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

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 variety.
A family which has eaten oatmeal or entire wheat bread will never again be satisfied with a diet that includes only bread made from bleached flour. Children, especially, will be benefited by the change, as the breads made from coarser flours are not only more nutritious, but are rich in the minerals and vitamine elements that are so essential to the growth of strong teeth, bones and growing tissues.
The homemaker, too, will never regret her larger acquaintance with bread-making