Old Recipes
LATEST RECIPES:
Tomato Soy
Here is a recipe for this relish.
Peel and chop a peck of ripe tomatoes until they are quite fine; then put them over the fire in a preserving kettle, with a half teacupful of whole cloves, the same of whole allspice, a scant teacupful of salt, a tablespoonful of black pepper, and three red peppers and five onions which have been chopped fine. Let the
ingredients boil together for fully an hour, and immediately add a quart of the best elder vinegar and remove from the fire. When the “soy” has cooled sufficiently it may be bottled.
If corked and sealed lightly it will keep all winter, or oven longer.
Sweet Potato Pie
Boil sufficient sweet potatoes to make a pint of pulp when rubbed through a sieve; add a pint of sweet milk, a small cupful of sugar, a little salt, the beaten yolks of two eggs and, if liked, a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Bake in a shallow pan lined with rich crust. Beat the whites of two eggs with confectioner’s sugar, making a meringue, put on top of the pie after it is baked and return to the oven to “set” not to brown; Irish potatoes may be used the same way.
Sweet Potato Pie (southern way)
Have ready a nice crust, lining a deep pie tin. Boil the sweet potatoes until quite tender; slice into the pie-crust, sprinkle over it very little salt a cupful of sugar, a little allspice and drop plentifully over all bits of sweet fresh butter; then cover with a second crust and bake until done but not too brown. If this is
too dry a little of the water in which the potatoes were boiled may be added before covering.
How to Bottle Pickles
From 1906:
When putting up sauces and relishes for winter use, care should be taken that the bottles and jars are perfectly air-tight, and this fact cannot be assured if the corks are simply fitted into the necks and tied down in the usual manner. Corks are more or less porous. The corks should be first dipped into a mixture of one quarter pound of beef suet and one half pound of beeswax, melted down over a slow fire, and be dried at the fire afterwards, this process being repeated several times. Then press the cork into the neck of the bottle and dip the heads and rims into a solution of one-eighth ounce of beeswax melted down with one pound of sealing wax and the same quantity of black resin. When making this mixture, it is well to stir it with a long tallow candle, the wax preventing it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Sauces, relishes, pickles, liniments, etc., bottled in this way will be in good condition to “keep” indefinitely.
Marshmallow Cake
Make the batter after any good white cake recipe, and bake in layers. For the filling, boil one cup of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of water until it “ropes,” then add a half pound of marshmallows torn into bits, and stir until they dissolve. Whip the whites of three eggs until very stiff; add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and stir into the syrup, beating hard all the time. Spread between the layers while warm, as it stiffens very quickly.
Fried Oysters
Take the oysters out of the liquor with the lingers removing all bits of shell, and dry between soft cloths; season with salt and pepper, dip in flour, then in slightly beaten egg diluted with a
tablespoonful of cold water, then in finely rolled cracker or bread crumbs or corn meal. Dip this twice. Fry in deep, hot fat, and dip out when a rich brown (which should be very soon), and lay on light brown paper to drain. Serve immediately.
Cookies
From 1905:
Two pounds of seeded (not seedless) raisins, one pound of currants, one pint or chopped nuts (any kind liked,) one quart of New Orleans syrup, one pint of lard, one pint of buttermilk, two grated nutmegs, one tablespoonful of soda.
After thoroughly flouring the fruit, put in all the ingredients and mix with sufficient flour to make a stiff dough, as you would mix bread. Do this at night, and let stand until morning, in a fairly warm place. In the morning roll out without kneading, cut into squares with a knife and bake. This will make four gallons of
cookies, which will not spoil very soon. A less amount may be made by using the above proportions. It will be best to try with a smaller quantity, though this recipe is highly recommended.
How to Cure Beef
From 1905:
For winter and present use, cut the beef into sizable pieces, sprinkle a little salt on the bottom of the barrel only, then pack your beef without salting it, and when packed, pour over it a brine made by dissolving six pounds of salt for each one hundred pounds of meal in just enough cold water to sufficiently cover it when well-weighted. This beef can be cut and fried as nice as fresh meat for a long time, and is just right for boiling also. You can freshen it nearly as nice as pork for frying purposes, or it can be parboiled, the water turned off, and a stew made of it.
