The Panola weekly star. (Sardis, Miss.) 1882-18??, 1883-12-22
How 10 Make Pun Paste.

In spite Of tho various crusades
against pastry and pies they continue 10
have an importars place In the Amerr |
can cuisine. When pastry is well made
Il is much less likely to be harmful
than when Il is carelcssly prepared
with inferior materials. TO tell the
truth. the majority OF cooks do not
know how to prepare pastry, and they
either send to the table . tough, leatiery
mass that is entirely indigestible, or
sometimes that fairly rceks with lard.
Everybody has an ambition 10 make
good pastry. and every ono who has
tried Il acknowledges that II Is one Of
the most difficult things TO do in all
cookery. But II the ingredients used
are good. and the rules Tor is prcpara-
ton BE- carefully followed. there Is no
reason why the pastry should not be
both delicate anil digestiblc. A demon
straiion lesson on pastry nj the cooking
school always brings out nm unusually
large number Of ladies. Mrs Lincoln
gave this demonstration on Thursday
last, with the best possible result.
Puff paste Is the richest Of all pastry.
and IL Is used for rates, tarts, cheese
straws, how knots and other such fan.
clful aud ornamental dishes. To make
Il, the following ingredients are used.
aud always In the given proportions:
One pound Of butter, one pound OF
-four. onc.half n tcaspoonml of salt aud
about ons cup Of Ice water. The
butter must be Of the finest quality
u dairy hntter. rs poor butter
will make ylllainous pastry. Wash IL
well. divide into four equal parts. and
cool between two pans Of Ice IN this
manner iii n sduare tin pan with
bits Of chopped Ice; on this place an
other pan. napkin lined. into which
place the pieces Of butter; cover with
another napkin and on this set another
pan also filled with chopped lee. Mix
the salt with the Hour. take one part u
the butter and rub lightly into The flour,
using only the tips n the fingers; do
not let the butter melt; Il should
crumblc into small bits and each bit
should he wen MIXED with -four; but
there should BE- nothing like n smooth
pasty look: mix still with the Iisc water,
| putting In a little at a time. and cutting
Il In with n rather bruad.bladed knife.
Roll Il oui one-half an inch ihick-and
In the rolling lies the success If good
nSiry, do not roll back and forth with
hShyy strokes. but roll from the person
with lung. light strokes. quickly NJ
peated. II il tho heavy rolling hack
and forth. pulling the dough In two
directions. that gives the tough.
leathcry cruz. The ~fneness, lighiness
and dolicacy q pastry depends almost
entirely upon the qu ekness and deli
eaey Of manipulation. BEFORE rolling
the paste the board should he lightly
TOURED, Just enough 20 prevent the
paste from adhcring. but not enough to
admit Of n morc -four being mixed in
to harden Il. II the paste has sofiened
- that Il will adhere In spite Of all cf-
forts. lay u between the Ice 10 harden.
DO this always In paste making Of any
Kind. when the paste Il ~softeningt
tho ~soficning indicates that the
butter u melting. aud that l.
disastrous to the result. A word
just here about the utensils. The board
should be perfectly smooth aud should
\ never b. u-rd for ANYTHING except for
brad and pastry. Nothing should BE-
allowed 70 adhere 10 it, surface. and
the worker should always keep a clean
cloth by her TO wipe off the hoard -
often A. Il shall need Il, always bcfure
putting -four on wipe |, clean from all
particles This may seem unnecessary
labor 10 some. aud they may be IN
clincd 10 think Il more nire than
WISE" hut thcrc Is = good reason for
this carr. Hthr particles wcrr not re-
moved before the -four was sprinkled
on TO the board, thcy wonhl form with
the -four little hard bulls, which would
adhere to The sariscs Of the paste. and