CHAPTER VI

CEREALS Cereals (cultivated grasses) rank first among vegetable foods; being of hardy growth and easy cultivation, they are more widely diffused over the globe than any of the flowering plants. They include wheat, oats, rye, barley, maize (Indian corn), and rice; some authorities place buckwheat among them. Wheat probably is the most largely consumed; next to wheat, comes rice. TABLE SHOWING COMPOSITION Proteid Fat Starch Mineral matter Water Oatmeal 15.6 7.3 68.0 1.9 7.2 Corn meal 8.9 2.2 75.1 0.9 12.9 Wheat flour (spring) 11.8 1.1 75.0 0.5 11.6 Entire wheat flour 14.2 1.9 70.6 1.2 12.1 Graham flour 13.7 2.2 70.3 2.0 11.8 Pearl barley 9.3 1.0 77.6 1.3 10.8 Rye meal 7.1 0.9 78.5 0.8 12.7 Rice 7.8 0.4 79.4 0.4 12.4 Buckwheat flour 6.1 1.0 77.2 1.4 14.3 Macaroni 11.7 1.6 72.9 3.0 10.8 _Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C._ _Macaroni_, _spaghetti_, and _vermicelli_ are made from wheaten flour, rich in gluten, moistened to a stiff dough with water, and forced through small apertures in an iron plate by means of a screw press. Various Italian pastes are made from the same mixture. Macaroni is manufactured to some extent in this country, but the best comes from Italy, Lagana and Pejero, being the favorite brand. When macaroni is colored, it is done by the use of saffron, not by eggs, as is generally supposed. The only egg macaroni is manufactured in strips, and comes from Minneapolis. Macaroni is valuable food, as it is very cheap and nutritious; but being deficient in fat, it should be combined with cream, butter, or cheese, to make a perfect food. From cereals many preparations are made, used alone, or in combination with other food products. From rice is made rice flour; from oats, oatmeal, and oats steam-cooked and rolled,—as Rolled Avena, Quaker Rolled Oats, H-O, etc. There are many species of corn, the principal varieties being white, yellow, and red. From corn is made corn meal,—both white and yellow,—corn-starch, hominy, maizena, cerealine, samp, and hulled corn; from wheat, wheaten or white flour, Wheatena, Wheatlet, Rolled Wheat, Pettijohn’s, etc. Rye is used for Rye Flakes, meal, and flour; barley, for flour and pearl barley. Buckwheat, throughout the United States, is used only when made into flour for buckwheat cakes. For family use, cereals should be bought in small quantities, and kept in glass jars, tightly covered. Many cereal preparations are on the market for making breakfast mushes, put up in one and two pound packages, with directions for cooking. In nearly all cases, time allowed for cooking is not sufficient, unless dish containing cereal is brought in direct contact with fire, which is not the best way. Mushes should be cooked over hot water after the first five minutes; if a double boiler is not procurable, improvise one. Boiling water and salt should always be added to cereals, allowing one teaspoon salt to each cup of cereal,—boiled to soften cellulose and swell starch-grains, salted to give flavor. Indian meal and finely ground preparations should be mixed with cold water before adding boiling water, to prevent lumping. TABLE FOR COOKING CEREALS Kind Quantity Water Time Steam-cooked and rolled oats, Rolled Avena, Quaker Rolled 1 cup 1¾ cups 30 minutes Oats, H-O, Old Grist Mill, Rolled Oats, Steam-cooked and rolled wheats, Old Grist Mill, 1 cup 1¼ cups 20 minutes Rye Flakes, Pettijohn’s, etc. 2¾–3¼ cups Rice (steamed) 1 cup (according to age 45–60 minutes of rice) Indian meal 1 cup 3½ cups 3 hours Vitos 1 cup 4½ cups 30 minutes Wheatlet, Wheatena, Wheat 1 cup 3¾ cups 30 minutes Germ, Toasted Wheat, Oatmeal (coarse) 1 cup 4 cups 3 hours Hominy (fine) 1 cup 4 cups 1 hour Oatmeal Mush with Apples Core apples, leaving large cavities; pare, and cook until soft in syrup made by boiling sugar and water together, allowing one cup sugar to one and one-half cups water. Fill cavities with oatmeal mush; serve with sugar and cream. The syrup should be saved and re-used. Berries, sliced bananas, or sliced peaches, are acceptably served with any breakfast cereal. Cereal with Fruit ¾ cup Wheat Germ ¾ cup cold water 2 cups boiling water 1 teaspoon salt ½ lb. dates, stoned, and cut in pieces Mix cereal, salt, and cold water; add to boiling water placed on front of range. Boil five minutes, steam in double boiler thirty minutes; stir in dates, and serve with cream. To serve for breakfast, or as a simple dessert. Fried Mushes Mush left over from breakfast may be