Cornmeal Mush from Phillis Pellman Good

Cornmeal Mush from Phillis Pellman Good

Mush is one dish that has survived form the colonial days with little change or adaptation. Filling and satisfying, it is still eaten on winter mornings in many Amish households.Although most mush is made now from store-bought, roasted cornmeal, traditionally the corn was roasted at home. In the fall, choice ears of field corn were picked and cleaned, then put into the bakeoven for roasting when the bread- and pie-baking was finished. In later years it was roasted in the cookstove, although that stove was much smaller than the bakeoven, casting some doubt on the efficiency of such an operation.One Amish grandfather remembers, “We would dry the corn on the roof of one of the out-buildings, then bring it in to roast in the oven of the cookstove. We would shell it after it got to be a nice brown, either with a corn sheller or by hand as we sat around in the evening.” The shelled kernels were taken to a mill to be ground into cornmeal flour.Mush is eaten in two forms. The first is when it is pudding-like, immediately after it has boiled to the proper thickness. Family tradition and personal preference determine the time of day when it is eaten and what one mixes with it. Said one, “At home we ate mush for lunch—thick with sugar or molasses and milk. We used to dip our spoons into the molasses, then drain it off over the mush, trying to write words with the molasses!” Said another, “We always had mush in the evening, before it ‘set up,’ with milk and brown sugar.”After it cools for several hours, mush can be sliced or fried. Some families made a batch big enough to last for several days. “We’d eat the first mush on Mondays for supper. Then we would have it fried the rest of the week for breakfast.”Mush in this form is seldom eaten alone. “For breakfast we often had mush and puddin’s . And fried potatoes with an egg scrambled in the middle.” But the cook in a non-dairy farm family explained, “I make mush and eggs in the evening because we don’t milk cows here. So we aren’t that hungry in the morning, and it feels better to eat that kind of thing in the evening. For us it’s a winter meal, for a change, at suppertime.”Some old-time mush-eaters like horseradish with each bite of fried mush. Others prefer ketchup, while others choose molasses.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put the cold water in a bowl.
  • Combine the cornmeal and salt and stir into the cold water.
  • Bring the other quart of water to a boil.
  • Slowly add the cornmeal and cold water mixture to it, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
  • When smooth, cover and cook slowly for 1–3 hours, so the mush “glops” slowly.
  • Stir frequently to keep from sticking to bottom of pan.
  • Serve.
  • Pour balance into loaf pans to mold.
  • Let set until cool.
  • Place in refrigerator for several hours until it is fully congealed.
  • Cut into ¼-inch thick slices and fry in margarine, butter, or lard until brown.
  • Turn and brown on the other side until crisp.
  • Serve.
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Course; Dessert
Cuisine; Amish

Meat Pudding

Meat Pudding

Few families do their own butchering these days. Custom butchers have taken over that task and attendant jobs, such as sausage-making and the preparation of meat pudding. Once a standard breakfast food, “puddin’s,” as this dish is commonly known, is eaten less frequently today. Its characteristic richness and fattiness once made it beloved, but now makes it suspect for those with nutritional concerns. Many folks still eat it with horseradish or chopped fresh onions over top; others mix catsup with it; some like it spread with apple butter. A custom butchering firm in eastern Lancaster County provided this recipe in the quantities with which they usually work.
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Ingredients

Make in 500-lb. batches:

  • 50 % pork liver
  • 50 % trimmings
  • 2 lbs. of salt per hundred pounds of meat
  • 6 –8 ozs. of black pepper per hundred pounds of meat

Instructions

  • Mix ingredients and cook together with water in large iron kettle for 1½ hours.
  • (The iron kettle gives the mixture a browned flavor.
  • )
  • Drain meat and reserve pork broth.
  • Grind meat.
  • Add broth to it until the finished product has the consistency of barbecued beef.
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Course; Meat
Cuisine; Amish

Wafers

Wafers

Traditionally wafers were made to be served with creamed or stewed chicken. The combination was frequently the main dish served at wedding suppers.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix dry ingredients together.
  • Cut in lard until the mixture resembles small peas.
  • Stir in egg.
  • Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is damp and sticks together sufficiently to be rolled out as pie dough.
  • Roll thin.
  • Place on cookie sheets and cut into 1” squares or diamonds.
  • Prick with fork.
  • Bake at 350° just until brown.
  • Cool, then store in airtight container.
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Course; Side Dish
Cuisine; Amish

