The Washington times., 1937-04-21

needed to have their own bak
breads served, the menus serveC
A special skill was needed to
cook to perfection over the huge
open fireplaces.
The cook book Of Martha Wash.
ington is crowded with recipes that
are now known to all Southerners.
These early Virginia culinary rec
ords are to be found in the Con-
gressional Library. Also interest,"
ing are the Thomas Jefferson
recipes written down in the cook
book of Mrs. Randolph, his daugh-
ter.
BEATEN BISCUITS
The making of beaten biscuits
well illustrates the hours needed
in preparing some Of these dishes.
One quart of flour was mixed with
teaspoonful of salt and three
tablespoonfuls of lard. Then the
two were blended until not a lump
remained in the flour. Next about
2 CUPS of milk and water mixed
were added and the whole mixture
kneaded until a stiff dough was
formed.
Now comes the real test. The
dough was flattened out on large
wooden block and beaten for hall
an hour with a rolling pin.
Then after this preliminary
beating, the dough was kneaded
with the hands again and beaten
for the second time. This time
the beating continued until the
surface was covered with "blis-
ters." Then the flattened dough
was cut into small rounds pricked
several times with the tines Of a
fork and prepared for baking.
For these biscuits hours Of labor
were needed but their popularity
was widespread.
Spoon bread, molaSSes pie, cured
ham, corn pudding, black-eyed
peas, salt roe shad and gooseberry
fool were also Virginia favorites.
Here is a typical recipe from a
cook book Of 1880:
BURNT CREAM
Boil = stick Of cinnamon in .
pint of cream, four eggs well beat,
leaving out the whites. Boil the
cream and thicken it with the eggs
as for custard; then put it in your
dish and put over it half pound
of loaf sugar beat and scared; heat
fire shovel red hot and hold it
over the top until the sugar be
Drowned. So serve it up.
In 1888, apple pie was made like
this. Pippins were preferred for
this, and ounces were added for
additional flavor.
TO MAKE A PYE WITH PIPPINS
Pare your Pippins and cut out
the cores, then make your coffin
Of crust, take q good handful Of
Ounces sliced and lay at the bot
tom, then lay your PippinS q top,
and fill the holes where the core
was taken out with a syrup Of
Ounces, then put in every Pippin
q piece Of Orangado, then pour
on the top syrup Of ounces, then
put in sugar, and so clOfe it up
let it be very well baked for 1t will
ask much soaking especially the
Ounces.
The Maryland chicken as It IS
done today is baked in the oven.
Each piece is dredged with flour,
covered with beaten egg and rolled
in bread crumbs, and then baked
for about 80 minutes in a mod
crate oven. When the chicken is
well Drowned and crusted on the
outside, it should be removed from
the pan. During the cooking, the
chicken should be basted with
melted butter frequently. Make a
rich cream gravy from the drip
pings in the pan and pour over the
chicken just before serving.
Sweet potato pie Is another old
fayorite. Here IS a modern YER
sion of the old favorite, which you
will certainly wish to prepare for
your next Southern dinner:
SWEET POTATO PIE
3 large sweet potatoes, boiled
eggs
" cup Of sugar
u teaspoon of salt
"a teaspoon of cinnamon
! teaspoon Of vanilla
Pastry
Peel the cooked potatoes and
press through a sieve. Add the
beaten egg yolks. Add the CHINA.
mon, salt and " cup of sugar. Add
vanilla. Line the pie pan with
the pastry. Pour in the potato
filling and bake in a hot oven, 425
degrees, for about Is minutes.
Make the meringue by beating
the three egg whites until stiff.
Add the "a cup of sugar and
spread on top of the pie. Lower the
temperature Of the oven to $50 de-
grees and place the pie in the
oven until the m eri ngue is
Drowned. This will take about 10
minutes.
Deviled crab has long been a