HINTS ON HEATING OVENS, AND BAKING.--Brick ovens are generally heated
with dry fagots or small branches, or with light split wood. For baking
bread, the oven-wood must be heavier than for pies. A heap of wood
should be placed in the centre of the oven on the brick floor, and then
set on fire. While the wood is burning, the door of the oven must be
left open. When the wood is all burnt down, and reduced to a mass of
small red coals, the oven will be very hot. Then shovel out all the
coals and sweep the oven floor with a broom, till it is perfectly clean,
and entirely free from ashes. Try the heat within. For baking bread, the
floor of the oven should look red; and a little flour thrown in should
burn brown immediately. If you can hold your hand within the mouth of
the oven as long as you can distinctly count twenty, the heat is about
right. Pies, puddings, &c., require less heat. When a brick oven is
used, a peel, or large broad-bladed, long-handled wooden shovel is
necessary for putting in the bread, pies, &c., placing them on the broad
or shovel-end of the peel, and then depositing them on the oven floor.
Then close up the door of the oven, and leave the things to bake. When
done, slip the peel beneath them, and hand them out on it.
To bake in an iron Dutch oven, (a large deep, cast-iron pan, with a
handle, a close-fitting lid, and standing on three or four feet,) you
must first stand the lid upright before a clear fire to heat the inside;
and it will be best if the oven itself is also stood up before the fire
for the same purpose. This should be done while the article to be baked
is preparing, that it may be put in as soon as it is ready. The oven
may be suspended to the crane, and hung over the fire, or it may be set
on a bed of hot wood-coals in the corner of the hearth. As soon as the
loaf or pie is in, put on the lid of the oven, and cover it all over
with hot coals, replenishing it with more live coals as the baking
proceeds. If you find it too hot on the top, deaden it with ashes. If
the oven stands on the hearth, keep up the heat at the bottom, by
additional live coals placed beneath it. Whether the oven is hung over
the fire, or stood on the hearth, there must always be hot coals all
over the lid, the hottest near the edge.
To bake on a griddle, you may either hang it over the fire, or set it
over hot coals on the hearth. Most griddles have feet. The fire must be
quite clear and bright, and free from smoke, or the cakes will be
blackened, and have a disagreeable taste. The griddle must be perfectly
clean; and while you are baking, it will require frequent scraping, with
a broad knife. If it is well scraped after every cake is taken off, it
will not want greasing, as there will be no stickiness. Otherwise, some
butter tied up in a clean rag and laid on a saucer, must be kept at hand
all the time, to rub over the griddle between the baking of each cake;
for butter, lard, or nice beef or veal-dripping may be substituted, but
it will not be so fine. Never grease with mutton-fat, as it will
communicate the taste of tallow. A bit of the fat of _fresh_ pork may
do, (stuck on a fork,) but salt pork will give the outside of the cakes
a disagreeable saltiness, and therefore should not be used.
A griddle may be placed in the oven of a hot stove. Some close stoves
have a hole in the top with a flat lid or cover, which lid can be used
as a griddle.
The tin-reflecting-ovens (with shelves for the pies and cakes) that are
used for baking in the summer, and that, having a furnace beneath, and a
chimney-pipe, can be set out of doors, so that the kitchen may not be
kept hot, are very good for things that will bake soon, and that do not
require what is called a strong, solid heat. But they are not effective
unless the inside is kept _very bright_; otherwise it will not reflect
the heat. These tin ovens should (as well as tin roasters) be cleaned
thoroughly and scoured bright with sand every time they are used.
The art of baking with anthracite, (or any other mineral coal,) can only
be acquired by practice. The above hints on baking, refer exclusively to
wood fires.
When a charcoal furnace is used for baking, stewing, or any sort of
cooking, it should either be set out in the open air, or the door of the
kitchen must be kept open all the time. The vapor of charcoal in a close
room is so deleterious as to cause death.
DRIED CORN MEAL YEAST CAKES.--Half a pound of fresh hops.--Four quarts
of water.--A pint of wheat or rye flour.--Half a pint of strong fresh
yeast, from the brewer or baker.--Three pints, or more of Indian meal.
Boil half a pound of fresh hops in four quarts of water, till the liquid
is reduced to two quarts. Strain it into a pan, and mix in sufficient
wheat flour to make a thin batter; adding half a pint of the best yeast
you can procure. Leave it to ferment; and when the fermentation is over,
stir in sufficient Indian meal to make a moderately stiff dough. Cover
it, and set in a warm place to rise. When it has become very light, roll
it out into a square sheet an inch thick, and cut it into flat cakes,
about four inches square. Spread them out separately, on a large dish;
and let them dry slowly, in a cool place where there is no sun. While
drying, turn them five or six times a-day. When they are quite dry and
hard, put them separately into brown paper bags, and keep them in a box
closely covered, and in a place not the least damp.
When you want them to use for yeast, dissolve in a little warm water,
one or more of the cakes, in proportion to the quantity of bread you
intend making. When it is quite dissolved, stir it hard, thicken it with
a little wheat flour, cover it, and place it near the fire to rise,
before you use it. Then mix it with the flour, according to the usual
manner of making bread. One yeast cake is enough for two quarts of meal
or flour.
This way of preserving yeast is very convenient for keeping through the
summer; or for conveying to a distance.
EXCELLENT HOME-MADE YEAST.--Yeast should always be kept in a glass
bottle or a stone jug, and never in earthen or metal. Before you make
fresh yeast, empty entirely the vessel that has contained the last; and
if of stone, scald it twice with boiling water, in which it will be well
to mix a little clear lye. Then rinse it with cold water, till perfectly
clean. If you have not used lye in scalding it, dissolve some potash or
pearlash in the rinsing-water, to remove any acidity that may linger
about the vessel, and may therefore spoil the new yeast. If you keep
your yeast in glass bottles, the water must be warm, but not hot; as
scalding water may crack them: also melt some potash or pearlash in this
water. The vessel for keeping it being purified, proceed to make your
yeast. Have ready, in a kettle over the fire, two quarts of boiling
water; put into it a very large handful of hops, (as fine and fresh as
possible,) and let the water boil again with the hops in it, for twenty
minutes or more. Sift into a pan three pints of wheat flour. Strain the
liquor from the hops into a large bowl, and pour half of it hot over the
flour. Stir it well, and press out all the lumps till it is quite
smooth. Let the other half of the liquid stand till it is cool, and then
pour it gradually to the rest; mixing it well, by stirring as you
proceed. Then take half a pint of good strong yeast--brewers’ or bakers’
yeast, if you can get it fresh; if not, you must use some that has been
left from your last making, provided it is not the least sour; stir this
yeast into the mixture of hop-water and flour; put it immediately into
your jug or bottles, and cork it loosely till the fermentation is over,
(which should be in an hour,) and it will then be fit for use.
Afterwards cork it tightly. It will keep better if you put a raisin or
two into the bottom of each bottle, before you pour in the fresh yeast.
Into a stone jug put half a dozen raisins.
All yeast is better and more powerful for being fresh. It is better to
make it frequently, (the trouble being little,) than to risk its
becoming sour by endeavouring to keep it too long. When sour, it becomes
weak and watery, and tastes and smells disagreeably, and will never make
light bread; besides being very unwholesome. The acidity may be somewhat
corrected by stirring in some dissolved pearlash, sal-eratus, or soda,
immediately before the yeast is used; but it is better to have it good
and fresh, without the necessity of any corrective. Yeast should always
be kept in a cool place.
Those who live in towns where there are breweries have no occasion to
make their own yeast during the brewing season; and in summer they can
every day supply themselves with fresh yeast from the baker’s. It is
only in country places where there are neither brewers nor bakers that
it is expedient to make it at home. For home-made yeast, we know the
above receipt to be excellent.
Sweet cakes, buns, rusks, &c., require stronger and fresher yeast than
bread; the sugar will otherwise retard their rising.
