Salt Potatoes

I had my first SALT POTATOES Saturday along with a Pork Slider and a few bites of a Brisket Slider to taste. It tasted as though they were made with garlic butter.  The recipe was simple.. 4 pounds of small potatoes and 1 pound of salt added to the boiling water. I would dread wasting all that salt just to make enough potatoes for one meal. I do make my Garlic Raw Fries, and was more impressed with them actually. I think just boiling some potatoes with the skin on in regular salted water.. (a Tsp to a TB) and tossing the cooked potatoes in garlic butter would make an equally good side dish, they just wouldn't be as soft and fluffy.

Helpful Hints- Freezer Bags

I make pizza from scratch quite often and constantly throw out the shredded cheese bags. About a month ago I ran out of quart size Ziplock bags so on a whim I decided to wash and dry a bag and use it to freeze my hamburger patties which I shape myself and freeze on a jelly roll pan. I always place about 4 frozen burgers in a one quart freezer bag, and found the recycled cheese bags work just as well.

Canned Salmon Burgers

• (16 ounce) can salmon, drained and flaked
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•  
• 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 pinch dried basil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the salmon, eggs, parsley, onion, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of basil, and red pepper flakes. Form into 6 firmly packed patties, about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the patties, and cook for 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a pinch of basil. Use as a sauce for your patties.

NOTE: I found this recipe in Allrecipes.com. I removed all the bones, even though they are calcium for my diet. My sister told me a little lemon juice in a fish dish helps cut the fishy flavor. This recipe has 2 TBS!! Way more than I usually add 1 tsp when making tuna salad, I hope it tastes okay when I cook it shortly. I should have just added 1 TB! I also added onion powder instead of raw onion and left out the basil and parsley since it's already in the Italian bread crumbs. I regret not adding the red pepper flakes.

PS: This recipe only made 4 burgers since I used a 1/2 cup dry measure to divide the salmon mixture. When I make my own hamburgers or turkey burgers to freeze I always measure out a 1/2 cup dry measure because it weighs 1/4 pound.

Baker's Ginger Snaps (TAC)

Boil all together the following ingredients:  Two cups of brown sugar, two cups of cooking molasses, one cup of shortening, which should be part butter, one large tablespoonful of ginger, one tablespoonful of ground cinnamon, and one teaspoonful of cloves; remove from fire and let cool. In the meantime sift four cup of flour and stir part of it into the above mixture. Now dissolve a teaspoonful of soda in a tablespoonful of warm water and beat this into the mixture, stir in the remainder of the flour, and make stiff enough to roll into long rolls about once inch in diameter, and curt of from the end in 1/2 inch pieces. Place them on well buttered tins, giving plenty of room to spread. Bake in a moderate oven. Let cool before taking out of the tins.

NOTE: I was missing the part of the page that mentioned the amount of cloves, but since it's a strong spice I wrote in 1 tsp. If you think that is too much make it half a tsp. Did you notice there are no eggs in this recipe?

Flour Tortilla's

2 Cups Unbleached Flour

2 TB Shortening

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Warm Water, maybe a teaspoon more at a time..if needed if too dry.

Mix dry ingredients.
Rub in the shortening, like with pie dough, then add the warm water. If the dough feels too dry add another tsp or TB if needed.
Knead 20 times and let rest 20 minutes.

Cut into 8 equal pieces and roll into balls, roll out into 10 inch circles. (I found it hard to get a large enough tortilla, so I took one small ball and divided it 7 ways to make the balls larger), THEN I rolled them out on a lightly floured counter. I constantly turned the dough only rolling toward me and away from me, probably only 9 inches at the most.

Cook in a dry ungreased skillet 30 seconds on each side. (I cooked on medium low heat ( more on the low side) 1 minute on each side.

Eat them immediately or stack on a plate and refrigerate to cool them if not eating that day.

Custard Ice-Cream (TAC)

Sweeten one quart of cream or rich milk with half a pound of sugar, and flavor to taste; put it over the fire in a  farina-kettle; as soon as it begins to boil, stir into a tablespoonful of cornstarch or rice flour which has been previously mixed smooth with a little milk; after it has boiled a few minutes, take it off the fire and stir in very gradually six eggs which have been beaten until thick; when quite cold freeze it as ice-cream.

NOTE:  I would temper my beaten eggs with some of the hot liquid before pouring them into the custard. Other ice cream recipes in this book have one pound of sugar to 1 quart of cream. Should we add the same amount?

NOTE:  A Farina Kettle is a Double-Boiler

Garlic Raw Fried Potatoes

Potatoes- as many as you want

3 TB Canola Oil

4 large cloves Garlic- sliced thick

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Scrub and dry potatoes but don't peel them.

Place oil in a cast iron skillet and coat bottom, then turn on low heat while you cut the potatoes in 1/2" cubes, and slice the garlic- not too thin!
Turn the heat up a little and add potatoes in a single layer, garlic, salt and pepper, cover with a lid and turn and stir every few minutes until potatoes are steamed tender. (Takes about 10 minutes) Sprinkle on about 1/4 tsp garlic powder, then remove the lid and let brown and crisp up nicely, flipping and turning several times. This takes another 10-15 minutes.

NOTE: This is my own recipe. I've made it in the past using canned whole potatoes, drained, patted dry and sliced thick.

