Revolutionary Recipes from martha
These original recipes are taken from “Mother’s Cook Book,” which Martha Washington used in her own kitchen.
Fricasseed Rabbits
“The best way of cooking rabbits is to fricassee them. Cut them up, or disjoint them. Put them into a stewpan; season them with Cayenne pepper, salt and some chopped parsley. Pour in a pint of water (or of veal broth, if you have it) and stew it over a slow fire till the rabbits are quite tender; adding (when they are about half done) some bits of butter rolled in flour. Just before you take it from the fire, enrich the gravy with a gill or more of thick cream with some nutmeg grated into it. Stir the gravy well, but take care not to let it boil after the cream is in, lest it curdle. Put the pieces of rabbit on a hot dish, and pour the gravy over them.”
NOTE: What is a gill? The Oxford English Dictionary defines a gill as “a measure of liquids containing one fourth of a standard pint.” Thus, at one-fourth of a pint, a gill equates to four ounces.
For the month of February and Valentine’s Day, we chose two of Martha Washington’s candy recipes.
Everton Toffee
“One pound of powdered loaf-sugar, one teacupful of water, one-quarter pound of butter, six drops of essence of lemon. Put the water and sugar into a brass pan, and beat the sugar to a cream. When the sugar is dissolved, add the butter, and keep stirring the mixture over the fire until it sets when a little is poured on to a buttered dish; and just before the toffee is done add the essence of lemon. Butter a dish or tin, pour on it the mixture, and when cool it will easily separate from the dish. Butter-Scotch, an excellent things for coughs, is made with brown, instead of white sugar, omitting the water, and flavored with one-half ounce of ginger. It is made in the same manner as toffee.”
Chocolate Caramels
“Two cups of brown sugar, one cup molasses, one cup chocolate grated fine, one cup boiled milk, one tablespoon of flour; butter the size of a large English walnut; let it boil slowly and pour on flat tins to cool; mark off while warm.”
Cosmetiques
Complexion Wash
“Put in a vial one draehm of benzoin gum in powder, one draehm nutmeg oil, six drops of orange-blossom tea, or apple-blossoms put in half pint of rain-water and boiled down to one teaspoon and strained, one pint of sherry wine. Bathe the face morning and night; will remove all flesh worms and freckles, and give a beautiful complexion. Or, put one ounce of powdered gum of benzoim in pint of whiskey; to use, put in water in wash-bowl till it is milky, allowing it to dry without wiping. This is perfectly harmless.”
Who wants to try?
To clear a tanned skin
“Wash with a solution of carbonate of soda and a little lemon-juice; then with Fuller’s earth-water, or the juice of unripe grapes.”
Oil to make the hair curl
“Olive oil, one pound; oil of orgauum, one draehm; oil rosemary, one and one-half draehms.”
Wrinkles in the Skin
“White wax, one ounce; strained honey, two ounce; juice of lily-bulbs, two ounces. The foregoing melted and stirred together will remove wrinkles.”
Martha Washington’s Great Cake Recipe
Original Recipe
“Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth; start to work four pounds of butter to cream and put the whites of eggs to it a spoon full at a time till it is well worked. Then put four pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same way, then put in the yolks of eggs, and five pounds of flower, and five pounds of fruit. Two hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace, one nutmeg, half a pint of wine, and some French brandy.”
This recipe takes 40 eggs and clearly meant for a large party! For a more manageable (and realistic) recipe, there’s an excellent adaptation from Mount Vernon, the Washington estate, which has provided a modern adaptation.
Modern Recipe
Cake Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups currants
- 2/3 cup chopped candied orange and lemon peel
- 1/3 cup chopped candied citron
- 1/4 cup French brandy
- 3/4 cup Madeira, divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoons ground mace
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs, separated
Instructions
- Combine the currants, orange and lemon peels, and citron in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the Madeira, and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for at least 3 hours, or as long as overnight. Stir the remainder of the Madeira together with the brandy, cover, and set aside.
