YEAST
This is the barm or froth which rises in beer, and other malt liquors, during a state of fermentation. When thrown up by one quantity of malt or vinous liquid, it may be preserved to be put into another, at a future period; on which it will exert a similar fermentative action. Yeast is likewise used in the making of bread, without which it would be heavy and unwholesome. It has a vinous sour odour, a bitter taste arising from the hops in the malt liquor, and it reddens the vegetable blues. When it is filtered, a matter remains which possesses properties similar to vegetable gluten; by this separation the yeast loses the property of exciting fermentation, but recovers it again when the gluten is added.
The addition of yeast to any vegetable substance, containing saccharine matter, excites fermentation by generating a quantity of carbonic acid gas. This very useful substance cannot always be procured conveniently from malt liquor for baking and brewing: the following method will be found useful for its extemporaneous preparation. Mix two quarts of soft water with wheat flour, to the consistence of thick gruel; boil it gently for half an hour, and when almost cold, stir into it half a pound of sugar and four spoonfuls of good yeast. Put the whole into a large jug, or earthen vessel, with a narrow top, and place it before the fire, that by a moderate heat it may ferment. The fermentation will throw up a thin liquor, which pour off and throw away; keep the remainder in a bottle, or jug tied over, and set it in a cool place. The same quantity of this as of common yeast will suffice to bake or brew with.
Four spoonfuls of this yeast will make a fresh quantity as before, and the stock may always be kept up, by fermenting the new with the remainder of the former quantity.
--Another method. Take six quarts of soft water, and two handfuls of wheaten meal or barley. Stir the latter in the water before the mixture is placed over the fire, where it must boil till two thirds are evaporated. When this decoction becomes cool, incorporate with it, by means of a whisk, two drams of salt of tartar, and one dram of cream of tartar, previously mixed. The whole should now be kept in a warm place. Thus a very strong yeast for brewing, distilling, and baking, may be obtained. For the last-mentioned purpose, however, it ought to be diluted with pure water, and passed through a sieve, before it is kneaded with the dough, in order to deprive it of its alkaline taste.
--In countries where yeast is scarce, it is a common practice to twist hazel twigs so as to be full of chinks, and then to steep them in ale yeast during fermentation. The twigs are then hung up to dry, and at the next brewing they are put into the wort instead of yeast. In Italy the chips are frequently put into turbid wine for the purpose of clearing it, which is effected in about twenty-four hours.
--A good article for baking bread may be made in the following manner. Boil a pound of fine flour, a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and a little salt, in two gallons of water, for one hour. Let it stand till it is milk warm, then bottle and cork it close, and it will be fit for use in twenty-four hours. A pint of this yeast will make eighteen pounds of bread. Or mash a pound of mealy potatoes, and pulp them through a cullender; add two ounces of brown sugar, and two spoonfuls of common yeast. Keep it moderately warm while fermenting, and it will produce a quart of good yeast.
--The best method of preserving common yeast, produced from beer or ale, is to set a quantity of it to settle, closely covered, that the spirit may not evaporate. Provide in the mean time as many small hair sieves as will hold the thick barm: small sieves are mentioned, because dividing the yeast into small quantities conduces to its preservation. Lay over each sieve a piece of coarse flannel that may reach the bottom, and leave at least eight inches over the rim. Pour off the thin liquor, and set it by to subside, as the grounds will do for immediate baking or brewing, if covered up for a few hours. Fill the sieves with the thick barm, and cover them up for two hours: then gather the flannel edges as a bag, and tie them firmly with twine. Lay each bag upon several folds of coarse linen, changing these folds every half hour, till they imbibe no more moisture. Then cover each bag with another piece of flannel, changing it if it becomes damp, and hang them in a cool airy place. The yeast should be strained before it is set to settle, and while the flannel bags are laid upon the folds of linen, they must be covered with a thick cloth. When the yeast is wanted for use, prepare a strong infusion of malt; to a gallon of which add a piece of dried barm, about the size of a goose's egg. The proportion indeed must depend upon its quality, which experience only can ascertain. The malt infusion must be nearly milk warm when the yeast is crumbled into it: for two hours it will froth high, and bake two bushels of flour into well-fermented bread. A decoction of green peas, or of ripened dry peas, with as much sugar as will sweeten it, makes fairer bread than the malt infusion; but it will take a larger quantity of dried yeast to produce fermentation. It was usual some years ago to reduce porter yeast to dryness, and in that state it was carried to the West Indies, where it was brought by means of water to its original state, and then employed as a ferment.
