CHAPTER VI.
Boiled Rice.—Cracked Wheat.—Hominy Grits.—Batter Cakes.—Rice Cakes.—Puddings.—Welsh Rarebit.—Fried Bread for Soups.—Stewed Cranberries.
Boiled Rice.
Pick one pound of rice over carefully and wash it clean in one or two cold waters, then drain and put it into a pot containing four quarts of boiling water, and add four teaspoonfuls of salt; cover and boil steadily for fifteen minutes, then drain off the water, empty the rice, wipe out the pot, sprinkle a little salt over the bottom of it and rub it with a dry cloth, finally emptying out the salt, replacing the rice and setting the pot near the fire for fifteen minutes longer to let the rice dry and swell. If a large pot is at hand a better way after the rice has boiled fifteen minutes is to drain it as above, then pouring the boiling water into the large pot, set in the dry rice in the smaller one, which should be put in the larger one and all set over the fire and the rice allowed to steam thoroughly dry, which will take fifteen minutes.
The writer followed the above recipe implicitly till he discovered that nothing further is necessary to cook rice to his own particular taste than the boiling fifteen minutes. Since making this discovery he has omitted the further portion of the recipe in practice, but gives it here for the benefit of those whose tastes may be more dainty than his own.
Cracked Wheat.
To one quart of the wheat add one tablespoonful of salt, and soak over night in cold water enough to cover it. In the morning put the wheat with the water it was soaked in into a pot, cover closely and cook gently until soft—probably from one to one and one-half hours—stirring frequently to prevent scorching. When necessary to replenish the water add boiling water.
Hominy Grits
Are cooked the same as cracked wheat, and are very wholesome. Coarse hominy requires long boiling.
Batter Cakes.
Put one quart of sifted flour in a deep dish, and mix with it one-half teaspoonful of salt, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one teaspoonful of sugar. Add warm water (milk is better) sufficient to make a thick batter. Then add two eggs, beaten light, and if they do not thin down the batter sufficiently, add more water (or milk). Beat thoroughly and cook immediately the same as slapjacks.
Rice Cakes.
Into one quart of sifted flour stir enough water (or milk) to make a medium thick batter; add two cups of cold boiled rice, one teaspoonful of salt, and lastly, four eggs, beaten light. Beat thoroughly and cook immediately the same as slapjacks.
Plum Pudding.
Put into a basin one pound of flour, three-quarters of a pound of raisins (stoned, if possible), three-quarters of a pound of fat of salt pork (well washed and cut into small dice or chopped), and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Add half a pint of water and mix well together. Dip a cloth bag large enough to hold the pudding into boiling water, wring it out, and apply flour well to the inside. Put in the pudding and fasten it up, leaving a little room in the bag for the pudding to swell. Now place the whole in enough boiling water to cover the bag, and boil two hours, turning the bag several times to prevent its scorching against the bottom or sides of the pot. If necessary to add water to keep the bag covered, add boiling water. When done take the pudding from the pot, plunge it into cold water for an instant, and then turn it out to be eaten.
Omaha Pudding.
Mix in a deep dish one quart of sifted flour and one tablespoonful of baking powder. Dissolve one heaping teaspoonful of salt in one half pint of cold water (or milk), adding enough of the latter to the former to make a very thick batter. Mix quickly and boil in a bag as above.
Batter Pudding.
One quart of sifted flour in a deep dish worked into a smooth paste with one quart of sweet milk; then mix in the yolks of seven eggs, beaten well, one teaspoonful of salt and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of baking powder dissolved in a little hot water. Stir hard and finally work in quickly the whites of the seven eggs, which should previously have been beaten into a stiff froth. Boil two hours in bags and leave plenty of room for it to swell.
Corn Starch Pudding.
Dissolve three tablespoonfuls of corn starch in a small quantity of milk, add two eggs, beaten light, and a small pinch of salt. Heat three pints of milk nearly to boiling, mix all together and boil four minutes, constantly stirring. Dip a cup or basin in cold water to cool it, and turn into it the pudding, which should be eaten with sugar and milk when it is cold.
Baked Rice Pudding.
Pick over and wash well one pint of rice and soak it two hours in enough milk or water to just cover it. Then stir it into two quarts of milk, one half pound of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, and a small quantity of nutmeg or cinnamon, if at hand. Put into the baking basins, having first well greased them, and bake in the ground two or three hours till it is done brown.
Creole Sauce.
The juice of a lemon, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, ditto of tomato catsup, one teaspoonful of mustard. Heat all to near the boiling point, and use hot with meats or game.
Welsh Rarebit.
Cut bread into slices about one inch in thickness, and pare off the crust. Toast the slices slightly without hardening or burning and spread with butter; cut slices of cheese not quite as large as the bread, lay it on the bread, and toast all over the fire on a broiler. Be careful that the cheese does not burn, and let it be equally melted. Spread over the top a little mustard already prepared and seasoning of pepper, and serve very hot.
Fried Bread for Soups.
Cut stale bread into square pieces, and fry in boiling fat for an instant. Take care it does not burn, removing it as soon as brown.
Stewed Cranberries.
Pick the berries carefully; then wash them in cold water; drain. Put them into fresh cold water and allow them to remain therein five or ten minutes; drain. Then put the fruit into a well-covered pot (not iron) with sufficient boiling water to cover the berries. Stew rather quickly, stirring occasionally until soft. They should cook in from twenty to thirty minutes. Five minutes before they are done stir in sugar to taste.