- When ready to bake the cake, preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
- Drain the fruits in a large strainer set over a bowl, stirring occasionally to extract as much of the Madeira as possible. Add the strained Madeira to the set-aside Madeira and brandy.
- Combine 1/4 cup of the flour with the fruit, and mix well. Add the almonds, and set aside. Sift the remaining flour with the nutmeg and mace.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating for several minutes after adding each ingredient. Whisk the egg yolks until they are light and smooth, and add them to the butter and sugar. Continue to beat for several minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Alternately add the spiced flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and the Madeira and brandy, beating until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks. By hand, gently fold them into the batter, combining lightly until well blended. By hand, fold in the fruit in thirds, mixing until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the cake on a wire rack to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. If serving the cake plain, turn it out of the pan to cool completely. If finishing it with icing, turn the warm cake out of the pan onto a baking sheet, and proceed with the icing.
Optional: Use the Sugar Icing recipe below. Ice generously onto the surface, piling it high and swirling it around the top and sides. Set in the turned-off warm oven and let sit for at least 3 hours, or until the cake is cool and the icing has hardened. The icing will crumble when the cake is sliced.
Icing Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons rose water or orange-flower water
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, start beating the egg whites on low speed, gradually adding 2 tablespoons of the sugar. After about 3 minutes, or when they just begin to form soft peaks, increase the speed to high and continue adding the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until all the sugar is incorporated and the egg whites form soft peaks.
- Add the rose water, and continue beating to form stiff peaks. Use immediately to ice the cake.
Roast Turkey
Original Recipe
“Carefully pluck the bird, singe it with white paper [see note above], and wipe it thoroughly with a cloth; draw it, preserve the liver and gizzard, and be particular not to break the gall-bag, as no washing will remove the bitter taste it imparts where it once touches. Wash it inside well, and wipe it thoroughly with a dry cloth; the outside merely requires wiping nicely. Cut off the neck close to the back, but leave enough of the crop-skin to turn over; break the leg-bones close below the knee; draw out the strings from the thighs, and flatten the breast-bone to make it look plump. Have ready your dressing of bread crumbs, mixed withj butter, pepper, salt, thyme or sweet marjoram; fill the breast with this, and sew the neck over to the back. Be particular that the turkey is firmly trussed. Dredge it lightly with flour, and put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle; as the butter melts, baste the bird with it. When of a nice brown and well-frothed, serve with a tureen of good brown gravy and one of bread-sauce. The liver should be put under one pinion, and the gizzard under the other. Fried sausages are a favorite addition to roast turkey; they make a pretty garnish, besides adding much to the flavor. When these are not at hand, a few force-meat balls should be placed round the dish as a garnish. Turkey may also be stuffed with sausage-meat, and a chestnut force-meat with the same sauce is, by many persons, much esteemed as an accompaniment to this favorite dish.
Second Recipe.—After drawing and cleaning the turkey, prepare a dressing of chopped sausage and bread-crumbs, mixing in butter, pepper, salt and thyme to flavor. Fill the craw and the body of the turkey with this, and sew up carefully. Dredge with flour and put in the oven to roast, basting freely first with butter and water, then with the gravy from the pan. The time it takes to roast will depend both on the age and the weight of the turkey. If you have a good fire, you will be safe to allow ten minutes or so to the pound. Roast to a fine brown, and serve with the chopped giblets, which should be well-stewed; add cranberry sauce.”
