Women and Food

9. MANHU HEALTH CAKE.

1/4 lb. butter, 1/2 lb. castor sugar, 1/2 lb. Manhu flour, 1 oz. rice flour, 6 ozs. crystallised ginger, 4 eggs.

Cream butter and sugar, adding eggs, two at once, not beaten. Beat each time after adding eggs, add rice flour, ginger, and lastly flour. Bake in moderate oven.

10. MANHU HOMINY PUDDING.

1-1/2 teacupfuls of boiled Hominy (see below), 1 pint or less of sweet milk, 1/2 teacupful of sugar, 2 eggs (well beaten), 1 teacupful of raisins, spice to taste.

Mix together and bake twenty minutes in a moderately hot oven. Serve hot with cream and sugar or sauce.

11. PARKIN.

2 ozs. butter, 2 ozs. moist sugar, 6 ozs. best treacle, 1/2 lb. medium oatmeal, 1/4 lb. flour, 1/2 oz. powdered ginger, grated rind of 1 lemon.

Some people prefer the addition of carraway seeds to lemon rind. If these are used a level teaspoonful will be sufficient for the quantities given above. The old-fashioned black treacle is almost obsolete now, and is replaced commercially by golden syrup, many brands of which are very pale and of little flavour. To make successful Parkin a good brand of pure cane syrup is needed. I always use "Glebe." This is generally only

stocked by a few "high-class " grocers or large stores, but it is worth the trouble of getting. Some Food Reform Stores stock molasses, and this was probably used for the original Parkin. It is strongly flavoured and blacker than black treacle, but its taste is not unpleasant. For the sugar, a good brown moist cane sugar, like Barbados, is best. Put the treacle and butter (or nutter) into a jar and put into a warm oven until the butter is dissolved. Then stir in the sugar. Mix together the oatmeal, flour, ginger and seeds or lemon rind. Pour the treacle, etc., into this, and mix to a paste. Roll out lightly on a well-floured board to a 1/4 inch thickness. Bake in a well-greased flat tin for about 50 minutes, in a rather slow oven. To test if done, dip a skewer into boiling water, wipe, and thrust into the Parkin; if it comes out clean the latter is done. Cut into squares, take out of tin, and allow to cool.

12. PROTOSE CUTLETS.

1 lb. minced Protose, 1 lb. plain boiled rice, 1 small grated onion, 1/2 teaspoon sage.

Mix the ingredients with a little milk; shape into cutlets, using uncooked macaroni for the bone, and bake in a moderate oven about 45 minutes.

13. PROTOSE SALAD.

1 breakfast-cupful Protose cubes, 1/3 breakfast cup minced celery, 1 hard-boiled egg, 3 small radishes, juice of 2 lemons.

Cut Protose into cubes, chop the hard-boiled egg, slice the radishes. Add to the minced celery. Pour over these ingredients the lemon juice and allow the mixture to stand for one hour. Serve upon fresh crisp lettuce.

14. RISOTTO.

3/4 lb. rice, 1/2 lb. cheese, 4 large onions.

Slice and fry the onions in a stew-pan in a little fat; when brown, add 1-1/2 pints water and the rice. Let it cook about an hour, and then add the grated cheese.

This dish may be varied with tomatoes when in season.

15. ROYAL NUT ROAST.

1/2 lb. pine kernels, 2 medium-sized tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 2 new-laid eggs.

Wash, dry and pick over the pine kernels and put them through the macerating machine. Skin and well mash the tomatoes. Grate finely the onion. Mix all together and beat to a smooth batter. Whisk the eggs to a stiff froth and add to the mixture. Pour into a greased pie-dish. Bake in a moderate oven until a golden-brown colour. It should "rise" like a cake. It may be eaten warm with brown gravy or tomato sauce, or cold with salad.

16. STEWED NUTTOLENE.

Slice one half-pound nuttolene into a baking dish, adding water enough to cover nicely. Place it in the oven, and let it bake for an hour. A piece of celery may be added to give flavour, or a little mint. When done, thicken the water with a little flour, and serve.

17. WELSH RAREBIT.

Cheese, butter, bread, pepper.

Cut thin slices of cheese and put them with a little butter into a saucepan. When well melted pour over hot well-buttered toast. Dust with pepper. Put into a very hot oven for a few minutes and serve.

18. YEAST BREAD.

7 lbs. flour, salt to taste (about 3/4 ounce), 1 ounce yeast, 1-1/2 quarts of warm water.

Put the flour into a pan or large basin, add salt to taste, and mix it well in. Put the yeast with a lump of sugar into a small basin, and pour a little of the warm water on to if. Cold or hot water kills the yeast. Leave this a little while until the yeast bubbles, then smooth out all lumps and pour into a hole made in the middle of the flour. Pour in the rest of the warm water, and begin to stir in the flour. Now begin kneading the dough, and knead until the whole is smooth and damp, and leaves the hand without sticking, which will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Time spent in kneading is not wasted.

Set the pan in a warm place, covered with a clean cloth. Be careful not to put the pan where it can get too hot. The fender is a good place, but to the side of the fire rather than in front. Let it rise at least an hour, but should it not have risen very much—say double the size—let it stand longer, as the bread cannot be light if the dough has not risen sufficiently.

Now have a baking-board well floured, and turn all the dough on to it. Have tins or earthenware pans, or even pie-dishes well greased. Divide the dough, putting enough to half fill the pans or tins. Put these on the fender to rise again for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake in a hot oven, about 350 degrees (a little hotter than for pastry).

Bake (for a loaf about 2 lbs. in a moderate oven) from 30 to 40 minutes. Of course the time depends greatly on the size of the loaves and the heat of the oven.

The above recipe produces the ordinary white loaf. Better bread would, in my opinion, result from the use of a very fine wholemeal flour such as the "Nu-Era," and the omission of salt