Mid-American Recipes

The Midwest remains a great American bread basket and center of traditional American food culture. In the spirit of Buckeye Cookery, therefore, we highly recommend A Taste of Ohio History: A Guide to Historic Eateries and Their Recipes (Taste of History) ..

Apple Butter Custard Pie - For Dessert!

Buckeye Cookery is a no-nonsense cookbook. Here's a tasty recipe for apple butter pie that bypasses all the complexities of more modern versions.

4 eggs
1 teacup apple butter
1 teacup sugar
1 tablespoon allspice
1 quart sweet milk
1 pinch salt
3 pie crusts

"Beat together four eggs, one tea-cup apple-butter, one of sugar, one level table-spoon allspice, add one quart sweet milk and pinch of salt; bake in three pies with an under-crust;--and, by the way, never omit a pinch of salt in custard and lemon pie, and, in fact, many kinds of fruit pies, such as green-apple, currant, gooseberry and pie-plant, are improved by it."

Food for the Season

The following is Buckeye Cookery's 1877 suggestions for a summer day's meals. The text recommends them particularly for Sunday, but we think you'd enjoy stretching these American dishes over the whole week.

"--Breakfast--Nutmeg melons; fried fish; boiled plover; saratoga potatoes; sliced tomatoes; Minnesota rolls; bread; coffee and chocolate.

"Dinner.--Green corn soup; baked chicken, cold veal loaf; mashed potatoes, summer squash, green corn pudding, baked tomatoes; corn starch pudding, blackberry pies; peaches, melons; ice-cream; centennial drops; white cake; tea and coffee.

"Lunch.--Cold chicken and veal; bread, cheese; lemon jelly; blackberries; Minnehaha cake; lemonade."

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Succotash - To Accompany your Potatoes!

Another simple recipe from Buckeye Cookery. Succotash works all year and always suits American tastes.

1 pint lima beans OR string beans
6 ears corn
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon butter

"Take pint of shelled lima beans (green), or string beans, cover with hot water, boil fifteen minutes; have ready corn from six good-sized ears, and add to beans; boil half an hour, add salt, pepper and two table-spoons butter. Be careful in cutting down corn not to cut too deep,--better not cut deep enough and then scrape; after corn is added watch carefully to keep from scorching.


"Or to cook with meat, boil one pound salted pork two hours, add corn and beans, omitting butter."

Simple Potatoes and Onions, Tasty Results

A no-nonsense recipe from Buckeye Cookery, this dish keeps your meal simple, hearty and tasty. Enjoy!

potatoes
onions
butter
vinegar

"Boil potatoes in skins, peel while hot and slice; about an hour before wanted, slice onions, and let stand in salt and water; while peeling potatoes, put onions in skillet with a little ham gravy or butter and a little water, and cook slightly; take out, put in vegetable dish a layer of onions, then potatoes, then onions, etc., with potatoes last; add a cup of vinegar to skillet (with ham gravy or butter), warm and pour over."

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How to Make Green Pea Soup

You've fog is as thick as this, now try the real thing! This traditional recipe from Ohio requires remarkably few ingredients and a classic taste of America. As with other recipes from Buckeye Cookery, you can adjust some of the ingredients to taste.

3 1/2 pints shelled peas
3 quarts water
1 head lettuce
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
flour

Serve with toasted bread.

"Boil three pints shelled pease in three quarts of water; when quite soft, mash through a colander, adding a little water to free the pulp from the skins; return pulp to the water in which it was boiled, add a head of lettuce chopped, and half a pint young pease; boil half an hour, season with salt and pepper, and thicken with two table-spoons butter rubbed into a little flour. Serve with bits of toasted bread. The soup, when done, should be as thick as cream."

Simple Homemade Ice Cream

Just in time for July: the simplest recipe for homemade ice cream we've ever uncovered. Drawn from Buckeye Cookery, published in 1877, this delicious dessert adds a little sweetness to cool fruits. Just be sure to add sugar until the juice is "thick" but still viscous. An unbelievable refreshment to end a steamy July day.

