Manual for army cooks

Have a trench 18 inches wide, 18 inches deep, and from 4 to 6 feet long; keep a fire in this for several hours ; let fire die down so that there shall be a bed of coals and hot ashes ; it is then ready for use. Prepare beans as usual for baking and place in mess kettles ; pour in three quarts of hot water ; cover with tin plate or mess pan; scrape out the embers until kettle will be near bottom of trench; cover first with ashes, then Avith coals, and leave undisturbed for six to eight hours. It is a good plan for cooks to soak beans over night and carry them to the next camp. This will permit the furnishing of baked beans at supper Avhile marching. RICE. Remember that rice swells very much in boiling, and that a teacupful makes a large dish when cooked. Place in camp kettle, and cover the rice with about two inches of water; boil slowly, or rather simmer, until it is tender, then by gradually slowing the heat let the water evaporate, thus leaving the grains swollen and dry. Rice thus prepared can be used as a vegetable or a pudding by adding salt and pepper in the former and sugar in the latter case. HOW TO BOIL RICE. Pick your rice clean and wash it in two cold waters, drawing off the last water just as you are ready to put the rice in the saucepan for boiling. Prepare a saucepan with water sufficient to more than cover the rice by two inches, and in which a little salt has been shaken. The water should be brought to a boil and kept there until it is drained off. When the water is boiling sprinkle in the rice gradually so as not to stop the boiling. Boil for about twenty minutes, keeping the pan covered. Then throw into a colander, covering same; let stand several minutes, this serving a double purpose, allowing rice to drain as well as steam. Every grain should be found separate and dry. Remember, boil rapidly from the time you cover the pot until you take it off ; this allows each grain to swell to three tiines its normal size, and the motion prevents the grains from sticking together. Don't stir it, as this will cause it to fall to the bottom and burn. In order to see if the rice is done, take out one of the grains aiid crush it between the fingers ; if well done it will mash easily and feel perfectly soft. BAKING-POWDER BISCUITS AND BREAD. To six quarts of flour add eight tablespoonfuls of baking powder, two spoonfuls salt, and stir thoroughly together ; then add about eight tablespoonfuls of clear cold bacon fat; stir again, and add sufficient cold water (never warm water) quickly, and stir to a smooth but not stiff batter. Mix or stir it as little as possible — never knead it — or you will lose the strength (gases) of the powder. Roll or break into equal-sized biscuits; or, best, drop from a large spoon into well-greased pans. Put into a good hot oven, especially hot on top, and bake until done — usually from 15 to 20 minutes, if oven is good. Never knead the dough, as kneading kills the leavening properties of baking-powder bread. Yeast, or baker's bread, on the other hand, requires much kneading and a good stiff' dough. If in a hurry, or inexperienced, biscuits are the most easily made; the great fault in preparing either is not so much inexperience as lack of careful attention to the above details. BREAD.