_a_) Cream the butter by working it with a
wooden spoon.
(_b_) Add the sugar gradually by stirring it
in.
(_c_) Beat the eggs until light, and add to the
first mixture. (The eggs may be separated and
the whites added later.)
(_d_) Add the liquid and beat until the sugar
is thoroughly dissolved.
(_e_) Mix the flour and baking-powder in a
sifter and gradually sift and beat it into the
mixture until it is thoroughly blended.
(Liquid and flour may be added alternately.)
(_f_) Fold in the stiffly beaten whites, if the
eggs have been separated.
(_g_) If fruit, peel, nuts, etc., are used,
they should be floured out of the quantity
allowed for the cake and added last.
4. General directions for baking cake:
(1) Small, thin cakes should be baked in a hot
oven.
Examples: cookies, layer cake.
(2) All loaf cakes require a moderate oven.
(3) In baking cakes, divide the time stated in
the recipe into quarters as follows:
First quarter--mixture should begin to rise.
Second quarter--mixture should continue rising.
Third quarter--mixture should begin to brown
and to stiffen into shape.
Fourth quarter--mixture should finish browning
and stiffening and shrink slightly from the
sides of the pan.
(4) Mixture is cooked when a slight pressure
leaves no dent, or when a small skewer or fine
knitting-needle put into the centre comes out
clean and dry.
To the inexperienced minds of the girls in the Fourth Form, to whom the
study of flour mixtures is new, the number and variety of these seems
very large. All cook books give an almost endless collection of recipes
for cakes, cookies, muffins, etc., and to the pupils each of these seems
an entirely new mixture. In reality, many of them are but slight
variations of the same type. A certain mixture of materials is used for
a foundation, and numerous varieties are made from this by addition,
subtraction, or substitution of ingredients. The original mixture is
called a _basic recipe_. Instead of teaching isolated mixtures, it will
be found an excellent idea to give the class the basic ingredients for a
recipe and encourage them to suggest variations, either original or from
memory.
Typical basic recipes for cake and biscuits are given below:
BASIC RECIPE FOR CAKE
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking-powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla.
VARIATIONS OF BASIC RECIPE FOR CAKE
1. Spice cake:
To the basic recipe add 1 tbsp. of spice. Sift
in the spice with the flour.
2. Nut cake:
Add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. Increase the
baking-powder by one third. Put a little of the
flour on the nuts and beat them in at the last.
3. Fruit cake:
Add 3/4 cup of currants, raisins, figs, or
dates, or a mixture of all. Increase the
baking-powder by one third. Flour the fruit and
add it last.
4. Chocolate cake:
Add 1/2 cup grated chocolate. Increase the milk
by 2 tbsp. Heat the chocolate in the milk just
enough to dissolve it. Cool the mixture and use
in place of milk.
BASIC RECIPE FOR BISCUITS, ETC.
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking-powder
2 tbsp. fat (butter, lard, or dripping)
About 2/3 cup milk.
VARIATIONS OF BASIC RECIPE FOR BISCUITS
1. Sweet biscuit:
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar after the fat is added.
2. Fruit biscuit:
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar and 1/2 cup of fruit,
(currants, raisins, peel, or a mixture of all)
after the fat is added.
3. Scones:
Add 2 tbsp. of sugar, and use one egg and only
1/2 cup of milk. Beat the egg until light, add
to milk, and use this for liquid. Form into
round cakes about eight inches in diameter, and
cut into quarters.
4. Fruit scones:
Add 1/2 cup of fruit to the scone recipe.
5. Short cake for fruit:
Same as scones, but double the amount of fat.
6. Dumplings for stews:
Use the basic recipe, leaving out the fat.
7. Steamed fruit pudding:
Use the basic recipe to make the dough that
incases the fruit.
BREAD MAKING
In beginning the bread lessons, it will be found that there are no new
principles to teach. It will, however, be necessary to explain the new
means of producing gas which is used in this particular mixture, namely,
yeast.
From their lessons on the "Preservation of Food" and "Canning", the
pupils are already acquainted with one class of microscopic plants. The
little plants, in that case, were a source of great inconvenience to the
housekeeper. Yeast may be introduced as another family of one-celled
plants, but one which is most useful. Under good conditions these tiny
plants will produce a large amount of carbon dioxide gas, provided they
are given sufficient time. If, however, the gas be required quickly,
soda and acid must be used. For this reason, plain flour mixtures, in
which the carbon dioxide is quickly made, are called quick breads, to
distinguish them from breads in which yeast is used. Examples of these
are baking-powder biscuits, gems, corn-bread, etc.
The use of yeast is the simplest and cheapest way of obtaining carbonic
acid gas, and mixtures so made remain moist longer than those in which
baking-powder is used.
Throughout the introductory lesson, this fact must be kept prominently
before the class, that yeast is a plant and, as such, requires plant
conditions. The necessary conditions will be known from the lesson on
"Bacteria", so that they have only to be reviewed. The pupils may be
told that although they cannot see the plants, they can very plainly see
the bubbles of gas which the plants give off when the latter are made
active under favourable conditions.
