CTTCExcerpts | ptspublishing

- Chapter 1 -

Cooking And Our Ancestors

Our sources for the information and recipes contained in this book are journals, and books from the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s. We also took a lot of information on cooking from the Native Americans. Our ancestors that lived one, two, or even three hundred years ago had no gas or electric stoves or ovens on which to cook. Neither did they have refrigeration in which to preserve perishable foods. They didn’t have a supermarket to run down and buy vegetables, meats or seasonings to prepare for the evening meal. How then did they survive? A better question is how did they, for the most part, serve three full meals a day, more nutritional and appetizing than what we serve today?

The Native Americans seldom had eggs, butter, sugar, or milk. Yet for the most part they ate very well. As you will see their diets were made up of what they could harvest from Mother Nature, wild game, fish, edible plants, honey, nuts and fruits. Many of the tribes, regardless of what you have seen in the movies, farmed. With few exceptions most grew vegetables, especially corn, squash and beans. The ones that didn’t grow their own vegetables traded with the ones who did grow vegetables.

I realize that most, if not all, of the books you have read concerning survival require you to eat bugs and snakes or maybe raw fish or meats. If you are prepared you will be able to have a fairly normal diet.

It is for sure some of these recipes may seem a little strange to you and some of the methods of preparing them are different. Remember these people lived long before modern conveniences such as refrigeration, gas and electric stoves and ovens or supermarkets. They had to make do with what they had. You will see that they did quite well with what they had.

You will probably find yourself turning up your nose at some of the recipes. Just remember, I am sure these folks back a hundred or two hundred years ago would have turned their nose up at a lot of what we now eat.

In a long-term survival situation while it is true you may not have all the conveniences of home, with a little planning you will be able to provide your family with good satisfying and familiar meals. In many cases you will find that what you will be eating is in many ways better than what is considered normal food.

If you have chosen your evacuation point properly you should have wild game, fish and wild edible plants to eat. Then once you are able to grow a garden you will have an abundance of vegetables.

While it is true that, until you can grow a garden you may have to go without your normal vegetables, never the less there are good alternative choices available if you have chosen your evacuation point properly and cached the proper foods. Most areas will have an abundance of wild edible plants that you can harvest to supplement your cached food.

When you have to survive long term due to a National Catastrophic Event it may surprise you to realize one of the most important skills you will need is cooking. A lot of people are great cooks, many are great camp cooks. However cooking in a modern kitchen is much different than what you will face in a long term survival situation. You may even be a great camp cook, but again cooking in a camp for a week or two is much different than what will be required in a long term survival situation.

The difficulties of cooking in a long-term situation will to a great extent depend on how well you have prepared. The information and recipes in this book are meant for someone who has evacuated to an evacuation point. Someone who has cached supplies ahead of time in preparation for such an event. However, many of these instructions and recipes will also be applicable to those who have chosen to survive in place.

In either case there will be no supermarket to furnish groceries, no electricity or gas to fuel a stove and oven, or refrigerator in which to store food. Having no refrigeration means there will be no way to keep perishables even if they were available. Unless you happen to live in the country and grow your own chickens and have a milk cow or goat, then wheat flour, eggs, milk, and butter will be unavailable from day one. The only supply of flour, milk, eggs, and sugar will be what you have on hand, which will last only a short time.

For this reason this book contains, for the most part, recipes that do not require wheat flour, eggs, milk, and butter. You may find a few that contain these ingredients but they are recipes that will work just as well without them. We have compiled information on substitutes where possible.

Having no gas or electricity will also mean you will have to cook on an open fire. Although you may have a portable butane or liquid fuel stove, this will last only a short time. You will run out of fuel. By an open fire I mean either a fireplace if you are lucky enough to have one, or regular campfire. Skills need to cook on either one are similar. It will just take a little practice. I would highly recommend practicing whenever you have the chance. If you are required to evacuate you will have enough to do without having to learn how to cook on an open fire.

Some of us may be lucky enough to have a wood stove which will be better than a fireplace. Cooking on a good wood stove will not be very different than cooking on the stove you cook on now. The big difference will be in regulating and maintaining the temperature. Another big advantage to having a wood stove is that a wood stove will heat the room where a fireplace radiates very little heat.

A point to remember…food in any state can be eaten, even rotting food, be it meat or vegetable, it can be eaten with little fear of it making you sick, if, and this is a big if, it is cooked well done, meaning the inside temperature reaches 165º F. for at least five minutes. I say this only to reiterate the importance, in a long-term survival situation, of cooking foods well done. The last thing you want is for someone to come down with food poisoning.

As you will see, up until just a relatively few years ago there were limited means of keeping foods, especially meats. You will see that eating tainted meat was a common practice and in some case a desired practice. Many felt that tainted meat had a better flavor and was also more tender than fresh meat. Now don’t make a face, this is still a common practice today. As a matter of fact if you are in an upscale restaurant and order a steak you will be served an aged steak. Many people wouldn’t think of cutting up meat until it has hung for a period of time. The difference being the old timers called it what it was while today we use such terms as aged or seasoned.

Although my family and I did operate a small restaurant and catering service for a few years, we are not professional Chefs or Cooks by any stretch of the imagination. In my opinion most cooks today take themselves entirely too seriously. Cooking is simple, anyone can learn to cook. In my opinion, most of today’s recipe books and cooks place too much emphasis on eye appeal and not enough emphasis on taste and practicality.

