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HARDTACK
Place the following ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a “pastry fork”:
4 cups of unbleached flour
Dissolve the following in one cup of water:
1½ teaspoons of salt
Mix all ingredients well. Roll out dough ½-inch to 3/8-inch thick with a rolling pin. Because original, issued hardtack was uniform, by far the best results are obtained with a hardtack cutter. If a hardtack cutter is unavailable, cut the dough into squares approximately 3 inches by 3 inches. Use a 1/8-inch diameter dowel to create sixteen holes in each cracker in a 4 by 4 pattern. Best results are obtained using a hardtack cutter instead of a dowel.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 450 degrees F. When done, let air-dry for minimum of twenty-four hours, preferably more, before the crackers are placed into a bag or sealed container. Yield: 9 to 11 crackers.
* Period hardtack contractors used a flour known as “cracker flour”, which can be simulated by mixing one part pastry flour with three parts ordinary, unbleached flour.
FRIED PARTRIDGES
2 partridges
egg yolks, beaten and seasoned to taste
Butter or oil for frying
Take a brace of partridges [2 birds] that have been either roasted or braised; cut them into quarters; dip them into beaten and seasoned yolks of eggs; make some butter or friture [frying oil] perfectly hot in a frying pan; put into it the birds, and do them over a moderately hot fire until they are beautifully browned.
BEEF-STEAK PIE
Leftover roast beef (eye round roast would be perfect)
Leftover boiled potatoes, cooled
Salt and pepper
Butter
Top and bottom pie crusts
Nutmeg (optional)
Minced onion (optional)
Mushroom ketchup (optional--see recipe on "Soups & Sauces" page)
Fresh oysters (optional)
Fresh mushrooms (optional)
Butter a deep dish, and spread a sheet of paste [pie crust] all over the bottom, sides, and edge. Cut away from your beef-steak all the bone, fat, gristle and skin. Cut the lean in small thin pieces, about as large, generally, as the palm of your hand. Beat the meat well with the
rolling-pin, to make it juicy and tender. If you put in the fat, it will make the gravy too greasy and strong, as it cannot be skimmed.
Put a layer of meat over the bottom-crust of your dish, and season it to your taste, with pepper, salt, and, if you choose, a little nutmeg. A small quantity of mushroom ketchup is an improvement; so also is a little minced onion.
Have ready some cold boiled potatoes sliced thin. Spread over the meat, a layer of potatoes, and a small piece of butter, then another layer of meat, seasoned, and then a layer of
potatoes, and so on till the dish is full and heaped up in the middle, having a layer of meat on the top. Pour in a little water.
Cover the pie with a sheet of paste, and trim the edges. Notch it handsomely with a knife.
CANAPES
Cold roast veal
Sardines
Capers
Oil
Vinegar
Herbs
Bread
Butter
Cut up equal quantity of cold roast veal and of sardines in long thin slices, add a fifth of the weight [of the veal and sardines] of capers, flavour plentifully with oil, vinegar, and chopped herbs. Serve on pieces of bread about two inches square and half an inch thick, which has
previously been fried in butter. Serve cold.
PICKLED PIGS FEET
Pig's feet
Salt
Strong vinegar
Spices (optional)
Boil until a straw can be run through them in water in which a little salt has been thrown. Pack them in jars and pour over them a very strong vinegar, with or without spices to suit the taste.
DRESSED BASS
1 slice salt pork
1 slice bread
1 egg
1 gill wine [about 1/2 c.]
4 ounces butter
Salt, pepper
Sweet marjoram, summer savoury, parsley, mixed and minced
1 or more bass, cleaned and scaled
Season high [heavily] with salt, pepper and cayenne one slice salt pork. One slice of bread, one egg, sweet marjoram, summersavory and parsley, minced fine and well mixed [with] one gill wine. Stuff the bass, bake in the oven one hour. Thin slices of pork laid on the fish as it goes into the oven; when done, pour over dissolved [melted] butter. Serve up with stewed oysters, cra[n]berries, boiled onions or potatoes. The same method may be observed with fresh Shad, Codfish, Blackfish and Salmon.
