Flour or Arrowroot Gruel

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 teaspoonfuls flour, wet in cold water
• 1 saltspoonful salt

Method

1. 1

   Mix the flour and salt, and make into a smooth thin paste with cold water, then stir it into the boiling water.

2. 2

   Cook five minutes, or until the desired consistency is obtained.

3. 3

   Strain; then add sugar if preferred, and thin with a little milk.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book (1884) by Lincoln, Mary Johnson Bailey "Mrs. D. A. Lincoln,", page 241. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Flour or Arrowroot Gruel. 1 cup boiling water. I 2 teaspoonfuls flour, wet in cold 1 saltspoonf ul salt. | water. Cornstarch and rice-flour gruels are made in a similar manner. Use a little more of wheat flour than of the others. Mix the flour and salt, and make into a smooth thin paste with cold water, then stir it into the boiling water. Cook five minutes, or until the desired consistency^ is ob- tained. Strain ; then add sugar ^ if preferred, and thin with a little milk. If intended for a fever patient, a little lemon juice improves the flavor ; if for a patient with sum- mer complaint, boil with the gruel half an inch stick of cinnamon or a little nutmeg,, — the spice will help to re- duce the laxative condition. Sick people soon tire of sweets, and gruels should be sweetened only slightl}^, if at all. Flour and starch}^ gruels should not be given in typhoid fever, or when .the disease is located in the intes- tines. Nor should they ever be used in excess, as, being rapidly swallowed, the}^ are unaffected b}^ the alkaline action of the saliva, and pass through the stomach un- changed and severely^ tax the intestines. They should be kept in the mouth and mingled with the saliva before swallowing. Milk Porridge. 2 dozen raisins, quartered. I 1 tablespoonful flour. 2 cups milk. | Salt to taste. Boil the raisins in a little water twenty minutes. Let the water boil away, and add the milk. When boiUng, add the flour rubbed to a thin paste with a Uttle cold milk. Boil eight or ten minutes. Season with salt and 412 The Boston Cook Booh strain. Or omit the raisins, and add sugar to taste ; or add the beaten white of one egg after it comes from the stove. Barley Gruel. Boil one ounce of pearl barley a few minutes, to cleanse it. Pour off the water, add one quart of cold water and half a teaspoo7iful of salt^ and simmer one hour, or until reduced one half. Strain it ; sweeten to taste, and add a little lemon or nutmeg^ if desired. Barle}^ contains muci- lage, and is soothing and refreshing in fevers and gastric inflammation. Indian Meal Gruel. 1 tablespoonf ul flour. | 1 teaspoonful salt. 2 tablespoonf uls corn meal, j 1 quart boiling water. Mix the flour, meal? and salt. Make into a thin paste with a little cold water, and stir into the boiling water. Boil thirty minutes, stirring often ; thin with milJc or cream. Milk may be used instead of water by mak- ing the gruel in a double boiler. Indian meal gruel requires longer time for cooking than any purel}^ starchy gruels. iVb. 2. — Wet one heaping teaspoonful of 7neal and one saltspoonful of salt in a little cold water, and stir into one cup of boiling water. Boil slowly thirt}' minutes. Indian corn meal is heating in its nature, and should never be given where there is any inflammatory condition of the sj^stem. If given during convalescence after scarlet fever, it sometimes produces glandular swellings. When there is a deficiency of natural warmth, and no inflamma- tion, it may be given without harm. Oatmeal Gruel. 2 tablespoonf uls oatmeal. I 1 quart boiling water, teaspoonful salt. | Boil one hour. Strain, and serve with milk or cream. The Boston Cook Booh, 413 No. 2. — Pound half a cup of coarse oatmeal until it is mealy. Put it in a tumbler, and fill the tumbler with cold water. Stir well ; let it settle ; then pour off the mealy water into a saucepan. Fill again, and pour off the water, and again repeat this, being careful each time not to dis- turb the sediment in the bottom of the tumbler. Then boil the water twenty minutes. Add one saltspoonful of salt. If very thick, add a little cream or milk. Strain and serve hot. Beef essence or beef tea may be used in place of cream. This is the most palatable and convenient way of making gruel from oatmeal. Farina Gruel. 1 tablespoonful Hecker's farina. I 1 cup boiling water. 1 saltspoonful salt

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.