Now, having said that, to really become a good cook takes a lot of skill and practice. What I am saying is that anyone can take a good piece of meat and cook it over a fire and it will be edible, and taste fairly good. But to take an average piece of meat and make it into a truly delicious tasting piece of meat takes skill and practice.

Let’s understand one point…anyone can cook. Cooking is no big deal. All you really need to cook is a piece of meat, a long green stick and a fire or some hot coals. Hold the meat over the fire or coals long enough and you have a cooked piece of meat. The same is true for vegetables; all you need is some type vegetable, a fire and or hot coals. Bury the vegetable in the ashes, place hot coals on top and in a few minutes you have cooked vegetables. Now add a little organization, a few utensils, and a little experience and you have a cook. There are two points I am trying to make. First anyone can learn to cook and second you don’t need a lot of equipment or seasonings to prepare a very good meal.

You will often see different recipes for cooking elk, than for cooking deer, different for moose, and beef. In truth, most meats can be cooked in the same manner. What I mean by this is, the recipe you have always used for roast beef will work equally as well on any meat, be it venison, elk, moose, and even a bear roast. The same is true for fowl or chicken; the recipe you use for chicken will work equally as well for a pheasant, grouse, quail, duck, or turkey. Most recipes are different only in the seasonings that are used and the method of cooking.

Actually, to be truthful most recipes, especially for meat and vegetables, are simply a list of ingredients and methods necessary to make the meat or vegetables taste like something it isn’t. How many times have you heard someone say, if you prepare venison using so and so recipe it will taste just like beef? Go figure. If you want beef get beef.

Most meat and vegetables are best when simply seasoned with salt. Reading some of the older cookbooks you will learn that seasonings were originally used for the most part to sweeten tainted meat. Of course todays Chefs say seasonings are used to enhance the natural taste of whatever they happen to be cooking. I would simply say that seasonings, for the most part, are used to cover the natural flavor of whatever it is you are cooking. Now don’t misunderstand, I am all for seasonings. I just feel they have their place. Nothing can beat the taste of a nice steak, filet of fish, or for that matter a plate of green beans flavored with nothing more than their own juices and a little salt. Having said that, it is also true that it’s hard to beat nice plate of beef or chicken tamales that taste nothing like beef or chicken. How about a plate of stir fried chicken and vegetables where the chicken or the vegetables taste nothing like chicken or vegetables. I would have to say, that given a choice I would take less seasonings rather than more.

You will find seasoning used in some of the recipes that follow. However, most of the recipes use only salt as a seasoning. In a long-term survival situation many would think that seasoning would be limited. Quite the contrary, the forest, swamps, prairies and even arid climates all have plants that can and are used as seasonings. Spicewood, juniper berries, pine nuts, sassafras root and bark, and sage to name only a few. Variety can be accomplished using these seasonings but also variety can be accomplish by using different methods of cooking; boiling, baking, roasting and etc. all result in a different taste. You can also add variety by cooking the meats with different vegetables and/or fruits such as onions, garlic, carrots, grapes, berries and etc. Another way to impart a different taste would be by roasting the meat over different woods. Some wood smoke such as oak, cedar, apple, or pecan adds a distinct taste.

You have six different methods to use when cooking, makes no difference whether you are cooking meat or vegetable, these are; roast, boil, broil, steam, fry or bake. Each of these methods imparts a different taste to meat or vegetables. All can be performed over an open fire, fireplace or wood stove. The following excerpt gives details, advantages and disadvantages of each.

One very important rule to remember in a long-term situation, as for as cooking, is that meat should always be cooked well done. The last thing you want is for someone to come down with food poisoning. This will kill any harmful bacteria that may be in the meat. Technically you should cook meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 165º F inside. Of course you may not have a meat thermometer, in which case you will want cook the meat till the juices run clear. The same rule holds true for any of the vegetables you have preserved in some manner. Fresh vegetables can be eaten raw or simply wilted, but preserved vegetables should be well cooked. The exception to this would be pickled vegetables.

Another rule to remember is to prepare only what can be eaten in one day. You won’t have refrigeration to store the leftovers. While it is true that some foods you prepare will keep a day or two or even longer, the general rule will be to keep nothing over a few hours. Then of course how long a dish will keep will depend on the climate. If you are in an area of high temperature and humidity, food will last a very short time. On the other hand, if it is cold then dishes will last much longer. If it is freezing, then the length of time will be indefinite. In any event always cook foods especially leftovers to at least 165º F, that is the interior temperature.

In summary cooking is going to be a very important part of long-term survival. Cooking is going to go a long way in making an uncomfortable environment more comfortable. Good food can lift the moral faster than most any other single thing you can do in a long-term situation.

- Chapter 2 -

Pioneer Dishes

Soups

Broth for Potages.- Take three pounds of good, lean, fresh beef, from any part except the shin. There must not be more than two ounces of bone to a pound of meat, and the less bone the better. Place the meat in a soup-kettle or iron saucepan lined with tin, with three quarts of cold water and salt, and set it on a good fire. After about thirty minutes, the scum or albumen of the meat will gather on the surface, and the water will commence boiling. Now place the kettle on a more moderate fire, add one gill of cold water, and begin to skim off the scum, which will take only a few minutes. Then add one middle-sized carrot, half as much turnip, one middle-sized leek, a stalk of celery, one of parsley, a bay-leaf, one onion with two cloves stuck in it, and two cloves of garlic. Keep the kettle between simmering and boiling heat for about five hours. Dish the meat with carrot, turnip, and leek around it. Strain the broth, and it is ready for use.