INDIAN BREAD, OR PONE.--Four quarts of Indian meal sifted.--A large half
pint of wheat flour.--A heaping table-spoonful of salt.--Half a pint of
strong-fresh yeast.--A quart of warm water.--Sift into a large deep pan,
the Indian meal and the wheat flour; mixing them well. Make a hole in
the centre. The water must be warm, but not hot. Mix it with the yeast,
and pour them into the hole in the midst of the meal. Take a spoon, and
with it mix into the liquid enough of the surrounding meal to make a
thin batter, which you must stir till it is quite smooth, and free from
lumps. Then strew a handful of wheat flour over the surface, scattering
it thinly, so as to cover the whole. Warm a clean cloth, and lay it
folded over the top of the pan. Then set it in a warm place to rise,
nearer the fire in winter than in summer. When it is quite light; and
has risen so that the flour on the surface is cracked, strew on the
salt, and begin to form the whole mass into a dough; commencing round
the hole that contains the batter, and adding, gradually, sufficient
lukewarm water (which you must have ready for the purpose) to mix it of
the proper consistence. When the whole is completely mixed, and the
batter in the centre is thoroughly incorporated with the dough, knead it
hard for at least half an hour. Then, having formed the dough into a
round lump in the middle of the pan, strew a little more flour thinly
over it. Cover it, and set it again in a warm place for half an hour.
Then flour your paste-board, divide the dough equally, and make it into
two loaves. Have the oven ready. Put in the loaves directly, and bake
them about two hours or more. Indian meal requires always more baking
than wheat. When you take them out, it is well to wrap each loaf in a
clean, coarse towel, previously sprinkled with cold water; and rolled up
damp till the bread is baked. Having thus wrapped up the loaves, stand
them on end to cool slowly. The damp cloths will prevent the crust from
hardening too much while the loaves are cooling.
All Indian bread, and every sort of Indian cake is best when quite
fresh.
Excellent bread may be made of equal proportions of wheat, rye flour,
and Indian; or of three parts wheat and one part Indian. All bread
should be kept closely secluded from the air, wrapped in cloths, and put
away in boxes or baskets with tightly-fitting lids.
Should you find the dough sour, (either from the heat of the weather, or
from standing too long,) you may recover it, by dissolving in a little
lukewarm water, a tea-spoonful of pearlash, sal-eratus, or soda.
Sprinkle this water all over the dough. Then knead it in, so that it may
be dispersed throughout. Then put it into the oven as soon as possible;
first tasting the dough, to discover if the sourness is entirely
removed. If not, mix in a little more pearlash, and then taste it again.
Take care not to put too much of any of these alkaline substances, lest
they communicate a disagreeable, soapy taste to the bread.
When you buy corn meal, it will keep better if the whole is sifted as
soon as you get it. Avoid buying much at a time, unless you can keep it
in a very cool place. When sour it is unfit to eat.
INDIAN RYE BREAD.--Two quarts of Indian meal. Two quarts of rye
meal.--Three pints of milk or water. Two teaspoonfuls of salt.--Half a
pint of strong fresh yeast. Having sifted the rye and Indian meal into a
large pan, mix them well together, adding the salt. Boil the milk or
water in a sauce-pan, and when scalding hot pour it on the meal, and
stir the whole very hard. If too stiff, add a little more warm water.
Let it stand till it becomes only of a lukewarm heat, and then stir in
the yeast. Knead the mixture into a stiff dough, and knead it long and
hard for at least half an hour. Then cover the pan with a thick cloth
that has been previously warmed, and set it near the fire to rise. When
the dough is quite light, and cracked all over the top, take it out of
the pan; divide the mass in half; make it into two loaves; knead each
loaf well for ten minutes or more; and then cover and set them again
near the fire, for about half an hour. By this time have the oven ready,
put in the loaves directly, and bake them at least an hour and a half.
This bread is considered very wholesome.
Should you find the dough sour, you may rectify it by kneading in a
tea-spoonful of soda or pearlash, dissolved in a little warm water.
INDIAN WHEAT BREAD.--This is made in the above manner, substituting
wheat for rye flour.
In any sort of home-made bread (either white or brown) a handful or more
of Indian meal will be found an improvement, rendering it moist and
sweet.
BOSTON RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.--Two quarts of Indian meal.--Two quarts of
rye meal.--Half a pint of strong fresh yeast.--Half a pint of West India
molasses.--A small table-spoonful of salt. Sift the rye and Indian meal
into a large pan or wooden bowl; and mix them, well together, adding the
salt. Have ready half a pint of water, warm but not hot. Mix with it the
molasses, and then stir into it the yeast. Make a hole in the middle of
the pan of meal; pour in the liquid; and then with a spoon work into it
a portion of the flour that surrounds the hole, till the liquid in the
centre becomes a thick batter. Sprinkle the top with rye meal; lay a
thick cloth over the pan; and set it in a warm place to rise. In three
or four hours it should be light enough to appear cracked all over the
surface. Then pour into the middle (by degrees) about a pint of warm
water, (it must not be hot,) and as you pour, mix it well all through
the dough, till the whole becomes a round mass. Sprinkle some rye flour
on the dough, and having floured your hands, knead it long and hard, (at
least half an hour, and after it ceases to stick to your hands,) turning
it over as you proceed. Then sprinkle the dough again with flour, cover
it, and again set it in a warm place to rise. Have the oven ready, and
of the proper heat, so that the bread may be put in as soon as it has
completely risen the second time. When perfectly light, the dough will
stand high, and the surface will be cracked all over. This quantity will
be sufficient for a common-sized loaf. Set it directly into the oven,
and bake it about two hours. When bread has done rising, it will fall
again if not put into the oven. As soon as it is done, wrap it
immediately in a clean coarse towel wrung out of cold water, and stand
it up on end till it is cool.
This is a palatable, cheap, and wholesome bread.
It may be mixed thinner, with a larger portion of water, and baked in a
deep tin or iron pan.
If the dough should have stood so long as to become sour (which it will,
if mixed over night) restore it by kneading in a small tea-spoonful of
pearlash or sal-eratus melted in a little warm water.
EGG PONE.--Three eggs.--A quart of Indian meal.--A large table-spoonful
of fresh butter.--A small tea-spoonful of salt.--A half-pint (or more)
of milk. Beat the eggs very light, and mix them with the milk. Then stir
in, gradually, the Indian meal; adding the salt and butter. It must not
be a batter, but a soft dough, just thick enough to be stirred well
with a spoon. If too thin, add more Indian meal; if too stiff, thin it
with a little more milk. Beat or stir it _long and hard_. Butter a tin
or iron pan. Put the mixture into it; and set the pan immediately into
an oven, which must be moderately hot at first, and the heat increased
afterward. A Dutch oven is best for this purpose. It should bake an hour
and a half or two hours, in proportion to its thickness. Send it to
table hot, and cut into slices. Eat it with butter, or molasses.
INDIAN MUSH.--Have ready on a clear fire, a pot of boiling water. Stir
into it, by degrees, (a handful at a time,) sufficient Indian meal to
make a very thick porridge, and then add a very small portion of salt,
allowing not more than a level tea-spoonful to a quart of meal. You must
keep the pot boiling all the time you are stirring in the meal; and
between every handful stir hard with the mush-stick, (a round stick
about half a yard long, flattened at the lower end,) as, if not well
stirred, the mush will be lumpy. After it is sufficiently thick and
smooth, keep it boiling an hour longer, stirring it occasionally. Then
cover the pot closely, and hang it higher up the chimney, or set it on
hot coals on the hearth, so as to simmer it slowly for another hour. The
goodness and wholesomeness of mush depends greatly on its being long and
thoroughly boiled. It should also be made very thick. If well made, and
well cooked, it is wholesome and nutritious; but the contrary, if thin,
and not sufficiently boiled. It is not too long to have it three or four
hours over the fire, first boiling, and then simmering. On the contrary
it will be better for it. The coarser the corn meal the less cooking it
requires. Send it to table hot, and in a deep dish. Eat it with sweet
milk, buttermilk, or cream; or with butter and sugar, or with butter and
molasses; making a hole in the middle of your plate of mush; putting
some butter into the hole, and then adding the sugar or molasses.
