Early American Recipes

That Sheperds Pie sounds like my sister likes to make for dinner...

Recipe Name: KETTLE BACON
Category: DUTCHOVEN
Serves: 10

SOURCE Shadows

2 Pound bacon, sliced
1 Tblsp butter
As req black pepper, ground

Some of you with age will remember this type bacon from those camps that our folks used to send us to for the summer. It is not the typical flat served bacon and is the only way to cook bacon for a crowd.

Even though this is called kettle bacon it can be cooked in any large cooking vessel such as a dutchoven, large kettle or large skillet with deep sides.
This is how I used to make it when I cooked at a camp in Charles County, Md.

Place your cooking vessel on the heat source. Seperate bacon slices and drop slice by slice into the vessel. Add butter ( please use butter not substitute stuff, it is needed for the flavor ). Sprinkle ground black pepper over the bacon while stirrring.
Cook over low to medium heat stirring very often with a wooden spoon . Remove bacon pieces with tongs as they become crisp and place on toweling to drain.
Serve while still warm.


Options:
Lemon Pepper can be used in place of black pepper.
Add a dash of cayenne pepper while cooking to add some zing.

This serves 10 - 20 folks

Then you know how good it can be!!!!

Potting of meats was a common pratice in the early days. Here is on from Scotland:

Recipe Name: POTTED BEEF
Category: 18TH CENTURY
Serves: 2

SOURCE ORIGINAL SCOTTISH RECIPES

1 Pound stewing steak
1/2 Cup stock or water
4 Tblsp (2 oz.) butter
1 clove
pinch of mace
salt and pepper to taste

Remove skin and as much fat as possible from meat.
Cut meat into cubes.
Place in ovenproof dish with stock or water, clove and mace, season.
Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours in oven at 350°F (180°C).
Drain liquid, remove clove, finely mince or blenderize meat.
Melt butter, mix half into beef.
Spoon into sterilized jars, seal with rest of melted butter.
Refrigerate, use fairly soon.
Serve on toast or bread.

Here is another, this one is Irish:

Recipe Name: POTTED CHICKEN (IRISH)
Category: POULTRY
Serves: 8

1 Each Large chicken (about 4 lb)*
2 tbsp Butter
1 Each Shallot or small onion
1 pn Ground cloves
1 pn Ground allspice
300 ml Chicken stock
12 as req Slices bacon
Salt and pepper
8 Ounces Clarified butter


* Or two small ones. -- Boil the chicken(s) lightly. Remove the meat from
the chicken, then bone and skin it. Mince until fairly fine. Season with
salt, the pepper, and spices, and the finely chopped onion or shallot,
then stir in stock and run through blender or food processor.
.
Butter well a deep casserole or dish and stretch the bacon slices with a
knife, then line the dish with them, reserving some for the top. Pour in
the meat mixture and level off. Dot the top with butter. Lay the rest of
the bacon on top. Cover with buttered parchment paper and a lid. Stand the casserole in a
container of hot water reaching halfway up the side of the casserole. Bake
at 180C/350F for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. When ready, run a knife around the
edges and leave to get cold. When cold, press down with a spoon, pour the
clarified butter over the top, and keep in a cold place until needed.
Serves 8-10.



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Per serving: 284 Calories; 31g Fat (97% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 1g
Carbohydrate; 80mg Cholesterol; 155mg Sodium

And a third one, circa 1890:

Recipe Name: POTTED TONGUE
Category: 18TH CENTURY
Serves: 6

SOURCE FEEDING AMERICA: THE HISTORIC COOKBOOK PROJECT

1 cold boiled tongue, all hard parts removed
cut into small pieces and afterwards pounded
into a smooth paste .
(a modern food procesor makes short work of this)
cayenne, to taste
1/4 the weight of the tongue of clarified butter

Take the remains of a cold boiled tongue, remove all the hard parts and cut the meat into small pieces,afterwards pounding into a smooth paste. Season with cayenne, and beat with 1/4 it's weight of clarified butter. Press it into small jars, cover it one-fourth deep with clarified butter, melted drippings, or melted suet. A smaller portion of butter will be required if a little of the fat of the tongue is used instead of the lean only, but the butter must not be entierly dispensed with. It can be seasoned by the addition of one teasoonful of mixed mustard, one saltspoonful of white pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and as much nutmeg as will cover a three cent piece to each pound of tongue. Potted tongue is excellent when pounded with cold chicken, cold veal, or partridge. The tongue must be pounded to a perfectly smooth paste.


