2 Tblsp pearl barley
4 c water
Put barley over the fire in cold water, let come to a boil and cook 5 min. Then drain off the water and rinse the barley in cold water. Return to the fire. Add 1 quart of water. Bring to a boil again and simmer until reduced by 1/2. This may be sweetened or flavored. This is highly nourishing.
Oatmeal Gruel
1/2 c oatmeal
6 c boiling water
1 tsp salt
sugar and cream
Add salt to the boiling water. Stir in the oatmeal and cook for 2 1/2 hours in a double boiler. Remove from fire and strain. When preparing it for a patient, use 1/2 cup gruel mixed with 1/2 cup thin cream, 2 in. boiling water and sugar to taste.
Flax Seed Lemonade
2 tblsp Flaxseed
4 c boiling water
1 c sugar
Juice and grated rind of 3 lemons
Blanch the flax seed, add boiling water and let it simmer for 3/4 hour then add sugar and lemon rind. Let stand for 15 min. strain and add lemon juice. Serve either hot or cold. Also a tsp. of this every 1/2 hour will help a bad cough.
Corn Meal Indian Pudding
4 tblsp. corn meal
3 lg. or 4 sm. eggs
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. raisins, seeded
1 c. currants
1 tsp. salt
Spices: Nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
Cook corn meal slowly in milk until milk appears creamy like. Add sugar to beaten eggs and fruit. Pour over cooked part, then spices. Stir fruit up when first cooking. Open little places in pudding when set and pour cream in. Cook slowly 4-6 hours.
Sauerkraut Salad
1 qt. sauerkraut
1 c. diced celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. salad oil
1/4 c. green & red pepper, chopped
Put all ingredients together, leaving the juice on the sauerkraut. Cook until tender, about 35-40 minutes. Cool and serve. Serves 5-6.
This recipe for sauerkraut salad came from the Amana Colonies in Homestead Iowa. It is a very old recipe and it is very good.
Sally Lunn Bread
Sally Lunn, a pride of southern cooks, is named after a young lady who in the eighteenth century sold the warm crumbly bread that bears her name by "crying" it in the streets of England's fashionable spa, Beth A "respectable baker and musician" bought her business and wrote a song about her. The song is forgotten but Sally has a place in the Oxford English Dictionary, and hers was a household name in the colonies.
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, divided
3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages active dry yeast
Preheat oven to 350°F 10 minutes before the bread is ready to be baked.
Grease a 10-inch tube cake pan or bundt pan.
Heat the milk, shortening, and 1/4 cup of water until very warm--about 120°F.
The shortening does not need to melt.
Blend 1 1/3 cups of flour with the sugar, salt, and dry yeast in a large mixing bowl.
Blend the warm liquids into the flour mixture.
Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Gradually add 2/3 cup of the remaining flour and the eggs and beat at high speed for 2 minutes.
Add the remaining flour and mix well.
The batter will be thick but not stiff.
Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place ntil it has increased in bulk 1/3-1/2--about 30 minutes.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350°F.
Run a knife around the center and outer edges of the bread and turn onto a plate to cool.
Goldenrod (The Patriotic Species)
Sweet goldenrod, sometimes called blue mountain tea, has a rich history. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the Native Americans so appreciated its taste that they flavored other medicinals with it. After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, patriotic colonists devised a substitute for China tea called Liberty Tea, made from equal parts of sweet goldenrod, betony, red clover, and New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus). Later, sweet goldenrod became a cash crop in the United States; it was even exported to China, where it sold at high prices as a tea substitute.
To make tea from sweet goldenrod, harvest the plants just before they come into bloom, usually in August. If you wait too long, the leaves may have a slightly acrid or bitter taste. You may strip the leaves from the stems and place them on trays in a single layer or dry the stalks upside down in bundles and strip off the dried leaves. Provide good air circulation and avoid direct sunlight. When the leaves are thoroughly crisp, store them in jars with tight-fitting lids, out of the sun.
Use a teaspoonful of the dried herb to a cup of boiling water and steep five minutes or to taste. A half-and-half mixture of sweet goldenrod and peppermint makes an unusual, sweet beverage.
From an article by Jill Jepson in The Herb Companion, August/September 1993
Hasty Pudding (Cornmeal Mush)
6 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
This dish was an absolute staple in Colonial times. It was called hasty because it takes only about 40 minutes to make . . . and in terms of early cooking techniques that was a very short time. It could be prepared quickly and served just with gravy. That was often the whole meal. Or it could be served as a side vegetable dish. Or the colonists would sprinkle it with sugar and top with milk for dessert . . . or breakfast. Finally, it could be fried. Hasty pudding saved many a family in earlier times.
Bring the water to a rapid boil in a heavy covered pot. Add the salt and slowly add the meal to the boiling water, stirring all the time. I use a wire whisk for this. Continue stirring until the cornmeal thickens, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down low and cover the pot. Continue to simmer lightly, stirring the pudding several times, for 30 minutes more.
Recipe From: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American
Mashed Maple Sweet Potatoes
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoon margarine or butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 1/3 c half-and-half, light cream; , or milk
In a medium saucepan cook potatoes, covered, in a small amount of boiling water for 30 to 35 minutes or until very tender; drain. Mash with a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer on low speed.
Add maple syrup, margarine or butter, and salt. Gradually beat in enough half-and-half, light cream, or milk to make potato mixture light and fluffy. Pipe or spoon potato mixture onto serving plates.
Makes 6 servings.
In many areas of New England, maple syrup was often the only sweetener available to the colonists. Two common uses were to dress up sweet potatoes and to add flavor to beans.
Oyster And Cornbread Stuffing
4 stalks celery; chopped
1 yellow onion; chopped
1/2 stick butter
1 giblets from turkey
5 cup corn bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoon whole sage leaves; rubbed
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 pint small oysters; with juice
1 salt & pepper to taste
This dish goes back 300 years. The colonists lived on corn, clams, and oysters . . . and now and then a turkey. The recipe is easy and unusually good.
In a medium-sized frying pan, saut‚ the celery and onion in the butter until transparent. Set aside. Cook the giblets (the heart, liver, gizzard, neck, and tips of the wings) in about 1 quart of water. Cover and simmer until the gizzard is tender, about 1-1/2 hours. Allow the meat to cool in the broth and in the meantime make the corn bread crumbs. I simply break up the corn bread and place it on a cookie sheet in a very low oven until the bread is dry enough to crumble up into very small pieces. Place the crumbs in a large mixing bowl.
Remove the meat from the bones and coarsely grind the meat, reserving the broth. Place the meat and saut‚ed vegetables in the bread-crumb bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Add about 3 cups of the giblet broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. The amount of broth that you add will depend upon how moist a dressing you like.
Recipe From: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American
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