DEVILLED TURKEY
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Gizzard, drumstick and "rump" of turkey, cooked
Sauce: Turkey drippings
Prepared mustard, about 1 tsp.
1 tsp. to 1 tbs. flour and butter
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. soy sauce
Mix a little salt, black pepper, and Cayenne, and sprinkle the mixture over the gizzard, rump and drumstick of a dressed turkey; broil them, and serve very hot with this sauce: Mix with
some of the gravy out of the dish, a little made [prepared] mustard, some butter and flour, a spoonful of lemon juice, and the same [amount] of soy. Boil up the whole.
SAUSAGE CAKES
1 lb. pork
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tbs. cloves
1/2 tbs. coriander seed
4 tbs. cold water
Note: The modern cook might want to reduce the amount of coriander somewhat and substitute a teaspoon or so of sage, and possibly some salt. Up to you, of course.
Chop a pound of good pork, fine. add half a teaspoonful of pepper, half a spoonful of cloves, half a spoonful of coriander seed, and four tablespoonfuls of cold water, Mix all well together, form them into small cakes, and fry in a hot pan.
SAUSAGES
3 tsp. powdered sage
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 lb pork
Chop meat into cubes and mix spices through it well. Grind to desired
fineness. Can be formed into patties to eat immediately, or
stuffed into casings for later use. Keep in cool room or smokehouse.
PORK AND BEANS
1 quart beans
1 lb. pork
Pepper
Baked beans are a very simple dish, yet few cook them well. They should be put in cold water, and hung over the fire, the night before they are baked. In the morning, they should be put in a colander, and rinsed two or three times, then [put] again in the kettle with the pork you intend to bake. Cover with water, and keep scalding hot, for an hour or more. A pound of pork is quite enough for a quart of beans, and that is a large dinner for a common family. The rind of the pork should be slashed. A little pepper sprinkled among the beans, when they are laced in the bean-pot, will render them less unhealthy. They should be just covered with water, when put into the oven, and the pork should be sunk a little below the surface of the beans. Bake three or four hours.
BOILED SALT PORK
Salt pork
Ground pepper
Salt pork will shrink in cooking, so select a piece at least 1/3 larger than seems necessary to feed your party. Place in kettle in water to cover and bring to a boil. As soon as water is boiling pour it off, to remove the salt. Pour on more boiling water at once. Boil very slowly, almost a simmer, until done. When tender take it up, remove skin and bones, and dot it with ground pepper. Serve with plain potatoes, turnips, and cabbage, each boiled by itself.
BROWN FRICASSEED CHICKEN
1 or 2 chickens, cut up
Butter, salt, pepper and flour for frying
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. sage, or other sweet herb to taste
3 tbs. butter for gravy
1 tbs. flour
Sliced onion (optional)
Sliced 1/2 lemon (optional)
Tomato catsup (optional)
Singe the chickens [to remove pinfeathers] and cut them in pieces. Pepper, salt and flour them, fry them in fresh butter till they are very brown. Take the chickens out, and make a good gravy, in to which put sweet herbs (marjoram or sage) according to your taste. If necessary, add pepper and salt. Butter and flour must be used in making the gravy, in such quantities as to suit yourself for thickness and richness. After this is all prepared, the chicken must be stewed in it, for half an hour, closely covered. A pint of gravy is about enough for two chickens; I should think a piece of butter about as big as a walnut, and a tablespoonful of flour, would be enough for the gravy. The herbs should, of course, be pounded and sifted. Some, who love onions, slice two or three, and brown them with the chicken. Some slice a half-lemon and stew with the chicken. Some add tomatoes catsup.
