CHAPTER XXI

CREOLE DISHES

Hoe Cake

1 cup white corn meal ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup boiling water milk 1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix salt and corn meal, add boiling water, let stand ten minutes. Add baking powder and sufficient milk to make a stiff batter. Grease a griddle; when hot, drop the mixture by spoonfuls on to it. When brown put a piece of butter on top of each cake and turn.

Corn Pone

2 cups coarse corn meal water to make a soft dough 1 teaspoon salt

Butter pan; sprinkle with dry meal. Mix corn meal, salt, and water. Heat pan, pour in pone mixture, and bake in hot oven.

Virginia Waffles

1 cup white corn meal 2 cups boiling water 1 cup milk 2½ cups flour 2 eggs 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup melted butter ¼ cup sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder

Cook meal in boiling water twenty minutes. Mix and sift dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Add eggs well beaten, and melted butter. Cook as waffles.

Virginia Spoon Bread

1 cup cooked hominy 4 tablespoons lard 1 cup cream 4 eggs 2 cups corn meal 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon melted butter ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix the lard with the hot hominy; when cool, add cream, eggs well beaten, corn meal mixed and sifted with baking powder, melted butter, and salt. Bake in buttered agate-ware pan thirty to forty minutes.

Gumbo

1 fowl ½ cup salt pork fat 1 sliced onion salt 2 cups strained tomatoes 12 okra pods sliced 1 teaspoon sassafras powder cayenne

Dress the fowl and cut in pieces for serving. Pour pork fat into frying pan, when hot add onion, seasoned fowl, and cook until fowl is brown and tender; add remaining ingredients and cook one hour.

Oyster and Clam Chowder

4 cups clams ½ cup onion 2 cups potatoes 3 cups tomatoes salt, cayenne 4 cups oysters 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour ½ cup salt pork fat Worcestershire Sauce 1 cup water

Parboil potatoes. Remove heads from clams. Put pork fat in kettle, add onion, soft part of clams, potatoes, tomatoes, and water. Cook slowly one hour. Melt butter, add flour, and add to clam mixture. Cook five minutes, add seasonings and oysters; serve as soon as oysters are heated through.

Crab Bisque

4 boiled crabs 3 cups milk ½ cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons flour 1 green pepper chopped 2 tomatoes 4 tablespoons butter salt, pepper and cayenne ½ cup croûtons

Melt butter; add onion and pepper, and cook five minutes; add flour; when well blended add tomatoes cut in pieces; cook two minutes; add scalded milk and crab meat; cook until heated through, season, pour over croûtons, and serve.

Chicken Okra Soup

2 tablespoons raw ham 4 tablespoons onion ½ cup raw chicken 2 tablespoons red pepper salt 6 cups consommé 6 okra pods 2 cups tomato 2 cups oysters pepper

Chop ham, onion, chicken and red pepper, and sauté; add consommé and cook one hour. Slice okra, add with tomato to consommé, cook one half hour. Add oysters, cook until edges shrivel, season and serve.

Stewed Terrapin

Cut terrapin meat in dice, cover with cold water, and cook slowly one half hour. Mix the yolk of one hard-cooked egg with one teaspoon butter, add one fourth cup cream, season with salt, nutmeg, paprika; add terrapin meat, cook five minutes; add one tablespoon sherry, and serve on toast.

This amount is right for one terrapin.

Jugged Hare

Dress a hare. Disjoint, season with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour. Cook one quarter cup salt pork cubes in a frying pan, add hare, and cook until brown. Arrange layers of hare, chopped onion, and salt pork cubes in deep baking dish; add one cup each of stock or water and stewed tomato. Cook in slow oven three hours.

Remove hare, strain liquor, and thicken with two tablespoons each of butter and flour cooked together; add one half cup sherry and pour around hare. Garnish with Boiled Rice and serve.

Lamb, Creole Style

2 cups cold cooked lamb ¼ cup chopped pepper 2 tablespoons chopped onion ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon horse-radish ¼ cup butter ¼ cup flour 1 cup Brown Stock 1 cup tomato purée 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Melt butter; add pepper and onion, cook five minutes; add flour; when blended, add stock and tomato; when mixture boils, add remaining ingredients; when meat is heated through, serve on a hot platter and garnish with Boiled Rice.

Chicken Tamales

3 cups chicken meat 6 red peppers ¼ cup chopped onion ½ cup vinegar 1 cup bread crumbs 1 cup tomatoes 10 olives chopped 1 egg

Chop the chicken meat. Chop peppers and onion and soak in vinegar one hour. Drain, add remaining ingredients. Shape like croquettes. Roll in corn meal and wrap in corn husks. Tie the ends to keep the mixture in. Steam three hours. Dry in oven ten minutes.

Stuffed Squash

Cut a summer squash in halves. Scoop out pulp, strain in cheese cloth. To the pulp add an equal amount of cracker crumbs and twice as much chopped ham or veal or shrimps. For four cups of the above mixture, add the following: Melt two tablespoons butter, add two tablespoons finely chopped pepper, one tomato cut in pieces, and one beaten egg. Add the squash mixture, and cook ten minutes. Fill squash shells and bake ten minutes.