If the broth is required to be richer, use more beef and less water, but follow the same process; if weaker, use more water and less beef, but still follow the same process.

Broth for Sauces and Gravies – Place in a soup-kettle or saucepan fresh bones of beef, mutton, lamb, veal, or poultry-of either, or of all; also, bones of the same meats from roasted pieces; also trimmings of the same, if very fresh, with one quart of cold water to every pound of bones or meat; skim it like the preceding, add the same vegetables and seasonings, and simmer for at least six hours. Then skim off very carefully all the fat on the surface, pass the remainder through a strainer or a sieve, and it is ready for use. This broth is certainly very inferior to the preceding one, but it is excellent for sauces and gravies, and is very cheaply made. It may be used for potages also; but, as we have said above, it is very gelatinous, and cannot be compared with the highly nutritious beef broth.

Broth that is not to be used immediately must be cooled quickly after being strained, as the quicker it is cooled the longer it keeps. As soon as cold, put it in a stone jar or crockery vessel, and place it in a cool, dry, and dark place. It will keep three or four days in winter, but only one day in summer. If the weather is stormy, it will not keep even for twelve hours; it turns sour very quickly.

I do not put parsnips or thyme in broth, the taste of these two vegetables being too strong. They really neutralize the fine aroma of broth. Even in this nineteenth century there are some pretty good cooks who put thyme and parsnip in broth, but they do it by routine. Routine is in everything the greatest enemy of progress. Ancient cookery used to put in the pot (old name for soup-kettle) a burnt onion to give an amber color to the broth. This has exactly the same effect as thyme and parsnip, giving it a bad taste, and neutralizing the flavor given to the broth by the osmazome of the meat. When broth of an amber color is desired, add to it a few drops of burnt sugar, the receipt for making which will be found elsewhere.

Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks 1868

Consommé - There are two ways of making consommé: one is to make broth as above, with the exception that five pounds of lean beef, instead of three, are used with three quarts of water, and simmered from seven to eight hours, instead of five, the vegetables and seasonings being the same; or by boiling broth gently till properly reduced.

The other way is to roast, until they are only one-third done, one, two, or three fowls, not under two years old; then place them in a soup-kettle with three pounds of lean beef; wet with three quarts of cold water; skim off as above directed; add the same vegetables and seasonings as for broth for potages. After having simmered the whole for three hours, the fowl or fowls must be taken out of the kettle, and the rest is to be simmered for about three hours longer. The meat, vegetables, and seasonings are then taken from the kettle or saucepan; the liquor is strained, and that liquor is the best consommé that can be made; or by boiling the same, gently, in three quarts of good broth, you make consommé also.

The reason for directing to use one, two, or three fowls is, that the more fowls used, the better and richer the broth. The fowls after having been thus used may be prepared in salad, and make a very excellent dish.

One pound of beef is enough to make broth for a potage for three or four persons. Always use fresh meat; meat with a venison taste or tainted would spoil if not entirely destroy the broth.

Any kind of potage made with broth may be made with consommé. It may also be made with water, adding butter. With consommé it is richer, and with water much inferior, than with broth.

When a rump-piece is used to make broth, it is better to bone it first, and take it from the soup-kettle after three or four hours; it is served as a prepared as cold beef. The broth is finished as directed; the bones and vegetables being kept on the fire longer than the meat.

Chicken - Roast or bake till turning yellow, a chicken over two years old. Put it in a soup-kettle with three pints of water, and set it on a rather slow fire; skim off the scum, add a middling-sized onion, a leek, a few stalks of chervil if handy, a middling-sized head of lettuce, and salt; simmer about three hours. Take out the chicken and vegetables; skim off the fat, strain, and use. This broth is excellent for a weak stomach, and is easy of digestion.

The chicken is served in a salad.

Turkey - Procure a rather old turkey and roast or bake it till about one-third done; put it in a soup-kettle with about a pint of water to a pound of meat, and set it on a rather slow fire. As soon as the scum comes on the surface, skim it off carefully; then add two onions, two leeks, two or three heads of lettuce, a small handful of chervil if handy, and salt. Simmer about five hours.

Fish - Three middle sized onions and fry them with one ounce of butter till turning yellow; add three or four pounds of fish bass, pike, trout, salmon, and the like, any fish having a firm and compact flesh, of one or several kinds; add also two carrots, two onions, and one leek, all sliced; four stalks of parsley, one of thyme, one clove of garlic, a bay-leaf, one clove, six pepper-corns, salt; cover the whole with cold water, set on a good but not brisk fire, boil gently for about two hours. If the water is boiling away, add some more; then strain, and use.

This broth may be used for bisque and fish sauces, instead of beef-broth.

It may be made rich; for instance, instead of three pounds of fish, use six, seven, eight pounds, or more, and seasonings in proportion.

Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks 1868

Frog - Skin and put the hind-legs of two dozen of frogs in cold water for an hour; drain and put them in a saucepan, and set it on a slow fire; stir now and then till they are turning yellow, then take them off and chop the flesh rather fine; put back in the pan with a carrot sliced, a stalk of celery and one leek, both chopped, a little salt, and cover the whole with water. Simmer for about two hours; mash the whole through a colander, add butter which you stir and mix in, and it is ready for use.

This broth, taken warm before retiring, is excellent for persons having a cough or cold.

Frog – another way to prepare - Take the hind-legs of fifty well-skinned green frogs, put them in cold water and a little salt for half an hour-drain them; then put them in a crockery kettle, with a leek, half a carrot, two stalks of celery, a middling-sized parsnip, a turnip, two onions, one clove of garlic, two ounces of fat bacon, a little salt, and white pepper; cover the whole well with cold water, set on the fire, simmer gently about four hours; strain, pour on croutons, and serve.

The hind-legs of the frogs are taken from the strainer, placed on a dish, and served at breakfast the next day, with a white sauce, or in fricassee, as a chicken.

Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks ©1868

Game - Roast or bake, till about one-third done, two prairie-hens, and put them in a soup-kettle with about one pound of lean beef, salt, and five pints of water. Set the kettle on a rather slow fire, skim off the scum when it gathers on the surface, and then add half a carrot, two stalks of parsley, one of celery, one onion with a clove stuck in it, a bay-leaf, six pepper-corns, and two cloves of garlic. Simmer about three hours, and take the birds out of the kettle; simmer them two hours longer; strain, and the broth is ready for use.

Game-broth is warming and stimulating; it may be taken alone, or prepared with croutons, rice, vermicelli, or other Italian pastes, the same as beef-broth.

Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks ©1868

Remarks on Soup - Meat soup should have for its base uncooked meat and bone, and the water with, which it is to be made should be soft. There may be added to the fresh meat the bones and remnants of cooked beef, veal, lamb, and mutton, but the principal nourishment of the soup comes from the raw meat, the usual quantity being one pound of clear lean meat to a quart of water. Success largely depends upon the cooking and skimming, and failure is generally owing to rapid boiling and neglecting to skim the pot. The soup pot must be perfectly clean. The meat must be cleaned. The water must heat gradually and simmer until the soup is cooked; the pot must be kept covered while the soup is cooking, removing the cover only to skim and add the necessary ingredients. From the time the soup commences to boil till it is done the fat and scum should frequently be removed. If cooked meat or bones are to be used, they may be added after the soup has cooked three-quarters of an hour. If the soup is allowed to simmer, the allowance of water given in the recipes will not require replenishing. If, however, it is allowed to boil hard, the water will evaporate fast and require replenishing with boiling water. Fast boiling drives off much of the aroma of the ingredients. Where soup requires seven hours or longer to cook, it is advisable to "make it the day previous” especially in the winter months, when it will keep fresh and sweet for a week. If it is made in an iron pot, it must be strained as soon as cooked, or while hot, into a tin or earthen vessel, for if allowed to remain in an iron pot overnight it will be discolored and have an unpleasant taste. When vegetables are used, they should be added only in time to become thoroughly done. To prepare vegetables for soup they must be picked over, washed, pared, and cut into small pieces from a quarter to a half inch thick, put into a pan of cold water, rinsed, and drained. Tomatoes should be scalded, peeled, and sliced. Onions fried give a richer color and a different flavor to soup than when used raw. Vegetables should be put into the soup one hour and a quarter or one hour and a half before it is cooked. Potatoes are an exception to this rule; they should be put in only thirty minutes before the soup is cooked. To prepare rice it must be picked over, washed, and drained. Season the soup lightly with salt and pepper when it is to be served.

Good rich soup can be made from the heads, tails, and soup bones of cattle. The heads must be skinned and split into pieces. Remove the eyes and brains; wash out with cold water all impurities; skin, wash, and chop the tails into small pieces. Crack soup bones well open. The canned soups are in effect soup stock, and, when used according to the recipes printed upon the cans, furnish a good substitute in case sudden calls are made for soup. Fresh stock is, however, the most satisfactory.

Manual For Army Cooks 1898

Stock Pot - A stock pot should be established to provide good soup and gravies. It consists of a cooking utensil, either a boiler or large boiling pot, into which should be placed all available bones, etc., such for example as are collected when the ration meat is cut up, in preparing boned meat, meat pies, meat puddings, and stews. This boiler should be kept gently simmering for three or four hours daily immediately before its contents are required for use. If the meat is properly boned it will provide soup for the men at a nominal cost - of beans, peas, tomatoes, vegetables, etc.

In order to insure a constant change of stock, and that no bones remain longer than three days in the pot, the following system should be adhered to: The bones extracted from the meat rations should be placed in a net, with a tally attached, before being boiled; the bones of the second and third days should be similarly treated; after the third day the bones boiled upon the first day should be removed, and similarly the bones of the subsequent days, the stock being continually replenished from day to day. The bones should always be removed from the stock before the vegetables and other ingredients are added. They should be carefully drained, placed in a dish, and kept in a cool dry place until required the following morning. This process adds enormously to the strength of the soup made. The amount of water to be added to the boiler in making stock must depend on the quantity and the quality of the bones.

Manual For Army Cooks 1898

Stock Soup (Bouillon)

4 pounds fresh lean beef. 1 gallon cold water.
1 soup bone. 2 onions, sliced.
Pepper and salt.