Cold mush that has been left, may be cut into slices, or mouthfuls, and
fried next day, in butter, or in nice drippings of veal, beef, or pork;
but not mutton or lamb.
INDIAN HASTY PUDDING.--Put two quarts of milk into a clean pot or
sauce-pan. Set it over the fire, adding a level tea-spoonful of salt,
and, when it comes to a boil, stir in a lump of fresh butter about the
size of a goose-egg. Then add (a handful at a time) sufficient Indian
meal to make it very thick, stirring it all the while with a mush-stick.
Keep it boiling well, and continue to throw in Indian meal till it is so
thick that the stick stands upright in it. Then send it to table hot,
and eat it with milk, cream, or molasses and butter. What is left may be
cut into slices, and fried next day, or boiled in a bag.
INDIAN MEAL GRUEL.--This is an excellent food for the sick. Having
sifted some Indian meal, mix in a quart bowl three table-spoonfuls of
the meal with six of cold water. Stir it smooth, and press out the lumps
against the side of the bowl. Have ready a very clean sauce-pan,
entirely free from grease, with a pint of boiling water. Pour this,
scalding hot, on the mixture in the bowl, a little at a time, and stir
it well, adding a pinch of salt. Then put the whole back into the
sauce-pan. Set it on hot coals, and stir it till it boils, making the
spoon go down to the bottom, to prevent the gruel from burning. After it
has come to a boil, let it continue boiling half an hour, stirring it
frequently, and skimming it. Give it to the invalid warm, in a bowl or
tumbler, to be eaten with a teaspoon. It may be sweetened with a little
sugar. When the physician permits, some grated nutmeg may be added; also
a very little wine.
RYE MUSH.--To make smooth rye mush, sift a quart or more of rye meal
into a pan, and gradually pour in sufficient cold water to make a very
thick batter, stirring it hard with a spoon as you proceed, and
carefully pressing out all the lumps against the side of the pan. Add a
very little salt. The batter must be so thick at the last that you can
scarcely stir it. Then thin it with a little more water, and see that it
is quite smooth. Rye, and also wheat flour, have a disposition to be
more lumpy than corn meal, when made into mush. When thoroughly mixed
and stirred, put it into a pot, place it over the fire, and boil it
well, stirring it with a mush-stick till it comes to a hard boil; then
place it in a diminished heat, and simmer it slowly till you want to
dish it up. Eat it warm, with butter and molasses, or with sweet milk,
or fresh buttermilk. Rye mush is considered very wholesome, particularly
in cases of dyspepsia.
COMMON HOE-CAKE.--Take an earthen or tin pan, and half fill it with
coarse Indian meal, which had best be sifted in. Add a little salt. Have
ready a kettle of boiling water. Pour into the Indian meal sufficient
hot water (a little at a time) to make a stiff dough, stirring it with a
spoon as you proceed. It must be thoroughly mixed, and stirred hard. If
you want the cakes for breakfast, mix this dough over night; cover the
pan, and set it in a _cool_ place till morning. If kept warm, it may
turn sour. Early next morning, as soon as the fire is burning well, set
the griddle over it, and take out the dough, a handful at a time.
Flatten and shape it by patting it with your hands, till you form it
into cakes about the size of a common saucer, and half an inch thick.
When the griddle is quite hot, lay on it as many cakes as it will hold,
and bake them brown. When the upper side is done, slip a bread knife
beneath, and turn them over. They must be baked brown on both sides. Eat
them warm, with buttermilk, sweet milk, butter, molasses, or whatever is
most convenient. If you intend these cakes for dinner or supper, mix
them as early in the day as you can, and (covering the pan) let them
stand in a cool place till wanted for baking. In cold weather you may
save trouble by mixing over night enough to last the next day for
breakfast, dinner, and supper; baking them as they are wanted for each
meal. Or they may be all baked in the morning, and eaten cold; but they
are then not so palatable as when warm. They will be less liable to
stick, if before each baking the griddle is dredged with wheat flour, or
greased with a bit of fat pork stuck on a fork. You may cover it all
over with one large cake, instead of several small ones.
In America there is seldom a house without a griddle. Still, where
griddles are not, these cakes may be baked on a board standing nearly
upright before the fire, and supported by a smoothing-iron or a stone
placed against the back. Where wood fires are used, a good way of baking
these cakes is to clear a clean place in the hottest part of the hearth,
and, having wrapped the cake in paper, lay it down there, and cover it
up with hot red ashes. It will bake very well, (replenishing the heat by
throwing on from time to time a fresh supply of hot ashes,) and when
taken out of the paper they will be found sweet and good. The early
settlers of our country frequently baked their Indian cakes under the
ashes of their wood fires; and the custom is still continued by those
who cannot yet obtain the means of cooking them more conveniently.
This cake is so called, because in some parts of America it was
customary to bake it on the iron of a hoe, stood up before the fire. It
is better known by that name than by any other.
COMMON GRIDDLE CAKE.--A quart of Indian meal.--Sufficient warm water to
make a soft dough.--A small tea-spoonful of salt.--Put the Indian meal
into a pan, and add the salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and
pour in a little warm water. Then mix it with a large, strong spoon,
adding, by degrees, water enough to make a soft dough. Flour your hands,
and knead it into a large lump--divide it into two equal portions. Flour
your paste-board, lay on it the first lump of dough, and roll it out
about an inch thick. Then, (having already heated your griddle,) lay the
cake upon it, spreading it evenly, and make it a good round shape. It
should cover the whole surface of the griddle, which must first be
greased, either with butter or lard tied in a rag, or with a bit of fat
fresh pork. Butter it well; and when one side is well browned, turn it
on the other, taking care not to break it. Send it to table hot, cut
into three-cornered pieces--split and butter them. As soon as the first
cake is sent in, put the other to bake.
This is one of the plainest and simplest preparations of Indian cake,
and is very good when warm.
PLAIN JOHNNY CAKE.--A quart of Indian meal.--A pint of warm water.--A
level tea-spoonful of salt.--Sift a quart of Indian meal into a pan.
Make a hole in the middle, and pour in a pint of warm water, adding the
salt. With a spoon mix the meal and water gradually into a soft dough.
Stir it very hard for a quarter of an hour or more, till it becomes
light and spongy. Then spread the dough; smooth and evenly, on a stout,
flat board. A piece of the head of a flour barrel will serve for this
purpose. Place the board nearly (but not quite) upright, and set a
smoothing-iron or a stone against the back to support it. Bake it well.
When done, cut it into squares, and send it hot to table, split and
buttered. You may eat molasses with it.
NICE JOHNNY CAKE.--A quart of sifted Indian meal.--A small teacup of
molasses, (West India is best.)--Two large table-spoonfuls of fresh
butter.--A tea-spoonful of ground ginger.--Some boiling water. Having
sifted the meal into a pan, rub the butter into it; add the molasses and
ginger, and pour on, by degrees, sufficient boiling water to make a
moderately soft dough. It must be stirred very hard. Then grease with
fresh butter a board of sufficient size, spread the dough thickly upon
it, and stand it nearly upright to bake before the fire, placing a
flat-iron against the back of the board. The cake must be very well
baked, taking care that the surface does not burn, while the inside is
soft and raw. Cut it into squares when done, and send them hot to table,
split and buttered.
The johnny-cake board had best be placed so as _slightly_ to slant
backwards; otherwise the upper part of the cake, being opposite to the
hottest part of the fire, may bake too fast for the lower part.
