Everyday Luncheons/Quick Breads
QUICK BREADS
BAKING-POWDER BISCUITS
Four cupfuls of sifted flour, shortening the size of an egg—equal parts of butter and lard preferred—two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly, rubbing with the finger tips until the flour is granular, like corn-meal. Add cold, sweet milk to make a dough as soft as can be handled, roll out an inch thick, cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter, and bake in a hot oven. The dough must be handled as little as possible after putting in the milk.
SOUTHERN BISCUIT
Two cupfuls of pastry flour, measured after sifting. Add half a teaspoonful of salt and one rounding teaspoonful of baking-powder. Mix thoroughly into the flour, and add one half tablespoonful of lard. Rub it into the flour until the flour grains. Beat the white of one egg to a stiff froth, add one fourth cupful of milk, and mix into the flour with a spoon. Scrape out onto a floured board, knead lightly until smooth enough to roll, and roll thin. Rub melted butter over half of the dough and fold the other half over it. Prick it with a fork, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter, and bake in a very quick oven.
QUICK BISCUIT
Two cupfuls of buttermilk or sour milk, a teaspoonful of baking-soda, a tablespoonful of melted butter or lard, and flour to make a soft dough. Handle as little as possible, roll out, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter, and bake in a quick oven.
BUTTERMILK BISCUIT
Sift four cupfuls of flour, add a tablespoonful of melted lard, a pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of soda, and enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. Roll thin, handling as little as possible, cut into rounds, and bake in a quick oven.
EGG BISCUIT
Sift three cupfuls of flour, add a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, two eggs well beaten, a tablespoonful of melted lard, and a cupful of sweet milk to which has been added half a teaspoonful each of soda and cream of tartar. Work to a smooth dough, roll out half an inch thick, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter, and bake on buttered pans.
SOUR-MILK BISCUIT
Four cupfuls of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of butter or lard, and two cupfuls of sour milk. Or, leave out the butter and use sour cream. Mix the salt and the soda with the flour and sift it. Rub in the shortening, mix with the milk, roll the dough half an inch thick, and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter. Bake from twelve to fifteen minutes in a quick oven.
NEW YORK BISCUIT
Two eggs well beaten, one cupful of milk, one tablespoonful of melted lard, a pinch of salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and four cupfuls of sifted flour. Roll out, cut into circles, and bake in a hot oven.
SOUTHERN BATTER BREAD
Half a cupful of cold, boiled rice, two eggs beaten separately, two cupfuls of corn-meal, one tablespoonful of lard or butter, melted, a teaspoonful of salt, and two cupfuls of milk. Beat together until thoroughly mixed, and bake quickly in buttered muffin-rings or in shallow baking-pans.
SOFT BATTER BREAD
Two cupfuls of sweet milk, two cupfuls of buttermilk, one cupful of white corn-meal, half a teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of salt, three eggs, and one tablespoonful of melted butter. Boil the milk and add the meal slowly, making a mush, then add the salt and butter, and cool. Add the eggs and a tablespoonful of milk in which the soda has been dissolved. Bake in a buttered pan in a moderate oven.
ENGLISH BUNS
Rub half a cupful of butter into two cupfuls of flour, mix with a teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and half a cupful of cleaned currants. Mix well, add two eggs, well beaten, and enough milk to make into a dough. Roll out, cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter, and bake in a slow oven. The buns should be an inch thick when put into the oven.
SOUTHERN CORN PONE
Two cupfuls of yellow corn-meal, one cupful of flour, two cupfuls of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one tablespoonful each of lard and butter, melted, and two well-beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly, spread thinly on a buttered baking-pan, and bake in a moderate oven.
SOUTHERN CORN PONE—II
Four cupfuls of corn-meal, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of melted lard, and enough cold water to make a soft dough. Mould into thin cakes and bake quickly in a well-buttered pan.
