SOFT CORN-BREAD
Mix a tablespoonful of butter with two cupfuls of hot boiled hominy or of rice; add two or three well-beaten eggs, and then add slowly two cupfuls of milk, and lastly a cupful of white cornmeal and a dash of salt. Turn the mixture, which should be of the consistency of pancake batter, into a deep dish, and bake about an hour. Serve it with a spoon from the same dish in which it is baked.
SOUTHERN WAY OF COOKING RICE
Wash the rice thoroughly through several waters, using the hand. Put it into a saucepan with a pint of water and a half teaspoonful of salt to each cupful of rice. Let it boil covered until the water has boiled away; then draw it to the side of the range, open the cover a little, and let it steam until thoroughly dry. Do not touch the rice while it is cooking. This receipt is furnished by a Southern negro cook.
GUMBO FILÉ
(A NEW ORLEANS DISH)
- 50 oysters.
- 1 fowl cut into pieces.
- ½ pound of veal cut into pieces.
- ½ pound of ham cut into pieces.
- 3 tablespoonfuls of tomato.
- 1 tablespoonful of drippings.
- 2 onions.
- ½ teaspoonful of salt.
- ¼ teaspoonful of pepper.
- ¼ teaspoonful of powdered thyme.
- ¼ teaspoonful of marjoram.
- Dash of cayenne.
- 2 tablespoonfuls of sassafras powder.
Wash well the outside of a fowl (see page [180]), and cut it into pieces. Cut the veal and the ham into small pieces, and dredge all of them well with flour.
Put the onions, sliced, into a pot or large saucepan with one tablespoonful of fat or drippings, and fry until brown; then add the pieces of chicken, veal, and ham. Turn them often, so all will brown evenly; this will take about twenty minutes. When the meat is browned, add two quarts of hot water; cover the pot, and let simmer for two hours. After the first hour add the salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram, and tomatoes. At the end of two hours, if the meat is tender, add the oysters and the oyster juice, and let remain on the fire only long enough to ruffle the gills of the oysters. Take from the fire, and add two tablespoonfuls of sassafras powder, and stir until a little thickened (do not add the sassafras until the pot is removed from the fire).
Serve in a meat-dish with a border of boiled rice. This is a dish much used in the South. It may be served as a chowder, with the meat and liquor together, or may be served separately, using the liquor as a soup.