LEMON MARMALADE
Cut one lemon into slices and then remove the seeds and put through the food chopper. Add one and one-quarter cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook slowly until the lemon rind is very soft. This usually takes about one hour. Now add one and one-half cups of sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cook until thick like marmalade. Place an asbestos mat under the saucepan to prevent scorching. Stir frequently.
Use level measurements; they conform to pounds and ounces and give satisfactory results.
ORANGE JELLY
Juice of three oranges, One-half cupful of sugar, One-half cupful of water, Two tablespoonfuls of syrup from a bottle of maraschino cherries.
Boil the sugar and water for five minutes and then cool and add the strained orange juice and the maraschino cherry syrup. Now soak two level tablespoonfuls of gelatine in one-half cupful of cold water for thirty minutes and then place in hot water bath to heat. Stir until dissolved and then strain into prepared orange mixture. Now rinse custard cups in cold water and pour in the gelatine and set aside to cool and mould. To serve: Unmold on a saucer and serve with fruit whip.
COFFEE CUSTARD, PARFAIT STYLE
One and one-half cupfuls of cold coffee, One cupful of evaporated milk, One-half cupful of cornstarch.
Place in a saucepan and dissolve the starch in the coffee and then add the milk. Bring to a boil and cook slowly for ten minutes. Remove and add
One cupful of sugar, One teaspoonful of vanilla, Yolk of two eggs.
Beat to blend thoroughly and then partly cool and pour into stem gla.s.ses, filling nearly to the top. Set on ice to chill. While chilling place the white of two eggs and one-half gla.s.s of currant jelly in a bowl. Now use a Dover egg-beater and beat until it holds its shape. When ready to serve pile high on the coffee custards and garnish with maraschino cherries.
GALATIN A LA MELBA
Cut a slice of sponge cake. Place on a fruit saucer and pour over it three tablespoons of syrup from a jar of peaches and then place two halves of peaches on the cake and top off with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
MINT GELATINE
Shred the leaves of a bunch of mint and place in a saucepan; add one-half cup of water and cook slowly for ten minutes. Now drain and add
One-half cup of sugar, Three-quarters cup of vinegar.
Stir to thoroughly dissolve and then place one tablespoon of gelatin to soak in one-quarter cup of cold water for ten minutes and add the hot mint preparation. Strain and add two drops of green vegetable coloring into it, and then pour into a pan to mould. Cut into blocks and serve with the meat.
PASTRY
Now it all rests with the cook as to whether we are going to have a cut of pastry that fairly melts in your mouth or a tough doughy ma.s.s that is unfit for food.
Any little housewife may turn out delicious, flaky pastry if she will but follow directions carefully. First of all, let us study for a minute just what pastry is. It is a mixture of flour, shortening and water. Each grain of flour is thoroughly coated with shortening and then mixed to a dough with the water. Do I hear you say "Well I know that?" Surely you do. But do you know the real knack of putting it together? For here is the real rub. The minute you knead or squeeze pastry that is the moment you make it tough.
THE REAL SECRET
Sift
Three cups of flour, One teaspoon of salt, Three teaspoons of baking powder,
together twice, and then cut or rub into this two-thirds cup of shortening. If you cut it in, use your griddle-cake turner or spatula and chop it in rather coa.r.s.e. Now mix to a dough with one-half cup of ice-cold water, using the cake-turner to mix the water in; just keep chopping and turning over until the mixture is formed into a ball of dough. Do not knead or pat with the hand. You cannot hurt this dough if you will just mix it as a man does when mixing mortar with a hoe.
Keep working it back and forth, chopping it each time until well mixed. This amount will make the tops and the bottoms for two pies.
To roll the dough, divide it into four parts and then lift one piece on a slightly floured board and roll out the dough, working the rolling pin to and from you and turning the dough as often as necessary to secure the size and shape desired.
Should the dough tear, or not come to the desired shape, just fold it into squares or oblongs and then roll again.
Place on the tin and then trim the edges. Proceed in the same manner with the top crust, and then when ready to place on the pie, fold from corner to corner, making a bias fold and then cut quarter-inch gashes with a knife in centre to allow steam to escape. Lift and cover the pie and then trim to shape. Now do not form the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a ball, but lay them one piece upon the other in a pile and flatten them with the rolling pin. Roll and fold into shape, and roll as desired.
You can re-roll pastry as often as desired by this method. Keep in the mind the fact that kneading or squeezing the pastry forms it into a sticky ma.s.s. This method will give you a delicious, flaky crust. You may spread two tablespoons of shortening upon the top crust and then fold and roll. Fold again and roll; then use as desired.
Sufficient pastry may be made at one time to last for two or three days. Just wrap the dough in wax-paper so that it does not dry out.
Various fillings may be used. Fresh or canned fruits, custards, mince meat, etc. If you use fresh fruits place
One-half cup of sugar, Three level tablespoons of cornstarch,
in a bowl and rub between the hands to thoroughly mix and then use this by sprinkling over the fruit. This will prevent the juice from boiling out of the pie while it is cooking and it will form into a jelly when cold.
To use canned fruit, drain the fruit free from the liquid and then cut into thin slices. Measure the liquid and then add
Four level tablespoons of cornstarch, Eight tablespoons of sugar,
to each cupful. Dissolve the starch and sugar in the cold liquid and then bring to a boil. Cook for three minutes and then add the prepared fruit. Cool before placing in the pastry.
To prevent the lower crust from becoming soggy just before putting in the filling, brush it well with a good salad oil, or shortening, taking care that each part is covered. This will give you a tender, flaky lower crust.
Just before the pie is ready to put into the oven brush it well with a wash of egg and milk, using
Yolk of one egg, One-half cup of milk, Two teaspoons of sugar.
Stir to dissolve the sugar and mix in the egg. Then wash the pie. This will keep a week in a cool place.
The correct temperature to bake a pie is 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This means a moderate oven. Too much heat will brown the crust before the filling inside has had the time to cook. Custard pies--this includes those made of eggs, milk, lemon meringes, sweet potato and pumpkin--require a slow oven--250 degrees Fahrenheit.
PASTRY FOR CUSTARD PIE
The most important point in the custard pie is the crust, which will either make or mar the pie. So to begin with, the pastry should be light and delicate. To make pastry for custard pie place in a bowl
Three cups of flour, One teaspoon of salt, Three teaspoons of baking powder, Two tablespoons of sugar.
Sift to mix and then rub in one-half cup of good shortening, and then mix to a dough with one-half cup of ice water. When mixing the pastry to a dough, it is important that it should be cut and folded together much after the method used in cutting and folding the whites into a cake. Care at this point in making the pastry will prevent it from becoming tough. Now wrap the pastry in wax or parchment paper and place on the ice to thoroughly chill for two hours. Now if the pastry is made either the day before or early in the morning and then allowed to blend, it will be delightfully light and flaky.
Now to prepare for the pie: This amount of pastry will be sufficient for two large pies, one custard and one lemon, for variety. The tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs can be made into little tarts, turnovers or cheese straws.
Divide the pastry into two parts and then roll out one part on a lightly floured board until sufficiently large to fully cover the pie tin.