To the Student. As soon as you have a good working knowledge of the scientific principles which underhe many cooking processes, and have gained some amount of skill in the simple technique of everyday dishes, you should be able to use the art of cooking, like any other art, as a means of self-expression. The art of cooking is chiefly the art of making things taste good, of developing, modify- ing, or enhancing flavor, of making delicious combina- tions of different substances in one dish. As you gain more and more freedom in the use of this art your cook- ing will become more and more individual, so that if 140 FLOUR MIXTURES AND LEAVENS! BATTERS 141 you really have the gift your cooking will finally be as distinctive as your handwriting, and your friends will enjoy things to eat in your house that they cannot get anywhere else. In the work in Flour Mixtures you will find a great deal of scope for originality and invention. You will learn from the selected recipes that certain things are essential in every batter or dough. These have to be carefully measured, and their proportions correctly observed. But there are many more things which are non-essential, and it is chiefly on these that the flavor of the dish depends. On your ability to use the non-essentials, or the condi- ments, with judgment, as well as on your ability to ma- nipulate skillfully where manipulation affects flavor, will depend your success in originating delicious combina- tions as soon as your experience warrants your attempt- ing new departures. THE THIN BATTER A thin batter is one that has the consistency of heavy cream, or molasses, or such a fluid as will be so thick as barely to find its level immediately on pouring from one vessel to another. This mixture usually calls for equal parts of flour and wetting. No exact proportion of either of these ingredients can be given, since many liquids, such as milk, contain solids in suspension ui varying degree, and the thickening property of different brands of flour varies even more. Judgment has to be used in adding the dry materials to the wetting, so as to make a batter of the proper consistency; but fortunately a very little experience is sufficient to give a fair working knowl- edge. 142 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PREPARATION EXAMPLES OF THE THIN BATTER Griddle Cakes or Pancakes Ingredients. 2 cups flour. 1 teaspoonful baking soda. }/2 teaspoonful salt. 2 cups sour milk, just clabbered✪ Griddle Cakes or Pancakes. Method. Mix and sift together the dry ingredients, being careful to sift the soda free from lumps. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, stir to a smooth batter, beat until bubbling, and cook by pouring a measured quantity at a time on a hot, slightly greased griddle. This recipe will make sixteen cakes. For your individual experimentation it will be better to use one-eighth of the quantity; that is, to work on the basis of one-quarter of a cup of flour. This will make two small cakes, and if you cook one of these on a greased griddle, and the other on a soapstone — if one is available — and compare the appearance, flavor, and tenderness of the two, you will learn something interesting. Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes, or Pancakes Substitute sweet for sour milk, and baking powder for soda. Two teaspoonfuls of baking powder✪ Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes or Pancakes may be allowed to one cup of flour.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To the Student. As soon as you have a good working knowledge of the scientific principles which underlie many cooking processes, and have gained some amount of skill in the simple technique of everyday dishes, you should be able to use the art of cooking, like any other art, as a means of self-expression. The art of cooking is chiefly the art of making things taste good, of developing, modifying, or enhancing flavor, of making delicious combinations of different substances in one dish. As you gain more and more freedom in the use of this art your cooking will become more and more individual, so that if FLOUR MIXTURES AND LEAVENS AND BATTERS 141 you really have the gift your cooking will finally be as distinctive as your handwriting, and your friends will enjoy things to eat in your house that they cannot get anywhere else. In the work in Flour Mixtures you will find a great deal of scope for originality and invention. You will learn from the selected recipes that certain things are essential in every batter or dough. These have to be carefully measured, and their proportions correctly observed. But there are many more things which are non-essential, and it is chiefly on these that the flavor of the dish depends. On your ability to use the non-essentials, or the condiments, with judgment, as well as on your ability to manipulate skillfully where manipulation affects flavor, will depend your success in originating delicious combinations as soon as your experience warrants your attempting new departures. THE THIN BATTER A thin batter is one that has the consistency of heavy cream, or molasses, or such a fluid as will be so thick as barely to find its level immediately on pouring from one vessel to another. This mixture usually calls for equal parts of flour and wetting. No exact proportion of either of these ingredients can be given, since many liquids, such as milk, contain solids in suspension in varying degree, and the thickening property of different brands of flour varies even more. Judgment has to be used in adding the dry materials to the wetting, so as to make a batter of the proper consistency; but fortunately a very little experience is sufficient to give a fair working knowledge. EXAMPLES OF THE THIN BATTER Griddle Cakes or Pancakes Ingredients. 2 cups flour. 1 teaspoonful baking soda. }/2 teaspoonful salt. 2 cups sour milk, just clabbered. Method. Mix and sift together the dry ingredients, being careful to sift the soda free from lumps. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, stir to a smooth batter, beat until bubbling, and cook by pouring a measured quantity at a time on a hot, slightly greased griddle. This recipe will make sixteen cakes. For your individual experimentation it will be better to use one-eighth of the quantity; that is, to work on the basis of one-quarter of a cup of flour. This will make two small cakes, and if you cook one of these on a greased griddle, and the other on a soapstone — if one is available — and compare the appearance, flavor, and tenderness of the two, you will learn something interesting. Sweet Milk Griddle Cakes, or Pancakes Substitute sweet for sour milk, and baking powder for soda. Two teaspoonfuls of baking powder may be allowed to one cup of flour.

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Principles of food preparation