Sweet Potato Pone

4 cups hot mashed sweet potato 1 cup hot milk 2 tablespoons ginger 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 orange rind and juice ¼ teaspoon salt

Cream the butter, add sugar; when creamy add remaining ingredients, beat well, pour into a buttered pan, and bake one hour in a moderate oven.

Maryland Artichokes

4 tablespoons butter ¼ cup bread crumbs 2 cups cooked artichokes few drops onion juice 1 teaspoon chopped parsley ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup milk few grains cayenne

Melt butter, add remaining ingredients, cook ten minutes, and serve on hot buttered toast.

Crabs, Creole Style

6 crabs 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons chopped onion 2 tablespoons flour 2 cups tomato ¼ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper few grains red pepper

Boil the crabs, remove the meat. Melt butter, add onion and cook until yellow; add flour; when smooth add tomatoes. Cook ten minutes; add seasonings and crab meat. Serve on slices of hot buttered toast and garnish with strips of red pepper.

Alabama Salad

2 onions 4 cucumbers ¾ cup sour cream ¼ cup vinegar

Chop onions very fine. Pare and slice cucumbers, sprinkle with salt, cover with ice water and let stand one hour. Drain, add onions, sprinkle with cayenne, and dress with cream and vinegar mixed together. Serve on lettuce leaves.

Orange Salad

6 oranges 6 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup port wine 1 teaspoon sugar 2 heads lettuce

Peel the oranges, and remove as much of the white skin as possible. Slice in very thin slices. Mix olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Pour over oranges; let stand one half hour. Remove oranges, and pour over them wine and sugar. Let stand in refrigerator one hour. Serve on shredded lettuce. This salad is especially good to serve with game.

Southern Potato Salad

Cut six potatoes into uniform cubes. Cover cubes with boiling water; add two slices onion, one and one half teaspoons salt, and cook until potatoes are tender. Drain, cover with French Dressing when cool, chill and serve on shredded lettuce.

Southern Salad

1 cup cold ham 1 cup cold chicken 1 cup cold potatoes 1 tablespoon onion 1 cup celery ½ cup red or green pepper ½ cup French Dressing

Mix all the ingredients and marinate with French Dressing. Drain, arrange on crisp lettuce leaves and garnish with Mayonnaise Dressing.

Louisiana Chow Chow

2 cauliflowers 8 green tomatoes 2 cups small cucumbers 1 cup button onions 4 red peppers 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1 teaspoon celery seeds 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 4 green peppers 2 cups sliced cabbage 4 large cucumbers 4 quarts vinegar 2 tablespoons horse-radish 1 cup salt 1 cup granulated sugar 2 quarts boiling water

Peel onions and cook in boiling water ten minutes. Drain. Boil salt and water five minutes; add the vegetables, and let stand twenty-four hours. Drain. Put in preserving kettle; add remaining ingredients, and simmer two hours. Put into sterilized jars and seal.

Lady Baltimore Cake

1 cup butter 2 cups sugar 8 egg yolks 1 whole egg ⅛ teaspoon salt 3-¾ cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder ¾ cup milk 8 egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond

Cream butter; add sugar. Beat yolks and whole egg; add salt, and add to sugar mixture. Mix and sift flour and baking powder, and add to egg mixture alternately with milk. Beat whites until stiff; add flavoring; add to egg mixture. Bake in buttered layer cake pans twenty minutes. Fill with Baltimore Filling, and frost with Boiled Frosting.

Baltimore Filling

2 cups sugar ⅓ cup boiling water 1 cup chopped walnuts 2 egg whites 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup chopped cherries

Boil sugar and water until a thread is formed. Pour on to the beaten whites; add lemon juice, and beat until creamy; add nuts and cherries and use for filling.

Virginia Fruit Cake

½ cup butter ¾ cup sugar 3 eggs 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup currants 1 cup raisins ½ cup citron 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon cloves 2 tablespoons brandy ½ tablespoon grated lemon rind

Cream butter, add sugar; when creamy add eggs well beaten, and remaining ingredients. Bake in an angel cake pan about two hours.

Orange Cakes

½ cup butter ¾ cup sugar ½ cup milk 2¼ cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 2 eggs ½ cup candied orange peel

Cream butter; add sugar, flour in which baking powder has been sifted, alternately with milk; beat well, add well-beaten eggs and finely chopped orange peel. Drop from a teaspoon on to a buttered sheet; bake in a quick oven.

Maryland Cookies

2 cups flour ½ cup brown sugar ¾ cup butter ¼ cup Lowney’s Cocoa ¼ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon vanilla

Mix and sift flour, sugar and cocoa; add butter, chop until well blended. Roll very thin, sprinkle with granulated sugar, cut with cooky cutter, bake on a buttered sheet in a moderate oven.

Baltimore Cookies

½ cup beef suet ½ cup molasses ⅞ cup flour 1 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon ginger 1 tablespoon chopped orange peel ½ teaspoon salt

Heat molasses and suet; when well mixed add remaining ingredients. Drop from a teaspoon on to a buttered sheet; bake in a slow oven.