From Mrs. Frank H. Daniell , of New Hampshire, Alternate Lady Manager, circa 1893

Here is one I found surfing the web:

Sage and Onion stuffing for ducks, geese and pork enables the stomach to digest the rich food.
From Warner's Ancient Cookery, 1791, for 'Sawgeat,' Sawge. Sawgeat
'Take Pork and seeth (boil) it wel and grinde it smale and medle (mingle) it with ayren (eggs) and ygrated (grated) brede (bread). Do thereto salt sprinkled and saffron. Take a close litull ball of it in foiles (leaves) of Sawge. Wet it with a bator (batter) of ayren, fry and serve forth.'

And here is another:

'A Relish for Roast Pork. or Goose
'2 OZ. of leaves of Green Sage, an ounce of fresh lemon peel, pared thin, same of salt, minced shallot and 1/2 drachm of Cayenne pepper, ditto of citric acid, steeped for a fortnight in a pint of claret. Shake it well every day; let it stand a day to settle and decant the clear liquid. Bottle it and cork it close. Use a tablespoonful or more in 1/4 pint of gravy or melted butter.'

I love that recipe for Egg in Nest, Shadow! My mom called them One-Eyed Egyptians!

For the life of me I can't see how she came up with that name, but they are good no matter what you call them LOL!

Recipe Name: BAKED ONIONS WITH THYME
Category: 18TH CENTURY
Serves: 6

SOURCE Shadows

6 medium red or white onions (3 1/2 lb)
3 Tblsp fine-quality extra-virgin olive oil
10 fresh thyme sprigs or
1 Tsp. dried thyme
Fine sea salt to taste
1/2 Cup Chianti or other dry red wine
1/4 Cup water

Oil and Preheat dutch oven to 400°F (hot).

Cut a slice from both ends of each onion, then halve onions crosswise. Discard outer layers from onions, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch diameter.

Arrange onions, trimmed ends down in dutch oven. Drizzle with oil.

Remove leaves from 2 thyme sprigs and sprinkle over onions. Season with sea salt and pepper, then scatter remaining 8 sprigs over onions. Pour wine over onions.

Bake, with majority of coals on lid, basting with pan juices twice during baking, 40 minutes. Add water to oven and bake until onions are browned and tender, about 50 minutes more. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 6 (first course) servings

Even though this one seems to be from England, I have seen mention of it in diaries and cookbooks here on this side of the pond:

Jugged Hare (Rabbit) England 1783

4 lb To 5 lb Hare or Rabbit; jointed
3 tb Flour
3 tb Bacon drippings
2 Onions; sliced
1/4 lb (1/2 cup) diced Bacon
2 1/2 c Light game stock
1/4 ts Ground cloves
1/4 c Mixed sweet herbs
1/2 ts Mace


Flour the pieces of hare and brown them in the bottom of a dutch oven or deep fireproof jug, in the bacon drippings; remove the pieces when browned, add the onions and brown them, and then add the bacon. Replace the hare and add the stock, cloves, mixed herbs and mace. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, or until tender.

Recipe Name: Pork Pie
Category: 18TH CENTURY
Serves: 4

SOURCE LEE CUSTER


1 1/2 Pound lb pastry
6 Slice pork loin escallops raw
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 Tblsp sugar
2 Cup white wine
Dash nutmeg
Dash salt
Dash pepper
2 Tblsp butter

Pork was the most widely eaten domestic meat in the 18th century. American Colonist found pigs easy to raise. Foraging on roots, nuts and garbage, pigs increase their own weight 150 times the first year.


Line a 9-inch pie dish with half the pastry. Arrange alternate layers of pork and apples in the pastry, sprinkle the layers with sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add wine. Dot with Butter and cover with pastry crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

If cooking in a dutch oven, place small stones or bottle caps in bottom of oven and place pie dish on these to keep off the bottom of the oven. As usual, place the majority of the coals on the lid.

Here is one from Native Americans:

Baked Indian Pudding, Oneida
Ingredients:

3 Cups Milk
4 Teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Corn Meal
2 Teaspoon Ginger
1/3 Cup Molasses
2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg Beaten
Butter Size of Walnut

Instructions:
Scald milk. Mix together meal and molasses and stir into hot milk. Cook until it thickens stir constantly. Remove from heat, add sugar, egg, butter, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Pour into buttered baking dish and bake 2 hour at 300F. Pour over it one cup of milk and continue baking for 2 hours. Serve with cream or ice cream.