SPIT-ROASTED RABBIT
1 rabbit
Salt
Red pepper to taste
long stick of green wood, or else metal roasting spit
Clean and skin rabbit, removing the head. Tie front and back paws to spit with twine. Put over hardwood coals, not a raging fire. Roast, turning often, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Note: parts of rabbit may get a bit crispy in spots but this does not harm flavour and assures that meat is thoroughly cooked. Season with cayenne pepper if desired.
SWEET TATERS AND POSSUM
1 possum (see instructions)
Salt
8 sweet potatoes
2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. sugar
4-6 strips bacon
1 tsp. thyme, marjoram or both
Pepper, red or black, ground
First catch a young fat possum. This in itself affords excellent sport on moonlight nights in Fall. Remove the fur either by skinning or by soaking the possum in hot lye water, being careful not to get any on the hands. Clean, take off the head and feet (unless you want to cook it like whole pig), and wash well. Salt the possum well inside and out and freeze overnight either outdoors or in the refrigerator compartment. When ready to cook, peel 8 sweet potatoes and boil them tender in slightly salted water to which 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar have been added. At the same time, stew the possum tender in a tightly covered pan with a little water. Arrange the potatoes around the possum, strip with bacon, sprinkle with thyme or marjoram, or with pepper, and brown in the oven. Baste often with the drippings. Served hot, it sure is a "dish fo' a king".
DRAWN BUTTER
1/2 pint water
4 tbs.. butter
1 tsp. flour
Heat water to boiling. While water is heating cream butter with flour.
(Mash together with fork until blended smooth.) Drop butter-flour mix in water and boil until thickened. Stir to keep smooth.
FRIED RABBIT
1 rabbit, cleaned and cut in 6 pieces (cut off front legs at shoulders,
back legs at hips, and separate ribs from loin)
1/3 c. lard
1 c. flour seasoned with:
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. red pepper
1 c. beef stock or water
1 tbs. cider vinegar
2/3 c. cream for gravy
Heat lard in heavy frying pan until good and hot. Mix flour with
salt and peppers and dredge rabbit in seasoned flour, shaking off
excess. Put in pan meaty side down and fry up until browned, turning once
to brown both sides. Pour off fat if there is too much; add onion, stock
and vinegar and put to simmer for about 1 hour or until rabbit is
tender. Remove rabbit from pan and keep warm; pour cream into skillet
and stir constantly, scraping up any bits stuck to pan, until thickened
as desired, about 8-10 minutes. Serve over rabbit.
SAUSAGE GRAVY
1 1/2 lb. sausage (links, patties, loose, whatever you got)
1/3 c. flour
1 c. water
1 c. milk
1 c. cream
Salt & pepper
Fry up sausage until browned, being careful not to burn them this time.
Take sausage out of skillet and set aside to keep warm. Pour off and
save for later all but about 1/3 cup of grease from sausage. Sprinkle
flour over fat and stir up good, breaking up any lumps in flour. Start
pouring in water slowly while stirring to beat the band. When done with
water, repeat procedure with milk and then the cream. Mix in salt and
pepper and keep on stirring. Pretty soon it will bubble up and start to
thicken. Serve right away, preferably over top of biscuits.
SQUIRREL
1 squirrel, skinned pulled off over head, cleaned
1/4 c. flour
1 c. fat for frying
Cut off head of squirrel; cut body down the spine, then chop each half
in half to detach legs. Roll all 5 pieces in flour and place in hot
fat; fry until done. Eat as in chicken, but suck brain out through back
of skull. This is considered a delicacy to this day, although we must
point out that eating brain tissue, even fried, is risky nowadays.
LOBSTER SALAD
1 lobster
1 1/2 tbs. mustard
3/4 c. vinegar
3/4 c. oil
5 egg yolks
Salt
2 leaves lettuce
Note: We have no idea what species a "cabbage lettuce" is, so use whatever kind you like. And may your salad never be flabby.