CORN MUFFINS
Sift together three quarters of a cupful of corn-meal and the same of flour, half a teaspoonful each of salt and soda, and a tablespoonful of sugar. Mix with one egg, well beaten, and one cupful of thick, sour milk. Bake from twenty to thirty minutes in well-buttered muffin tins.
JOHNNY-CAKE
One cupful of sweet milk, one cupful of buttermilk, one teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, and one tablespoonful of melted butter. Add enough corn-meal to roll, and roll into a sheet half an inch thick. Lay on a buttered baking-pan and bake until brown and crisp, basting occasionally with melted butter meanwhile. Break instead of cutting, and serve hot.
CORN AND RICE MUFFINS
Two cupfuls of buttermilk, one cupful of white corn-meal, one teaspoonful of soda, a pinch of salt, one egg, half a cupful of cream, and half a cupful of cold, boiled rice. Mash the rice, add the salt, egg, and cream, then the buttermilk mixed with the soda, then the meal. Bake in buttered muffin pans in a quick oven.
APPLE JOHNNY-CAKE
Mix two cupfuls of corn-meal with half a cupful of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of soda in a cupful and a half of milk, stir in, and add three peeled and cored apples, sliced very thin. Bake in a buttered shallow tin thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
CORN PUFFS
Sift together one and two thirds cupfuls of flour, one cupful of corn-meal, and two level teaspoon fills of baking-powder. Rub two tablespoonfuls of butter to a cream with three tablespoonfuls of sugar, add three well-beaten eggs and two cupfuls of milk. Combine mixtures, beat thoroughly, pour into well-buttered muffin tins and bake.
FRUIT CORN MUFFINS
Two cupfuls of yellow corn-meal, one cupful of flour, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, a pinch of salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one tablespoonful of melted butter, two eggs well beaten, one and one half cupfuls of milk, and one cupful of fruit. Dates, figs, prunes, or other fruits may be used. Stones should be removed, and the fruit cut fine. Bake in well-buttered muffin pans for about twenty minutes.
CORN AND HOMINY MUFFINS
Mash one cupful of cold, boiled hominy with one cupful of corn-meal. Add a pinch of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of baking-powder, a tablespoonful of melted butter, one egg, well beaten, and one cupful of milk. Beat hard for five minutes, pour into buttered gem pans and bake fifteen or twenty minutes in a hot oven.
SOFT CORN BREAD
One cupful of corn-meal, one cupful of sour milk, a pinch of soda, one cupful of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a pinch of salt, and two well-beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly and bake in a deep baking-dish, well buttered.
FLORIDA CORN BREAD
One cupful of buttermilk, one cupful of sweet milk, one half teaspoonful of soda, two eggs, one cupful of corn-meal, and one teaspoonful of salt. Mix the buttermilk, sweet milk, and soda together, and when the soda is thoroughly dissolved, pour the milk over the beaten egg. Add the corn-meal and beat thoroughly. Spread lard over the bottom and the sides of the baking-tin, place in the oven until very hot, then pour in the batter, and bake in a quick oven until a delicate brown.
CHARLESTON MUFFINS
Beat together one cupful of sugar and one tablespoonful of melted butter. Add two eggs, beaten very light, a pinch of salt, a grating of nutmeg, and one cupful of milk. Sift in two cupfuls of flour and three level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Bake in hot buttered muffin tins or in a shallow baking-pan.
DATE GEMS
One cupful of dates, seeded and chopped fine. Two cupfuls of milk, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, one heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder, three cupfuls of flour, and one egg well beaten. Mix the egg and milk, sift the dry ingredients together, add the chopped dates, and combine mixtures. Beat hard and bake in well-buttered gem irons for about twenty minutes. Figs or prunes may be used instead of dates.
GRAHAM BISCUIT
Three cupfuls of Graham flour, one cupful of white flour, three cupfuls of milk, two tablespoonfuls of lard, one heaping tablespoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt, and two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Mix and bake like baking-powder biscuits.