--Another method of preserving yeast. Take a quantity of yeast, and work it well with a whisk till it becomes thin; then have a broad wooden platter, or tub, that is very clean and dry, and, with a soft brush, lay a layer of yeast all over the bottom, and turn the mouth downwards that no dust can fall in, but so that the air may come to it, to dry it. When that coat is very dry, lay on another; do so till you have as much as you intend to keep, taking care that one coat is dry before you lay on another. When you have occasion to make use of this yeast, cut a piece off, and lay it in warm water; stir it till it is dissolved, and it is fit for use. If it is for brewing, take a whisk, or a large handful of birch tied together, and dip it into the yeast, and hang it up to dry; when it is dry wrap it up in paper, and keep it in a dry place; thus you may do as many as you please. When your beer is fit to work, throw in one of your whisks, and cover it over; it will set it a working as well as fresh yeast. When you find you have a head sufficient, take out your whisk and hang it up. If the yeast is not all off, it will do for your next brewing.
YEAST CAKES
The inhabitants of Long Island in America are in the habit of making yeast cakes once a year. These are dissolved and mixed with the dough, which it raises in such a manner as to form it into very excellent bread. The following is the method in which these cakes are made. Rub three ounces of hops so as to separate them, and then put them into a gallon of boiling water, where they are to boil for half an hour. Now strain the liquor through a fine sieve into an earthen vessel, and while it is hot, put in three pounds and a half of rye flour, stirring the liquid well and quickly as the flour is put in. When it has become milk warm, add half a pint of good yeast. On the following day, while the mixture is fermenting, stir well into it seven pounds of Indian corn meal, and it will render the whole mass stiff like dough. This dough is to be well kneaded and rolled out into cakes about a third of an inch in thickness. These cakes are to be cut out into large disks or lozenges, or any other shape, by an inverted glass tumbler or any other instrument; and being placed on a sheet of tinned iron, or on a piece of board, are to be dried by the heat of the sun.
If care be taken to turn them frequently, and to see that they take no wet or moisture, they will become as hard as ship biscuit, and may be kept in a bag or box, which is to be hung up or kept in an airy and perfectly dry situation. When bread is to be made, two cakes of the above-mentioned thickness, and about three inches in diameter, are to be broken and put into hot water, where they are to remain all night, the vessel standing near the fire. In the morning they will be entirely dissolved, and then the mixture is to be employed in setting the sponge, in the same way as beer yeast is used. In making a farther supply for the next year, beer or ale yeast may be used as before; but this is not necessary where a cake of the old stock remains, for this will act on the new mixture precisely in the same way. If the dry cakes were reduced to powder in a mortar, the same results would take place, with perhaps more convenience, and in less time. Indian meal is used because it is of a less adhesive nature than wheat flour, but where Indian meal cannot easily be procured, white pea-meal, or even barley-meal, will answer the purpose equally well. The principal art or requisite in making yeast cakes, consists in drying them quickly and thoroughly, and in preventing them from coming in contact with the least particle of moisture till they are used.
YEAST DUMPLINS
Make a very light dough as for bread, only in a smaller quantity. When it has been worked up, and risen a sufficient time before the fire, mould it into good sized dumplins, put them into boiling water, and let them boil twenty minutes. The dough may be made up with milk and water if preferred. These dumplins are very nice when done in a potatoe steamer, and require about thirty-five minutes, if of a good size. The steamer must not be opened till they are taken up, or it will make the dumplins heavy. Dough from the baker's will answer the purpose very well, if it cannot conveniently be made at home. The dough made for rolls is the most delicate for dumplins. If not eaten as soon as they are taken up, either out of the water or the steamer, they are apt to fall and become heavy. Eaten with cold butter they are much better than with any kind of sauce, except meat dripping directly from the pan. The addition of a few currants will make good currant dumplins.
YELLOW BLAMANGE
Pour a pint of boiling water to an ounce of isinglass, and add the peel of one lemon. When cold, put in two ounces of sifted sugar, a quarter of a pint of white wine, the yolks of four eggs, and the juice of a lemon. Stir all well together, let it boil five minutes, strain it through a bag, and put it into cups.
