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."

Photo courtesy Photos8.com

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."

Photo courtesy Photos8.com

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."