GRAHAM PUFFS
One cupful of Graham flour, two cupfuls of boiling milk, and half a teaspoonful of salt. The dough should be as soft as it can be handled. Roll an inch thick, cut into circles, arrange on a buttered pan, and bake in the hottest kind of an oven. If the oven is right they will be very light.
GRAHAM DROP CAKES
Sift together a cupful and a half of Graham meal, half a teaspoonful each of salt and soda, and a quarter of a cupful of brown sugar. Add enough sour milk to make a stiff batter. Drop by spoonfuls on a buttered baking-pan, and bake fifteen minutes in a hot oven.
HOMINY MUFFINS
Two cupfuls of cold, cooked hominy, three eggs, three cupfuls of sour milk, half a cupful of melted butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of baking-soda dissolved in hot water, and flour to make a good batter—probably about a cupful and a half. Add the milk to the hominy, then the salt, sugar, butter, and eggs, then the soda, and the flour last. Beat hard and bake in a quick oven.
HOMINY DROP CAKES
Two cupfuls of cold, boiled hominy, one tablespoonful of cold water, two eggs, well beaten, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoonful of baking-powder sifted into enough flour to make a good batter. Drop by spoonfuls on a buttered baking-sheet, and bake brown in a quick oven.
PLAIN MUFFINS
Sift together four cupfuls of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, and two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add a tablespoonful of sugar. Stir in two cupfuls of milk, four eggs well beaten, and three tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Bake twenty-five or thirty minutes in muffin tins. Half of this recipe is sufficient for a small family.
CREAM MUFFINS
Two cupfuls of flour, two cupfuls of milk, three eggs beaten separately, one teaspoonful of melted butter, and one teaspoonful of melted lard. Bake in buttered muffin-rings filled half full of the batter.
BUTTERMILK MUFFINS
Two cupfuls of buttermilk or of curdled, sour milk, one egg, half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water, half a teaspoonful of salt, and enough sifted flour to make a good batter. Mix thoroughly, adding the soda last. Bake in a quick oven.
BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Use any muffin mixture, lessening slightly the quantity of milk. Add a cupful of blueberries and bake quickly.
CEREALINE MUFFINS
Three fourths of a cupful of flour, a pinch of salt, one egg, well beaten, one cupful of cerealine, and one cupful of milk. Mix thoroughly and bake in buttered muffin pans.
BATTER MUFFINS
Three cupfuls of sour milk and one teaspoonful of soda beaten together. Beat the yolks of three eggs and add to the milk, then stir in a pinch of salt and flour enough to make a moderately stiff batter. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and fold in the last thing. Bake in buttered muffin tins.
SOUTHERN MUFFINS
Two eggs, two cupfuls of milk, two cupfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoonful of melted butter. Beat the eggs separately, then add the milk and butter to the yolks, then the flour, then the stiffly beaten whites. Bake in hot buttered muffin tins.
SOUR-MILK MUFFINS
Three cupfuls of sour milk, three cupfuls of flour, two eggs, well beaten, one teaspoonful each of soda, cream tartar, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients together, add the milk, then the eggs, and bake in buttered muffin tins in a hot oven.
POPOVERS
One cupful of flour, measured after sifting, one egg, unbeaten, one cupful of milk, and a pinch of salt. Butter a gem pan and put it into a hot oven. Mix all the ingredients together, stirring hard with a wooden spoon. When the pan is hissing hot, pour in the batter, filling each compartment half or two thirds full. Bake in a very hot oven until well puffed and golden brown, cover with a paper, and finish baking. This quantity makes a dozen popovers.
FRUIT POPOVERS
Make the batter according to directions given above. Drop a piece of banana, a few blueberries, or a bit of preserved fruit or jam, or a steamed fig, into each small cup of batter, which will rise in the cup and almost cover the fruit. These may be served with a simple syrup for dessert.