Mince-meat
Original Recipe
“Take five or six pounds scraggy beef – a neck piece will do – and put to boil in water enough to cover it; take off the scum that rises when it reaches the boiling point, add hot water from time to time until it is tender, then remove the lid from the pot, salt, let boil till almost dry, turning the meat over occasionally in the liquor, take from the fire, and let stand over night to get thoroughly cold; pick bones, gristle, or stringy bits from the meat, chop very fine, mincing at the same time three pounds of nice beef suet; seed and cut four pounds raisins, wash and dry four pounds currants, slice a pound of citron, chop fine four quarts good cooking tart apples; put into a large pan together, add two ounces cinnamon, one of cloves, one of ginger, four nutmegs, the juice and grated rind of two lemons, one tablespoon salt, one teaspoon pepper, and two pounds sugar. Put in a porcelain kettle one quart boiled cider, or better still, one quart currant or grape juice (canned when grapes are turning from green to purple), and quart nice molasses or syrup, also a good lump of butter; let it come to a boiling point, and pour over the ingredients in the pan after having first mixed them well, then mix again thoroughly. Pack in jars and put in a cool place, and when cold, pour molasses over the top an eighth of an inch thickness, and cover tightly. This will keep two months. For baking, take some out of the jar; if not moist enough add a little hot water, and strew a few whole raisins over each pie. Instead of boiled beef, a beef’s heart or roast meat may be used; and a good proportion for a few pies is one-third chopped meat and two-thirds apples, with a little suet, raisins, spices, butter and salt.”
French Pancakes
Original Recipe
“Two eggs, two ounces of butter, two ounces of sifted sugar, two ounces of flour, half pint of new milk. Beat the eggs thoroughly, and put them into a basin with the butter, which should be beaten to a cream; stir in the sugar and flour, and when these ingredients are well mixed, add the milk; keep stirring and beating the mixture for a few minutes; put it on buttered plates, and bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. Serve with a cut lemon and sifted sugar, or pile the pancakes high on a dish, with a layer of preserve or marmalade between each.”
Pancakes
Original Recipe
“Two cups of prepared flour; six eggs; one saltspoonful of salt; milk to make a thin batter. Beat the eggs light; add salt, two cups of milk, then the whites and flour alternately with milk, until the batter is of the right consistency. Run a teaspoon of lard over the bottom of a hot frying-pan, pour in a large ladleful of batter and fry quickly. Roll the pancake up like a sheet of paper; lay upon a hot dish; put in more lard, and fry another pancake. Keep hot over boiling water, sending half a dozen to the table at a time.”
Chow Chow
What Southern cook doesn’t have her favorite Chow Chow recipe? This summer, as the fresh garden vegetables are coming in, try this recipe from Mother’s Cook Book.
Original Recipe
“One peck of green tomatoes, half peck string beans, quarter peck small white onions, quarter pint green and red peppers mixed, two large heads cabbage, four tablespoons white mustard seed, two of white or black cloves, two of celery seed, two of allspice, one small box yellow mustard, pound brown sugar, one ounce of turmeric; slice the tomatoes and let stand over night in brine that will bear an egg; then squeeze out brine, chop cabbage, onions and beans; chop tomatoes separately, mix with the spices, put all in porcelain kettle, cover with vinegar and boil three hours.”
NOTE: A peck is approximately 8 quarts in dry measure. And “brine that will bear an egg” can be achieved by adding 1-1/2 cups of salt to a gallon of water.
Pound Cake
Original Recipe
“One pound of butter, one and one-quarter pounds of flour, one pound of pounded loaf sugar, one pound of currants, nine eggs, tow ounces of candied peel, one-half ounce of citron, one-half ounce of sweet almonds; when liked, a little pounded mace. Work the butter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, currants, candied peel, which should be cut into neat slices, and the almonds, which should be blanched and chopped, and mix al these well together; whisk the eggs, and let them be thoroughly blended with the dry ingredients. Beat the cake well for twenty minutes, and put it into a round tin, lined at the bottom and sides with a strip of white buttered paper. Bake it from one and one-half to two hours, and let the oven be well heated when the cake is first put in, as, if this is not the case, the currants will all sink to the bottom of it. To make this preparation light, the yolks and whites of the eggs should be beaten separately and added separately to the other ingredients. A glass of wine is added to the mixture; but this is scarcely necessary, as the cake will be found quite rich enough without it.”
Lemonade
Original Recipe
“Take half a pound of loaf-sugar and reduce it to a syrup with one pint of water; add the rind of five lemons and let stand an hour; remove the rinds and add the strained juice of the lemons; add one bottle of “Apollinaris” water, and a block of ice in the centre of the bowl. Peel one lemon and cut it up into thin slices, divide each slice in two, and put in lemonade. Claret or fine cordials may be added if desired. Serve with a piece of lemon in each glass.”