Cooking time, seven and one-half to eight hours.

Put the meat and bone into a pot with the cold water and a tablespoonful of salt. One hour before the stock is cooked, put in the sliced onion. Pepper, and, if necessary, salt, a few minutes before straining. When cooked, strain while hot through a colander into the vessel in which it is to be kept, preferably an earthen jar, put it away in a cool place to stand overnight. In the morning the stock will be a jelly, with a layer of fat on top. Take off this fat and use it as drippings for cooking purposes. As stock will not keep longer than twenty-four hours in the summer, it is recommended that none be made in warm weather, but in the winter months it could be made twice a week. Scraps of cooked meat and bones may be economically utilized in the manufacture of stock.

Stock soup is sometimes served as soon as it is made; the name Bouillon is then given it. If it is cold, and it is desired to serve it, it should be slowly heated to the boiling point, but the boiling must not continue. If it is too rich, it may be diluted with from one to two pints of boiling water to every gallon.

Stock soup may be made the base of a variety of soups. It is also valuable and preferable to water for making meat gravies, stews, hash, etc. It is recommended for its simplicity and convenience.

Manual For Army Cooks 1898

Vegetable Soup (from stock)

1 gallon stock. 4 lbs. mixed vegetables (about).
Salt and pepper.

Prepare the vegetables as directed in Remarks on Soup, put them into a pot of boiling water slightly salted, and just enough to cover them, and boil until cooked. About ten minutes before the vegetables are cooked, put on the stock and bring it to a boil, then stir in the cooked vegetables, and, in order that they may not stick to the bottom, keep stirring the soup until it boils up; season lightly and serve. If rice is also used with vegetables, pick and wash it, then drain and put into a separate pot with boiling water, enough to cover it, with a tea- spoonful of salt. Boil it twenty-five minutes, or until cooked; stir it and the vegetables, with the waters in which they were boiled, into the stock.

Manual For Army Cooks 1898

Spring Soup - Unless your dinner hour is very late, the stock for this soup should be made the day before it is wanted, and set away in a stone pan, closely covered. To make the stock, take a knuckle of veal, break the bones, and cut it into several pieces. Allow a quart of water to each pound of veal. Put it into a soup-pot, with a set of calves-feet, and some bits of cold ham, cut off near the hock. If you have no ham, sprinkle in a table-spoonful of salt, and a salt-spoon (1/4 teaspoon) of cayenne. Place the pot over a moderate fire, and let it simmer slowly (skimming it well) for several hours, till the veal is all to rags and the flesh of the calves-feet has dropped in shreds from the bones. Then strain the soup; and if not wanted that day, set it away in a stone pan, as above mentioned.

Next day have ready-boiled two quarts or more of green peas, (they must on no account be old,) and a pint of the green tops cut off from asparagus boiled for the purpose. Pound a handful of raw spinach till you have extracted a teacup-full of the juice. Set the soup or stock over the fire; add the peas, asparagus, and spinach-juice, stirring them well in; also a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four bits, and rolled in flour. Let the whole come to a boil; and then take it off and transfer it to a tureen. It will be found excellent.

In boiling the peas for this soup, you may put with them half a dozen sprigs of green mint, to be afterwards taken out.

Late in the spring you may add to the other vegetables two cucumbers, pared and sliced, and the whitest part or heart of a lettuce, boiled together; then well-drained, and put into the soup with the peas and asparagus. It must be very thick with vegetables.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking 1787 - 1858

Summer Soup - Take a large neck of mutton, and hack it so as nearly to cut it apart, but not quite. Allow a small quart of water to each pound of meat, and sprinkle on a table-spoonful of salt and a very little black pepper. Put it into a soup-pot, and boil it slowly (skimming it well) till the meat is reduced to rags. Then strain the liquid, return it to the soup-pot, and carefully remove all the fat from the surface. Have ready half a dozen small turnips sliced thin, two young onions sliced, a table-spoonful of sweet-marjoram leaves picked from the stalks, and a quart of shelled Lima beans. Put in the vegetables, and boil them in the soup till they are thoroughly done. You may add to them two table-spoonfuls of green nasturtian seeds, either fresh or pickled. Put in also some little dumplings, (made of flour and butter,) about ten minutes before the soup is done.

Instead of Lima beans, you may divide a cauliflower or two broccolis into sprigs, and boil them in the soup with the other vegetables.

This soup may be made of a shoulder of mutton, cut into pieces and the bones cracked.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking. 1787 - 1858

Autumn Soup - Begin this soup as early in the day as possible. Take six pounds of the lean of fine fresh beef; cut it into small pieces; sprinkle it with a tea-spoonful of salt, (not more); put it into a soup-pot, and pour on six quarts of water. The hock of a cold ham will greatly improve it. Set it over a moderate fire, and let it boil slowly. After it comes to a boil skim it well.

Have ready a quarter of a peck of ochras (okra) cut into very thin round slices, and a quarter of a peck of tomatoes cut into pieces; also a quart of shelled Lima beans. Season them with pepper. Put them in; and after the whole has boiled three hours at least, take six ears of young Indian corn, and having grated off all the grain, add them to the soup and boil it an hour longer. Before you serve up the soup remove from it all the bits of meat, which, if the soup is sufficiently cooked, will be reduced to shreds.

