Foods and Recipes of Early American Settlers | Pioneers

From The Early American Cookbook - Authentic Favorites for the Modern Kitchen
by Dr. Kristie Lynn and Robert W. Pelton

Navaho Bean Balls

4 cups pinto beans
8 cups corn meal
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking soda

Put the beans in a large cast iron kettle and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the beans are soft. Now put the corn meal in a large wooden mixing bowl and stir in the flour and baking soda. Blend well and add the hot beans to this mixture. Add enough water from the kettle to make a stiff dough. Roll this dough into small balls. Bring the bean liquid in the kettle to a boil and drop in the bean balls. Let simmer for 30 minutes and serve while hot.
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Walnut Gypsy Stew

2 tablespoons butter
1 pound veal, ground
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

3 tablespoons cheese, grated
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons walnuts, chopped

Put the butter into a cast iron skillet and let it melt. Fry the ground veal until it is done. Stir in the flour and blend well. Now add the milk and stir as it heats. Add the cheese, stirring thoroughly until it is all melted. Lastly, blend in the salt, pepper and chopped walnuts. Serve while very hot.

General Anthony Wayne (1745-96) was quoted as saying he never tired of this stew. He was a famous commander during the Revolutionary War who raised a volunteer regiment in 1776. This man was a hero of the storming and capture of Stony Point on July 15, 1779. He became known as "Mad Anthony," and stopped Indian uprisings in the West of 1794.

From the book, "FOODS OF THE FRONTIER, A compendium of Receipts for Domestic Economy, Cookery, Preserving, Herb Lore, Pickling, Drying, Salting Down, Smoking, The Making of Win, Brew, Candles & Soap, 1776-1976" by Gertrude Harris.

Because meat was scarce and hard to come by, most settlers used every part of the animal. The head and feet were used in making headcheese or souse. The parts were scrubbed and every bit of fur singed off before the fire. They were then dipped in lye water, boiled for hours and boned. The meat and gristle were cut into small pieces, highly seasoned and, while still warm, pressed to get out as much fat as possible. Headcheese was sometimes pickled, sometimes eaten fresh, but it was always a delicious treat, as everyone reports in letters and diaries.

The recipe below was adapted for present day use.

HEAD CHEESE OR SOUSE

1 hog's head, cleaned
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Cover the head with water; add salt and pepper and bring to a boil; cook until meat is almost coming off the bones. Let it cool.

Bone carefully and dice rather fine. Put into a round bowl, add remaining ingredients and chill thoroughly. Unmold to serve and cut in thin slices.

From Log Cabin Cooking, Pioneer Recipes & Food Lore, by Barbara Swell

CORN

Morning, noon, and night, the pioneers ate it.. boiled, baked, fried, and dried. Corn was the most important crop to the settlers. One acre of corn could produce up to twenty times the yield as an acre of wheat or rye, and it could be planted between tree stumps on uncleared land. Not only did corn provide feed for the family and farm animals, it found its way into mattresses, pipes, and outhouses. Children made dolls from the shucks, and cooks made baking powder from corncob ashes.

CORNMEAL MUSH

Boil 2 cups water, add 1/2 tsp. salt, and sprinkle in cornmeal slowly while stirring until mush becomes thick. Eat warm with butter and honey or molasses or put in a bread pan and chill until set. Slice and fry in a frying pan with a bit of butter until crisp on both sides, then serve with maple syrup or honey.

TO MEND AN IRON KETTLE

Mix the white of an egg with some iron rilings and some lime to make a thin paste. Apply to the crack and let it set a couple hours.

GRUEL RECIPE FROM 1833

Have a pint of water boiling in the skillet; stir up three or four large spoonfuls of nicely sifted oatmeal, rye, or Indian (cornmeal) in cold water. Pour it into the skillet while the water boils. Let it boil eight or ten minutes. Throw in a large handful of raisins to boil, if the patient is well enough to bear them. When put in a bowl, add a little salt, white sugar, and nutmeg.

