Foods, their selection and preparation

i tsp. lasses ings ginger) soda BASIC DOUGHS AND VARIATIONS Proportions for the doughs are developed on the basis of the flour. The liquids and the dry ingredients are combined to obtain a definite consistency which is easily checked. The basic doughs include biscuits, pastry, and yeast-leavened bread. There are many vari¬ ations of each of these doughs. Biscuits. Biscuits are the simplest of the doughs. They are the most quickly and easily made of all the batters and doughs when there is an understanding of what is to be accomplished and some skill has been de¬ veloped in handling the mixture. Success in making biscuits, and also in making pastry, requires not only correct proportions of the 1 Boldfaced batters are basic batters; others are variations. 2Omitted when self-rising flour is used. ingredients, but also the skill which comes with practice after understanding the prin¬ ciples involved. The usual proportion of liquid to flour in biscuits is 1 part liquid to 3 of flour, by measure. This amount will vary with the kind of flour. Soft-wheat flour, which makes the most tender biscuits, takes up less liquid than hard-wheat flour. The other ingredi¬ ents include baking powder (1 to 1J tea¬ spoons for each cup sifted flour), salt (J tea¬ spoon for a cup flour), and fat (1 to 2 table¬ spoons for each cup flour). No egg is used in standard biscuits, and the method of combining the ingredients is different from the general method used for the batters. The reason for the change in the method is the texture which is desired in the finished product. A flaky texture is considered best in biscuits and their vari- [illustration: Correct Method for Making Biscuits • ( Upper left ) Cut the fat into the sifted dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. ( Upper right ) Add milk and stir quickly to form dough. ( Lower left) Knead gently for about half a minute. ( Lower right) Pat or roll to desired thickness, cut with a floured cutter, and bake on a sheet in a hot oven (450° F.)] ations, and also in pastry. To achieve this, a solid plastic fat is used. It is chopped or rubbed into the sifted dry ingredients, rather than melted and added with the liquid, as in the batters. The fat is chopped into the flour mixture with two knives or spatulas, a biscuit cutter or a pastry blender, or rubbed in with the fingertips. When the mixture resembles coarse corn meal, the milk is poured into a well in the flour-fat mixture, all at once if the correct amount has been determined for the flour being used. The milk then is stirred vigorously with the other ingredients until the mix¬ ture thickens. This step should require less than a half minute. The dough then is turned onto a lightly floured board or pastry canvas and quickly and gently kneaded for about half a minute.