The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-05-26
FARM AM FTRESIDE e.
Cooking Graham Bread.

1eaEheu, from many years acquaintance
with those who use il, that they are COM
monty intelligent people, quite above
the average indeed; that they have good
reasons for their belief in it's value and
wholesomeness, while they leave to those
who have never tried it all the horrors
of its s~cratchiness, and the fears of being
dissected alive by its blades of bran.
1t is gratifying to observe in the inter
ests OF public health, that its use is in
creasing very rapidly. A dozen years
ago, n had to inquire where it could
be found now it is kept in almost every
grocery and flour store. Formerly it
was often compounded of bran, corn
meal, rye, shorts, and various other arti-
Giles; now it must be ground directly
from the whole wheat, and a very clean
and superior article at that. We believe
the grain is generally much more thor
oughly cleaned than that used for fine
Hour, because one OF the t~ell-tale debris
can be removed after grinding, therefore
1t must be removed before grinding.
We are now taking another step, in
learning that it is generally improved by
a special mode of grinding. It requires
sharp stones, which cut the bran into
fine pieces. The coarse, Or "high ground"
Graham, makes hard and rough bread
biscuit. That which is rubbed fine by
dull stones, while it makes the starchy
part very fine and foury, leaves the rich
crust of the kernel in coarse, unsightly
flakes, and the -four is SO much less rich
and sweet. Some people make the mis-
take of sitting this bran out. It is much
Better to get hat which is properly
ground. If the stones are very sharp, as
they should be, they cut the bran fine,
and mingle thoroughly the starch and the
gluten, giving you the entire richness
and nutrition of the grain. It requires
a little practice to distinguish such -four
readily by the eye; but when once it's
value Is appreciated, it will not soon be
forgotten.
We are also beginning TO appreciate
the Importance of the fact that meal and
flour ground in this fashion can be made
up without the addition of any foreign
Ingredients, made light and attractive
without having the pure sweetness of the
grain soured by yeast or burned by al
kali, or filled up by the residuum of any
kind of baking powders. This is en-
phatically mixed bread with brans,
making things light by the art with
which they are put together.
Some people, not understanding this
high art, think it necessary to use milk
or soda or eggs in making Graham bis
cult; but all these devices are only 50
many su~bterfuges for the lack of intelli-
gences or ingenuity, or an unintelligent
effort to supply some defect in poor -four.
1t the following recipe be carefully fol-
lowed, it will make very passable Biscuit
from almost any kind of Graham -four,
to be eaten warm but if you have the
right kind of flower, you will have light,
tender, delicate, sweet, and perfectly
wholesome biscuit, good cold as well az
warm, though better if made fresh every
day pr two. They are vastly less trouble
to make than any of The ordinary kinds
of bread or biscuit made of fine flour.
BATTER BIsoUIT.-A hot oven is
indispensable. Place cold soft water
in a stirring bowl, the colder the
better. Stir with a spoon in one land
and sift in the -four with the other.
Make just thick enough not TO settle
flat. Different kinds of -four require
different proportions, but a good way is
to make some of different thicknesses
from the saahae batch, and SO find out
which is best. Bake either in tin or
iron, very slightly oiled to prevent stick
ing. Ii in iron gem pans they should be
heated first and the batter dropped in
when they are kissing hot. Put them
in the over at once. Bake them on the
top first, unless your oven is one of that
rare sort that bakes evenly on all sides.
! They should begin to brown on the top
in about fifteen minutes; then they may
be set down to bake on the bottom.
Twenty-Five or thirty minutes should
bake them sufficiently. If they stand in
the oven much longer than that, they
will be hard and tough. Slip outYlnme-
diately from the pans, place on a plate,
let them stand five minutes, and serve.
Il they are still a little sticky, let them
stand until they are cool enough to be
eaten comfortably, and they will be no
longer sticky. In keeping them they
should not be covered, nor should they
be piled upon each other until they are
quite cold.
Every one of these directions should
be carefully observed. The slow sitting
of the flour into the water carries with
it b large amount of air, the expansion
Of which By the heat makes the biscuit
light. If it stands before baking, the air
will escape. Il baked ON the bottom
first, some Of the air will rise and escape;
but il the top be scaided over first, the
air will be confined and explained in the
biscuit. IL senrch fr,, saan IN, the