By using more salt, it soon loses its freshness, and the juices are drawn off by the salt. In about three weeks (maybe less), such pieces as are intended for drying may be taken out of the brine and hung up, and is improved by soaking overnight to relieve the salt from the outside.
This is all right for winter and drying purposes, but if any is left until warm weather, drain off the brine, put salt among what is left of the meat and cover with a brine made as follows:
For every 100 pounds of beef, use seven pounds of salt dissolved in water enough to well cover it, and weight it down closely.
Another way to cure beef. First, thoroughly rub salt into the meat in bulk and let it remain for twenty-four hours to draw off the blood. Then, let drain, cutting into pieces as desired, and pack carefully. Have ready a pickle made as follows: For every 100 pounds of beef, use seven pounds of salt, one ounce each of saltpetre and cayenne; molasses, one quart, and soft water, eight gallons; boil and skim well, and when cold pour it over the beef. Boiling and skimming cleanses the brine, while the cayenne and saltpetre improves the flavor and helps to preserve it.
How to Cure Hams
From 1905:
For hams averaging twelve pounds each, have ready one and a half gallons of best salt, one pound of good brown sugar, one eighth pound of powdered saltpetre, one ounce of black pepper, and one half ounce of cayenne. Cut the joints into proper shapes, without unnecessary bone and fat, and lay them on a board or table. First rub the skin well with salt, and lay each joint aside; then begin over again and into the fleshy side of each ham rub two tablespoonfuls of saltpetre and a tablespoonful of brown sugar mixed together. Rub the pepper, particularly, about the hock and under the bone, and give the whole ham a good application of salt. Now pack the hams, one upon another, the skin side downward, with a layer of salt between, into a tub, box or barrel, the bottom of which has also been covered with salt. The process of salting will be complete in five weeks. At the end of that time, have ready a peck of hickory ashes; clean the hams with a brush, or dry them with a cloth, and rub them well with the ashes.
To smoke the hams, the joints should be hung from joists beneath the ceiling, and a slow, smothered fire kept up for five or six weeks, so as to smoke them thoroughly, but not overheat the hams. Hickory chips or corn cobs is the best fuel.
How to Pickle Meats
From 1905:
Cut the meat into suitable pieces and pack into a barrel; then boil together six gallons of water, nine pounds of salt, six pounds of light brown sugar and one quart of good molasses. Remove the scum as fast as it rises; take the boiler off the stove and let the pickle get cold. Dissolve six ounces of saltpetre and add to the brine. Pour this over the meat until the meat is covered, put on the meat a clean, hardwood board, and on this put a weight sufficient to keep the board under the pickle. If mold should form, pour off the brine, boil and skim well for a few minutes, let get cold and again pour over the meat. Always keep the meat weighted down under the brine, as a small piece sticking up out of the brine will spoil the whole mess.
Nice Sandwiches
Run cold boiled ham through the grinder, or chopping machine, season with a little cayenne pepper and mustard, mix a tablespoonful of mayonnaise dressing and spread on buttered bread. The mayonnaise may be had, ready prepared, at the grocers, in small bottles. If the sandwich is to be rolled, cut the bread very thin, take the crust off, roll, and fasten with a tooth pick until settled into shape; then roll each sandwich in buttered paper, and the shape will hold.
Baked Beans
From 1905:
Pick and wash a pint of beans, put into a half-gallon of water and let soak over night; drain off the water in the morning, put in a bean pot, or deep pan, add a tablespoonful of molasses, half a teaspoonful of salt, a half pound of fat, salt pork, and fill the pot with boiling water. Bake four hours in a moderate oven; or the beans may be boiled until quite tender, but not broken up. Water should be added as it boils away, until about an hour before they are done, but when taken from the fire they should be nearly dry. If wished to be served in small crocks, the crocks should be filled with the beans, a small lump of butter laid on top of each, and the crocks set in the oven until the beans are browned on top. There are small brown dishes which come for this purpose, costing four or five cents each, to be had at the china stores.