VERY PLAIN INDIAN DUMPLINGS.--Sift some Indian meal into a pan; add
about a salt-spoon of salt to each quart of meal; and scald it with
sufficient boiling water to make a stiff dough. Pour in the water
gradually; stirring as you pour. When the dough becomes a stiff lump,
divide it into equal portions; flour your hands, and make it into thick,
flat dumplings about as large round as the top of a glass tumbler, or a
breakfast cup. Dredge the dumplings on all sides with flour, put them
into a pot of boiling water (if made sufficiently stiff they need not be
tied in cloths,) and keep them boiling hard till thoroughly done. Try
them with a fork, which must come out quite clean, and with no
clamminess sticking to it. They are an excellent appendage to salt pork
or bacon, serving them up with the meat; or they may be eaten afterwards
with butter and molasses, or with milk sweetened well with brown sugar,
and flavoured with a little ground spice.
VERY PLAIN INDIAN BATTER CAKES.--A quart of warm water, or of skim
milk.--A quart of Indian meal and half a pint of wheat flour, sifted.--A
level tea-spoonful of salt. Pour the water into a pan; add the salt; and
having mixed together the wheat and Indian meal, stir them gradually
into the water, a handful at a time. It should be about the consistence
of buckwheat cake or muffin batter. Beat it long and hard. If you find
it too thick, add a little more water. Have ready a hot griddle, grease
it, and bake the cakes on it. They should not be larger than the top of
a tumbler, or a small saucer. Send them to table hot, in even piles, and
eat them with butter or molasses.
These are the plainest sort of Indian batter cakes; but if well beaten
and properly baked, they will be found very good, as well as economical.
It is an improvement to mix them with milk instead of water.
INDIAN MUFFINS.--A pint and a half of yellow Indian meal, sifted.--A
handful of wheat flour.--A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.--A quart
of milk.--Four eggs.--A very small tea-spoonful of salt. Put the milk
into a saucepan. Cut the butter into it. Set it over the fire and warm
it till the butter is very soft, but not till it melts. Then take it
off, stir it well, till all mixed, and set it away to cool. Beat four
eggs very light; and when the milk is cold, stir them into it,
alternately with the meal, a little at a time, of each. Add the salt.
Beat the whole very hard after it is all mixed. Then butter some
muffin-rings on the inside. Set them in a hot oven, or on a heated
griddle; pour some of the batter into each; and bake the muffins well.
Send them hot to table, continuing to bake while a fresh supply is
wanted. Pull them open with your fingers, and eat them with butter, to
which you may add molasses or honey. These muffins will be found
excellent, and can be prepared in a very short time; for instance, in
three quarters or half an hour before breakfast or tea.
This mixture may be baked in waffle-irons, as waffles. Butter them, and
have on the table a glass bowl with powdered sugar and powdered
cinnamon, to eat with these waffles.
VIRGINIA GRIDDLE CAKES.--A quart of Indian meal.--Two large
table-spoonfuls of wheat flour.--A heaped salt-spoon of salt.--A piece
of fresh butter, about two ounces.--Four eggs.--A pint, or more, of
milk. Sift the Indian meal into a large pan; mix with it the wheat
flour; and add the salt. Warm the milk in a small saucepan, but do not
let it come to a boil. When it begins to simmer, take it off, and put
the butter into it, stirring it about till well mixed. Then stir in the
meal, a little at a time, and let it cool while you are beating the
eggs. As soon as they are beaten very light, add them gradually to the
mixture, stirring the whole very hard. It must be a light batter, and
may require more milk.
Having heated the griddle well by placing it over the fire or in the
oven of a hot stove, rub it over with some fresh butter, tied in a
clean white rag, and pour on a large ladle-full of the batter. When the
cake has baked brown, turn it, with a cake-turner, and bake the other
side. Then take it off, and put it on a hot plate. Grease the griddle
again, and put on another cake; and so on till you have three or four
ready to send to table for a beginning. Continue to bake, and send in
hot cakes as long as they are wanted. Eat them with butter; to which you
may add molasses or honey.
MISSOURI CAKES.--Three large pints of yellow Indian meal.--A pint of
cold water.--A tea-spoonful of salt.--A level tea-spoonful of sal-eratus
or soda dissolved in a little warm water.--A large table-spoonful of
beef-dripping, or lard.--A small pint and a half of warm water. Sift
three large pints (a little more than three pints) of Indian meal into a
pan; add a tea-spoonful of salt, a large table-spoonful of lard, or nice
dripping of roast-beef; and a tea-spoonful of sal-eratus or soda melted
in a little warm water. Make it into a soft dough with a pint of cold
water. Then thin it to the consistence of a moderate batter, by adding,
gradually, not quite a pint and a half of warm water. When it is all
mixed, beat or stir it well, for half an hour. Then have a griddle ready
over the fire. When hot, grease it with beef-suet, or with lard or
butter tied in a clean white rag. Put on a large ladle-full of the
batter, and bake the cakes fast. Send them hot to table, about half a
dozen at a time, seeing that the edges are nicely trimmed. Eat them with
butter, to which you may add honey or molasses.
These cakes are excellent; and very convenient, as they require neither
eggs, milk, nor yeast. They may be baked as soon as mixed, or they may
stand an hour or more.
INDIAN SLAP-JACKS.--A quart of yellow Indian meal.--Half a pint or more
of boiling water.--Half a pint of wheat flour.--Three large
table-spoonfuls of strong fresh yeast.--A heaping salt-spoon of salt.--A
level tea-spoonful of pearlash, soda, or sal-eratus, dissolved in warm
water.--Lard for frying. Sift the Indian meal into a pan, and add the
salt. Then pour on the boiling water, and stir it well. When it has
cooled a little, and become only milk-warm, stir in the wheat flour, and
add the yeast. Stir it long and hard. Cover the pan, and set it near the
fire. When the mixture has risen quite light, and is covered with
bubbles, add the dissolved pearlash to puff it still more. Have ready a
hot frying-pan over the fire; grease it with a little lard, and put in a
portion of the mixture, sufficient for one large cake nearly the size of
the pan, or two small ones. Spread the mixture thin, and fry it brown.
Send the cakes hot to table, and eat them with butter or molasses.
This is one of the plainest sorts of Indian cake, but if properly made,
and baked, will be found very good.
INDIAN FLAPPERS.--A quart of sifted Indian meal.--A handful of wheat
flour.--A quart of milk.--Four eggs.--A heaping salt-spoon of salt. Mix
together the Indian and wheat meal, adding the salt. Beat the eggs light
in another pan, and then stir them a little at a time into the milk,
alternately with the meal, a handful at a time. Stir the whole very hard
at the last. Have ready a hot griddle, and bake the cakes on it in the
manner of buckwheat cakes, or crumpets; greasing or scraping the griddle
always before you put on a fresh ladle-full of batter. Make all the
cakes the same size, and when done trim the edges nicely with a knife.
Send them to table hot, laid one on another evenly, buttered and cut in
half. Or they may be buttered after they go to table.
INDIAN CRUMPETS.--A quart of Indian meal.--Half a pint of wheat
flour.--A quart of milk.--A heaping salt-spoonful of salt.--Three
eggs.--Two large table-spoonfuls of strong fresh yeast.--Warm the milk.
Sift the Indian meal and the flour into a pan, and mix them well. Then
stir them into the milk, a handful at a time; adding the salt. Beat the
eggs very light in another pan, and then stir them, gradually, into the
milk and meal. Lastly, add the yeast. Stir the whole well; then cover
it, and set it to rise in a warm place, such as a corner of the hearth.
When it has become very light, and is covered with bubbles, have the
griddle ready heated to begin to bake the cakes; first greasing the
griddle. For each crumpet pour on a large ladle-full of batter. Send
them to table several on a plate, and as hot as possible. Eat them with
butter, to which you may add molasses or honey.
If the batter should chance to become sour by standing too long, you may
remedy it by stirring in a level tea-spoonful of pearlash, soda, or
sal-eratus, dissolved in a very little lukewarm water. Then bake it.
