Domestic Manual
Table of Contents
Introduction
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Domestic Manual
Home Maintenance
Food Preparation
Baking
Quickbreads
Southern Biscuits
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| soft flour | 1 cup |
| white sugar | 1 tsp |
| baking powder | 2 tsp |
| salt | 1/2 tsp |
| shortening | 1/2 cup |
| milk | 2/5 cup |
[0/8] Steps[ ]Preheat oven to 450f[ ]Combine dry ingreidents[ ]Cut in shortening until mix is crumby.[ ]Add milk while stirring until dough lifts from bowl. Should still be sticky and soft.[ ]Lightly squarefold-knead mix on floured surface until springy, then string to 2 inch tall roll.[ ]Let rest 2 minutes.[ ]Cut into 1 inch slices, lay sideways on baking sheet 1 inch apart.[ ]Bake 10-12 minutes on center rack.
- For more traditional texture, skip kneading, but let dough rise on floured surface. Cover in flour after rising then fold over, gently, once, and tear off small chunks.
- Butter is preferred shortening.
- Substitute or supplement buttermilk for milk.1
Beverages
Fermented Beverages
Ginger Beer
Ginger beer is a fermented beverage made with ginger, sugar, water, and "composite organism" colloquially known as a plant, primarily composed of the yeast Saccharomyces florentinus2 and the bacterium Lactobacillus hilgardii3.
I use a plant originally sourced from the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, DMS#2484, to produce alcoholic and non-alcholic ginger beer for myself and my partner.
[0/7] Requirements[ ]A container of at least 8-and-a-half cups[ ]1 sq.ft. of cheesecloth[ ]2 quarts, quarter-cup water[ ]2 tablespoons ginger beer plant[ ]3 tablespoons finely grated ginger[ ]4 tablespoons white sugar[ ]2 tablespoons dark brown sugar[ ]Some way of loosely sealing the container4
[0/6] Process[ ]In a bowl, mix your grated ginger and a quarter-cup of water.[ ]In another bowl, place your cheesecloth and pour the ginger-water over it. Strain the ginger and discard. Add the filtered ginger-water to your large container.[ ]Add the 2 quarts water and sugar to the container and mix until most has dissolved.[ ]Add the ginger beer plant.[ ]Loosely seal the container[ ]Wait 3 days and bottle for 1 for non-alcoholic fizzy ginger beer.[ ]Wait 5-9 days and bottle for 1 for alcholic fizzy ginger beer.
Juices
Mulberry Juice
Mulberry juice is the liquid pressed from mulberries, a tart purple berry that ripen around North Carolina through late April and May.
[0/2] Requirements[ ]2 pots, each capable of holding all the berries you plan to juice.[ ]1 piece of cheesecloth large enough that the berries could be spread flat on it.
Tip: roll some beeswax in your hands before you start to prevent the worst of the staining from working with mulberries.
[0/7] Process[ ]Place the berries in your first pot and bring it to 30c while gently mashing the berries.[ ]Line the second pot with the cheesecloth and pour the mash into the cloth.[ ]Gather the corners and lift out of the pot, holding any openings pinched shut.[ ]Begin to massage the mash dry, slowly twisting the closed ends to keep it secure. The juice will fill the second pot.[ ]Continue until you run out of patience, then discard the dry mash.[ ]Discard the dry mash.[ ]Pasteurize the juice.
This is a record of my results with this recipe.
| Date | Input | Output | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 lb | 1.2 qt | Bit tart to drink on its own. |
Cheesemaking
Fresh Cheeses
Breakfast Cheese
Breakfast is a fresh cow's milk cheese that I often eat for breakfast, thus the name.
Supplements
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License
Copyright 2019 emsenn
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Footnotes:
When substituting buttermilk in recipes that use baking powder, you should remove 2 tsp baking powder and add 1 tsp baking soda for every 1 cup of milk you are replacing with buttermilk.
Saccharomyces florentinus was previously known as Saccharomyces pyriformis.
Lactobacillus hilgardii was previously known as Brevibacterium vermiforme.
The best way to loosely seal a container is with an air-lock pressure valve. Here are others, in order of fitness: a lightly waxed but not air-tight cloth, any cloth, another small container placed upside-down over the opening.