From Pioneer Cookbook, edited by Ferne Shelton

CAMPFIRE ROAST CORN

Fresh, green corn may be baked in the husk (after first cleaning out the silks, then twisting the husks on again) by burying it in hot ashes for about 30 minutes. Remove husks and add salt and butter. Quick method - remove husks from fresh corn and using long stick, hold directly over heat to roast.

OLD FASHIONED STONE JAR SAUERKRAUT

40 lbs. fresh cabbage
1 lb. plain salt

Remove outside leaves and cores. Shred cabbage. In a large pot, mix 5 lbs. shredded cabbage with 2 tablespoons salt., stirring well. Pack into a large stone jar with a potato masher. Repeat method for each 5 lbs. cabbage until jar is filled. Press down with a plate and cover jar with a clean cloth. Leave in a cool place to ferment for 10 to 12 days. When fermentation ceases, pack in sterilized cans and seal, or leave (covered) in the stone jar, for use as needed.

SUNDAY CORN PUDDING

Mix together

2 tablespoons melted butter
1 beaten egg
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups milk

To this mixture, add 2 cups corn. Pour into buttered baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees, about 30 minutes (until firm).

SNOW CREAM

Snow cream was a winter treat, enjoyed in many areas of America long before the recipe for Ice Cream was brought from France (about 1800).

1 cup cream (or milk)
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well together in a large bowl. Stir in soft, fresh snow until you have an icy sherbet consistency.

From Foods of the Frontier, Adapted for Present Day Use by Gertrude Harris

6 cups milk
2/3 cup sifted Indian meal (yellow cornmeal)
3/4 cup finely diced beef suet
2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar

Scald the milk in a large, heavy saucepan and slowly stir in the cornmeal, then the suet and the salt. Beat egg yolks with the sugar added and add to cornmeal mixture. Beat egg whites until they hold a peak but are not yet quite dry, and add to mixture.

Dip a pudding bag into very hot water and sprinkle it lightly with flour inside and out. Fill it about half full with the pudding batter. Tie the bag at the very top, leaving enough room for the pudding to expand.

In a large kettle, bring water to the boiling point and drop in the pudding bag. Continue boiling for 10 minutes, reduce heat and simmer for 5 hours. Serve with a sweet sauce, sugar, or maple syrup. This should serve about 15 generously.

Because the people of the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia and West Virginia) settled in remote hollows and valleys of mountainous areas, the settlers had to be self-reliant. Wild game was abundant; bear, deer, rabbit, raccoon, groundhog, wild turkey, possum, and squirrel.

Most settlers used the "long rifle," named because the guns had long barrels making it possible for the slow burning gunpowder ti burn completely. This gun was more accurate and had a longer range than other guns.

The following recipes are from "Shenandoah Valley Cooking, Recipes and Kitchen Lore."

SQUIRREL STEW

In two quarts of water, place the meat of four or five squirrels (cut into small pieces), one cup of diced carrots, four cups of of diced potatoes, four cups of butter beans and two medium-sized onions. Cook until tender, sprinkle a small amount of flour into the mixture if thickening is necessary. Season to taste with salt, pepper and thyme. (In many neighborhoods, tomatoes and corn are used instead of carrots and potatoes).

FRIED SQUIRREL

Dress the squirrel, cut it into pieces and soak in salted water for several hours. Drain and boil the meat until it is tender. Dip pieces in beaten egg and roll in corn meal, then fry the pieces in deep fat until brown.

RABBIT

Soak the dressed rabbit in cold salt water for several hours. Drain and cut into pieces, roll each piece in flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place meat in a skillet with fat, and brown. Add two medium sized sliced onions and hot water, cover the skillet and reduce the heat to allow the meat to simmer for several hours. Sprinkle flour into the mixture to thicken the gravy before serving.

VENISON STEW

The meat must be marinated by placing it in an earthen jar together with onions and bay leaves, and covered with cider vinegar. After two days, wash the meat in cold water and place it in a kettle with boiling hot water to cover. Stew until tender, remove and bone the meat. Cook four diced carrots, six stalks of diced celery and four onions in the meat broth. Add meat cut into small pieces and thicken the broth with a flour and water paste. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste.

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