packed in greased, one pound baking-powder box, and covered, which will prevent crust from forming. The next morning remove from box, slice thinly, dip in flour, and sauté. Serve with maple syrup. Fried Corn Meal Mush, or Fried Hominy Pack corn meal or hominy mush in greased, one pound baking-powder boxes, or small bread pan, cool, and cover. Cut in thin slices, and sauté; cook slowly, if preferred crisp and dry. Where mushes are cooked to fry, use less water in steaming. Boiled Rice 1 cup rice 2 quarts boiling water 1 tablespoon salt _French Chef_ Pick over rice; add slowly to boiling, salted water, so as not to check boiling of water. Boil thirty minutes, or until soft, which may be determined by testing kernels. Old rice absorbs much more water than new rice, and takes longer for cooking. Drain in coarse strainer, and pour over one quart hot water; return to kettle in which it was cooked; cover, place on back of range, and let stand to dry off, when kernels are distinct. When stirring rice, always use a fork to avoid breaking kernels. Steamed Rice 1 cup rice 1 teaspoon salt 2¾ to 3¼ cups boiling water (according to age of rice) Put salt and water in top of double boiler, place on range, and add gradually well-washed rice, stirring with a fork to prevent adhering to boiler. Boil five minutes, cover, place over under part double boiler, and steam forty-five minutes, or until kernels are soft; uncover, that steam may escape. When rice is steamed for a simple dessert, use one-half quantity of water given in recipe, and steam until rice has absorbed water; then add scalded milk for remaining liquid. =To wash rice.= Put rice in strainer, place strainer over bowl nearly full of cold water; rub rice between hands, lift strainer from bowl, and change water. Repeat process three or four times, until water is quite clear. Rice with Cheese Steam one cup rice, allowing one tablespoon salt; cover bottom of buttered pudding-dish with rice, dot over with three-fourths tablespoon butter, sprinkle with thin shavings mild cheese and a few grains cayenne; repeat until rice and one-fourth pound cheese are used. Add milk to half the depth of contents of dish, cover with buttered cracker crumbs, and bake until cheese melts. Rice à la Riston Finely chop two thin slices bacon, add to one-half raw medium-sized cabbage, finely chopped; cover, and cook slowly thirty minutes. Add one-fourth cup rice, boiled, one-half teaspoon chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Moisten with one-half cup White Stock, and cook fifteen minutes. Turkish Pilaf I Wash and drain one-half cup rice, cook in one tablespoon butter until brown, add one cup boiling water, and steam until water is absorbed. Add one and three-fourths cups hot stewed tomatoes, cook until rice is soft, and season with salt and pepper. Turkish Pilaf II ½ cup washed rice ¾ cup tomatoes, stewed and strained 1 cup Brown Stock, highly seasoned 3 tablespoons butter Add tomato to stock, and heat to boiling-point; add rice, and steam until rice is soft; stir in butter with a fork, and keep uncovered that steam may escape. Serve in place of a vegetable, or as border for curried or fricasseed meat. Turkish Pilaf III ⅓ cup rice 3 tablespoons butter ½ cup canned tomatoes ½ cup cold cooked chicken cut in dice White Stock highly seasoned Salt and cayenne Cook rice in boiling salted water, drain, and pour over hot water to thoroughly rinse. Heat omelet pan, add butter, and as soon as butter is melted add rice. Cook three minutes; then add tomatoes, chicken, and enough stock to moisten. Cook five minutes, and season highly with salt and cayenne. If not rich enough, add more butter. Russian Pilaf Follow recipe for Turkish Pilaf III, substituting cold cooked lamb in place of chicken, and add a chicken’s liver sautéd in butter, then separated into small pieces. Rissoto Creole 3 tablespoons butter 1 cup rice 2¾ cups highly seasoned Brown Stock Canned pimentoes Melt butter in hot frying-pan, add rice, and stir constantly until rice is well browned. Add stock heated to boiling-point, and cook in double boiler until soft. Turn on a serving dish, garnish with pimentoes cut in fancy shapes, and cover with =Creole Sauce.