Pork and Beans
Original Recipe
“Pick over carefully a quart of beans and let them soak over night; in the morning wash and drain in another water, put on to boil in cold water with half a teaspoon of soda; boil about thirty minutes (when done, the skin of a bean will crack if taken out and blown upon), drain, and put in an earthen pot first a slice of pork and then the beans, with two or three tablespoons of molasses. When the beans are in the pot, put in the centre half or three-fourths of a pound of well-washed salt pork with the rind scored in slices or squares, and uppermost; season with pepper and salt if needed; cover all over with hot water, and bake six hours or longer in a moderate oven, adding hot water as needed; they cannot be baked too long. Keep covered so that they will not burn on the top, but remove cover an hour or two before serving, to brown the top and crisp the pork.”
Boston Brown Bread
Original Recipe
“One heaping coffee-cup each of corn, rye and Graham meal. The rye meal should be as fine as the Graham, or rye flour may be used. Sift the three kinds together as closely as possible, and beat together thoroughly with two cups New Orleans or Porto Rico molasses, two cups sweet milk, one cup sour milk, one dessert spoon soda, one teaspoon salt; pour into a tin form, place in a kettle of cold water, put on and boil four hours. Put on to cook as soon as mixed. It may appear to be too thin, but it is not, as this receipt has never been known to fail. Serve warm, with baked beans or Thanksgiving turkey. The bread should not quite fill the form (or a tin pail with a cover will answer), as it must have room to swell. See that the water does not boil up to the top of the form; also take care it does not boil entirely away or stop boiling. To serve it, remove the lid and set it a few moments into the open oven to dry the top, and it will then turn out in perfect shape. This bread can be used as a pudding, and served with a sauce made of thick sour cream, well sweetened and seasoned with nutmeg, or it is good toasted the next day.”
Fricasseed Rabbits
Original Recipe
“The best was of cooking rabbits is to fricassee them. Cut them up, or disjoint them. Put them into a stewpan; season them with Cayenne pepper, salt and some chopped parsley. Pour in a pint of warm water (or of veal broth if you have it) and stew it over a slow fire till the rabbits are quite tender; adding (when they are about half done) some bits of butter rolled in flour. Just before you take it from the fire, enrich the gravy with a gill or more of thick cream with some nutmeg grated into it. Stir the gravy well, but take care not to let it boil after the cream is in, lest it curdle. Put the pieces of rabbit on a hot dish, and pour the gravy over them.”
Christmas Plum Pudding
General Remarks
“All boiled pudding should be put in boiling water, which must not be allowed to stop simmering, and the pudding must always be covered with the water; if requisite the sauce pan should be filled up. To prevent a pudding boiled in a cloth from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, place a small plate or saucer undderneath it, if a mold is used, this precaution is not necessary; but care must be taken to keep the pudding well covered with water. For dishing a boiuled pudding as soon as it comes out of the pot, dip it into a basin of cold water, and the cloth will then not adhere to it. Great expedition is necessary in sending puddings to table, as, by standing, they quickly become heavy, batter puddings particularly. For baked or boiled puddings, the molds, cups, or basins should be always buttered before the mixture is put into them, and they should be put into the saucepan directly they are filled.”
Original Recipe
“One pound butter, one pound suet, freed from strings and chopped fine, one pound sugar, two and a half pounds flour, two pounds raisins, seeded, chopped and dredged with flour, two pounds currants, picked over carefully after they are washed, one-quarter pound citron, shred fine, twelve eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, one pint milk, one cup brandy, one-half ounce cloves, one-half ounce mace, two grated nutmegs. Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the yolks when you have whipped. the, smooth and light; next out in the milk, then the flour, alternately with the beaten whites, then the brandy and spice, lastly the fruit, well dredged in flour. Mix all thoroughly wring out your pudding-cloth in hot water, flour well inside, pour in the mixture and boil five hours.”