LESSON I
OUTLINE OF LESSONS ON YEAST
1. Description of yeast:
Yeast is a one-celled plant which can be seen only with a microscope.
Under good conditions it becomes very active and multiplies rapidly by a
process called _budding_. It is used by the housekeeper for the carbonic
acid gas it gives off.
[Illustration: Yeast plants magnified]
2. Conditions necessary for the activity of yeast:
(1) Oxygen
(2) Water
(3) Food.--This must be sugar, or starch which
it will change into sugar. Potato starch is
more easily used by yeast than flour starch. It
uses also some nitrogenous food and mineral
matter.
(4) Heat.--The yeast plant thrives in a heat of
about the same temperature as our bodies. A
little extra heat will only make it grow
faster; but excessive heat will kill it.
Freezing will not kill the plant, though cold
makes yeast inactive.
3. Sources of yeast:
Yeast was first found as _wild yeast_ in the air, but now it may be
obtained at grocery stores, in three forms:
(1) Liquid yeast.--The plants are put into a
starchy liquid. This will keep only a few days,
as the starch sours.
(2) Dry yeast.--The plants are put into a
starchy paste and the mixture is dried. This
form will keep for months, because it is
perfectly dry but, for the same reason, it
takes the plants a long time to become active
when used.
(3) Compressed yeast.--The plants are put into
cakes of a starchy mixture and left moist. They
will keep only a few days. Good compressed
yeast is a pale fawn colour, smells sweet,
breaks clean, and crumbles easily.
4. Experiments with yeast:
Make a _yeast garden_ by using the plants obtained at the grocery store
as follows:
Take half a cup of lukewarm water to give the plants moisture, a
teaspoonful of sugar for immediate food, and the same of wheat starch
(flour) for a reserve food. Beat the mixture to infold oxygen, and then
put in one-quarter cake of yeast plants.
Divide the mixture among a number of test-tubes, so that each group of
four pupils has three.
(1) Place one test-tube in warm water and heat
to boiling.
(2) Place one test-tube in water which feels
warm to the hand.
(3) Place one test-tube in cracked ice and
freeze the mixture. Afterwards thaw, and place
the same test-tube in lukewarm water.
Observe the results, and compare the amount of gas formed under the
different conditions.
LESSON II
PRACTICAL BREAD-MAKING
Ingredients of plain bread:
1. Liquid.--(1) It wets the mixture and causes the
ingredients to adhere.
(2) It furnishes steam for a lightening
agent.
(3) It allows the gluten to become sticky
and elastic.
(4) It furnishes moisture for yeast plants.
2. Yeast.--It gives off carbonic acid gas, which lightens
the mixture.
3. Salt.--(1) It gives a flavour.
(2) It retards the growth of the yeast
plant.
4. Flour.--(1) It thickens the mixture.
(2) It supplies food for the yeast plant.
(3) It supplies gluten for a framework for
the mixture.
Amount of ingredients for one small loaf:
Liquid--1 cup or 1/2 pt.
Salt--1/2 tsp.
Flour--About three times the amount of liquid
Yeast--Amount depends on the time given the bread to rise, as follows:
12 hr. to rise 5 hr. to rise 3 hr. to rise
1/4 yeast cake 1/2 yeast cake 1 yeast cake
NOTE.--One cake of compressed yeast contains
about the same number of yeast plants as one
cake of dry yeast or one cup of liquid yeast.
Process in making bread:
(1) Mixing (stirring, beating, and kneading).--
(_a_) This mixes the ingredients. (_b_) It
incorporates air to aid the yeast plant and to
act as a lightening agent. (_c_) It makes the
gluten elastic.
(2) First rising.--This allows the yeast plants
conditions and time to produce carbonic acid
gas, until the dough is distended to twice its
original size.
(3) Moulding.--(_a_) This distributes the gas
evenly throughout the loaf. (_b_) It shapes the
loaf.
(4) Second rising.--This again allows the yeast
plants time to produce gas which will distend
the dough to twice its size.
(5) Baking.--(_a_) The heat of the oven expands
the air and gas in the dough, which causes the
gluten framework to distend. (_b_) The water
changes to steam, which becomes another agent
in distending the gluten. (_c_) The starch on
the outside of the loaf becomes brown in the
dry heat of the oven, while the inside starch
is made soluble in the moist heat of the
mixture. (_d_) The gluten stiffens into the
distended shape. (_e_) The yeast plants are
killed.
In this lesson, after deciding on the necessary ingredients, the pupils
may be told the amount of each to use for their class work. They should
then measure and mix these ingredients and set the dough away for the
first rising. While the bread is rising, the kitchen may be put in order
and the other steps of the process reasoned out and written.
Other school work must be taken then, until the dough has fully risen,
when the process may be completed. After each stage of the process has
been carried out, the notes on it may be written.
With the foregoing principles of bread-making in mind, the class should
be able to make any bread mixture. Each pupil should have entire
responsibility for the process of making one small loaf of plain bread.