CORN MEAL BREAKFAST CAKES.--A quart of Indian meal.--A handful, or more,
of wheat flour.--A large salt-spoon of salt.--A quart of warm water.--An
additional pint of lukewarm water.--A bit of pearlash the size of a
hazel-nut, or the same quantity of soda or sal-eratus. Mix over night,
in a large pan, the Indian meal, the wheat flour and salt. Pour on
gradually a quart of warm water, (warm but not hot,) and stir it in with
a large wooden or iron spoon, so as to form a very soft dough. Cover
the pan, and set it on the dresser till morning. In the morning thin the
dough with another pint of warm water, so as to make it into a batter,
having first dissolved in the water a salt-spoonful of powdered pearlash
or sal-eratus, or a bit the size of a hazel-nut. Beat the mixture hard.
Then cover it, and let it stand near the fire for a quarter of an hour
before you begin to bake it. Bake it in thin cakes on a griddle. Send
them to table hot, and eat them with butter, and molasses or honey.
INDIAN RICE CAKES.--Take equal quantities of yellow Indian meal and well
boiled rice. Mix them together in a pan, the meal and rice alternately,
a little at a time of each. The boiled rice may be either hot or cold;
but it will be rather best to mix it hot. Having first mixed it with a
spoon, knead it well with your hands; moistening it with a little milk
or water, if you find it too stiff. Have ready, over the fire, a heated
griddle. Grease it with fresh butter tied in a clean white rag; and
having made the mixture into flat round cakes, bake them well on both
sides. Eat them with butter and sugar, or butter and molasses, or with
butter alone.
PUMPKIN INDIAN CAKES.--Take equal portions of Indian meal, and stewed
pumpkin that has been well mashed and drained very dry in a sieve or
cullender. Put the stewed pumpkin into a pan, and stir the meal
gradually into it, a spoonful at a time, adding a little butter as you
proceed. Mix the whole thoroughly, stirring it very hard. If not thick
enough to form a stiff dough, add a little more Indian meal. Make it
into round, flat cakes, about the size of a muffin, and bake them over
the fire on a hot griddle greased with butter. Or lay them in a square
iron pan, and bake them in an oven.
Send them to table hot, and eat them with butter.
EXCELLENT BUCKWHEAT CAKES.--A quart of buckwheat meal, sifted.--A level
tea-spoonful of salt.--A small half-pint, or a large handful of Indian
meal.--Two large table-spoonfuls of strong fresh brewer’s yeast, or four
table-spoonfuls of home-made yeast.--Sufficient lukewarm water to make a
moderate batter. Mix together the buckwheat and Indian meal, and add the
salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and pour in the yeast. Then
stir in gradually, from a kettle, sufficient tepid or lukewarm water to
make a moderately thick batter when united with the yeast. Cover the
pan, set it in a warm place, and leave it to rise. It should be light in
about three hours. When it has risen high and is covered with bubbles,
it is fit to bake. Have ready a clean griddle well heated over the fire.
Grease it well with a bit of fresh butter tied in a clean white rag, and
kept on a saucer near you. Then dip out a large ladle-full of the
batter, and bake it on the griddle; turning it when brown, with the
cake-turner, and baking it brown on the other side. Grease the griddle
slightly between baking each cake; or scrape it smooth with a broad
knife. As fast as you bake the cakes, lay them, several in a pile, on a
hot plate. Butter them, and if of large size cut them across into four
pieces. Or send them to table to be buttered there. Trim off the edges
before they go in.
If your batter has been mixed over night, and is found sour in the
morning, dissolve a salt-spoon of pearlash or sal-eratus in a little
lukewarm water, stir it into the batter, let it stand a quarter of an
hour, and then bake it. The alkali will remove the acidity, and increase
the lightness of the batter. If you use soda for this purpose it will
require a tea-spoonful.
If the batter is kept at night in so cold a place as to freeze, it will
be unfit for use. Do not grease the griddle with meat-fat of any sort.
NICE RYE BATTER CAKES.--A quart of lukewarm milk.--Two eggs.--A large
table-spoonful of fresh brewer’s yeast, or two of home-made
yeast.--Sufficient sifted rye meal to make a moderate batter.--A
salt-spoon of salt. Having warmed the milk, beat the eggs very light,
and stir them gradually into it, alternately with the rye meal, adding
the salt. Put in the meal, a handful at a time, till you have the batter
about as thick as for buckwheat cakes. Then stir in the yeast, and give
the batter a hard beating, seeing that it is smooth and free from lumps.
Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. When risen high, and
covered with bubbles, the batter is fit to bake. Have ready over the
fire a hot griddle, and bake the cakes in the manner of buckwheat. Send
them to table hot, and eat them with butter, molasses, or honey.
Yeast powders, used according to the directions that accompany them, and
put in at the last, just before baking, are an improvement to the
lightness of all batter cakes, provided that real yeast or eggs are also
in the mixture. But it is not well to depend on the powders exclusively,
particularly when real yeast is to be had. The lightness produced by
yeast powders alone, is not the right sort; and though the cakes are
eatable, they are too tough and leathery to be wholesome. As
_auxiliaries_ to genuine yeast, and to beaten eggs, yeast powders are
excellent.
Indian batter cakes may be made as above--or rye and Indian may be mixed
in equal proportions.
INDIAN LIGHT BISCUIT.--A quart of sifted Indian meal.--A pint of sifted
wheat flour.--A very small tea-spoonful of salt.--Three pints of
milk.--Four eggs. Sift the Indian and wheat meal into a pan, and add the
salt. Mix them well. Beat the whites and the yolks of the eggs
separately in two pans. The yolks must be beaten till very thick and
smooth; the whites to a stiff froth that will stand alone of itself.
Then stir the yolks gradually, (a little at a time,) into the milk. Add
by degrees the meal. Lastly, stir in the beaten white of egg, and give
the whole a long and hard stirring. Butter a sufficient number of cups,
or small, deep tins--nearly fill them with the batter. Set them
immediately into a hot oven, and bake them fast. Turn them out of the
cups. Send them warm to table, pull them open, and eat them with butter.
They will puff up finely if, at the last, you stir in a level
tea-spoonful of soda, melted in a little warm water.
INDIAN CUPCAKES.--A pint and a half of yellow Indian meal.--Half a pint
of wheat flour.--A pint and a half of _sour_ milk; buttermilk is
best.--A small tea-spoonful of sal-eratus or soda, dissolved in warm
water.--Two eggs.--A level tea-spoonful of salt. Sift the Indian and
wheat meal into a pan and mix them well, adding the salt. If you have no
butter-milk or other sour milk at hand, turn some sweet milk sour by
setting a pan of it in the sun, or stirring in a spoonful of vinegar.
Take out a small teacupful of the sour milk, and reserve it to be put in
at the last. Beat the eggs very light, and then stir them, gradually,
into the milk, alternately with the meal, a little at a time of each.
Lastly, dissolve the soda or sal-eratus, and stir it into the cup of
sour milk that has been reserved for the purpose. It will effervesce;
stir it while foaming into the mixture, which should be a thick batter.
Have ready some teacups, or little deep tins. Butter them well; nearly
fill them with the batter, and set them immediately into a rather brisk
oven. The cakes must be thoroughly baked all through. When done, turn
them out on large plates, and send them hot to the breakfast or
tea-table. Split them into three pieces, and eat them with butter.
The soda will entirely remove the acidity of the milk, which will
effervesce the better for being sour at first, adding therefore to the
lightness of the cake. Taste the milk, and if you find that the
slightest sourness remains, add a little more dissolved soda.
All the alkalies, pearlash, sal-eratus, soda, and sal-volatile, will
remove acidity, and increase lightness; but if too much is used they
will impart a disagreeable taste. It is useless to put lemon or orange
juice into any mixture that is afterwards to have one of these alkalies,
as they will entirely destroy the flavour of the fruit.