Homemade Noodles

Homemade Noodles

Noodles became a specialty of the German settlers in Pennsylvania. They brought with them a taste for the dish. It was in the rich farmland of the mid-Atlantic area of the New World, however, that wheat flourished as it hadn’t in Europe. Here the people had access to wheat flour. Many farms also had their own flock of chickens and, thus, the eggs needed to make the rich dough. One Amish woman in her early 40s explains, “Having your own eggs makes it easier to make your own noodles and pot pie. A lot of the older people want noodles at the main meal each day because they used to make them weekly.” An older man agrees, “We always had homemade noodles. Some places today they don’t have any chickens—they have big dairies instead—so they have to buy their noodles.” In some families, noodlemaking had a seasonal aspect. One woman, born in the 1920s, recalls, “If we had a lot of eggs, we’d make a lot of noodles. In the spring, when the chickens were older, the egg shells weren’t as strong, so we’d have many ‘cracks.’ Then we’d mix up noodles, using the egg yolks. I would come home from school and see the noodles drying. I knew that somewhere there were egg whites, waiting to be made into chocolate angel food cake (see page 140)!” Today’s cooks need to weigh the matchless flavor of homemade noodles, yet the heavy time investment they require, against the inexpensive storebought noodles that are so easily had. In most Amish homes, made-from scratch noodles are a treat rather than a regularly served dish.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Beat the egg yolks and water together thoroughly.
  • Stir in the salt and flour to make a very stiff, yet workable dough.
  • Divide the dough into four balls.
  • Roll each one out, making as thin a layer as possible.
  • Lay each on a separate cloth to dry.
  • When they are dry enough not to stick together, stack them on top of each other and cut them lengthwise into thin strips.
  • Then cut across the width of the dough to form thin strips, about 1½–2 inches long.
  • Allow noodles to dry completely before storing them in an airtight container.
  • Makes 1 pound
  • To serve Homemade Noodles:
  • Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil.
  • Add 1½ Tbsp.
  • salt and ½ lb.
  • homemade noodles.
  • Stir frequently.
  • After water returns to boil, cook for 8–10 minutes.
  • Drain and serve, covered with brown butter.
  • Note: Brown butter is a simple, yet pleasing topping for cooked noodles.
  • It is a tradition practiced widely by Amish cooks, especially for use with noodles and steamed vegetables.
  • Melt desired amount of butter in saucepan.
  • Allow it to brown (watch carefully so it doesn’t burn).
  • Pour over noodles in their serving dish.
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Course; Noodles
Cuisine; Amish

Oysters with Bread Filling

Oysters with Bread Filling

This is a sturdy, yet special meal that is less laborious than the preparation of fried oysters. One does need forethought to get this dish fixed by mealtime, however. Oysters with bread filling can be adapted to the size of the crowd at the table. This recipe, in the words of one who has made the dish frequently, allows the cook some latitude. But be warned by the wisdom of an experienced oysters-with-bread-filling baker, “Don’t worry about having leftovers. Just be sure you make enough!”
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • The day before serving the filling, cut the bread up into ¾ inch cubes.
  • Pile them in a dishpan, then cover it with a tea towel so the bread dries out a bit, but not too much.
  • The next day melt butter or margarine (use about 1 cup to a pound loaf of bread) in a larger pan.
  • Remove half of it and set aside.
  • Add bread cubes to the butter in the pan.
  • Pour the reserved butter over the cubes and stir.
  • Continue stirring the bread over heat until it browns but doesn’t burn.
  • Take a long shallow pan and cover the bottom of it with one-half of the browned bread cubes.
  • Follow that with a layer of 1–1½ dozen oysters (either whole or cut up), then the remaining bread cubes and another 1–1½ dozen oysters.
  • Pour the oyster liquid, mixed with ¼–½ cup milk, over the bread and oysters.
  • The filling should be damp throughout, but not soggy or wet.
  • (Add more milk if it seems too dry or more bread if it’s gotten too wet.
  • ) Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Bake uncovered at 275°–300° until the filling is heated through (stir it up to check) and slightly browned on top.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Amish

Oyster Pie

Oyster Pie

“Oyster pie was always a treat, although we had it maybe once a month. An oyster man came around regularly and he’d give a lot more juice with the oysters than you get in the store!” Only sixty miles from Philadelphia, the Lancaster area had easy access to the fish and oyster trade flowing through the seaport city. In fact, Lancaster farmers sold their wheat, which they raised primarily as a cash crop during the mid- to late 1800s, in Philadelphia. Or they took their potatoes to Reading where, by way of the canal system, they were sent on to Philadelphia. In addition to seafood, lemons, oranges, and bananas found their way to Lancaster tables.
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Ingredients

  • 4 cups potatoes cooked and cubed
  • ¼ cup celery chopped
  • 1 pint oysters with liquid
  • 2 eggs hardboiled and cut up
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • cups milk

Crust

Instructions

  • Alternate layers of potatoes, celery, oysters, eggs, and seasonings in baking dish.
  • Dot with butter.
  • Pour milk and oyster liquor over.

