FoodNet

Healthful cookery

1904

Page 3

Presented as published in 1904. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Seven heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar equal one cupful. Two cupfuls of dry or liquid material equal one pint. Four cupfuls of dry or liquid material equal one quart. Two cupfuls of granulated sugar weigh one pound. Two and two-thirds cupfuls of corn meal weigh one pound. 16 Healthful Cookery Four cupfuls of sifted flour (white) weigh one pound. Three and seven-eighths cupfuls of entire wheat flour weigh one pound. Four and one-half cupfuls of Graham or rye flour weigh one pound. One pint of oatmeal, cracked wheat, or other coarse grain products weighs about one pound. One and seven-eighths cupfuls of rice equal one pound. Two cupfuls of stale bread-crumbs equal one pound. Ten small eggs or nine large ones weigh about one pound. Two cupfuls of raisins (packed) weigh one pound. When desiring to divide a recipe calling for three eggs, take one whole egg and the yolk or white of another. Much care needs also to be exercised as to the manner of mingling together the different ingre- dients called for in compounding recipes after the materials have been accurately measured. This is a point which is often overlooked, and which is the cause of many a failure. There are four special Combining Ingredients i7 ways in which this is accomplished: stirring, beat- ing, kneading, cutting, and folding. Stirring. — By stirring is meant a continuous motion round and round with a spoon, without lifting it from the mixture except to scrape occa- sionally from the sides of the dish any portion of the materials that may cling to it. It is not alto- gether necessary that the stirring should be all in one direction, as some cooks suppose. The object of stirring is to thoroughly blend the ingredients, and this may be accomplished by stirring in one direction as well as in another. The blending of flour and water only can be more easily accom- plished, and the two more smoothly blended, with an egg-beater than with a spoon. Beating. — Beating is for the purpose of incor- porating as much air into the mixture as possible. It should be done by dipping the spoon in and out, cutting clear through and lifting from the bottom with each stroke so as to bring the under part to the surface. The process must be a continuous one, and must never be interspersed with any stirring if it is designed to retain the air within the mixture. Cutting and Folding. — Cutting and folding is a combination of two motions. The first, a vertical chopping or cutting through the mixture, com- i8 Healthful Cookery pleted by bringing the bowl of the spoon in contact with the bottom of the dish, thus turning the ingre- dients over and over so as to bring the under por- tion to the surface each time. These three procedures are adapted for the com- mingling of ingredients in the form of batters. Kneading. — Kneading is the mode by which materials already in the form of a dough are more thoroughly blended together; it also serves to in- corporate air. This may be most easily accom- plished by using the tips of the fingers, gathering up the dough from the edges, turning and pressing it with a sort of rocking motion. Breads