Recipes From The Time Of Twain

Recipes From The Time Of Twain

In association with New Rochelle's 2015 The Big Read of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The following is from Twain’s travelogue, A Tramp Abroad, the author gives a lengthy list of everything he would like to eat at the first meal upon his return to America after cruising abroad, where the food (apparently) did not suit him.  

It has now been many months, at the present writing, since I have had a nourishing meal, but I shall soon have one — a modest, private affair, all to myself. I have selected a few dishes, and made out a little bill of fare, which will go home in the steamer that precedes me, and be hot when I arrive — as follows: 

Radishes. Baked apples, with cream Fried oysters; stewed oysters. Frogs. American coffee, with real cream. American butter. Fried chicken, Southern style. Porter-house steak. Saratoga potatoes. Broiled chicken, American style. Hot biscuits, Southern style. Hot wheat-bread, Southern style. Hot buckwheat cakes. American toast. Clear maple syrup. Virginia bacon, broiled. Blue points, on the half shell. Cherry-stone clams. San Francisco mussels, steamed. Oyster soup. Clam Soup. Philadelphia Terapin soup. Oysters roasted in shell-Northern style. Soft-shell crabs. Connecticut shad. Baltimore perch. Brook trout, from Sierra Nevadas. Lake trout, from Tahoe. Sheep-head and croakers, from New Orleans. Black bass from the Mississippi. American roast beef. Roast turkey, Thanksgiving style. Cranberry sauce. Celery. Roast wild turkey. Woodcock. Canvas-back-duck, from Baltimore. Prairie liens, from Illinois. Missouri partridges, broiled. ‘Possum. Coon. Boston bacon and beans. Bacon and greens, Southern style. Hominy. Boiled onions. Turnips. Pumpkin. Squash. Asparagus. Butter beans. Sweet potatoes. Lettuce. Succotash. String beans. Mashed potatoes. Catsup. Boiled potatoes, in their skins. New potatoes, minus the skins. Early rose potatoes, roasted in the ashes, Southern style, served hot. Sliced tomatoes, with sugar or vinegar. Stewed tomatoes. Green corn, cut from the ear and served with butter and pepper. Green corn, on the ear. Hot corn-pone, with chitlings, Southern style. Hot hoe-cake, Southern style. Hot egg-bread, Southern style. Hot light-bread, Southern style. Buttermilk. Iced sweet milk. Apple dumplings, with real cream. Apple pie. Apple fritters. Apple puffs, Southern style. Peach cobbler, Southern style Peach pie. American mince pie. Pumpkin pie. Squash pie. All sorts of American pastry. Fresh American fruits of all sorts, including strawberries which are not to be doled out as if they were jewelry, but in a more liberal way. Ice-water—not prepared in the ineffectual goblet, but in the sincere and capable refrigerator.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

(Freezer Biscuits)

Makes about 3 dozen biscuits

1      tablespoon yeast
2      tablespoon sugar
¼     cup warm water
5      cups flour
3      tablespoons sugar
1      tablespoon baking powder
1      teaspoon baking soda

1      cup butter

2      cups buttermilk

Combine yeast, 2 tablespoons sugar, and warm water in a small bowl. Set aside for about 10 minutes or until bubbly.

Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly grease baking sheets, or use nonstick baking pans.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and soda. Cut in butter till crumbly. Stir in yeast mixture and buttermilk just until
ingredients hold together.

Roll or pat dough to 1 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out with a circle cookie cutter or the top of a glass. Bake the biscuits for about 15 minutes.

To freeze raw biscuits: After cutting biscuits into circles, place ½ inch apart on cookie sheets and freeze. After frozen place in heavy duty freezer bags. Store for up to 2 months.

To bake frozen biscuits: Thaw completely on lightly greased cookie sheets, then bake at 425° for about 20—30 minutes.

Snap-Crackle Gingersnaps
From The Christmas Cookies Books,
by Lou Seibert Pappas

Makes about 4 dozen

¾    cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

½    cup granulated sugar

½    cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1     egg

¼    cup dark molasses

2     cups all-purpose flour

1½  teaspoons baking soda

½    teaspoon salt

2     teaspoons ground ginger

1     teaspoon ground cinnamon

Raw sugar for coating

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer or a spoon, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses and mix until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until smooth. Cover and chill for 30 minutes, or until firm.

Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease baking sheets, or use nonstick baking pans.

Pour some raw sugar into a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls between your palms, and roll in the raw sugar to coat lightly.

Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until just lightly brown on the hedges and still barely soft in the center.

Transfer to racks and cool completely, or serve slightly warm.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to revitalize the role of reading in American culture by exposing citizens to great works of literature and encouraging them to read for pleasure and enrichment. The Big Read is managed by Arts Midwest. New Rochelle is one of 77 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2014 - June 2015.