Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them | Page 4

and set it in the gas oven or fireless cooker
or on the shelf of the coal range. As the water in the large bowl cools
off, remove a cupful and add a cupful of hot water. At the end of one
and one-half hours the dough should have doubled in bulk. Take it out
of the pan and knead until the large gas bubbles are broken (about ten
minutes). Then place in greased bread pans and allow to rise for
another half hour. At the end of this time it will not only fill the pan,
but will project out of it. Do not allow the dough to rise too high, for

then the bread will have large holes in it. A good proportion as a
general rule to follow, is:
3-1/2 cupfuls of flour (this includes added cereals)
1 cupful of water
or milk
1/2 tablespoon shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cake of
compressed yeast
In this recipe sugar has been omitted because of the serious shortage,
but after the war a teaspoon of sugar should be added. The shortening,
although small in quantity, may also be omitted.
These materials make a loaf of about one pound, which should be
baked in forty to fifty minutes at a temperature of 450 degrees
(Fahrenheit). Allow a little longer time for bread containing oatmeal or
other grains. Such breads require a little longer baking and a little lower
temperature than wheat breads. If you do not use a thermometer in
testing your oven, place a piece of paper on the center shelf, and if it
browns in two minutes your oven is right. If a longer period for raising
is allowed than is suggested in the above recipe, the yeast proportion
should be decreased. For overnight bread use one-quarter yeast cake
per loaf; for six-hour bread, use one-half yeast cake per loaf; for
three-hour bread, use one yeast cake per loaf. In baking, the time
allowed should depend on the size of the loaf. When baked at a
temperature of 450 degrees, large loaves take from forty-five to sixty
minutes, small loaves from thirty to forty minutes, rolls from ten to
twenty minutes.
It is well to divide the oven time into four parts. During the first quarter,
the rising continues; second quarter, browning begins; the third quarter,
browning is finished; the fourth quarter, bread shrinks from the side of
the pan. These are always safe tests to follow in your baking. When
baked, the bread should be turned out of the pans and allow to cool on a
wire rack. When cool, put the bread in a stone crock or bread box. To
prevent staleness, keep the old bread away from the fresh--scald the
bread crock or give your bread box a sun bath at frequent intervals.
Even with all possible care to prevent waste, yeast breads will not

conserve our wheat supply so well as quick breads, because all yeast
breads need a larger percentage of wheat. The home baker can better
serve her country by introducing into her menus numerous quick breads
that can be made from cornmeal, rye, corn and rye, hominy, and
buckwheat. Griddle cakes and waffles can also be made from lentils,
soy beans, potatoes, rice and peas.
Do not expect that the use of other cereals in bread-making will reduce
the cost of your bread. That is not the object. Saving of wheat for war
needs is the thing we are striving for, and this is as much an act of
loyalty as buying Liberty Bonds. It is to meet the crucial world need of
bread that we are learning to substitute, and not to spare the national
purse.
Besides this saving of wheat, our Government also asks us to omit all
fat from our yeast breads in order to conserve the diminishing fat
supply. This may seem impossible to the woman who has never made
bread without shortening, but recent experiments in bread-making
laboratories have proved that bread, without shortening, is just as light
and as good in texture as that made with shortening--the only difference
being a slight change in flavor. These experiments have also shown that
it is possible to supply shortening by the introduction of 3 per cent. to 5
per cent. of canned cocoanut or of peanut butter, and that sugar may
also be omitted from bread-making recipes. In fact, the war is bringing
about manifold interesting experiments which prove that edible and
nutritious bread can be made of many things besides the usual white
flour.
The recipes herewith appended, showing the use of combinations of
cereals and wheat, have been carefully tested in The Forecast School of
Modern Cookery. Good bread can be made from each recipe, and the
new flavors obtained by the use of other grains make a pleasing and
wholesome