Crust

  • Mix flour and salt.
  • Cut in shortening.
  • Combine egg, water, and vinegar and stir into shortening mixture.
  • Refrigerate for a few minutes.
  • Roll out dough on floured board.
  • Place over oyster mixture.
  • Cut slits in dough to permit steam to escape.
  • Bake at 375° for 45 minutes.
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Course; Fish / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Pie Crust from Phillis Pellman Good

Pie Crust from Phillis Pellman Good

Couverts4 crusts
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix flour and salt.
  • Cut in shortening.
  • Combine remaining ingredients and stir into shortening mixture.
  • Let stand a few minutes.
  • Roll dough on floured board to desired thickness.
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Course; Basic recipe / Pie
Cuisine; Amish

Meat Pie

Meat Pie

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Ingredients

  • 2 –3 cups cooked beef
  • 3 –4 cups cooked vegetables potatoes, peas, carrots, onions, or other leftovers
  • 2 –3 cups gravy

Instructions

  • Layer meat and vegetables into 3-quart baking dish or two pastry-lined pie plates.
  • Pour gravy over mixture or prepare thickened broth by melting 2 Tbsp.
  • margarine.
  • Stir in 2 Tbsp.
  • flour, 1 tsp.
  • salt, and ⅛ tsp.
  • pepper.
  • When blended, gradually add 2 cups beef broth and 1 cup milk.
  • Bring to boil, stirring until thickened.
  • Cover baking dish or pie plates with pie crust.
  • Cut slits in crust to allow steam to escape.
  • Bake at 425° for 35 minutes.
  • Turn off oven but let pie sit in it for 10–15 minutes so that the flavors can blend.
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Course; Beef / Pie / Quiche
Cuisine; Amish

Stuffed Pig Stomach

Stuffed Pig Stomach

“We always expected a pig stomach at butchering time. That was special.” Stuffing a pig stomach with a sausage-potato-onion mix is a blend of the innovation and conviction against wastefulness that characterizes the Amish. The texture of the browned, chewy skin against the moist richness of sausage and cubed potatoes has made this combination survive the demise of family butchering. Today, thanks to freezers, pig stomachs are available from retail pork butchers in the Lancaster area at almost any time of the year. One gray-haired Amish man recalls that his mother “put oysters in pig stomach instead of sausage.” A middle-aged woman remembers that at serving time, her mother “would take the stuffing out of the stomach, grind the skin, then lay that meat over the stuffing. She did that because the skin was not evenly browned and it was not of equal thickness. That way no one felt cheated for getting a thin spot and no one got stuck with a too chewy piece!”
Couverts4
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Ingredients

  • 1 large well cleaned pig stomach
  • lbs. bulk sausage meat
  • 6 medium potatoes peeled and diced
  • 1 small onion chopped

Instructions

  • Cook potatoes and onion together until potatoes are tender.
  • Separate sausage meat into small pieces and add to potato mixture.
  • Stir and cook only until sausage loses its reddish color.
  • Drain off excess liquid.
  • Stuff mixture loosely into stomach and close all openings with skewers laced with string.
  • Place in roast pan with ½ cup water.
  • Place remaining mixture that will not fit in stomach in a buttered casserole.
  • Cover roast pan containing the stomach and bake at 350° for 2–2½ hours.
  • After first hour prick stomach with sharp fork.
  • Place casserole of remaining mixture in oven, uncovered, and bake only for the last 40–45 minutes of baking time.
  • Overstuffing the stomach may cause it to burst while baking, because the stomach shrinks considerably.
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Course; Pork
Cuisine; Amish

Ham and Green Beans

Ham and Green Beans

Smoked hams hung in the attic from one fall’s butchering until the next. When the supply was strong, ham and green beans could be made with a smoked shoulder or picnic. As the number and size of the meat cuts dwindled, ham and green beans could still be made, although it was more likely prepared with a ham butt, primarily for flavoring.Green beans were dried and in later years canned—for use throughout the winter months, and so this dish developed as a sort of tasty and logical combination. The unnamed, but expected ingredient in this meal was potatoes, often cut up in chunks rather than mashed.A customary side dish was cole slaw Its vinegar dressing provided the “bite” to offset the heavier meat. Furthermore, cabbage kept well into the spring and so was handy for this wintry meal.Although much time had already been spent in butchering and curing the ham, in picking and preserving the green beans, and in digging the potatoes, the immediate preparation of this meal was relatively quick and easy for the cook.
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Ingredients

  • 2–3 lb. ham shoulde r or picnic or 1–2 lb. ham hock
  • 4 potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
  • 1 quart green beans

Instructions

  • Place the ham in a roaster, add ½ cup water and cover.
  • Bake at 250° for 1–1½ hours.
  • Add potatoes and green beans to roaster.
  • Cover and return to oven for an additional hour of baking.
  • This can also be cooked on top of the stove.
  • Place the ham in a heavy kettle.
  • Add 2 inches of water and cook slowly, covered, for 1½ hours.
  • Add potatoes and green beans and continue cooking slowly for another hour, or until the meat is tender and the potatoes are soft.
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Course; Pork / Side Dish
Cuisine; Amish