FoodNetArchive

The household cook book

1902

Page 147 · 3 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Sour Milk. — If milk sours on your hands, do not throw it away — it can be used in various ways, as in making corn bread, soda biscuit and all kinds of pancakes, while many cooks prefer it to sweet milk, in making cookies, doughnuts and gingerbread. Sour milk can be substituted for sweet in making most kinds of cake, but remember in that case that only half as much cream of tartar should be used as the recipe calls for. Buttermilk also has many uses besides being used as a drink (to drink, it should be fresh) as it can be made into soup, or used in making corn bread, pancakes, soda biscuit, and many kinds of cake. BUTTER. Butter is the solidified oil or fatty matter of the milk of animals. The Greeks and Romans neither employed it in cooking, nor had it brought ux3on their tables; they used it only as an ointment in their baths. The Hebrews appear to have used it as food from an ancient date, and in England it has been used from very early times. In making butter the utmost care is required in all the manipulations from the time it leaves the cow until it is packed. The peculiar flavor of butter is derived principally from the butyric acid it con- tains. In the milk, the globules of fat are held in solution by the albumenoid (or proteid) matters, forming what is termed an emul- sion. The albumenoid matter must be separated from the butter before or during the process of churning, or the butter will not keep well. TO MAKE BUTTER QUICKLY.— Immediately after the cow is milked, strain into clean pans and sot over a moderate fire until it is scalding hot; do not let it boil; then set it aside, and when cold, skim off the cream, and the milk will still bo fit for any ordinary use. 13 194 MILK, BUTTER AND CHEESE When you have enough cream, put it into a clean earthen basin, beat it with a wooden spoon until the butter is made, which will not be long; then take it out of the milk and work it in a little cold water until it is free from milk, then drain off the water, put in a small tablespoon of fine salt to each lb. of butter and work it in. A small teaspoon of fine white sugarTo Make Butter Quickly worked in with the salt will be found an improvement; sugar is a great preservative. Make the butter in a roll, cover with a piece of muslin and keep in a cool place. An easy method of washing butter is to remove the butter from the churn, pour off the milk or buttermilk, as the case may be, half fill the churn with cold water (a little salt may be added to the water), replace plunger and throw back the butter, and operate the churn as before for 1 minute. This process will extract all the milk from the butter, which may then be placed in a sieve to allow the water to strain from it, and then worked in the usual manner. BUTTER, TO SALT (JrM i?ecif>e).— To 1 lb. of common salt add 1 lb. of saltpetre and | lb. of white sugar;Butter to Salt (Recipe 1) pound all these together and mix them well, and to every pound of butter allow 1 ounce of this mixture; make it fresh as you want it, observing to be careful always to keep the same proportions, and to mix the ingre- dients thoroughly. The butter should stand a month before you use it, to ripen. Butter to Salt, No. 2 — One pound of best salt, 4 oz. of sugar and 1 oz. of saltpetre; pulverize it well together, and allow of this, 1 oz. to the pound of butter.