12 lemons OR (approxomately) 10 oranges
white sugar
cream

"Squeeze a dozen lemons, make the juice quite thick with white sugar, stir into it very slowly three quarts of cream, and freeze.


"Orange ice-cream is prepared in the same way, using less sugar."

Historic Cuisine, Incomparable Travel

You can pick up one of these for as little as a dollar: Linda Bauer's tour of historic American restaurants and the traditional dishes they have mastered. Along the way, the publishers promise, you'll discover that "the rich fabric of America has been preserved and is available to diners in some of the best restaurants in the country."

Gumbo

Any creole diet must include gumbo, and La Cuisine Creole offers several traditional types. Here's a simple recipe with shrimp or crab. We'd say it's worth at least a New Orleans ten-spot.

1 lb beef
1 lb ham knuckle
4 large crabs OR 1 lb shrimp
4 dozen okra pods
1 large onion
red pepper
salt

"To a pound of beef add half a pound knuckle of ham; chop up both in inch pieces and fry them brown in two tablespoonfuls of boiling lard [or equivalent]; add to them four large crabs cut up, or a pound of peeled shrimps, or both if desired; cut into this four dozen small okra pods, one large onion, a little red pepper, and salt to taste. Let all simmer on a slow fire for about twenty minutes; then fill up with warm water, enough to cover the contents two inches deep. Let this boil for two hours. If it becomes too thick, add as much water as required.


"If preferred a chicken can be used instead of the beef."

Photo courtesy Photos8.com

How to Make Chicken Fricasse A La Marengo

Creole chicken may save the bland reputation of this maligned poultry. A historic recipe, this dish comes from La Cuisine Creole and promises to be memorable.

1 chicken, cut up
salad oil/dressing
1/4 mushroom (preferably truffles)
1 bunch parsley
6 chives
1 garlic clove
salt
pepper

"Cut the chicken up as for a fricassee, put it in a sauce-pan with a wineglassful of salad oil, and allow it to cook rather briskly for twenty minutes; then put in with it a quarter of a pound of truffles cut up, a bunch of parsley, six chives or small green eschalots, a bruised clove of garlic, and pepper and salt; let them stew for twenty minutes; then pour off the oil and take out the parsley. If only one chicken is used, throw in half a pint of button mushrooms, a ladleful of brown gravy sauce, and the juice of a lemon. Garnish this dish with pieces of fried bread and large crayfish."

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A Very Fine Creole Sandwich

Drawn from La Cuisine Creole, this delicious recipe redefines the modern sandwich.  We recommend trying it with the best local artisan bread available.

We also think the title says it all: "SANDWICHES. VERY FINE"


1/2 lb butter
3 tbsp mixed mustard
3 tbsp sweet oil (vegetable or olive will do)
salt
pepper
1 egg
ham
fresh parsley

"Take half a pound of nice sweet butter, three tablespoonfuls of mixed mustard, the same of sweet oil, a little salt, pepper and the yolk of an egg. Put it over the fire and stir till it thickens; set it by to cool and chop fine some ... boiled ham. Cut the bread thin, then spread on the dressing and over it put a layer of ham. Press the slices of bread hard together, trim the edges and garnish with curled parsley."

Irresistible Creole Cuisine - Soup Maigre

Creole remains one of America's great food traditions - an exciting blend of cultures springing from one of North America's great, historical ports. You'll find these delicious recipes in La Cuisine Creole, published 1885.

Soup Maigre is a simple recipe brimming with flavors. As a vegetarian dish, it was intended for Lent, when many of New Orleans' Catholics were fasting. As a creole dish, it serves up enough for all your friends and is a soup to remember.

1/2 lb. butter
6 onions
2 heads celery
3 crackers
2 quarts milk
2 eggs

"Melt half a pound of butter in a stewpan, put in six onions sliced; add two heads of celery cut small, one-half a head of white cabbage, and a bunch of chopped parsley; let them boil twenty minutes, then stir in three rolled crackers; pour in two quarts of boiling milk, or milk and water; let this boil up gently for half an hour, and just before serving stir in two well-beaten eggs."

