Milk Powder Uses

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 798, 5 November 1954, Page 32

Milk Powder Uses

ILK powder is now a most important and _ valuable foodstuff. It has saved millions of lives in the countries so devastated by war; it is still the chief means of nourishment supplied to children by Unesco. The process of making milk into powder does not remove any of its eriginal good properties as fresh milk; no adulterant is used in either the milk or the powder. Fresh, pure milk, I learn, is composed of approximately seven parts of water and one part of solids; but even if milk could be kept pure and fresh indefinitely it would still be difficult and cumbersome to transport. So the water is removed by a careful process, and milk powder remains. You have only to replace the water and the pure milk comes back. Moreover, bacteria do not exist in a dry powdered) milk. Skim Milk Powder Nutritionists are agreed that. skim milk is probably the most valuable part of the milk because only the fats have been removed, leaving the calcium and all the other essential minerals. Anyhow, there are often more fats than we teally need in our ordinary diet; and many people are advised to cut down their intake of fats. Skim milk powder is of treméndous importance, ‘because we need the minerals so urgently, and yet cannot get skim milk to drink. Just add the correct amount of water, as specified on the tin, to the skim milk powder, and go ahead with soups and purees and custards and milk puddings and even ice cream. And, to make things better still, add skim milk powder, dry, to the flour and baking powder you sift together for scones, cakes, biscuits, pound cakes, gems-any baking. You will find these keep moister, too. In most of the cities lately, there have been demonstrations in the big stores of those useful liquidisers or vitamisers, and in making interesting milk drinks with these, nothing but milk powder and water were used-never milk. Available Of course, there are millions of people who prefer to use ordinary milk, or "real .milk," as we say. Certainly I do myself. But the point is that there are also millions of people who cannot get "ordinary" milk-perhaps there is no milk supply (on launches, in camps, on mountains, and so on), or there is not enough left for the family pudding; or moving to another district and to a different milk supply has resulted in digestive upsets. Milk powder has a standard, unvarying content-on every count it has become part of our "way of life" that there should be available always that important staple food, milk. In Making Porridge This idea comes from Birkenhead: "When cooking the breakfast cereal allow one tablespoon of milk powder to 3 tablespoons of the cereal. Mix the milk powder with the cereal, salt sand cold water before adding it to the boiling water in the saucepan. There are no lumps, no boiling over, and, most important, everyone gets a little extra milk." Puree of Brussels Sprouts Make the milk with 4 tablespoons milk powder and 3 cups water. Put about 11% lb. of washed and trimmed

sprouts intoa pan of fast-boiling water. Boil till tender, drain and rub through a sieve. Boil the milk and 3 cups

white stock (or even water) and add while boiling to the puree. Add pepper and salt to taste, and a little cream. Bring just to boiling point, but do not boil or the colour will be spoilt. Serve very hot. Tomato Cream Soup Mix 4 tablespoons milk powder in 3 cups of water. Bring to boiling point. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and stir into it 2 heaped tablespoons of flour until thoroughly mixed. Add, by degrees, the hot milk, stirring quickly always the one way until a smooth creamy sauce results. Add the rest of the milk and when cool stir in 1 small tin of concentrated tomato soup or fresh tomato stewed with an onion and then strained, will do. Season with

salt and pepper to taste and heat thoroughly; before serving add _ finelychopped parsley. Do not boil after tomatoes are added, or the soup will curdle. This is really qa delicious soup, the dried milk giving it just a nice nutty flavour. Cream of Celery Soup One cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of milk powder, 2% cups of celery, 3 cups of water, 1 cup of white sauce, pinch of pepper. Cook the celery and salt in the 3 cups of water, until the celery is tender. Add_ the white sauce, the milk, pepper, and more salt if necessary. Ice Cream (Skim Milk Powder) Half a tin of unsweetened condensed milk, ¥Y2 pint of plain milk (or top milk), 4 tablespoons sugar, 4 tablespoons skim milk powder, flavouring. Whip the unsweetened condensed milk until stiff, add gradually the % pint of plain milk and continue whipping; add sugar and skim milk powder, and whip into the mixture. Add the desired flavouring (peppermint is a_ favourite!), pour into trays and freeze. Chocolate sauce may be poured over when serving. A Meat Loaf (Skim Milk Powder) An American recipe: Two cups freslf breadcrumbs, 11% lb. ground chuck beef, Y% lb. pork sausage, 1% cup minced onion, %,cup skim milk powder, 114 teaspoons salt, 42 teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 2 eggs slightly beaten. Have oven at 350 degrees (moderate), Combine in order listed, mix thoroughly with hands (mixture is soft and sticky). SHape into 2 loaves (greased shallow pan). With fingers make slight ridges, lengthwise. on

top of each loaf. Bake uncovered, at 350 degrees for 14% hours. For a sweet glaze: Spread (after 45 minutes) with mixture of 4% cup brown sugar, % teaspoon dry mustard, 1-3rd cup ketchup, then bake 30 minutes more. Serve one loaf hot for dinner, the other cold sliced for lunches (juicy). A firm-textured meat loaf. Ginger Bread (Skim Milk Powder) Quarter pound of butter, 44 Ib. brown sugar, 2 tablespoons skim milk powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teacup golden syrup, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1. tablespoon hot water, 1 lb. flour, 1 teacup water. Warm together butter, water, sugar and lemon juice with golden syrup. Beat in the milk powder With dissolved baking soda and spices. Sift in flour. Place in a greased baking dish and bake 11 hours | approximately im a very moderate oven. |