Mince Tarts
One cupful of cooked beef tongue minced; two cupfuls of chopped apples, three tablespoonfuls of hard butter, one cupful of seeded raisins, one cupful of currants, one tablespoonful of shredded citron, one teaspoonful of cinnamon one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, mace and cloves mixed, one teaspoonful of salt, half a cupful of molasses, two cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of boiled cider, the juice of one lemon, the juice of two oranges.
Simmer all together ten minutes; line pattie pans with nice pastry and fill with the mince, place strips across the top and bake in a hot oven.
SPICE NUTS
1 lb. flour, ¼ lb. butter, about 6 ounces or sugar, 10 ounces of golden syrup, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful each baking soda, spice, and ground ginger. 2 teaspoonfuls of ground cinnamon. Mix all thoroughly; turn out, and knead to a firm dough, adding more flour if necessary. Roll out, cut into small shapes, and bake in a rather quick oven for ten minutes.
PINEAPPLE AND BREAD PUDDING
Here is something suitable for grown ups : —1 small tin of pineapple, 1 lb. of fine dry breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, 1 pint of milk, 3 ounces of sugar, 2 ounces of butter. Beat butter to a cream, and add the sugar. Then stir in the yolks of the eggs, and the breadcrumbs, then the milk, and all, or part, of the pineapple syrup—enough to make it (with the milk) into a smooth batter. Cut part of the pieces of pineapple into smaller pieces, and stir them into the other ingredients, and bake in a well-greased dish for about an hour, or until set. Now beat the white of the eggs to a froth, adding a little fine sugar, and pile it on the top of the pudding in a rough heap, and finally decorate with the remainder of the pineapple.
GINGER SAUCE FOR THE DUMPLINGS: One breakfastcupful of milk, 1 dessertspoonful of butter, 1 small teaspoonful of flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar, and 2 teaspoonfuls of ground ginger. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour, slowly, and mix well. Stir in the milk, and continue stirring till it boils; add the sugar and ginger, mixed, boil again, and the sauce is now quite ready to pour over the dumplings. If preferred, treacle may be used instead of the sauce.
APPLE DUMPLINGS
Children love anything in the form of a dumpling, and this recipe is especially nice. Peel some medium-sized apples, and take out the core, making a very small opening. Make a paste with ½ lb. flour, 4 ounces finely chopped suet, 1 teaspoonful sugar, half teaspoonful baking powder, and a little water, only enough to make a rather firm paste. Divide it into as many pieces as there are apples, and put one apple in the centre. Fill the space in each apple with sugar, wet the paste, and work it up round the apple, and press the edges together. Tie each dumpling in a piece of cotton (calico) scalded and floured, and put them into a saucepan of boiling water, and boil for an hour
AN ECONOMICAL DISH
This is an ordinary sized pie made of any scraps of raw meat which cannot be served in the usual way. Stew or slowly boil the meat in a little water. When cool, dust them with cornflour (reserving the water in which they were cooked), and put a layer in a pie-dish with a suspicion of powdered herbs, a seasoning of salt and pepper; then a layer of mashed potatoes and minced onions. Add more meat, etc., until all are used. Pour in the liquor from the cooked meat, and cover with a nice short crust made in this way : Put ¼ lb. of lard or dripping into ½ pint of hot water; boil it up, and then pour it on to ½ lb. oatmeal, and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, and quickly, but do not roll it out. Shape it to the top of the dish, and pinch the edges to the rim. Bake in a good oven for about half an hour. This is a very sustaining dish, and most children like it when they would not look at oatmeal served as porridge.
SMALL MUTTON PATTIES
Make a short crust with ¼ lb. dripping or lard rubbed into ¾ lb. of flour, a little salt, and enough water to form a pliable paste. Roll out on a floured board to about half an inch thick. Cut into rounds, two for each patty-tin. Grease the tins, line them with one round of pastry, and put into each about a dessertspoonful of cold cooked mutton, minced small, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Add a very little water, cover with another round of paste; make a small hole in the top, and bake in a moderate oven for about three-quarters of an hour.