You may put in with the ochras (okra) and tomatoes one or two sliced onions. The soup, when done, should be as thick as a jelly.

Ochras (okra) for soup may be kept all winter, by tying them separately to a line stretched high across the store-room.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking. 1787 - 1858

Winter Soup - The day before you make the soup, get a fore-leg or shin of beef. Have the bone sawed through in several places, and the meat notched or scored down to the bone. This will cause the juice or essence to come out more freely, when cooked. Rub it slightly with salt; cover it, and set it away. Next morning, early as possible, as soon as the fire is well made up, put the beef into a large soup-pot, allowing to each pound a small quart of water. Then taste the water, and if the salt that has been rubbed on the meat is not sufficient, add a very little more. Throw in also a teaspoonful of whole pepper-corns; and you may add half a dozen blades of mace. Let it simmer slowly till it comes to a boil; then skim it well. After it boils, you may quicken the fire. At nine o'clock put in a large head of cabbage cut fine as for cold-slaw; a dozen carrots sliced; the leaves stripped from a bunch of sweet-marjoram; and the leaves of a sprig of parsley minced fine. An hour afterwards, add six turnips, and three potatoes, all cut into four or eight pieces. Also two onions, which will be better if previously roasted brown, and then sliced. Keep the soup boiling steadily, but not hard, unless the dinner hour is very early. For a late dinner, there will be time to boil it slowly all the while; and all soups are the better for long and slow boiling. See that it is well skimmed, so that, when done, there will be not a particle of fat or scum on the surface. At dinner-time take it up with a large ladle, and transfer it to a tureen. In doing so, care- fully avoid the shreds of meat and bone. Leave them all in the bottom of the pot, pressing them down with the ladle. A mass of shreds in the tureen or soup-plate looks slovenly and disgusting, and should never be seen at the table; also, they absorb too much of the liquid. Let the vegetables remain in the soup when it is served up, but pick out every shred of meat or bone that may be found in the tureen when ready to go to table.

In very cold weather, what is left of this soup will keep till the second day; when it must be simmered again over the fire, till it just comes to a boil. Put it away in a tin or stone vessel. The lead which is used in glazing earthen jars frequently communicates its poison to liquids that are kept in them.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking 1787 - 1858

Soup-Meat - To make the soup very good, the meat (of which there should be a large proportion, rather more than a pound to a quart of water) must remain in, till it drops entirely from the bones and is boiled to rags. But none of these fragments and shreds should be found in the tureen when the soup is sent to table. They should all be kept at the bottom of the pot, pressing down the ladle hard upon them when you are dipping out the soup. If any are seen in the soup after it is taken up, let them be carefully removed with a spoon. To send the soup to table with bits of bone and shreds of meat in it, is a slovenly, disgusting, and vulgar practice, and should be strictly forbidden; as some indifferent cooks will do so to save themselves the trouble of removing it. A mass of shreds left at the bottom of the tureen, absorbs so much of the liquid as to diminish the quantity of the soup; and if eaten is very unwholesome, all the nourishment being boiled out of it.

Mutton, however, need not be boiled to pieces in the soup, which will have sufficient strength if the meat is left whole. A piece of loin of mutton, that has been cooked in soup, is to many persons very palatable. It is well worth sending to table.

Squatters Corn-Soup - Take plenty of fresh- killed fat, juicy venison; cut the meat off the bones, and put it (with the bones) into a large pot. Season it with salt and pepper, and pour on sufficient water to make a good rich soup. Boil it slowly, till the meat is in rags, and all the flavor extracted into the soup; remembering to skim it well. Have ready some ears of well-boiled green corn. Cut the grains off the cob into a dish. Remove from the soup-pot all the shreds of meat, and bits of bone, leaving only the liquid. Then throw the corn grains into the soup, stir it about, and boil it a quarter an hour longer. It will be found very good for other persons than squatters.

For want of venison, this corn-soup may be made with hares, rabbits, squirrels, wild-pigeons, wild-ducks, &c. In this case, make the soup with milk instead of water, (if milk is plenty,) and put in at the first, a bone of ham.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking. 1787 - 1858

Fine Mock-Turtle Soup - Having cleaned and prepared a fine calf's head, put it into a soup-pot with an ample quantity of water, (sprinkling in a very little salt,) and boil it gently during four hours skimming it well. Half an hour before you take out the head, prepare a large half-pint of mushrooms, peeling them and removing the stems; put them into a sauce-pan with three large table-spoonful’s of tomato catchup; two large tablespoonfuls of the best fresh butter, (each table-spoonful rolled in flour) and three glasses of madeira. Also, half a pound of nice sausage-meat, divided into equal portions, and made up into balls. Mix these ingredients, and stew them all together for ten minutes; keeping the sauce-pan closely covered, and shaking it about to prevent their sticking to the bottom and burning.

After the soup has boiled four hours, take out the head, cut off all the best pieces of the meat, (including the tongue,) and cut them into mouthfuls. Make no use of the brains in this soup, but throw them away. Strain the soup; return it to the pot; and add to it the stewed mushrooms, sausage-balls, catchup, butter, and wine, that have been stewing in the sauce-pan. Also; the meat that has been cut off from the bone. Then give it a short boil of ten minutes or more. Add, at the last, a lemon sliced thin, with the seeds removed.

