(I like to call it Mt. Chefmore...)
Happy President's Day, everyone. Are you supposed to say happy, really? I guess you do if you don't have to work, I guess. Well, we don't get the mail today, and because I don't have to deal with shipments I had time to goof off a bit.
As I pondered what to make for dinner tonight, it got me thinking about what our past President from days of yore might have had for dinner on this special day, though I guess it really wasn't all that special at that point. Anyhoo, I have these really cool recipes from the late 1800s so I thought I might offer this as something they might have enjoyed.
CHICKEN PIE.
Take a pair of young, tender chickens and cut them into neat joints.
Lay them in a deep pudding-dish, arranging them so that the pile shall be higher in the middle than at the sides. Reserve the pinions of the wings, the necks, and the feet, scalding the latter and scraping off the skin.
Make small forcemeat balls of fine bread crumbs seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley, a suspicion of grated lemon peel, and a raw egg. Make this into little balls with the hands, and lay them here and there in the pie. Pour in a cupful of cold water, cover the pie with a good crust, making a couple of cuts in the middle of this, and bake in a steady oven for an hour and a quarter. Lay a paper over the pie if it should brown too quickly.
Soak a tablespoonful of gelatine for an hour in enough cold water to cover it. Make a gravy of the wings, feet, and necks of the fowls, seasoning it highly; dissolve the gelatine in this, and when the pie is done pour this gravy into it through a small funnel inserted in the opening in the top. The pie should not be cut until it is cold. This is nice for picnics.
NEW ENGLAND SUCCOTASH. MRS. S. A. POWERS.
Take two quarts shelled Lima beans (green), one dozen ears of corn (cut off cob), and one pound pickled pork.
Cover pork with water, and parboil it; add beans cooked until they burst; then add corn, two tablespoonfuls sugar, butter the size of a walnut, and pepper to taste. After corn is added, watch carefully to keep from scorching.
APPLE ROLL. MRS. W. H. ECKHART.
Roll plain pie crust as you would for pie, but a little larger; chop up some apples, and cover this crust; add a layer of sugar, and sprinkle with cinnamon; then add a layer of raisins, and sprinkle with bits of citron, chopped fine.
Roll all up; pinch the crust closely together at sides and ends; place in dripping pan with one-half a cup of butter, and one cup of sugar; pour enough boiling water over it to half cover the roll; put in oven and bake three hours; baste every half hour as you would turkey. When done, the roll will have a crust like taffy. Take out, and serve sliced thin. It is delicious.
I love the bits about making gravy from the feet, and I'd like to try that baking technique for the apple roll. I can't imagine what the texture of the crust would be after cooking it for 3 hours.
...a crust like taffy... taffy. Hmmmmmmm. Let us know! LOL!!!