Rub a tahlespoonful of butter round the bottom and sides
of a smooth iron kettle, — granite or porcelain will do ;
when melted, add half a cup of boiling water. This will
prevent the milk from burning. Add one quart of milk.
Let it boil up, and almost over the kettle ; then sift in one
pint of fine yellow granulated corn meal., sifting with the left
hand, and holding the meal high, that every grain ma^' be
thoroughlj' scalded. Stir constantly ; add half a teaspoon-
ful of salt, and set away till cold. Then add half a pint of
JVeiv Orleans molasses✪ Indian Meal Pudding and otie quart of cold milk. Put into
a well-buttered deep pudding-dish, cover with a plate, and
bake very slowly ten or twelve hours. Put it in a Satur-
day afternoon oven," where the fire will keep low nearh^
all night. Let it remain over night, and serve for a Sun-
day breakfast.
Chickins forc'd with Oysters.
(Taken from a receipt hook written in 1764.)
Take Oysters, parsley. Onions, butter, pepper, Salt, grated
Bread, Mushrooms✪ Chickens Forced with Oysters — if 3^ou can get y™, & as many eggs
as you think propper, fill them inside, & Cut y"" on the
The Boston Cook Book.
287
breast, if have a mind to, & put some of tlie stuffing
there, make gravy of Oysters, butter & mace, pepper,
roast them well.
Bean Porridge. {Mrs, C. M. Poor.)
Five pounds of corned beef^ not too salt, or four pounds
of beef and one of salt pork; one pint of dry white beans, four
tablespoonfuls of corn meal^ pepper and salt to taste, one pint
of hulled corn✪ Bean Porridge. Soak the beans over night. In the morn-
ing parboil in fresh water with a pinch of soda till soft.
Put the corned beef and pork in cold water, skim carefulh%
and simmer four or five hours, or till tender. Take out,
and cut into two-inch pieces, and remove the bone and
gristle ; also the fat from the liquor. Put the meat and
beans into the meat liquor, and simmer very slowly three
or four hours, or till most of the beans are broken. Half
an hour before serving stir in the meal, first wetting it in
cold water to a smooth paste. The meal should thicken
the porridge to about the consistency of a thick soup. The
meat should be cooked till it falls apart. Season to taste
with salt aud pepper. Add the hulled corn, and when hot
serve with brown bread. Sometimes the vegetables usu-
ally served with a boiled dinner are cooked with the meat,
then removed, and the beans cooked as above, in the meat
liquor.
" This old-fashioned and ver}' nutritious dish was one of
the chief articles of winter food at my grandmother's farm
in Northern New Hampshire eighty years ago. When
cooked, it was poured into bowls or basins holding from
a pint to two quarts. A nice tow string was laid in a loop
over the edge, and the porridge was placed where it would
freeze. By holding the dish in hot water it would cause
the porridge to slip out ; then it was hung up hy the loops
in the ' butter3%' and was considered ' best when nine
days old.' At early dawn the ' men folks ' who went into
the forest ' chopping ' would take the skillet, or a little
three-legged iron kettle, some large slices of ' rye and
288 The Boston Cook Booh
Page 170 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Rub a tablespoonful of butter round the bottom and sides of a smooth iron kettle, — granite or porcelain will do ; when melted, add half a cup of boiling water. This will prevent the milk from burning. Add one quart of milk. Let it boil up, and almost over the kettle ; then sift in one pint of fine yellow granulated corn meal., sifting with the left hand, and holding the meal high, that every grain may be thoroughly scalded. Stir constantly ; add half a teaspoonful of salt, and set away till cold. Then add half a pint of JVeiv Orleans molasses and otie quart of cold milk. Put into a well-buttered deep pudding-dish, cover with a plate, and bake very slowly ten or twelve hours. Put it in a Saturday afternoon oven," where the fire will keep low nearly all night. Let it remain over night, and serve for a Sunday breakfast.
Chickens forced with Oysters.
(Taken from a receipt hook written in 1764.)
Take Oysters, parsley. Onions, butter, pepper, Salt, grated Bread, Mushrooms — if 3^ou can get them, & as many eggs as you think propper, fill them inside, & Cut them on the
The Boston Cook Book.
breast, if have a mind to, & put some of tlie stuffing there, make gravy of Oysters, butter & mace, pepper, roast them well.
Bean Porridge. {Mrs, C. M. Poor.)
Five pounds of corned beef^ not too salt, or four pounds of beef and one of salt pork; one pint of dry white beans, four tablespoonfuls of corn meal, pepper and salt to taste, one pint of hulled corn. Soak the beans over night. In the morning parboil in fresh water with a pinch of soda till soft. Put the corned beef and pork in cold water, skim carefulh% and simmer four or five hours, or till tender. Take out, and cut into two-inch pieces, and remove the bone and gristle ; also the fat from the liquor. Put the meat and beans into the meat liquor, and simmer very slowly three or four hours, or till most of the beans are broken. Half an hour before serving stir in the meal, first wetting it in cold water to a smooth paste. The meal should thicken the porridge to about the consistency of a thick soup. The meat should be cooked till it falls apart. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the hulled corn, and when hot serve with brown bread. Sometimes the vegetables usually served with a boiled dinner are cooked with the meat, then removed, and the beans cooked as above, in the meat liquor.
" This old-fashioned and very nutritious dish was one of the chief articles of winter food at my grandmother's farm in Northern New Hampshire eighty years ago. When cooked, it was poured into bowls or basins holding from a pint to two quarts. A nice tow string was laid in a loop over the edge, and the porridge was placed where it would freeze. By holding the dish in hot water it would cause the porridge to slip out ; then it was hung up hy the loops in the ' buttery and was considered ' best when nine days old.' At early dawn the ' men folks ' who went into the forest ' chopping ' would take the skillet, or a little three-legged iron kettle, some large slices of ' rye and
288 The Boston Cook Booh
Records on this page
Indian Meal PuddingChickens Forced with OystersBean Porridge