This soup will be found " first-rate if the receipt is exactly followed.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking. 1787 - 1858

Spanish, or Olla Podrida - Put four ounces of lean and fat salt pork into a saucepan and set it on a good fire; when partly fried, add half a pound of beef, same of mutton, same of veal (occasionally a chicken or partridge is added also), and four ounces of ham. Just cover the whole with cold water, and skim carefully as soon as the scum comes on the surface. When skimmed, add a gill of dry peas, previously soaked in water for an hour, half a small head of cabbage, pimento to taste, one carrot, one turnip, two leeks, three or four stalks of celery, same of parsley, two of thyme, two cloves, two onions, two cloves of garlic, ten pepper-corns, and some mace; fill up with water so that the whole is just covered, and simmer for about five hours.

In case the water should simmer away too much, add a little more.

When done, dish the pork, beef, mutton, veal, ham, and chicken. Put the peas, cabbage, carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, and onions on another dish.

Strain the liquor, pour it on croutons in the soup-dish, and serve the three dishes at the same time.

The Spanish peasantry and the lower classes in cities, serve the whole in the same dish, and generally omit the beef and veal. The better class serve the soup first, and then the meat and vegetables afterward.

-Chapter 3 -

Games

Large Game

What you are about to read may be to somewhat controversial, it may even hurt some people’s feelings. There are literally thousands of recipes for preparing deer, thousands for elk, thousands for moose, antelope, and any other large game animal you could think of. The fact is all a basically the same. The recipes for any of these animals will work equally well on the others. The method or recipe for removing the wild taste from one will work on the others. As far as preparation and cooking all are basically the same. I know some people say you have to treat antelope different because of the strong taste. What they are actually saying is they want the antelope to taste like beef.

These claims that wild game requires specialty treatment has caused some people to be hesitate in cooking venison, elf, moose and etc. Actually the truth is that anyone who can cook beef or chicken can cook wild game. Actually any beef or chicken recipe will work with equally wild game.

The only secret to cooking wild game is in the dressing, preserving and preparation of game meat. That subject unfortunately is much too complicated to include in this book. I am working on such a book and it should be available shortly.

Parboiling - Some Folks prefer to parboil wild game before cooking. Personally the only advantage I see in parboiling is it takes less time to cook. I have never seen the advantage in taking the extra time or effort. This is especially true if you are going to bake, cook in the ground or in a Dutch oven. To parboil place the animal in a large pot of boiling water that you have seasoned to taste. Cook until beginning to get tender.

Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope, Mountain Goat and Sheep - If young, the hoof is not much opened, and the fat is thick and clear; when old, the hoofs are wide open. To know if it is fresh enough, run a knife or a skewer through the leg or through the shoulder, and if it does not smell bad and stale, it is good. It is not as delicate when fresh as when it has been killed for five or six days. If fresh when you buy it, keep it from three to eight days before cooking it.

To improve - Put the piece of meat in a crockery vessel. For about six pounds put a pint of vinegar in a saucepan with two bay leaves, two cloves, two cloves of garlic, one onion sliced, two stalks of thyme, four of parsley, and twelve pepper-corns; set it on the fire, give one boil, and turn over the piece of venison. Turn the piece of meat over occasionally for one or two days, and then cook it.

By improving it is meant to sweeten meat that is slightly tainted, or starting to decay.

Another way - Lard the piece of meat and put it in a crockery vessel; spread all over two or three onions and a clove or two of garlic (both sliced), half a gill (1/8 a pint) of sweet-oil, same of claret wine, a pinch of allspice, four cloves, and two sprigs of thyme; baste twice a day for two or three days, and then cook.

Haunch ( loin & leg) - Before dressing it, wash it well and quickly in lukewarm water, and dry it with a soft cloth, then cover it entirely with well-buttered cartridge paper, over this spread a coarse paste of flour, meal and water, then another strong paper covering, and tie it firmly with strong thread. Hang it before a bright clear fire, and begin immediately to baste, and continue basting often, the whole time. Forty minutes before it is cooked enough cut the string, and carefully remove the covering and the paste; five minutes later remove the last paper, dredge with flour, and continue to baste with butter till done. Dish with frill round the shank; serve with strong venison gravy and currant jelly. A haunch of 25 lb. will take 4 ½ half hours to roast.

The procedure described is to hang the haunch from a string above the fire. It is then wrapped in a parchment type paper, if not available, omit this step. About forty minutes before the meat is ready you dredge it in flour. You can use any flour, acorn, cattail arrowroot, corn and etc. This will give a brown crust to the meat.

Haunch, roasted - After being improved, if liked, remove the thin skin around it and lard it with salt pork; it may be roasted without larding, but it is certainly an improvement, the meat being naturally dry. Place it on the spit before a brisk fire and near it; baste with melted butter first, and then with the drippings till done. If it is larded, it will require less butter. As soon as a kind of crust forms around the meat, remove it a little from the fire by degrees. Ascertain with a skewer or small knife when done. Venison is generally served rather underdone, when roasted or baked.

To make the dish more sightly, the skin and hair of the lower part of the leg, together with the hoof, are left untouched. To prevent them from burning while it is roasting, envelop these parts with a wet towel, which you cover with several sheets of buttered or oiled paper.

This recipe is easily adapted to cooking on an open fire grill.

