FoodNetArchive

Virginia Cookery-book

1884

Page 63 · 7 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.
Strip the husks off, and rub off smoothly every particle of silk ; to a gallon of boiling water allow a spoonful of salt; drop in as many ears of com as your family requires, and boil for one hour. Be very careful, in the selection of corn, that it be matured, but at the same time tender ; upon pressing the thumb-nail into the grain, if the milk exudes freely, it may be calculated that it is in the right state for boiling. To Stew Corn, No. 1. The best com for the table has a small cob, and very long, deep-set grains ; notice this in making your selec- tion for seed, or in market With a sharp knife cut the corn off the ear with two cuts, and then lay the cobs in a stewpan, covering them with water, and let them boil for about an hour. This extracts the sweetest part of the corn always lying next the cob ; take the cobs out, and then, half an hour before dinner is to be served, put the cut grain into the same water and let it simmer gently 125 VIRQIXIA COOKEMT'BOOK. until called for ; serve hot, with butter ; a gill of sweet milk, a teaspoonf ul of salt, and a little pepper must be put in the stew just long enough to be well incorporated before it is taken off to be dished. If these directions are pre- cisely followed, there is no nicer way of cooking this pe- culiarly popular American vegetable. To Stew Cobn, No. 2. Cut off the grains, dividing each one as directed in the previous recipe, and then with a sharp knife scrape out the heart of the com, leaving the cob quite bare, save of the hull ; put about a quart of com, measured after it is cut off, in a skillet with enough water to cover it, stir it frequently, and in half an hour, when it will be nearly done, add a gill of rich sweet milk, a teaspoonful of salt, and a little pepper, if you choose. If the com is not sweet, a teaspoonful of sugar will not be found amiss ; a beaten egg may also be added, where a rich dish is desired. To Fry Corn. Cut the com off the cob, and to a pint of it allow a small lump of butter, a beaten egg, and half a pint of sweet milk ; add enough flour to enable you to make out the com into small round cakesTo Fry Corn. Grease a griddle, and fry them till nicely browned. To Bake Corn. This dish is so popular, that it is well to make an ample provision of it. Therefore, for a large family, take eigh- teen ears of corn, cut the grain off the cob very fine, and scrape down with a sharp-pointed knife; put it in a baking- dish with three pints of sweet milk, a table-spoonful of butter, a dessert-spoonful of salt, and two well-beaten eggs ; mix all well together, butter the dish, and allow VmQINIA COOKMMT-BOOK, 127 two hours for the baking. Oooasionally, if one wishes a rioher pudding for some special company, the butter may be increased to a quarter of a pound, and the eggs to fourTo Bake Corn; but the above proportions answer admirably for every- day use. To Cook D^ibp Corn. The improvement made in drying com has been so great within the last year or two that it is really almost as good as the fresh vegetable, if properly prepared. It is better to soak it in lukewarm water all night long be- fore it is wanted for dinner ; but if the house-keeper has omitted this, steaming it for two hours will soften it quite well. It may be stewed just like green corn ; but to make it into a pudding with milk, eggs, and butter, suits the taste of the majority better. For a half-gallon baking- dish use one pint of com, one of milk, one egg, 3, lump of butter the size of a walnut, two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, and a slight sprinkling of pepperCorn Pudding. To CoOF f'vCUMBBBS.