KENTUCKY SWEET CAKE.--A pint of fine yellow Indian meal, sifted.--Half a
pint of wheat flour.--Half a pound of powdered white sugar.--Half a
pound of fresh butter.--Eight eggs.--A powdered nutmeg.--A large
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.--A glass of white wine.--A glass of
brandy. Having powdered the spice, and mixed together the wine and
brandy, put the spice to steep in the liquor. Mix well the Indian meal
and the wheat flour, putting them into a broad pan. In another pan, stir
together the butter and sugar (as for a pound cake) till they are very
light and creamy. Break the eggs into a shallow earthen pan, and beat
them till very thick and light. Then, by degrees, stir into the beaten
butter and sugar, the spice and the liquor, a little at a time of each.
Afterwards, add alternately the meal and the beaten egg, also a little
of each at a time. Stir the whole very hard when all the ingredients are
in. Butter a straight-sided tin pan, put the mixture into it; set it
immediately into a rather brisk oven; and bake it well for three or four
hours or more, in proportion to its thickness.
This is a very nice cake. It should be eaten the same day that it is
baked; as when stale (even one day old) all Indian cakes become dry,
hard, and rough.
It will be improved by the addition of a pound of raisins, stoned, cut
in half, and well dredged with wheat flour to prevent their sinking to
the bottom. Sultana or seedless raisins are best for all sorts of cakes
and puddings.
CAROLINA RICE CAKES.--Having picked and washed half a pint of rice, boil
it by itself till the grains lose all form and are dissolved into a
thick mass, or jelly. While warm, mix into it a large lump of the best
fresh butter, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Pour into a bowl, a moderate
sized teacupful of ground rice-flour; and add to it as much milk as will
make a tolerably stiff batter. Stir it till it is quite smooth, and free
from lumps. Then mix it thoroughly with the boiled rice. Beat six eggs
as light as possible, and stir them, gradually, into the mixture. Bake
it on a griddle, in cakes about as large round as a saucer. Eat them
warm with butter; and have on the table, in a small bowl, some powdered
white sugar and nutmeg, for those who like it.
CAROLINA CORN CAKES.--Mix together in a pan, a pint and a half of sifted
corn meal, and a half pint of wheat flour, adding a heaped salt-spoon of
salt. Beat three eggs very light. Have ready a quart of _sour_ milk.
(You can turn sweet milk sour by stirring into it a very little
vinegar.) Put into a teacup a small tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda,
and dissolve it in a little lukewarm water. In another teacup melt a
salt-spoonful of tartaric acid. Add, alternately, to the milk, the
beaten eggs and the mixed meal, a little at a time of each; stirring
very hard. Then stir in the melted soda, and lastly the dissolved
tartaric acid. Having stirred the whole well together, butter some
square pans; fill them with the batter; set them immediately into a hot
oven; and bake them well. Serve them up hot, and eat them with butter or
molasses, or both. These cakes may be baked in muffin rings. All hot
cakes in the form of muffins should be pulled open with the fingers when
about to be eaten; and not split with a knife, the pressure of the knife
tending to make them heavy.
MADISON CAKE.--A pint and a half of sifted yellow corn meal.--Half a
pint of wheat flour.--Half a pint of sour milk.--Half a pint of powdered
white sugar.--Half a pound of fresh butter.--Six eggs.--A gill, or two
wine-glasses of brandy.--A pound of raisins of the best quality.--A
large tea-spoonful of mixed spice, powdered mace, nutmeg, and
cinnamon.--A large salt-spoon of sal-eratus, or a small tea-spoonful of
soda. If you have no sour milk at hand, turn half a pint of rich milk
sour by setting it in the sun, or stirring in a tea-spoonful of vinegar.
For this cake the milk must be sour, that the sal-eratus or soda may act
more powerfully by coming in contact with an acid. The acidity will then
be entirely removed by the effervescence, and the cake will be rendered
very light, and perfectly sweet. Having powdered the spice, put it into
the brandy, and let it infuse till wanted. Prepare the raisins by
stoning them, and cutting them in half; dredging them well with flour.
They should be muscadel, or bloom raisins, or sultana; if the latter,
they will require no seeding. Low-priced raisins, of inferior quality,
should never be used for cooking or for any purpose, as they are
unwholesome.
Sift the corn meal and the wheat flour into a pan, and mix them well. In
another pan mix the butter and sugar, and stir them together with a
hickory spaddle (which is like a short mush-stick, only broader at the
flattened end) till they are light and creamy. Then add the brandy and
spice. In a broad, shallow pan, beat the eggs till very thick and
smooth. Then stir them gradually into the butter and sugar in turn with
the meal. Dissolve the sal-eratus or soda in a very little lukewarm
water, and stir it into the sour milk. Then, while foaming, add the milk
to the rest of the mixture, and stir very hard. Lastly, throw in the
raisins, a few at a time, and give the whole a hard stirring.
Butter a deep square pan or a turban-mould. Put in the mixture. Set it
_directly_ into a brisk oven, and bake it at least three hours; or four
if in a turban-mould. When half done, the heat should be increased. This
cake should be eaten the day it is baked.
NANTUCKET PUDDING.--Six large ears of Indian corn; full grown, but young
and soft.--A pint of milk.--A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.--A
quarter of a pound of sugar.--Four eggs.--Half a nutmeg grated, and five
or six blades of mace powdered.--Having first boiled the corn for a
quarter of an hour, grate the grains off the cob with a coarse grater.
Then add the butter (cut into little bits) and the sugar. Having stirred
them well into the corn, thin it with milk. Beat the eggs very light,
and add them to the mixture, a little at a time, and finish with the
spice. Stir the whole very hard. Butter a deep white dish, put in the
pudding, set it directly into the oven, and bake it two hours. Send it
to table warm, and eat it with butter and sugar, or molasses. It is not
good cold. What is left may be put into a small dish, and baked over
again next day, for half an hour; or tied in a cloth, and boiled a
while.
SAMP PUDDING.--A pint of samp that has been boiled, and grown cold.--A
pint of milk.--Three large table-spoonfuls of fresh butter.--Three large
table-spoonfuls of sugar, or half a pint of West India molasses.--Six
eggs.--A table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, or a
table-spoonful of ground ginger. Boil the milk; and just after you take
it from the fire stir in the butter and sugar; or instead of the sugar
half a pint of West India molasses. Then add the spice, and set the
milk, &c., to cool. Beat the eggs till thick and smooth. Then stir them,
gradually, into the mixture, a little at a time, in turn with the samp.
Butter a deep dish; put in the mixture, and bake it well. Eat it warm,
with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together to a cream; or with
molasses and butter.
A rice pudding may be made as above; the rice being previously boiled by
itself, and well drained.
A samp pudding may be tied in a cloth and boiled.
A FARMER’S INDIAN PUDDING.--Three small pints of sifted Indian meal, the
yellow sort.--A quart of rich milk.--A pint of West India molasses.--A
table-spoonful of ground cinnamon, or ginger. Before you begin, set over
the fire a large pot filled with water, which must boil hard by the time
the pudding is mixed. Put the milk by itself, into another pot or
sauce-pan, and give it a boil. When it has come to a boil, pour it into
a deep pan, and stir into it a pint of the best West India molasses.
Then add, by degrees, the Indian meal, a handful at a time; and lastly,
the spice. Stir the whole very hard. Have ready a square pudding-cloth;
dip it in boiling water; shake it out; dredge it with flour, and spread
it open in a broad pan. Then pour the pudding-batter into the cloth;
and, leaving near one-third vacant, as room for it to swell, tie it
firmly with tape. Make a morsel of stiff dough with flour and a little
water, and with it stop closely the little aperture at the tying-place,
to prevent water from getting in there. Plaster it on well. Put the
pudding into the large pot of boiling water; cover it closely with the
lid; and let it boil steadily for at least three hours; four will not be
too long. While boiling, turn it frequently. As the water boils away,
replenish it with some more water, kept boiling hard for this purpose,
in a kettle. On no account pour in _cold_ water, as that will render the
pudding heavy. Turn it out of the cloth immediately before it goes to
table, and eat it with butter and molasses. It will be found excellent.
