“Oh, yes! and meat stewed so will always be tender. If you like we can go to the sewing now, as it is too soon to make the crust.”
She went upstairs and sewed till five o’clock, chatting the while, Mrs. Lennox expatiating on the privations of the whole family; and Molly could well understand how it came about, with a poor, weary mother sewing strenuously to make the children look well, and understanding so little of domestic economy that she did not see that, by a different mode of living, she would save enough in the month either to buy new clothes or to lessen her own incessant labor by getting help. Nor could Molly at this time make any suggestion.
At five o’clock Molly took a cup of the suet, and a scant two cups of flour, with a level tea-spoonful of salt, tossed all together in a bowl, then made a hole in the centre, and poured in half a cup of cold water, quickly and lightly made it into a dough with a knife, adding a few drops of water to bind the crumbs; there was no pressure, no attempt at kneading, and the dough was soft, but not sticky; then she turned it on the floured pastry-board, and rolled it quickly; it formed a fairly good round shape, an inch thick, and somewhat larger than the top of the saucepan. She laid it on the top of the meat and vegetables, after tasting the gravy to see if it was seasoned enough.
“You see it forms a sort of lid to the stew, which must now be put forward, as the cold crust has cooled it, till it boils again, or the crust will be heavy.” She placed it in the hottest spot as she spoke.
“But do you mean to say that crust will be light without baking powder?”
“Yes, quite light; if it is made quickly, rolled only once—just as you would biscuit dough, only not so soft—brought quickly to the boiling-point when in the saucepan, and then kept gently simmering an hour, not allowed to soak in the gravy without cooking. But if you choose you can add baking-powder; it makes a much more crumbly crust. Made as I have made it, it is considered very wholesome and nourishing, as beef fat and wheaten flour are two of the best kinds of food; lard and flour and baking-powder are by no means so wholesome a combination. When dishing it, cut the top crust pie-fashion, and lay it round the meat.”
“Well, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating,’ and if it is fairly good I shall be so glad to have some dish that is a change from our routine, and it is, after all, easy enough,” said Mrs. Lennox, washing potatoes for the oven.
“Oh, quite! It only needs strict attention to the little points, the slow simmering and the seasoning; the browning at first is not necessary, although it is better looking and better flavored by taking that little trouble.”
“Ah, my dear, it is the little trouble, that seems nothing to you, that makes so much difference to a busy woman like me.”
“If you like this dish, I have several others that I think you may find both very cheap and very nice, and I shall be very glad at any time to come over and give you a helping hand in the kitchen. And, by and bye, this suet crust is the foundation for several good puddings,—rolled out and spread with jam, and boiled one hour and a half as a roly-poly, it is excellent; with a cup of currants added, before wetting the flour and suet, it makes the ‘spotted Dick’ dear to English children; or, in place of currants, the juice of a lemon and the grated rind of two, with half a cup of sugar, makes a nice plain lemon pudding, but long, steady boiling is absolutely necessary to lightness. Excuse my telling you all this, but you know I am so fond of cooking, I can’t help it.”