In the Kitchen

Grey River Argus, 6 March 1937, Page 6

In the Kitchen

BUNS FOR TEA. Buttered' buns are much liked for afternoon tea. If the raising agent is baking powder or bicarbonate of soda, the buns should be put Into the oven immediately or they will not be light; they should be eaten on the day 'they are' made. Buns made with yeast will keep for a day or two in a bread-bin; all the ingredients and the bowl should be warm, and the buns should be left to rise by the fireside ,or on a warm stove. AH buns need a quick oven for good results. Here is a basic recipe for yeast buns which ca-u be varied in many ways, .s'ift half a pound of plain flour into a wan- bowl with a quarter of a tea. spoonful of salt. Rub in two ounces of butter and add an ounce of castor sugar. Cream together half an ounce of yeast with half a teaspoonful of castor sugar, anid' pour into a well in the centre .of the flour. Warm a tea. cupful of milk, mix with a beaten egg, and pour over the yeast. Make into a dough, cover with a cloth, and leave in a warm place for half an hour or more, until well risen. Make into buns and leave on a baking sheet in a warm place for- another 20 minutes to rise. Then bake in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

This is a good.' recipe for quicklymade buns with baking powder. Sift half a pound of flour into a bowl with a teaspoonful o f baking powder, a quarter of a. teaspoonful. of salt,, and three ounces of castor sugar. Rub in three ounces of butter and add an egg beaten with a quarter of a teaeupful of in.lk. Make into a soft dough, adding a little more milk if necessary. Make into buns, put on a greased baking sheet,, and bake at onec in a hot oven for about 15 minutes.

To make sugar buns, brush each one with beaten egg and milk and sprinkle thickly with coarse crystal sugar. For sultana buns add -two ounces of sultanas and the grated rind of a lemon to the dough. For currant buns use currants instead .of sultanas. Seed buns arc- made by adding a dessertspoonful of caraway seed's to the mixture, ginger buns by adding essence of ginger, and lemon buns by adding the grated rind and juice of a lemon and a pinch of nutmeg. For spice buns aid'd mixed- spice and a l.ttle candied peel finely chopped. Most of these buns are also good, if iced with water or fruit juice icing. To four ounces of icing sugar use a table-spoon, -ful of water or fruit juice, and warm gently together. Beat well until thin enough to pour over the buns, but do not make hot. 1 Mashmallow Biscuits: Half a cup of butter, one cup sugar, two eggs, two cups flour, one teaspoonful cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful baking soda. Beat butter an-di sugar to a eream; add beaten eggs. Mix dry ingredients together and then add to the first mixture. Roll out, cut round and bake pale. For the top take two dessertspoonsful gelatine and soak it in one cup of cold water for 10 minutes. Then place in a pot with one cup of sugar aird boil for eight minutes. When nearly cold add a cupful of icing sugar, essence- to flavour, and beat till white and firm. Spread on biscuits. Ice with -thin coat of e-hloeolate icing and sprinkle with chopped nuts. ******* Fish Rolls: Make the pastry as described above and roll out- and cut in squares. Have ready a fish mixture made with Jib of flaked fish cooked, a full iteacupful of whi.e sauce, a good grate of cheese-and seasoning, a tomato skinned' and chopped, and a teaspoonful of chopped paisley, and also, if liked, a chopped hard-bdiled egg. Make the sauce, and add all the other ingredients to it Divide the fish mixture amongst the squares, and noli up., brush with egg. and bake in a hot oven. Savoury Biscuits: These must be prepared just before (putting to table; otherwise the biscuits lose their crispness. -But they may be done in a matter o f a fe ' v minutes if the cheese and- tomatoes are in readi. ness. Spread with butter thin water biscuits or a plain butter biscuit, if small they look daintier, with butter, -then sprinkle with grated' cheese, and on hop place a few pieces of tomato previously skinned and cut up, also seasoned. IP'our off any juice from them first., then on top of tomato place some very finely ehopped parsley. A little finely shreded celery may also be- added. 1 «.**«**• Potato Scone Bolls: Take 11b of freshly boiled potatoes, mash these or pass through a sieve and add to them o-ne good teaspoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of hot. milk and I also a little salt. Wiork into the potato I mixture jib of flour. Turn on -to bake board, roll out thinly, cut int 0 neat shapes, and prick all over with a fork Bake on both sides on a hot girdle and, when ready, place between the folds of a -fresh towel. Potato scones are very good buttered hot, robed and served. They are also equally good when cold', and to take the place of i sandwiches, butter them cold, spread ; with cream cheese, or sprinkle with : grated cheese, roil up, and serve nicely i piled with a garnish of a sprig or two i of parsley. ■ <