One large lobster, two dessertspoonfuls of mixed mustard, one gill and a half of vinegar, one gill and a half of sweet oil, the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs, salt to the taste, the inside leaves of two cabbage lettuces. Cut the meat and the lettuce in small pieces, boil the eggs hard, and mash with a wooden or silver spoon, with oil enough to make them a smooth paste, then add the vinegar, mustard, pepper, and salt to the taste, mix this dressing thoroughly with the lobster and lettuce, and serve it before the salad becomes flabby.
BROWNED TOMATOES
Tomatoes
Butter or lard for frying
Salt and pepper
Flour
Take large round tomatoes and halve them; place them, the skin side down, in a frying-pan in which a very small quantity of butter or lard has been previously melted; sprinkle them
with salt and pepper and dredge them well with flour, and let them brown thoroughly; then stir them and let them brown again, and so on until they are quite done. They lose their acidity, and the flavour is superior to stewed tomatoes.
DRESSED CUCUMBERS
1 or 2 cucumbers
Salt and pepper
3 tbs. salad oil
4 tbs. vinegar
Pare one or two cucumbers, cut it equally into very thin slices, and commence cutting from the thick end; if commenced at the stalk, the cucumber will most likely have an exceedingly bitter taste, far from agreeable. Put the slices into a dish, sprinkle over salt and pepper, and pour over 3 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and 4 of vinegar, in these proportions; turn [stir] the cucumber about, and it is ready to serve. This is a favourite accompaniment to boiled
salmon, and makes a pretty garnish to lobster salad.
POTATO CHIPS
Potatoes
Butter
Salt
Wash and peel some potatoes, then pare them, ribbon-like, into long lengths. Put them into cold water to remove the strong potato flavour; drain them, and throw them into a pan with a little butter, and fry them a light brown. Take them out of the pan, and place them close to the
fire on a sieve lined with clean writing paper to dry, before they are served up. A little salt may be sprinkled over them.
COLD SLAW
1 head cabbage
1 1/2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Pepper
Cut the cabbage very fine, dissolve in a cup of vinegar a teaspoonful of sugar, the same of salt, add a little pepper; pour it over the cabbage, and add another half cup of vinegar.
SOUSED ROCKFISH
1 whole rockfish, gutted and scaled
Salt
Pepper, salt
Vinegar (amount depends on size of pot into which fish is to be put)
Cloves, allspice, mace (optional)
Boil the fish with a little salt in the water until it is thoroughly
cooked. Reserve part of the water in which it was boiled, to which add
whole pepper, salt, vinegar, cloves, allspice, and mace, to your taste.
Boil it up to extract the strength from the spice, and add the vinegar
after it is boiled. Cut off the head and tail of the fish and divide the
rest in several portions. Put it in a stone jar, and when the fish is
quite cold, pour the liquor over it. It will be fit to use in a day or
two, and will keep in a cold place two or three weeks.
PEAS STEAMED
1 qt. peas
2 tbs. butter
Put the peas in a tin pail, or some other article with a tight cover, without water. To every quart put a piece of butter as large as a quarter of a common-sized hen's egg. Set it in boiling water until the peas are cooked tender. Never put pepper in peas, it is easily added at table, if desired.
MASHED POTATOES
4-5 Potatoes
Boiling water
Salt
Piece of butter half the size of an egg
1/2 c. sweet milk
Pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them in quarters. Throw into a kettle of boiling water with a spoonful of salt. Let them cook, not too fast but evenly. When tender, drain off all the water, and let them steam, that all the extra moisture my pass off. Mash them in the kettle, working them into a light paste without a lump. More depends on this than is supposed in giving mashed potatoes the superior flavour they should posses to be prime. After they are worked into a paste, which must be done QUICKLY, set the kettle on the stove, working them all the time to prevent burning. Put into a common covered vegetable-dish a piece of butter half as large as an egg, work it in well, then add a half-cup of sweet milk well worked in; taste and if not sufficiently salted, add more. If you have cream a teacupful will do instead of butter and milk; indeed, it is better. Dish [put] the potatoes in a covered dish, smooth them nicely with a knife dipped in butter, and shake a trifle of pepper over the top. Serve with fowls or roast.
