Put a bushel of flour into a trough, or a large pan; with your fist make a deep hole in the centre thereof; put a pint of good fresh yeast into this hollow; add thereto two quarts of warm water, and work in with these as much of the flour as will serve to make a soft smooth kind of batter. Strew this over with just enough flour to hide it; then cover up the trough with its lid, or with a blanket to keep all warm, and when the leaven has risen sufficiently to cause the flour to crack all over its surface, throw in a handful of salt, work all together; add just enough lukewarm soft water to enable you to work the whole into a firm, compact dough, and after having kneaded this with your fists until it becomes stiff and comparatively tough, shake a little flour over it, and again cover it in with a blanket to keep it warm, in order to assist its fermentation. If properly managed, the fermentation will be accomplished in rather less than half an hour. Meanwhile that the bread is being thus far prepared, you will have heated your oven to a satisfactory degree of heat, with a sufficient quantity of dry, small wood faggots; and when all the wood is burnt, sweep out the oven clean and free from all ashes. Divide your dough into four-pound loaves, knead them into round shapes, making a hole at the top with your thumb, and immediately put them out of hand into the oven to bake, closing the oven-door upon them. In about two hours' time they will be thoroughly baked, and are then to be taken out of the oven, and allowed to become quite cold before they are put away in the cupboard.
[No. 132. Yorkshire Pie-clates for Tea.]
Ingredients, one pound of flour, two ounces of grocer's currants, three gills of milk, and a pinch of baking-powder. Mix the above ingredients together in a pan into a firm, smooth, compact paste. Divide this into eight equal parts, roll each into a ball with the hand previously dipped in flour, then roll them out with a rolling-pin, with a little flour shaken on the table to prevent the paste from sticking, to the size of a tea-saucer, and bake the pie-clates upon a griddle-iron fixed over a clear fire to the upper bar of the grate. In about two or three minutes' time they will be done on the underside; they must then be turned over that they may be also baked on the other side, then taken off the griddle-iron, placed on a plate, and a little butter spread upon each as they are done out of hand.
[No. 133. Hard Biscuits.]
Ingredients, one pound of flour, half a pint of hot milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, a pinch of baking-powder; bake them a quarter of an hour. Mix the above ingredients into a firm paste, well kneaded until it becomes quite tough; then let the paste rest covered over with a cloth for half an hour, after which it is to be divided into eight equal parts, rolled out to the size of tea-saucers, placed upon baking-tins, pricked all over with a fork, and baked in a brisk oven for about fifteen minutes.
[No. 134. Gingerbread Nuts.]
Ingredients, one pound of flour, half a pint of treacle, two ounces of butter, half an ounce of ground ginger, a pinch of allspice, a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, and a pinch of salt. Mix all the above ingredients into a firm, well-kneaded stiff paste, divide this into about twenty-four parts, roll these into shape like walnuts, place them upon greased baking-tins at distances of two inches apart from each other, and bake the gingerbread nuts in a rather brisk oven for about fifteen minutes.
[No. 135. How to Steam Potatoes.]
Peel the potatoes thinly, wash them clean, put them in the steamer, over boiling water, which must be kept briskly boiling until the potatoes are thoroughly done, the length of time depending very much on their size. I am aware that it is not in the power of all to possess a potato-steamer, although one may be purchased at Adams & Son's, in the Haymarket, for a few shillings; and therefore I will give you instructions how to boil potatoes.