The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-09-01

The "1ne art" OIL pastry mdklHS
is succinctly set forth in the following
article, by an acknowledged expert !:
The other day a woman said to
me: Il just can't make pastry
can make good cake, but just can't
make decent pier" well" I an
swered her, 81 can guarantee to teach
you to make pastry, in ten minutes.
at the most" She took me up uil my
offer. We left the bridge table for
the kitchen and within ten minutes
the pastry was chilling in the re-
frigerator.
You know pastry really is one of
the easiest things in the world to
make. There is only one point which
is very important, and that is not to
get it too wet when you mix it. Per-
haps / had better begin at the be-
ginning, however, and tell you just
exactly how do it. / use three
times as much flour as I have short
ening. / prefer bread flour, myself,
for pastry because it is easier to
handle, but | can make it with pas
try or cake flour. If | do use this
kind of flour | use four times as
much flour as shortening. mix my
flour and salt together in a wooden
chopping bowl, add my chilled short
ening and, with double-bladed
chopping knife, cut the fat into
small pieces, at the same time, of
course, mixing it into the flour. Some
people can mix pastry satisfactorily
with the hands, but my hands are
too warm. The fat should be actual
ly in small bits throughout the flour,
not thoroughly blended into smooth
mixture. Fat need not be cut as fine
for pastry as for biscuits. If you pre-
fer to use wooden bowl you may
use two knives or fork or wire
whisk to cut in the fat. After you
have cut for few moments shake
the bowl and the larger pieces of fat
will come to the top and you can
tell when it is thoroughly mixed.
Now you are ready to add the wa
ter, which should be cold. In warm
weather ice water is preferable.
Make a hole at one side of the flour,
add one tablespoon Of water and
with a stiff knife stir in as much of
the flour mixture as the water will
take up. Do the same thing two or
three other places in the flour mix
ture and then with your hands press
the balls of dough and the dry mix
ture left in the bowl together into a
smooth ball. Put in the refrigerator
to chill few minutes Then roll out
to line your pastry pan. Pastry may
be rolled on slightly Toured board
or directly on a metal table top. Roll
from the center each way. Roll light
ly and pick up your sheet of pastry
after each rolling, to prevent stick
ing.
When / make fruit pies mix
tablespoon of sugar with a table
spoon of flour and sprinkle over the
bottom of the lined pan. ! then put
in my fruit and sugar in layers,
dampen the edge of the lower crust,
put the other crust on top, press the
crusts together and cut them evenly
with scissors. If you like you may
bind the edge with a thin strip of
pastry or you may leave the lower
crust a quarter inch larger than the
upper crust and turn it back on top
of the upper crust. Press the edges
together tightly with your fingers or
the prongs of a fork. Be sure to cut
Sits in the top of the pie to let the
steam out and thus prevent the strip
from making it's way out at the
edges.
/ like to bake a pastry she'll on the
outside of a pie pan. as it keeps a
better shape. After the pastry has
been trimmed around the edge with
a sharp knife it should be pricked
all over with fork to prevent crack
ing during the baking. Pastry should
have hot oven, but after ten min
utes the heat should be lowered for
a fruit or custard pie. Fresh fruit
pies and tarts are very popular just
now. Pastry shells are filled with the
sliced fresh fruit or with berries
which are then covered with whipped
cream or with glaze" Sometimes
pie shells are filled with a custard
filling and fresh fruit is beaten in
the whipped cream which is used to
cover the custard.
Quick Meal.
Lamb chops.
Boiled sweet potatoes with brown
butter.
Corn on the cob.