Rice Bread
1/4 oz. of salt INGREDIENTS. - To every lb. of rice allow 4 lbs. of wheat flour, nearly 3 tablespoonfuls of yeast, oz. of salt.
Boil the rice in water until it is quite tender; pour off the water, and put the rice, before it is cold, to the flour. Mix these well together with the yeast, salt, and sufficient warm water to make the whole into a smooth dough; let it rise by the side of the fire, then form it into loaves, and bake them from 1 to 2 hours, according to their size. If the rice is boiled in milk instead of water, it makes very delicious bread or cakes. When boiled in this manner, it may be mixed with the flour without straining the liquid from it.
TIME.-1 to 2 hours.
CAKE-MOULD. and bake it for nearly 1 1/2 hour. It may be flavoured with essence of almonds, when this is preferred.
TIME.-Nearly 1½ hour.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Rice, Savoury Casserole of; or Rice Border (for Ragoûts, Fricassées and Entrées). - INGREDIENTS for 2 casseroles.-1 1/2 lb. of rice, 3 pints of weak stock or broth, 2 slices of fat ham, 1 1/2 teaspoonful of salt. AVERAGE COST, 1s. 3d.
A casserole of rice, when made in a mould, is not such a difficult operation as when it is moulded by the hand. It forms the basis of an elegant and inexpensive entrée, as the re mains of cold fish, flesh, or fowl may be served as ragoûts, fricassées, &c., inclosed in the It re- CASSEROLE OF RICE. casserole. It requires great nicety in its preparation, the principal thing to attend to being the boiling of the rice, as, if this is not sufficiently cooked, the casserole, when moulded, will RICE, CASSEROLE OF. have a rough appearance, which would entirely spoil it. After having washed the rice in two or three waters, drain it well and put it into a stewpan, with the stock, ham and salt; cover the pan closely, and let the rice gradually swell over a slow fire, occasionally stirring, prevents its sticking. When it is quite soft, strain it, pick out the pieces of ham, and, with the back of a large wooden spoon, mash the rice to a perfectly smooth paste. Then well grease a mould (moulds are made purposely for rice borders), and turn it upside down for a minute or two, to drain away the fat, should there be too much; put some rice all round the bottom and sides of it; place a piece of soft bread in the middle, and cover it with rice: press it equally with the spoon, and let it cool. Then dip the mould into hot water, turn the casserole carefully on to a dish, mark where the lid is to be formed on the top, by making an incision with the point of a knife about an inch from the edge all round, and put it into a very hot oven. Brush it over with a little clarified butter, and bake about 1/2 hour, or rather longer; then carefully remove the lid, which will be formed by the incision having been made all round, and remove the bread in small pieces, with the point of a penknife, being careful not to injure the casserole.
Fill the centre with the ragoût or fricassée, which should be made thick; put on the cover, glaze it, place it in the oven to set the glaze, and serve as hot as possible.
The casserole should not be emptied too much, as it is liable to crack from the weight of whatever is put in; and, in baking it, let the oven be very hot, or the casserole will probably break.
TIME. About hour to swell the rice.
SEASONABLE at any time.
A yeasted wheat loaf extended with boiled rice, which keeps the crumb moist and soft. The proportions are for a large household batch and scale down cleanly.
- Add the rice warmThe hinge of the recipe is combining the rice with the flour "before it is cold." Warm, freshly drained rice gelatinises against the flour and gives the soft, damp crumb that is the point of the bread; cold rice clumps and refuses to disperse into the dough.
- YeastThree tablespoonfuls probably indicates a liquid yeast such as brewer's barm or ale yeast, weaker than modern dried yeast. For 4 lb of flour use about 1 tablespoon of instant dried yeast, or 1 oz fresh, and judge by the dough rather than the clock.
- The salt figure is incompleteThe original gives only "oz. of salt" with the fraction missing, so no conversion can honestly be given. Ordinary bread practice is about 2 per cent of the flour weight, roughly 1¼ oz for 4 lb of flour.
- Rice to flourOne part rice by dry weight to four parts flour, meaning the boiled rice contributes a good deal of water. Hold back some of the warm water at first and add it only as needed, since rice varies in how much it absorbs.
- Rising by the fireA warm spot, perhaps 75-80F. Expect roughly one to two hours for the bulk rise and a further 45 minutes to an hour once shaped, judging by the dough rather than the clock.
- OvenPeriod brick bread ovens were generally charged very hot and fell as the bake went on; this recipe specifies no temperature. Bake at around 425F, dropping to 375F after the first 15 minutes, and allow the 1 to 2 hours the recipe gives, according to the size of the loaves.
- Yield4 lb of flour with 1 lb of rice, once boiled, makes something like 7 to 8 lb of dough, or three to four good loaves. Quarter everything for a single loaf.
- The milk variationRice boiled in milk is added unstrained, so the whole dough is enriched. It browns faster because of the milk sugars, so watch the crust and cover with foil if it colours before the centre sets.
- "Casserole" in the second entryThe savoury casserole on this page is not a baked dish in the modern sense but a moulded case of mashed rice, hollowed around a piece of bread and filled with ragout. Its instruction to use a very hot oven -- 450F or above in modern terms -- is what sets the walls; the recipe warns that a cooler oven will probably let the casserole break.
Rice bread belongs to a long line of Victorian loaves that stretched expensive wheat flour with something cheaper — potatoes, barley, oatmeal, rice — and Beeton's book carries several of them side by side. Rice reached British kitchens in quantity through the East India trade and the Carolina trade, and by the middle of the nineteenth century it was cheap enough to be a domestic economy rather than a luxury. Cooks also valued it for keeping quality: the gelatinised starch holds water, so a rice loaf stays soft a day or two longer than a plain wheat one, which mattered in a house that baked once or twice a week. The milk variation at the end shows the same dough being pushed toward tea-cakes, a common Victorian habit of getting two dishes from one mixing.