Chop the onion and pepper, simmer for five minutes in the fat, then add
water and tomatoes and cook until the onion and peppers are tender. Thicken
with the flour blended with i cup water and cook five minutes longer to blend
the flavors. If fresh peppers are used, they may be parboiled for five minutes
if the strong flavor is disliked.
Lesson 3. The Use of Fat in Pastry.
AIM.
To give the general rules for successful pastry making, and to sug-
gest ways of using less pie crust and less fat in pie crust.
POINTS TO BE BROUGHT OUT.
1. The use of pastry is to be discouraged both from the standpoint
of the uneconomical use of fat involved and its indigestibility. In
an}- case only simple pastry should be given and preferably the one
crust pies.
2. The amount of shortening used in the crust should be reduced.
This can be done more successfully than the average housewife
realizes.
3. Points in making pie crust:
A. Mixing:
(1) Use the best flour. Many cooks prefer pastry flour.
(2) Skilled pastry cooks differ as to the fat to be preferred.
Butter, lard, mixtures of the two, clarified chicken fat, clarified
beef flank fat, and various commercial fats may be used. The
90 USE AND PEEPARATIOlSr OF FOOD.
fat must be soft enough to mix well, yet not too soft. Vegetal)le
oils are used by some pastry cooks, but they require skillful
handling for good results.
(3) Have all ingredients cold and work on a cold surface.
Pastry is usually improved by chilling dough before rolling it
out.
(4) Standard rules usually call for one-half to one-third as
much fat as flour, by measure. Satisfactory pastry may be made
by using one-fourth as much fat as flour, by measure. During
the fat shortage not more than this amount should be used.
When amount of fat is reduced, a little baking powder may be
added to make the crust flakier.
(5) Mix and sift flour and salt, and baking powder if it is
used.
(6) Add the shortening, cutting it in with a knife. Some
cooks w^ork it in lightly with the tips of the fingers.
(7) Measure out the liquid called for in the rule and add three-
fourths of it to the mixture. The general proportion is some-
what less than one-fourth cup of very cold water to one cup
of flour. Too much water makes the pastry tough. Stir briskly
with a knife to mix evenly and avoid toughening of the dough.
By this time most of the dough will be sticking together in
little separate rolls. If in pressing these lumps together they
should not only cling together but readily collect about them
whatever loose flour there may be, sufficient water will have been
added; but as long as the mixture when pressed remains to
some degree crumbly, it is a sign that more water is required.
A sure sign of its having been properly mixed is that the dough
can be rolled into a lump and the basin wiped out cleanly with
it as with a cloth.
B. Rolling out:
(1) Flour pastry board slightly, lay dough on it and shape
into a neat, flat, oblong shape.
Page 56
Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Chop the onion and pepper, simmer for five minutes in the fat, then add water and tomatoes and cook until the onion and peppers are tender. Thicken with the flour blended with i cup water and cook five minutes longer to blend the flavors. If fresh peppers are used, they may be parboiled for five minutes if the strong flavor is disliked.
Lesson 3. The Use of Fat in Pastry.
AIM.
To give the general rules for successful pastry making, and to suggest ways of using less pie crust and less fat in pie crust.
1. The use of pastry is to be discouraged both from the standpoint of the uneconomical use of fat involved and its indigestibility. In an}- case only simple pastry should be given and preferably the one crust pies.
2. The amount of shortening used in the crust should be reduced. This can be done more successfully than the average housewife realizes.
3. Points in making pie crust: A. Mixing:
(1) Use the best flour. Many cooks prefer pastry flour.
(2) Skilled pastry cooks differ as to the fat to be preferred. Butter, lard, mixtures of the two, clarified chicken fat, clarified beef flank fat, and various commercial fats may be used. The
fat must be soft enough to mix well, yet not too soft. Vegetable oils are used by some pastry cooks, but they require skillful handling for good results.
(3) Have all ingredients cold and work on a cold surface. Pastry is usually improved by chilling dough before rolling it out.
(4) Standard rules usually call for one-half to one-third as much fat as flour, by measure. Satisfactory pastry may be made by using one-fourth as much fat as flour, by measure. During the fat shortage not more than this amount should be used. When amount of fat is reduced, a little baking powder may be added to make the crust flakier.
(5) Mix and sift flour and salt, and baking powder if it is used.
(6) Add the shortening, cutting it in with a knife. Some cooks w^ork it in lightly with the tips of the fingers.
(7) Measure out the liquid called for in the rule and add threefourths of it to the mixture. The general proportion is somewhat less than one-fourth cup of very cold water to one cup of flour. Too much water makes the pastry tough. Stir briskly with a knife to mix evenly and avoid toughening of the dough.
By this time most of the dough will be sticking together in little separate rolls. If in pressing these lumps together they should not only cling together but readily collect about them whatever loose flour there may be, sufficient water will have been added; but as long as the mixture when pressed remains to some degree crumbly, it is a sign that more water is required. A sure sign of its having been properly mixed is that the dough can be rolled into a lump and the basin wiped out cleanly with it as with a cloth. B. Rolling out:
(1) Flour pastry board slightly, lay dough on it and shape into a neat, flat, oblong shape.