Baking Bread

I'm baking a batch of Sourdough Potato Bread in the morning. It won't be very sour because the sponge will only have fermented for about 12 hours, but you know what? I might like it better that way.  I'm using 1/2 Cup Potato Flakes, they seem to work fine in my regular white bread, so why not Sourdough? 

Methelin or Honey Wine (TAC)

   This is a very ancient and popular drink in the north of Europe.  To some new honey, strained, add spring water; put a whole egg into it; boil this liquor till the egg swims above the liquor; strain, pour it in a cask.  To every fifteen gallons add two ounces of white Jamaica Ginger, bruised, one ounce of cloves and mace, one and a half ounces of cinnamon, all bruised together, and tied up in a muslin bag; accelerate the fermentation with yeast; when worked sufficiently, bung up in six weeks draw off into bottles.
   Another Mead.-- Boil the combs, from which the honey has been drained, with sufficient water to make a tolerably sweet liquor; ferment this with yeast, and proceed as per previous formula.
   Sack Mead is made by adding a handful of hops and sufficient brandy to the comb liquor.

NOTE: I can't imagine making this recipe even 1/15th or a gallon of it for a trial run without knowing the amount of honey and yeast.

To Make Tea (TAC)

Allow two teaspoonfuls of tea to one large cupful of boiling water.  Scald the teapot, put in the tea, pour on about a cupful of boiling water, set it on the fire in a warm place where it will not boil, but keep very hot, to almost boiling; let it steep or "draw" ten or twelve minutes.  Now fill up with as much boiling water as required.  Send hot to the table.  It is better to use a china or porcelain teapot, but if you do use a metal let it be tin, new, bright and clean; never use it when the tin is worn off and the iron exposed.  If you do you are drinking tea-ate of iron.
   To make tea to perfection, boiling water must be poured on the leaves directly as it boils.  Water which has been boiling more than five minutes, or which has previously boiled, should on no account be used.  If the water does not boil, or if it be allowed to overboil, the leaves of the tea will only be half-opened and the tea itself will be quite spoiled.  The water should be allowed to remain on the leaves for from ten to fifteen minutes.
   A Chinese being interviewed for the Cook says: Drink your tea plain. Don't add milk or sugar.  Tea-brokers and tea-tasters never do, epicures never do; the Chinese never do.  Milk contains fibrin, albumen or some other stuff, and the tea delicate amount of tannin.  Mixing the two makes the liquid turbid.  This turbidity, if I remember the cyclopaedia aright, is tannate of fibrin, or leather. People who put milk in tea are therefore drinking boots and shoes in milk disguise.

German Potato Pancakes

4 Medium Sized Potatoes

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Onion Powder (My addition), or add 1/4 cup finely chopped Onion.

Pare the potatoes and grate them.
Add beaten eggs and milk and sifted dry ingredients.
Drop by spoon into a hot greased frying pan.
Bake until a golden brown on both sides.
Makes 10-12 cakes.

NOTE: I used 6 smaller potatoes. Probably about 3-4 cups shredded. I did not peel my potatoes, and I shredded them with a box grater and soaked them in cold water for about 5 minutes. Then I drained them well by pushing down on them in a colander and added the remaining ingredients. I drained the fried potato pancakes on a brown grocery bag. I think since I used a glass bowl the potatoes did not turn brown or maybe it was the soaking in water?.

They got a 2 thumbs up from my husband.

 From the Mennonite Community Cookbook (1950)

Cocoanut Candy (TAC)

One Cocoanut, one and one- half pounds of granulated sugar. Put sugar and milk of cocoanut together, heat slowly until sugar is melted, then boil five minutes; add cocoanut (finely grated), boil 10 minutes longer, stir constantly to keep from burning. Pour on buttered plates, cut in squares. Will take about 2 days to harden. Use prepared cocoanut when other cannot be had.

English Breakfast Tea

Any meal or snack accompanied by a hot cup of  TETLEY'S ENGLISH BREAKFAST TEA with a spoonful of sugar and enough milk to lighten it is a winner if you ask me! If I can't find Tetley's English Breakfast tea RED ROSE will do.

Crullers

Mix and sift:

4 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Soda
 ****************

Beat 1 Egg and add to

1 Cup Sour Cream.

Mix in the flour mixture and knead lightly.
Turn out onto floured board, roll out and cut with doughnut cutter.
Fry in deep hot fat.
Drain on unglazed paper.

NOTE: This was another handwritten recipe. Maybe even my great grandma's.

Grape Butter (TAC)

1 Quart Grapes

3 & 1/2 Cups Sugar

1 TB Water

Boil 20 minutes, put through a colander and then in jars.

NOTE: I suppose she means push through a sieve  to remove skins and seeds and place in sterilized jars.  I thought this would be cooked longer than that like you do apple butter. This was an old handwritten recipe.

Mary's Baked Chicken

NOTE: I grew up eating this chicken. My mom (Mary), used to serve this dish at least once a week for the longest time when we were kids. I just made some the last night. My son and I really love this dish!

Bone in, skin on chicken pieces

Margarine or Butter melted

Paprika

Garlic Powder

Salt

Pepper

Use bone in, skin on chicken. Arrange in baking pan.
Brush or pour chicken with melted margarine or butter.

Sprinkle liberally with Paprika, not too heavy with the garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. The skin will be crispy and the meat will be tender.

I personally prefer chicken thighs for this dish. The meat is always juicy and tender even if you reheat it the next day.