The West India molasses will make it as light as if it had eggs.
You may add with the spice, the yellow rind of a large lemon or orange,
finely grated.
A VERY NICE BOILED INDIAN PUDDING.--Three pints of sifted Indian
meal.--Half a pound of beef-suet, minced as fine as possible.--A quart
of milk.--Half a pint of West India molasses.--Six eggs.--Three or four
sticks of cinnamon, broken small.--A grated nutmeg. Having cleared the
suet from the skin and strings, chop it as fine as possible, and mix it
with the Indian meal. Boil the cinnamon in the milk till it is highly
flavoured. Then strain the milk (boiling hot) into the pan of Indian
meal and suet, and add the molasses. Stir the mixture very hard. Cover
it and set it away in a cool place. Beat the eggs till quite light, and
add them, gradually, to the mixture as soon as it is quite cold. Then
grate in the nutmeg. Dip a thick square cloth into boiling water, shake
it out, dredge it with flour, and then spread it open in a deep pan, and
pour in the mixture. Leaving one-third of the space vacant allowing for
the pudding to swell, tie the cloth very securely, and to guard against
water getting into it, plug up the little crack at the tying place by
plastering on a bit of dough made of flour and water. Put the pudding
into a large pot of boiling water, (having an old plate in the bottom,)
and boil it six hours or more, turning it often, and replenishing the
pot, when necessary, with boiling water from a kettle. If you dine
early, the pudding should be mixed before breakfast. Serve it up hot.
Eat it with wine sauce, with butter and molasses, or with a sauce of
butter, sugar, lemon-juice and nutmeg, beaten together to a cream. What
is left of the pudding, may next day be tied in a cloth, and boiled over
again for an hour.
BAKED CORN MEAL PUDDING.--A pint of sifted Indian meal.--Half a pint of
West India molasses.--A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.--A pint of
milk.--Four eggs.--The yellow rind of a large fresh orange or lemon
grated.--A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg mixed. Boil the
milk. Sift the Indian meal into an earthen pan, pour the boiling milk
over it, and stir them well together. Cut up the butter into a small
sauce-pan; pour the molasses over it; set it on the fire, and let them
warm together till the butter is soft, but not oiled. Stir them well,
and mix them with the milk and Indian meal. Set the pan in a cool place.
In a separate pan beat the eggs very light, and when the mixture has
become cold, add the eggs to it, gradually. Then stir in the spice, and
grated orange or lemon peel. Stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture
into a buttered white dish, and bake it well. Serve it up hot, and eat
it with a sauce made of powdered white sugar, and fresh butter seasoned
with nutmeg and lemon or orange juice, and stirred together to a cream;
or with a liquid sauce of melted butter, wine and nutmeg.
This quantity of ingredients will make a small pudding. For a large one,
allow a double portion of each article, and bake it longer.
It will be improved by gradually stirring in at the last, a pound of
Zante currants or of sultana raisins, well dredged with flour.
PUMPKIN INDIAN PUDDING.--Take a pint and a half of cold stewed pumpkin,
and mix into it a pint and a half of Indian meal, adding a
table-spoonful of ground ginger. Boil a quart of milk, and as soon as
you take it from the fire, stir into it a pint of West India molasses.
Then add to it gradually the mixture of pumpkin and corn meal, and stir
the whole very hard. It will be much improved by adding the grated
yellow rind of a large orange or lemon. Have ready over the fire a large
pot of boiling water. Dip your pudding-cloth into it; shake it out;
spread out the cloth in a broad pan: dredge it with flour; pour the
mixture into it, and tie it fast, leaving about one-third of the space
for the pudding to swell. Boil it three hours or more--four hours will
not be too long. Turn it several times while boiling. Replenish the pot
as it boils, with hot water from a kettle kept boiling for the purpose.
Take up the pudding immediately before it is wanted for table--dip it a
moment in cold water, and turn it out into a dish. Eat it with butter
and molasses.
This pudding requires no eggs in the mixture. The molasses, if West
India, will make it sufficiently light.
What is left may be tied in a cloth, and re-boiled next day.
A BACKWOODS POT-PIE.--Put a large portion of yellow Indian meal, (with a
very little salt,) into a deep pan, and pour on scalding water,
(stirring it in as you proceed,) till you have a soft dough. Beat and
stir it long and hard, adding more corn meal, till the dough becomes
stiff. It will be improved by mixing in a little wheat flour. When it is
cool enough to handle, knead it a while with your hands. Take off
portions of the dough or paste, and form them into flat, square cakes.
Take a large pot; grease the sides with a little good dripping or lard,
and line them with the cakes of corn meal. Have ready some fresh venison
cut into pieces, and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Put some of
it into the pot, (adding some water to assist in the gravy,) and cover
it with a layer of corn cakes. Then more venison, and then more cakes,
till the pot is nearly full. The last layer must be a large cake with a
slit in the middle. Set it over the fire, and let it boil steadily till
the whole is thoroughly done. Then take it up, and dish it together,
meat and paste.
The paste that is to line the sides of the pot should be thinner than
that which is to be laid among the meat. Put no paste at the bottom.
If you have any cold drippings of roast venison, you may mix some of it
with the corn meal, as shortening.
Sweet potatoes sliced, and laid among the meat, will improve this pie.
TO BOIL INDIAN CORN.--Corn for boiling should be full grown, but young
and tender, and the grains soft and milky. If its grains are becoming
hard and yellow, it is too old for boiling. Strip the ears of their
leaves and the silk. Put them into a large pot of boiling water, and
boil it rather fast for half an hour or more, in proportion to its size
and age. When done, take it up, drain it, dish it under a cover, or
napkin, and serve it up hot. Before eating it, rub each ear with salt
and pepper, and then spread it with butter. Epicures in corn consider it
sweetest when eaten off the cob. And so it is; but _before company_ few
persons like to hold an ear of Indian corn in their hands, and bite the
grains off the cob with their teeth. Therefore, it is more frequently
cut off the cob into a dish; mixed with salt, pepper, and butter, and
helped with a spoon.
It is said that young green corn will boil sufficiently in ten minutes,
(putting it _of course_ into a pot of boiling water.) Try it.
* * * * *
_Another way._--Having pulled off the silk, boil the corn, without
removing the leaves that enclose the cob. With the leaves or husk on, it
will require a longer time to cook, but is sweeter and more nutritious.
GREEN CORN DUMPLINGS.--A quart of young corn grated from the cob.--Half
a pint of wheat flour, sifted.--Half a pint of milk.--Six
table-spoonfuls of butter.--Two eggs.--A salt-spoonful of salt.--A
salt-spoonful of pepper.--Butter for frying. Having grated as fine as
possible, sufficient young fresh corn to make a quart, mix with it the
wheat flour, and add the salt and pepper. Warm the milk in a small
saucepan, and soften the butter in it. Then add them gradually to the
pan of corn, stirring very hard; and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs
light, and stir them into the mixture when it has cooled. Flour your
hands and make it into little dumplings. Put into a frying-pan a
sufficiency of fresh butter, (or lard and butter in equal proportions,)
and when it is boiling hot, and has been skimmed, put in the dumplings;
and fry them ten minutes or more, in proportion to their thickness. Then
drain them, and send them hot to the dinner-table.
CORN PORRIDGE.--Take young corn, and cut the grains from the cob.
Measure it, and to each heaping pint of corn, allow not quite a quart of
milk. Put the corn and milk into a pot; stir them well together: and
boil them till the corn is perfectly soft. Then add some bits of fresh
butter dredged with flour, and let it boil five minutes longer. Stir in
at the last, some beaten yolk of egg; and in three minutes remove it
from the fire. Take up the porridge, and send it to table hot, and stir
some fresh butter into it. You may add sugar and nutmeg.
