Cereals. Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
Combine 1 cup liquid with 1 tablespoon flour or meal in a saucepan.
Add ⅛ teaspoon salt and stir well.
Gradually mix in 3 tablespoons powdered crackers.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour or meal
- Thickens the liquid as its starch swells when heated, giving the gruel body.
- Powdered crackers
- Add starch and body, further thickening the gruel as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Starch granules swell and thicken the liquid only when heated enough, but they can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pan. Constant stirring keeps the mixture smooth and evenly thickened.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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