The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-16
RECEIPTS OF PRODUCE.
FRIDAY, Feb, Is.
FOR THE TABLE,

Wnft Wise man SAID that he must have the
Injuries of life, but the necessities he could do
without? He would have been confirmed to
the belief that many shared his theory if he
could have seen the ladies gathered by
the score on the steps of the Pavilion
last Wednesday waiting for the doors
to be opened They had come very early
hoping by doing so to secure front seats at
Mrs. Lincolns lecture on puff paste. Finally
the doors were thrown open and the ladies
stood not upon the order of their going, but
some of them gathered up their skirts and ran
toward the lecture-room that they might make
sure OF position which would command a
view of Mrs Lincoln's dainty fingers as she
manipulated the different articles promised on
the programme. These were: Plain paste
puff paste, cheese straws and pate cases, which
certainly should be classed among the Injuries
and they drew an audience several times larger
than that which assembled to be told how to
make good bread.
But the man ufacture of puff paste is of in
terest the world over, and lessons in regard to
it draw full houses every where, even in Boston,
Mrs. Lincoln said in her opening words.
She had upon the table in front of her the
heavy @ kind but light e cyl S1eq
OF glass-which rovolved upon wooden rod
turning very easily and insuring the lipht
touch which is essential to pastry, and, besides
-four, butter, ETC., bowl in which was some
boiling water When the work was begun the
hot water was poured from the bowl and ice
N water put IN its place h. MIS- d Lincoln n then
water to prevent the butter from sticking to
them.
Next, q half-pound of butter was weighed,
cut in four pieces and placed in the icewater,
where it was worked, piece at time, with
the hands till it was free from salt and quite
plastic. Each piece was then patted between
the palms until it was fiat and thin, when it
was put into q pan and set on ice, napkin
being placed between each layer, and the
whole covered with a second pan of ice. While
being washed the butter was kept under water
as much as possible, and the bits were not
more than eighth of an inch in thickness
after being patted out.
When the piece of butter which had been
placed upon the ice first was quite hard Mrs
Lincoln put it in the bowl which already con-
tanned two cups of -four, measured, it is
hardly necessary to say, after sitting, and half
teaspoonful OF salt, to take the place of that
which had been washed from the butter.
The -four and the half frozen butter were
chopped together with q knife at first and
then rubbed with the tips of the fingers against
the thumb until like coarse meal. And to use
the tips of the fingers is a lesson which few
cooks have learned. 1t seems the natural
method to bare the arms and plunge into
bread or pastry making up to the elbows; but
Mrs. Lincoln attains her beautiful results and
shows at all times clean palm and spotless
CUTS. Perhaps this is partly because she re-
duces her dough to just the right consistency
with her knife or spoon before turning it upon
the breadboard. In the case of puff paste she
water 10 make paste as soft as could be easily
taken in lump clean from the bowl, handled
rolled without adding much -four on
the board. The water was added gradually and
care was taken to pour it on the dry -four each
time, that each portion of flour might have its
right quantity of moisture.
When the soft dough was placed upon the
board 1t was formed into ball with the knife,
then patted into square with the rolling-pin
and finally rolled into long, narrow rectan-
guler piece, quite thin and twice as long as il
was wide. Upon the middle OF this was laid
one OF the pats of butter, cut in strips, leaving
margin of paste rather more than an inch
wide; this margin was laid over upon the but
ter to fold in the air, and then the strip of
paste was doubled end to end, the butter in
SIDE. With a few light strokes of the rolling
pin this was again made into a rectangular
shape, when few of the imprisoned bubbles
OF air were discerned upon the surface and
shown to the admiring audience. This strip
was folded in three, as one would fold letter
to put into the old-fashioned long envelopes.
and turned half around so that the next roll
ing might not spread the folds apart. Upon
care in all these small Details the proper fold
ing and keeping in a rectangular shape, much
OF the excellence of puff paste depends. If the
layers are not evenly distributed the pates or
tarts will come from the oven like an exagger-
ated form of the tower OF Pisa.
The first pat of butter having been carefully
incorporated into the -four, the two remaining
ones were treated III the same way, the paste
set upon ice for q time and then laid on the
breadboard. The layers were square and even
as the pages of a book, and 1t was ready to be
made into shape. For pates Mrs. Lincoln cut
circles Of the paste, two for each pate. The
surface OF one of these circles she moistened
with pastry brush dipped in water and laid
upon 1t the second piece, from which the center
lnch In diameter less than the first one used.
These pate cases were laid upon a tin baking
sheet lined with brown paper, and were put in
a very hot oven, Soon it was made known to
O. a