= Cook two tablespoons chopped onion, two tablespoons chopped green pepper, one tablespoon chopped red pepper, or canned pimentoes, and four tablespoons chopped fresh mushrooms, with three tablespoons butter, five minutes. Add two tablespoons flour, one cup tomatoes, one truffle thinly sliced, one-fourth cup sherry wine, and salt to taste. Boiled Macaroni ¾ cup macaroni broken in inch pieces 2 quarts boiling water 1 tablespoon salt ½ cup cream Cook macaroni in boiling salted water twenty minutes or until soft, drain in strainer, pour over it cold water to prevent pieces from adhering; add cream, reheat, and season with salt. Macaroni with White Sauce ¾ cup macaroni broken in inch pieces 2 quarts boiling water 1 tablespoon salt 1½ cups White Sauce Cook as for Boiled Macaroni, and reheat in White Sauce. =White Sauce.= Melt two tablespoons butter, add two tablespoons flour with one-half teaspoon salt, and pour on slowly one and one-half cups scalded milk. Baked Macaroni Put Macaroni with White Sauce in buttered baking dish, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown. Baked Macaroni with Cheese Put a layer of boiled macaroni in buttered baking dish, sprinkle with grated cheese; repeat, pour over White Sauce, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown. Macaroni with Tomato Sauce Reheat Boiled Macaroni in one and one-half cups of Tomato Sauce I, sprinkle with grated cheese, and serve; or prepare as Baked Macaroni, using Tomato in place of White Sauce. Macaroni à l’Italienne ¾ cup macaroni 2 quarts boiling salted water ½ onion 2 cloves 1½ cups Tomato Sauce II ½ cup grated cheese 2 tablespoons wine ½ tablespoon butter Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, with butter and onion stuck with cloves; drain, remove onion, reheat in Tomato Sauce, add cheese and wine. Macaroni, Italian Style 1 cup macaroni 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1½ cups scalded milk ⅔ cup grated cheese Salt and paprika ¼ cup finely chopped cold boiled ham Break macaroni in one-inch pieces and cook in boiling salted water, drain, and reheat in sauce made of butter, flour, and milk, to which is added cheese. As soon as cheese is melted, season with salt and paprika, and turn on to a serving dish. Sprinkle with ham, and garnish with parsley. Macaroni à la Milanaise Cook macaroni as for Macaroni à l’Italienne, reheat in Tomato Sauce II, add six sliced mushrooms, two slices cooked smoked beef tongue cut in strips, and one-half cup grated cheese. Spaghetti Spaghetti may be cooked in any way in which macaroni is cooked, but is usually served with Tomato Sauce. It is cooked in long strips rather than broken in pieces; to accomplish this, hold quantity to be cooked in the hand, and dip ends in boiling salted water; as spaghetti softens it will bend, and may be coiled under water. Knöfli Beat two eggs slightly and add one-fourth cup milk. Add gradually to one cup flour mixed and sifted with one teaspoon salt. Place colander over a kettle of boiling water, turn in one-third mixture, and force through colander into water, using a potato masher. As soon as buttons come to top of water, remove with skimmer to hot vegetable dish, and sprinkle with salt and grated cheese; repeat until mixture is used. Let stand in oven five minutes, then serve. Ravioli 1½ cups flour ½ egg Warm water ¼ cup cracker crumbs ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese ¼ cup chopped cooked spinach 1 egg White stock Salt Pepper Sift flour on a board, make depression in centre, drop in one-half egg, and moisten with warm water to a stiff dough. Knead until smooth, cover, and let stand ten minutes; then roll as thin as a sheet of paper, using a rolling-pin. Cut in strips as long as paste, and two and three-fourth inches wide, using a pastry jagger. Mix cracker crumbs, spinach, and egg; moisten with stock and season with salt and pepper. Put mixture by three-fourths teaspoon on lower half of strips of paste, two inches apart. Fold upper part of paste over lower part. Press edges together and between mixture with tips of thumbs, then cut apart, using pastry jagger. Cook in White Stock ten minutes, take up with skimmer, arrange a layer on hot serving dish, sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese, cover with Tomato Sauce; repeat twice and serve at once. Tomato Sauce ⅓ cup butter 1 onion, finely chopped ¾ teaspoon salt Few grains pepper 1 small can condensed tomato ⅔ lb. lean beef Cook first four ingredients eight minutes. Add tomato, 1 pint of water, and beef cut in small pieces, and cook one and one-half hours. Remove meat before serving. Ravioli is a national Italian dish, and the cheese and condensed tomato may be best bought of an Italian grocer.