Cocoa Macaroons

2 eggs 1 cup flour ½ cup sugar ¼ cup Lowney’s Cocoa ½ cup finely chopped almonds ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix and sift dry ingredients; add eggs well beaten and lemon juice. Roll in small marbles, dip in cinnamon and sugar. Bake on a sheet in a quick oven.

Pecan Pralines

2 cups brown sugar ¼ cup boiling water 1 cup pecan nut meats 2 tablespoons butter

Boil sugar and water together, add nuts and butter; cook five minutes, remove from stove, beat one minute, then drop by spoonfuls on to a buttered pan.

Maple Cocoanut Pralines

2 cups maple sugar ½ cup cream 1 cup cocoanut 2 tablespoons butter

Mix all ingredients and boil until the whole mixture is a mass of bubbles. Pour on to a buttered platter or marble slab and mark when cool.

Baltimore Cup

1 pineapple cut in cubes 3 oranges sliced 4 peaches cut in pieces ¼ cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons cordial or sherry sugar

Mix the ingredients, sweeten to taste, and chill. Serve Raspberry Sherbet in bottom of champagne glasses, pour over sherbet fruit mixture, garnish with raspberries.

Chocolate and Fruit Macedoine

Arrange chilled shredded pineapple, bananas cut in cubes, and preserved peaches or pears in champagne glasses, sprinkle with lemon juice, pour over whole Chocolate Sauce, and garnish with beaten cream, angelica and candied cherries.

Chocolate Junket

2 cups milk ½ cup sugar ⅓ cup boiling water ¼ cup grated chocolate few grains of salt 1 junket tablet 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 tablespoon sherry wine

Scald milk, cool slightly, add sugar, water and chocolate; when thoroughly dissolved add crushed junket tablet, salt and wine. Turn into serving dish, keep in warm place until thick, then chill. Garnish with beaten cream and chopped nuts.

Chocolate Pudding

¼ cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg ¾ cup milk ¼ teaspoon salt 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 3 squares Lowney’s Premium Chocolate ½ teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter, add remaining ingredients, except chocolate; when thoroughly mixed add melted chocolate. Pour into buttered individual molds. Cover and steam one and one half hours. Serve with Cream Sauce.

Mississippi Custard

4 cups milk 6 eggs ½ cup sugar ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup sherry wine 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Beat yolks of eggs, add sugar and salt. Scald the milk, pour on to egg mixture, cook in double boiler until mixture thickens. Beat whites of eggs until stiff; place in purée sieve. Pour over them one quart of boiling water to which has been added the lemon juice. Arrange the custard and whites of eggs in layers in serving dish, sprinkling each layer with sherry wine. Have the whites of eggs on the top layer, dredge with granulated sugar, chill and serve.

Orange Pudding

2 cups scalded milk 1 cup soft bread crumbs 4 eggs 1 tablespoon lemon juice ½ cup sugar ½ cup orange juice grated rind of 1 orange ¼ cup chopped almonds ½ teaspoon salt

Pour milk over bread crumbs. Beat eggs, add other ingredients. When blended add bread and milk mixture. Steam in individual molds or one half pound baking powder boxes three fourths of an hour. Remove to serving dish; garnish with slices of orange and Hard Sauce served in Orange Baskets.

Georgia Cream

1 pint Lemon Jelly 2 cups milk 4 eggs 1 cup sugar 2 ounces gelatine ¼ cup candied cherries ¼ cup candied pineapple ¼ cup blanched almonds

Line a mold with Lemon Jelly. Make a custard with milk, eggs and sugar; add gelatine, and stir until mixture begins to thicken, then add fruit and nuts. Pour this mixture into the center of the mold, leaving the Lemon Jelly border. Chill, and serve with sweetened cream.

Orange Roly Poly

2 cups flour 2 tablespoons lard 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons baking powder ¾ cup milk 3 oranges cut in slices ½ cup sugar 2 tablespoons chopped orange peel

Mix flour, salt and baking powder, add lard, and chop until fine like meal; add milk, shape in oblong piece spread with oranges and orange peel, and sprinkle with sugar. Roll like a jelly roll, pinch the edges together. Place on plate in steamer and steam one and one half hours. Serve with Orange Sauce.

Chestnut Cream

½ pound chestnuts 1½ cups milk ½ cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1 tablespoon granulated gelatine ¼ cup cold water 1 tablespoon sherry wine

Shell the chestnuts, boil and mash. Scald milk; add sugar and eggs, and cook until of a creamy consistency. Mix gelatine and cold water. Add to custard mixture. When well blended add chestnuts and flavoring. Pour into mold, chill, serve garnished with beaten cream.

Pineapple Sponge

2 cups grated pineapple 1 cup sugar 1½ tablespoons gelatine ¾ cup cold water 3 tablespoons lemon juice 3 egg whites grated rind of 1 lemon few grains of salt

Mix pineapple, sugar, and one half cup water. Cook twenty minutes; add gelatine which has been soaked in one quarter cup water. Strain, set on ice to chill. When it begins to thicken add seasonings and beaten whites. Beat until stiff. Mold, chill and serve.