Broiled - Cut the slices medium size; thickly butter them, sprinkle with black pepper and a little salt, place the slices on a gridiron(grill) and broil them in a hurry. In this way you will preserve the flavor of the venison without drying, which is frequently done by allowing the meat to remain too long on the fire; send it to the table very hot, with a little melted butter over it. This is a palatable dish for breakfast or tea. Mutton or veal dressed in the same way is very nice.

Stewed - Have the Dutch oven ready; the slices of venison nicely cut, proper thickness, an onion between the slices, as you place them in the oven, put bits of good butter, pepper, mustard, salt, and a little cayenne pepper; let it stew 30 minutes. Mutton or cold roast beef cooked in this way is very nice.

Steak - This is a delicious appetizer for breakfast. Cook it as beefsteak, washing it nicely, draining the water from it; butter it very thoroughly, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and cook it in a hurry; serve it very hot.

Another - Pat the steak dry with a clean cloth salt to taste and let set for at least one hour. Have ready a hot coal bed from hard wood coals. Place the steak directly on the coal. Cook to taste.

To bake - Put the cut of meat in a prepared Dutch oven with the seasonings in which it has improved; spread some butter on it, and bake in a rather quick oven; baste now and then, and turn over if necessary. When baked, serve with the gravy from the pan in which it has been baked.

Baked - Prepare it as directed for roasting; then place it in a Dutch oven with a little cold water, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan: sprinkle salt and pepper all over, spread some lard on the upper side and put in a quick oven. Turnover and baste now and then till done. If the water is absorbed, add more. When baked, serve with the same sauces as if roasted.

Shoulder - Cut the shoulder in fillets and lard them slightly. Put in a Dutch oven four ounces of lard and set it on a brisk fire; when hot, lay the fillets in, and when of a golden color add the seasonings in which you have improved the saddle, or the same onions if you have not done it; then subdue the fire, wet with a little warm broth, simmer till cooked, dish the fillets, strain the sauce on them, and serve. It may also be dressed entire, with the bones off; but it is more generally done in fillets. It is boned like a shoulder of mutton, and roasted or baked, and served like a haunch.

Stewed - Cut the meat in square pieces, about two inches in size. Have in a Dutch oven, and on a good fire, a piece of butter the size of a duck's egg;(lard) when melted, sprinkle in, little by little, a tablespoonful of flour, stirring the while with a wooden spoon; when getting rather thick, add two ounces of bacon cut in dice, also a pint of water, salt, pepper, a pinch of allspice, two shallots chopped fine, or two green onions, two cloves of garlic, and six onions; then lay the meat on the whole, and simmer gently till cooked. Dish the meat, boil the sauce till of a brownish color, skim off the fat if there is too much of it, take out the cloves of garlic, turn the sauce on the meat, and serve hot.

Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks 1868

A Backwoods Pot-Pie - Put a large portion of yellow Indian meal, (with a very little salt ;) into a deep pan, and pour on scalding water, (stirring it in as you proceed,) till you have a soft dough. Beat and stir it long and hard, adding more corn meal, till the dough becomes stiff. It will be improved by mixing in a little wheat flour. When it is cool enough to handle, knead it a while with your hands. Take off portions of the dough or paste, and form them into flat, square cakes. Take a large pot; grease the sides with a little good dripping or lard, and line them with the cakes of corn meal. Have ready some fresh venison cut into pieces, and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Put some of it into the pot, (adding some water to assist in the gravy,) and cover it with a layer of corn cakes. Then more venison, and then more cakes, till the pot is nearly full. The last layer must be a large cake with a slit in the middle. Set it over the fire, and let it boil steadily till the whole is thoroughly done. Then take it up, and dish it together, meat and paste.

The paste that is to line the sides of the pot should be thinner than that which, is to be laid among the meat. Put no paste at the bottom.

If you have any cold drippings of roast venison, you may mix some of it with the corn meal, as shortening.

Sweet potatoes sliced, and laid among the meat, will improve this pie.

Miss Leslie's New Receipts for Cooking.' 1787 - 1858

Rack of rib on a spit or Grill - Dry ribs with clean towel. Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, if available. Rub seasoning into meat, let set for at least one hour. Place rack on the spit. Using oak or some other hardwood burn down to coals. Cook over medium heat, basting with salt water. Cook until meat pulls away from the bone. If available you can add vinegar, honey or maple syrup to the basting liquid.

To hasten the process, or for a tough meat, after grilling the ribs for about an hour you can cut up as necessary and finish in a Dutch oven.

Venison Soup. - " Put 4 or 5 lbs. of deer ribs in a soup pot of water. Cook slowly until only half a pot of ' stock ' remains. Add 1 can tomatoes, 1/4 cup rice, and salt to taste. Cook until these are done." (Dr. O. M. Clay.)

Bear-meat and Buffalo - The meat of all large animals is better roasted, than dressed in any other way.

Prepare, cook and serve bear and buffalo meat like any other meat. Bear-meat has highly nutritive qualities, and is very warming. Bear hams, so well appreciated everywhere are prepared and served like common hams.

Buffalo-steaks are said to be better broiled on cinders without a gridiron, than on or before coals with one; that is, Indian fashion and even hunters' fashion.

Indians often use wood-ashes as a substitute for salt, and never use salt with buffalo-meat; but their liking or preference comes from their habit of invariably broiling buffalo-meat on wood cinders or buffalo-chips.