Shepherd's Pie, Of Course!

One of dad's all-time favorites.  Traditionally a lamb dish, you can also use beef for this healthy, quick recipe.  American cooking has always been inspired by the Old World, and now you can settle down with some of the most welcoming dishes of any era.

2 cups chopped cooked lamb or beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
2 cups hominy or rice
1 cup peas or carrots
1/2 pint of brown sauce or water

"Put meat and vegetables in baking dish.  Cover with rice or hominy, which has been cooked.  Bake until brown."

Beef Stew: An Essential American Recipe

Just like grandma used to make!  This hearty beef recipe reminds us of cozy family dinners and healthy eating.  An easy recipe, beef stew only requires about 20-30 minutes total preparation.

1 lb. beef
1 sliced onion
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup carrots
1/2 cup turnips [trust us - you'll love it!]
1 cup potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 quart water

"Soak one-half of the meat, cut in small pieces, in the quart of water for one hour.  Heat slowly to boiling point.  Season the other half of the meat with salt and pepper.  Roll in flour.  Brown in three tablespoons of butter with the onion.  Add to the soaked meat, which has been brought to the boiling point.  Cook one hour or until tender.  Add the vegetables, and flour mixed with half cup of cold water.  Cook until vegetables are tender."

Apple Spice Cake

This healthy dessert is a great American recipe throughout the year.  A quick bake, it can also serve as a fun breakfast recipe in 1918 or today. From Foods That Will Win the War.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup tart apple sauce
1/2 cup raisins, dates, prunes or currants (chopped)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

"Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg.  Alternate dry ingredients (which have been sifted together) with the liquid.  Add fruit last.  Beat well.  Bake as loaf about 15 minutes, or in muffin pans about 25 minutes."

Think Historical, Be Modern

We love historic American cuisine, and we love some of its contemporaray interpretations.  So after exploring Traditional American Recipes and trying out a few recipes, you might also check out some more recent publications.  Fran McCollugh's The Best American Recipes is a great example. Enjoy!

Macaroni With Cheese: True American Food Culture

Toss the boxed stuff: this quick recipe complements nearly every American meal, vegetarian and otherwise.  For American cooks in 1918, it was also considered a "meat substitute" for patriots wanting to free up resources for the Western Front.

2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 cupful milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated American cheese

"Melt butter, add dry ingredients.  Add liquid slowly.  Bring to boiling point.  Add cheese.  Stir until melted.  Pour over [boiled] macaroni."

How to Make Indian Pudding

Here's a delicious American recipe from 1918's Foods That Will Win the War. This simple recipe is easy to assemble and only requires one addition after 20 minutes.

4 cups milk
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon allspice

"Cook milk and meal in a double boiler 20 minutes; add molasses, salt and vinegar. Pour into greased pudding dish and bake two hours in a slow oven [about 325 degrees]. Serve with milk. This makes a good and nourishing dessert. Serves six."

How To Cook the Best American Recipes

America boasts one of the world's great cooking traditions. A true melting pot, American cuisine includes everything from Native American soup recipes to familiar beef recipes to Asian-style stir fry, and this blog will deliver to you the best of this American cooking.

You'll find delicious recipes here appropriate for a Thanksgiving dinner or an afternoon snack.

Our secret involves seeking out the most interesting cookbook recipes from eras past. For example, entries over the next few days have been unearthed from a fascinating cookbook published during World War I: Foods That Will Win the War. In order to make sure the boys overseas and their allies had enough provisions, the US government encouraged America's cooks to cut out the fat and sugar. The authors believed that America's homemakers could prepare inexpensive, healthy means without sacrificing taste. We think they were right!

So come back regularly and check out our free recipes. Join us to see which of America's best recipes is on the menu. Dig in!

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