Preserving Tomatoes: Several tried recipes for preserving tomatoes arc suggested. One is to place the tomatoes in an enamelled dish or howl, springle them with a little salt anid’ place in a ih'ot- oven til] just, cooked and soft. Have ready some warmed clean jars, pack with the cooked tomatoes, fill up to the very top with the boiling hot juice produced in cooking and put on the lids closely at once. The great point is to make certain that absolutely no air or air-bubbles are left in the jar. Another way is to fill clean jars with eolid', ripe, dry, fresh tomatoes, cover with a mixture of equal quantities of vinegar and cold water and screw down the lids closely. For the third method, take the stalks from the tomatoes, and (drop into their places a pinch each of salt and sugar, then bake in the oven till just tender. Pack in heated clean bottles, fill up with the syrup of cooking, adding a little boiling water tio fill to the very brim and seal down securely while hot.

Gems without Baking Powder: Here is a recipe for ginger gems. It requiries jib butter, one small teacup sugar, two eggs, one- teacup milk, one teacup treacle, two teaspoons baking soda, 24 breakfast cups flour and itwo teaspoons ground ginger. Cream butter and sugar well, ithen add! wellbeaten eggs, beat all very well to. gather, add sifted flour, and ginger and lastly the soda, dissolved in the milk. Mix well together end have gem irons* very hot, put. a very small piece- of butter in each' to grease it, and then put small dessertspoon. of mixture in irons and cook about 10 minutes. The gems should be -nice and light when cooked and -this mixturemakes about. 31 dozen. There- is no baking powder needed but. the gems are very sponge-like. • ••••• Qninqe and Melon Jam:

Six pounds of quinces, peeled, cored, and sliced; 6lb of melon, cut into (dice 121 b of sugar, Boz preserved ginger. Cut the melon up the night before making itih’e jam, and let it stand all night with half the sugar sprinkled over it. Boil -the skins and cores of the quinces in a very little ■water until tender, and strain the liquid into preserving-pan. Add the syrup strained from the melon., the rest of the sugar and tih'e ginger cut ismall. Bring to the boil and, when boiling, add the melon and' quinces. Boil until a- little of the jam -will set when tested on a plate. AN UNUSUAL PRESERVE. A delicious preserve can be made with grape-fruit skins. It is also, of course, extremely economical, as the fruit is used in any way desired first Take, away all the inside connecting skin and on the grater rub oft’ most of the yellow part. Cover with cold’ water. Every day change the water and do this until the skins lose all bitter taste. It. will take a week to ten days. Then cut the skin s into pieces of the size required, cover -with fresh cold water, and boil until the skins are perfectly clear and trans, parent. Then, make a syrup as follows: —Put a pound of sugar and' a pint of of water into a saucepan and stir over a low’ heat until sugar dissolves. glimmer slowly for about a quarter of an hour,, until it goes syrupy, skimming if necessary. Drop in the pieces of peel and simmer for a further ten minutes. SMOKY NAIL POLISH. Smoke —if not popular in your eyes or in your best, curtains—is slyly creeping into colour, states -the, “Cape Times”. It is in the “smoky” pastels, in opaque whites of summer clothes, and overseas in the autumn and winter clothes there are new and flatter, ing smoky anid' rusty tones. In nail polish the smoky influence has als 0 appeared. Smoky shades of nail polish are tih'e very newest thing. Their trend is away from the hard brilliant reds previously in vogue. Their subtle colours flatter the nails and lend distinction to hands. In applying polish, always leave- 'the cuticle free from polish. A reliable polish will not in itself injure or dry the nail. But if the base of t'he nail is left, free, cuticle oil or cream may be. applied at flight without- removing, polish. Cuticle cream or ioil should be used' at least daily. A good plan is to massage it into the rims around the. nails every flight. Hand cream should be used’ several times a day. Simple attention like this will repay you many times -for -tih'e little trouble amdi time reuqlred f 0 care for your hands. MAKING MAYONNAISE. Unless it happens too often, making mayonnaise sounds an attractive pro. position, and one which induces selfconfidence when it really comes off. states an overseas writer. Actually it takes a long time, anid' this whatever the recipe, Recipe s vary considerably. Some people leave out ithe mustard; others use lemon instead of vinegar.. Somci omit the cream. Mayonnaise should have- a certain amount of kick, -however, and -toning it down often makes it- taste- -tod oily The amateur can make mayonnaise with the yolks- of one or two eggs according to the amount desired', and with salt, mustard,, and pepper worked into the yolks, according to taste—a reasonable amount is half a tea. spoonful of mustard and a saltspoonful of salt.-