HASHED POTATOES
1 quart potatoes
Piece of butter half the size of an egg
1/2 teacup water (about 1/4 c.)
1/2 tsp. salt
Dust of pepper
Sweet cream (optional)
Peel and hash fine uncooked potatoes. To each quart allow a piece of butter, half as large as a common-sized egg; a half teacup of water, a half-teaspoon of salt, a dust of pepper only, if any; it can be added much easier than taken out. Put water, butter, salt and pepper in the spider [frying pan] until it becomes hot; then stir in the potatoes, let them cook slowly so as not to burn. Stir often but do not mash them. Sweet cream can be added, if desired, when taken from the fire. This is nice for breakfast.
FRIED FISH
3 catfish
1 c. cornmeal, white if you can get it
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Lard, bacon grease, or other oil for frying, amount to fill fry pan about 1/2 in deep.
Skin, gut and fillet catfish, giving you 6 fillets. Rinse the fillets
off if you can get clean cold water. Mix up cornmeal, flour, salt and
pepper, in a paper bag if one is to hand, or other clean container as is
handy. Coat fillets well with this mix and put in medium-hot fry pan
with grease. Grease should be good and hot but not smoking. Cook fillets
3-4 minutes or until golden brown, flip and repeat on other side. While
fat is still hot start immediately on hushpuppies
SHAD
1 shad
Bourbon for basting
Drawn butter
Cut head off fish and remove entrails. Split down backbone and remove
largest, most visible bones. (Many will remain.) Build fire. Nail shad
at tail end to hardwood board, preferably maple, apple or other fruit
wood. Do NOT use pine or any sort of evergreen as sap will boil out and
make fish taste like turpentine. Prop board up near fire with fish
facing toward heat. Do not put too close to fire as slow cooking is
said to melt, or at least soften, bones. Brush or drizzle from cup
occasionally with bourbon. When one side is done to taste, pull fish
off nail, flip over, and replace by fire. Minimum cooking time is 15
minutes per side.
SHAD ROE
1 shad, female
1/4 c. flour or corn meal
Butter or lard for frying
These should be cleaned carefully so as not to puncture the roe sacs.
Heat fat in pan. Roll roe gently in flour or meal and put in sizzling
butter. Cook till browned.
HUSH PUPPIES
1 small onion, minced or grated
1 1/2 c. cornmeal, white preferably
1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder, or 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
2-3 c. lard or other shortening, enough to fill fry pan 2-3 in. deep
Mince, grate or chop onion very fine. Stir together all dry ingredients.
In separate bowl crack egg and bead, add onion and stir up well, then
add milk and stir some more. Pour that bowl into the dry ingredients and
mix all together well. Get shortening in fry pan good and hot. Dip out
one good spoonful of batter and scrape off into fat. Repeat until pan is
reasonably full, but not overcrowded. Hushpuppies will first sink, then
float, then turn golden brown which means they are done. Scoop out as
soon as each one is finished, and repeat with remaining batter.
COLLARD GREENS
3 c. water
1 ham hock
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp.. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3-4 bunches collard greens. Can also use mustard or other greens.
Note to federal troops, if your regiment has been afflicted with a shipment
of desiccated vegetables that look at least a little bit green, you can
use them as in this recipe. It will not be the same, Lord knows, but
will bring those vile vegetables as close to edibility as can be
managed.
Put water and ham hock into pot and hang over fire to boil. Then move off the fire a little and let it to simmer for an hour or so. Wash the
greens with good water, cold if possible. Tear stem off each leaf and
tear remainder up into bite sized pieces. Check ham hock; if too much
water is boiled off add enough to cover it again and move pan further
off the fire next time. When everything is up to a simmer again add the
greens, salt pepper and sugar. Simmer 45 min. to an hour or until greens
are tender enough to eat.
Desserts
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