About half a cup of liquid, mixed with the other necessary ingredients,
makes a good-sized loaf for practice. Smaller loaves than this give
little chance for manipulation.
In Household Management centres, where the pupils come from other
schools for the lesson period only, the process will have to be divided
into two lessons. The first lesson may include the first two
stages--mixing and first rising--each pupil using small quantities, say
for one eighth of a loaf of the ordinary size. At the end of the lesson,
they may carry their dough home for completion, or it may be used by
another class which is ready for the later steps of the process.
The second lesson will include the last three steps--moulding, second
rising, and baking--and it will be necessary for the teacher to have
dough prepared for the moulding stage when the class arrives.
LESSON III
FANCY BREADS
These mixtures are but variations of plain bread. The extra ingredients,
such as milk, eggs, butter, spices, sugar, currants, raisins, peel,
etc., are added at the most convenient stage of the process.
NOTE.--If there is not time to have one fancy
bread, such as Parker House rolls or currant
bread, made in school, recipes for these may be
discussed in class and the work done at home.
THE BREAD-MIXER
1. This utensil mixes and beats the bread by means of a large beater
turned with a handle, thus avoiding the use of the hands for this
purpose.
2. It does this work with less energy and in a much shorter time than if
the hands were used.
3. It can be used only for the first two steps of bread-making, namely,
_mixing_ and _first rising_.
4. The ingredients must all be put in at once; hence, they must be
accurately measured.
5. The amount of ingredients may be learned by calculation from previous
bread-making done in the old way, or by using the book of recipes
accompanying each mixer.
NOTE.--There are several good kinds of
bread-mixers which may be bought in three
sizes. Small size makes 1 to 2 loaves and costs
$1.35 (about). Medium size makes 2 to 6 loaves
and costs $2.00 (about). Large size makes 4 to
10 loaves and costs $2.50 (about).
PASTRY
Pastry is one of the simplest flour mixtures, and one that has the
lowest food value. The intimate blending of butter or lard with the
flour envelopes the starch grains with fat, and makes the mixture
difficult to digest. The same thing occurs in frying food and in
buttering hot toast; so the idea is not a new one to the class.
In introducing the lesson on pastry, this principle of digestion should
be reviewed, and it should be made plain that delicate pudding and
seasonable fruits are a much better form of dessert.
There are no new principles to teach, but some old ones to impress. The
object of the housekeeper should be to make a mixture that is light and
one that will fall to pieces easily. To ensure the latter, anything that
would toughen the gluten must be avoided.
From the bread lesson, the pupils have learned that working the water
into the gluten or much handling of flour after it is wet, makes a
mixture firm and tough. In pastry there must be enough gluten to stick
the ingredients together, but its elastic quality is undesirable. For
the latter reason also, a small amount of water is used.
In the cake mixtures, it was found that the use of fat in the "butter
cakes" made the framework tender and easily broken, so in pastry the
same means may be employed. Fat of some kind is mixed with the flour to
act on the gluten and destroy its toughness.
Air and steam are the only lightening agents commonly used in pastry.
Since cold air occupies less room than warm air and admits of more
expansion, it is desirable that the mixture be kept very cold. The low
temperature also prevents the fat melting; hence, the necessity for the
use of cold utensils and materials throughout the process.
OUTLINE OF LESSON ON PASTRY
1. Ingredients:
(1) Flour, (2) salt, (3) fat, (4) water.
2. Notes on flour:
(1) Use only pastry flour, which will have a
small amount of gluten.
(2) After the flour is wet, handle the mixture
as little as possible, to avoid working the
water into the gluten and making it tough.
3. Notes on fat:
(1) Fat is used to destroy the elasticity of
the gluten, so that it will not be tough when
cooked.
(2) Butter, lard, or dripping may be used.
(3) Lard makes more tender pastry than butter.
(4) Butter gives the best flavour.
(5) Half butter and half lard makes a good
mixture.
(6) Layers of fat may be put in between layers
of pastry, to separate it into flakes.
(7) If two fats are used, the softer is cut
into the flour, and the harder one laid on the
paste and folded in.
4. Notes on water:
(1) Use the water as cold as possible.
(2) Use the least amount of water necessary to
make the ingredients adhere.
5. Lightening agents used in pastry:
(1) Air.--(_a_) This should be as cold as
possible. (_b_) The air may he folded in,
between layers of pastry.
(2) Steam.
6. Kinds of pastry:
(1) Plain pastry.--In this, one quarter to one
third as much fat as flour is used, and it is
all "cut in".
(2) Flaky pastry.--In this, the same amount of
fat is used as in plain pastry, but half of it
is "laid on" and folded in.
(3) Puff pastry.--In this, one half as much fat
as flour, up to equal parts of each is used;
one quarter of the fat is cut in, and the
remainder is laid on and folded in.
7. Amount of ingredients for plain pastry for one pie:
1 1/2 cup pastry flour; 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup
fat (lard and butter); ice water.