YELLOW DYE
There is a new stain for wood, and a yellow dye for cloth, which consists of a decoction of walnut or hickory bark, with a small quantity of alum dissolved in it, in order to give permanency to the colour. Wood of a white colour receives from the application of this liquid a beautiful yellow tinge, which is not liable to fade. It is particularly for furniture made of maple, especially that kind of it which is called bird's eye, and which is commonly prepared by scorching its surface over a quick fire. The application of the walnut dye gives a lustre even to the darkest shades, while to the paler and fainter ones it adds somewhat of a greenish hue, and to the whiter parts various tints of yellow. After applying this stain to cherry and apple wood, the wood should be slightly reddened with a tincture of some red dye, whose colour is not liable to fade.
A handsome dye is thus given to it which does not hide the grain, and which becomes still more beautiful as the wood grows darker by age. Walnut bark makes the most permanent yellow dye for dyeing cloth of any of the vegetable substances used in this country. Care should be taken that the dye be not too much concentrated: when this happens, the colour is far less bright and delicate, and approaches nearer to orange. It is hardly necessary to add, that the dye should be boiled and kept in a brass vessel, or in some other which has no iron in its composition. A lively yellow colour for dyeing cloth, may be produced from potato tops. Gather them when ready to flower, press out the juice, mix it with a little water, and suffer the cloth to remain in it for twenty-four hours. The cloth, whether of wool, cotton, or flax, is then to be dipped in spring water. By plunging the cloth thus tinged with yellow, into a vessel of blue dye, a brilliant and lasting green is obtained.
YELLOW LEMON CREAM
Pare four lemons very thin into twelve large spoonfuls of water, and squeeze the juice on seven ounces of finely powdered sugar. Beat well the yolks of nine eggs; then add the peels and juice of the lemons, and work them together for some time. Strain the whole through a flannel, into a silver saucepan, or one of very nice block-tin, and set it over a gentle fire. Stir it one way till it is pretty thick, and scalding hot, but not boiling, or it will curdle. Pour it into jelly glasses. A few lumps of sugar should be rubbed hard on the lemons before they are pared, to attract the essence, and give a better colour and flavour to the cream.
YORKSHIRE CAKES
Mix two pounds of flour with four ounces of butter melted in a pint of good milk, three spoonfuls of yeast, and two eggs. Beat all well together, and let it rise; then knead it, and make it into cakes. Let them first rise on tins, and then bake in a slow oven.
--Another sort is made as above, leaving out the butter. The first sort is shorter; the last lighter.
YORKSHIRE KNEAD CAKES
Rub six ounces of butter into a pound of flour till it is very fine, and mix it into a stiff paste with milk. Knead it well, and roll it out several times. Make it at last about an inch thick, and cut it into cakes, in shapes according to the fancy. Bake them on an iron girdle, and when done on one side turn them on the other. Cut them open and butter them hot. They also eat well cold or toasted. Half a pound of currants well washed and dried may be added at pleasure.
YORKSHIRE HAMS
Mix half a pound of salt, three ounces of saltpetre, half an ounce of sal prunella, and five pounds of coarse sugar. Rub the hams with this mixture, after it has been well incorporated, and lay the remainder of it upon the top. Then put some water to the pickle, adding salt till it will bear an egg. Boil and strain it, cover the hams with it, and let them lie a fortnight. Rub them well with bran, and dry them. The above ingredients are sufficient for three good hams.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING
Mix five spoonfuls of flour with a quart of milk, and three eggs well beaten. Butter the pan. When the pudding is brown by baking under the meat, turn the other side upwards, and brown that. Set it over a chafing-dish at first, and stir it some minutes. It should be made in a square pan, and cut into pieces before it comes to table.
YOUNG FOWLS
The following will be found to be a nice way of dressing up a small dish. Bone, singe, and wash a young fowl. Make a forcemeat of four ounces of veal, two ounces of lean ham scraped, two ounces of fat bacon, two hard yolks of eggs, a few sweet herbs chopped, two ounces of beef suet, a tea-spoonful of lemon peel minced fine, an anchovy, salt, pepper, and a very little cayenne. Beat all in a mortar, with a tea-cupful of crumbs, and the yolks and whites of three eggs. Stuff the inside of the fowl, draw the legs and wings inwards, tie up the neck and rump close. Stew the fowl in a white gravy; when it is done through and tender, add a large cupful of cream, with a bit of butter and flour. Give it one boil, add the squeeze of a lemon, and serve it up.
YOUNG ONION SAUCE
Peel a pint of button onions, and lay them in water. Put them into a stewpan with a quart of cold water, and let them boil for half an hour or more, till they are quite tender. They may then be put to half a pint of mushroom sauce.