CORN OYSTERS.--Three dozen ears of large young Indian corn.--Six
eggs.--Lard and butter in equal portions for frying. The corn must be
young and soft. Grate it from the cob as fine as possible, and dredge it
with wheat flour. Beat very light the six eggs, and mix them gradually
with the corn. Then let the whole be well incorporated by hard beating.
Add a salt-spoon of salt.
Have ready, in a frying pan, a sufficient quantity of lard and fresh
butter mixed together. Set it over the fire till it is boiling hot, and
then put in portions of the corn-mixture, so as to form oval cakes about
three inches long, and nearly an inch thick. Fry them brown, and send
them to table hot. In taste they will be found to have a singular
resemblance to fried oysters, and are universally liked if properly
done. They make nice side-dishes at dinner, and are very good at
breakfast.
SUMMER SACCATASH.--String a quarter of a peck of young green beans, and
cut each bean into three pieces (not more) and do not split them. Have
by you a pan of cold water, and throw the beans into it as you cut them.
Have ready over the fire a pot or saucepan of boiling water, put in the
beans, and boil them hard near twenty minutes. Afterwards take them up,
and drain them well through a cullender. Take half a dozen ears of young
but full-grown Indian corn (or eight or nine if they are not all large)
and cut the grains down from the cob. Mix together the corn and the
beans, adding a very small tea-spoonful of salt, and boil them about
twenty minutes. Then take up the saccatash, drain it well through a
sieve, put it into a deep dish, and while hot mix in a large piece of
butter, (at least the size of an egg,) add some pepper, and send it to
table. It is generally eaten with salted or smoked meat.
Fresh Lima beans are excellent cooked in this manner, with green corn.
They must be boiled for half an hour or more before they are cooked with
the corn.
Dried beans and dried corn will do very well for saccatash, but they
must be soaked all night before boiling. The water poured on them for
soaking should be hot.
WINTER SACCATASH.--This is made of dried shelled beans, and hard corn.
Take equal quantities of shelled beans and corn; put them over night
into separate pans, and pour boiling water over them. Let them soak till
morning. Then pour off that water, and scald them again. First boil the
beans by themselves. When they are soft, add the corn, and let them boil
together till the corn is quite soft, which will require at least an
hour. Take them up, drain them in a sieve; then put them into a deep
dish, and mix in a large piece of fresh butter, and a little pepper and
salt.
This is an excellent accompaniment to pickled pork, bacon; or corned
beef. The meat must be boiled by itself in a separate pot.
HOMINY.--Hominy is Indian Corn shelled from the cob, divested of the
yellow or outer skin by scalding in hot lye, and then winnowed and
dried. It is perfectly white. Having washed it through two or three
waters, pour boiling water on it, cover it, and let it soak all night,
or for several hours. Then put it into a pot or saucepan, allow two
quarts of water to each quart of hominy, and boil it till perfectly
soft. Then drain it, put it into a deep dish, add some butter to it, and
send it to table hot, (and _uncovered_,) to eat with any sort of meat;
but particularly with corned beef or pork. What is left may be made next
day into thick cakes, and fried in butter. To be _very good_, hominy
should boil four or five hours.
CAROLINA GRITS, or SMALL HOMINY.--The small-grained hominy must be
washed and boiled in the same manner as the large, only allow rather
less water for boiling. For instance, put a pint and a half of water to
a quart of small hominy. Drain it well, send it to table in a deep dish
_without a cover_, and eat it with butter and sugar, or molasses. If
covered after boiling, the vapour will condense within the lid, and make
the hominy thin and watery.
SAMP.--This is Indian corn skinned, and then pounded or ground till it
is still smaller and finer than the Carolina grits. It must be cooked
and used in the same manner. It is very nice eaten with cream and sugar.
For invalids it may be made thin, and eaten as gruel.
HOMINY CAKES.--A pint of small hominy, or Carolina grits.--A pint of
white Indian meal, sifted.--A salt-spoonful of salt.--Three large
table-spoonfuls of fresh butter.--Three eggs, or three table-spoonfuls
of strong yeast.--A quart of milk. Having washed the small hominy, and
left it soaking all night, boil it soft, drain it, and while hot, mix it
with the Indian meal; adding the salt, and the butter. Then mix it
gradually with the milk, and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs very
light, and add them, gradually, to the mixture. The whole should make a
thick batter. Then bake them on a griddle, in the manner of buckwheat
cakes, greasing or scraping the griddle, always before you put on a
fresh cake. Trim off their edges nicely, and send them to table hot. Eat
them with butter.
Or you may bake them in muffin rings.
If you prefer making these cakes with yeast, you must begin them
earlier, as they will require time to rise. The yeast should be strong
and fresh. If _not_ very strong, use four table-spoonfuls instead of
two. Cover the pan, set it in a warm place; and do not begin to bake
till it is well risen, and the surface of the mixture is covered with
bubbles.
TO KEEP INDIAN CORN FOR COOKING.--Take the corn when it is young and
tender, and barely full-grown. Let it remain on the cob till you have
boiled it ten or fifteen minutes (not more) in a large pot of
slightly-salted water that must be boiling hard when the corn is put in.
When thus parboiled, take it out, and when cool enough to handle, cut
down the grains from the cob, into a deep pan, with a knife. Then spread
out the grains in large flat dishes or shallow pans, and set them in an
oven, after the bread, pies, &c., are done, and have been taken out. Let
the corn remain in the oven till it is all well dried. If your oven is
heated every day, you may put the corn into it a second time. When
quite dry, and after it has cooled, put it into a large thick bag; tie
the bag tightly, and hang it up in a cool store-room. When wanted for
use, corn thus prepared will be found excellent for boiling in winter
soup; or boiled by itself and drained, and sent to table in a
vegetable-dish to eat with meat; first mixing with it some butter, and a
little pepper and salt. It will boil as soft, and taste as well as when
fresh from the garden. It will be better for soaking all night in water,
before cooking.
Bakers who heat their ovens every day, would find it profitable to buy
Indian corn in large quantities, and prepare it as above, to sell
afterwards for table use. If the corn is not young and fresh, it will
require half an hour’s boiling before it is dried in the oven.
What is called sweet corn is excellent for this purpose.
EXCELLENT RECEIPT FOR PORK AND BEANS.--Take a good piece of pickled pork
(not very fat) and to each pound of pork allow a quart of dried white
beans. The bone should be removed from the pork, and the beans well
picked and washed. The evening before they are wanted for cooking, put
the beans and pork to soak in _separate pans_; and just before bed-time,
drain off the water, and replace it with fresh. Let them soak all night.
Early in the morning, drain them well from the water, and wash first the
beans, and then the pork in a cullender. Having scored the skin in
stripes or diamonds, put the pork into a pot with fresh cold water, and
the beans into another pot with sufficient cold water to cook them well.
Season the pork with a little pepper, but of course no salt. Boil them
separately and slowly till the pork is thoroughly done (skimming it
well) and till the beans have all burst open. Afterwards take them out,
and drain them well from the water. Then lay the pork in the middle of a
tin pan, (there must be no liquid fat about it) and the beans round it;
and over it, so as nearly to bury it from sight. Pour in a very little
water, and set the dish into a hot oven, to bake or brown for half an
hour. If kept too long in the oven the beans will become dry and hard.
If sufficiently boiled when separate, half an hour will be long enough
for the pork and beans to bake together. Carefully skim off any liquid
fat that may rise to the surface. Cover the dish, and send it to table
hot.
For a small dish, two quarts of beans and two pounds of pork will be
enough. To this quantity when put to bake in the oven you may allow half
a pint of water.
This is a good plain dish, very popular in New England, and generally
liked in other parts of the country.