Thread: Cooking and American history.

Ok, the books title is "Hasty Pudding, Johnnycakes, and Other Good Stuff" "Cooking in Colonial America" by Loretta Frances Ichord and illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis.
The recipe:
1 cup water
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup milk

Heat water and butter in pan until they boil.
put cornmeal, sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl while water and butter are boiling
pour boiling water and butter into mixing bowl. add milk and stir with a wooden spoon until a batter is formed
heat skillet with some butter over medium heat
drop batter by spoonfuls to the desired size ( we used a 1/4 cup per johnnycake)
cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until bubbles form on the surface of the johnnycake then flip and cook the other side
Serve immediately with maple syrup or apple butter

They note that the colonists may have used honey and white cornmeal depending on the time period and region

we doubled the recipe and after cooking 1 johnny cake and having it fall apart on us we improved the formula by adding 1 egg and 2 heaping spoonfuls of wheat flour to the rest of the batter, MMM mmm We served them up with a generous slathering of butter and maple syrup.

A little note for you maple syrup lovers: grade "B" syrup has more flavor than the top grade stuff!

Nice recipe Mark - I'll have to try that one. You should teach your lad Australian colonial histories too - bushrangers, convicts, it's all there.

James.

This is the second time I had to look up what a dutch oven is.... well it sure isnt something we dutch people have in our homes


Maarten

Originally Posted by mlangstr

This is the second time I had to look up what a dutch oven is.... well it sure isnt something we dutch people have in our homes


Maarten

Yes, well, you did. About 250 years ago. I think it's called a dutch oven because the Dutch made the best versions of the iron pot used all over Europe at the time.

And Johnny cakes is good eatin', that boys on the right path!

I dont think you can even buy those over here...

I'll try those cookies once I've converted the ingredients to metric.
I have a book on how to make brownies and other American goodies but converting it all to metric made some interesting creations....

Maarten