Johnny Cake.—Mix one pound of Indian meal, (cost four cents,) one ounce of lard, (cost one cent,) and one teaspoonful of salt, with sufficient boiling water to make a stiff batter; put it by the tablespoonful into a greased baking pan, and bake it thoroughly. Five cents' worth makes a hearty meal, with a little butter or molasses.
Indian Cakes.—These are prepared in the same way as Johnny Cake, except that the batter is made about as thin as buckwheat cakes, and baked upon a greased griddle over the fire instead of in the oven. The most economical way of greasing the griddle is to put a small piece of fat salt pork upon a fork and rub it over the surface of the griddle after it is well heated.
Indian Bread.—Mix into one quart of boiling water enough Indian meal to make a thin batter, about a quarter of a pound, (cost one cent;) when it has cooled, stir into it one pound of wheat flour, (cost four cents,) a level tablespoonful of salt, and one gill of yeast; let it rise overnight, and then bake it in loaves.
Boiled Indian Pudding.—Dissolve a level teaspoonful of soda in one pint of sour milk, add to it one pint of molasses, (cost five cents,) quarter of a pound of chopped suet, (cost two cents,) half a pound of Indian meal, (cost two cents,) and a level teaspoonful of salt; if you have no milk use boiling water instead of it; put the pudding into a scalded pudding bag, or a pudding kettle, and this into a pot of boiling water; boil steadily for four hours, adding boiling water as the quantity decreases. The pudding when cooked may be eaten with sauce or molasses, if desired; it will cost about ten cents.
Baked Indian Pudding.—Stir into a quart of boiling milk, (cost eight cents,) quarter of a pound of Indian meal, (cost one cent,) one level teaspoonful of salt, the same of spice, and one ounce of butter, (cost two cents;) last of all add one pint of cold milk, (cost four cents,) or milk and water. Pour the pudding into an earthen dish, and bake slowly for three hours. It will cost about fifteen cents, and be very nice.
There is as much difference in the quality of Indian meal as there is in its preparation; Southern meal is undoubtedly finer than Northern, and Southern cooks are proverbial for their skill in using it. I am indebted for some of the preceding receipts to a friend in Maryland, and I advise my readers to buy Southern meal, if they can get it, and test them thoroughly. Meal that is ground by hand or water power is superior to that ground by steam, because it is less heated in the process.
Indian corn is an excellent food in temperate and warm climates; and from its abundant yield, and easy cultivation, it is one of the cheapest of cereals. It contains the nitrates, or flesh-forming properties, in an excessive degree. It is a palatable and nutritious diet whether eaten green, parched, or ground into meal.
CHAPTER VII.
CHEAP FISH AND MEAT DINNERS.