AUNT CAROLINE’S DIXIELAND RECIPES

Aunt Caroline’s Dixieland
Recipes

By
EMMA and WILLIAM McKINNEY
A RARE COLLECTION OF
CHOICE SOUTHERN DISHES

Chicago
Laird & Lee, Inc.
Publishers

COPYRIGHT, 1922
BY WM. McKINNEY

Foreword

In the art of cooking the “Old Southern Mammy” has few equals and recognizes no peers.

The following recipes have, with great patience and kindly perseverance, been drawn from the treasured memories of Aunt Caroline Pickett, a famous old Virginia cook, the “pinch of this” and “just a smacker of that” so wonderfully and mysteriously combined by the culinary masters of the Southland have been carefully and scientifically analyzed and recorded in this volume, and after a practical test of each recipe herein presented, the author can, with the fullest degree of confidence, recommend the following as the most attractive and economical combination ever presented.

The variety covers a range sufficient to fully gratify the demands of the modest as well as the exacting tastes of the most pronounced epicure, and have been carefully classified and alphabetically arranged for the convenience of the housewife, and a page has been left blank opposite each page of recipes for her own favorite dishes. It is the author’s intention that this little book become a veritable treasure trove of dainty, appetizing and tasty dishes.

In sweet memories of a happy childhood spent in the atmosphere of the plantations and cabins of Virginia under the benign influence of my Dear Old Southern Mammy, Aunt Caroline, this volume is affectionately dedicated.

William McKinney

CONTENTS

Breads

VIRGINIA BEATEN BISCUIT

One quart flour,

One teaspoonful of salt,

One tablespoon of lard.

Work lard lightly into the flour and salt, mix with iced water and then beat dough with rolling pin until it blisters. Cut into biscuits and bake in quick oven.

SOUTHERN SWEET-POTATO BISCUITS

Two cups flour,

One cup of mashed boiled sweet potatoes,

Two tablespoonsful of lard,

One teaspoonful of salt,

One and one-half teaspoonfuls of baking powder,

One-half teaspoonful of soda.

Enough buttermilk to make soft dough.

Mix flour, salt, soda and baking powder together. Add sweet potatoes and work the lard in lightly. Mix with milk to make soft dough, roll thin cut into biscuits and bake in quick oven.

JOHNNY REB CAKE

2 cupsful of flour,

1 cupful of yellow meal,

4 tablespoonsful of sugar,

¹⁄₂ teaspoonful of salt,

1 teaspoonful of Cream of Tartar,

¹⁄₂ teaspoonful of soda,

or,

2 teaspoonsful of baking-powder.

Add enough milk or water to make a thin batter, and bake.

SPOON BREAD

Two and one-half cups of fresh buttermilk,

One scant half teaspoonful of soda mixed in with milk,

One teaspoonful of salt,

Three tablespoonsful of meal,

Three eggs dropped in one at a time whole,

One tablespoonful of lard (melted).

Mix in the order given and cook in baking dish in moderate oven.

CINNAMON TOAST

Cut stale bread into thin slices, remove crusts, and cut in halves; toast evenly, and spread first with butter, then with honey, and dust with cinnamon. Serve very hot.

PIEDMONT CORN MEAL MUSH

3¹⁄₂ cups boiling water,

1 teaspoon salt,

1 cup fine corn meal.

Add meal to boiling salted water by sifting it slowly through the fingers, while stirring rapidly with the other hand. Boil for ten minutes, and cook over hot water for two hours. Serve hot as a cereal. Or pour into one-pound baking powder boxes to cool; fry in deep fat. Serve either for breakfast, or as an accompaniment to roast pork, or, with syrup, for dessert.

VIRGINIA CORN FRITTERS

1 can corn,

¹⁄₂ cup milk,

¹⁄₂ cup dried and sifted crumbs,

1 teaspoon salt,

1 teaspoon baking powder,

1 egg well beaten,

1 tablespoon flour.

Chop the corn, and add other ingredients in order given. Drop from a tablespoon into hot, deep fat and fry until brown.

FRENCH TOAST

1 egg slightly beaten,

1 tablespoon sugar,

¹⁄₄ teaspoonful salt,

³⁄₄ cup milk or coffee,

4 slices bread.

Mix egg, salt, sugar, and liquid in a shallow dish; soak bread in mixture, and cook on a hot greased griddle until brown, turning when half cooked. Serve plain or spread with jam.

MAMMY’S GRAHAM MUFFINS

1 pint of Graham Flour,

¹⁄₂ cupful of Molasses,

¹⁄₂ teaspoonsful of salt,

¹⁄₂ pint of white flour,

1 teaspoonsful of soda.

Put the salt into the flour and soda into the molasses. Stir all together and mix with milk or water. Drop into Muffin tins and bake twenty minutes.

AUNT CAROLINE’S CORN BREAD

³⁄₄ cup corn meal,

³⁄₄ cup flour,

3 teaspoonsful baking powder,

1 tablespoon sugar,

¹⁄₃ teaspoon salt,

1 beaten egg,

³⁄₄ cup milk and water mixed,

2 tablespoons melted bacon fat.

Mix in order given, beat well, and bake in a well-greased shallow pan in a hot oven about twenty minutes. Half of the egg will make a very good corn bread. Left-over pieces may be split, lightly buttered, and browned in the oven.

BOLTED CORN MEAL BREAD

2 cupsful of flour,

1 cupful of corn meal, (bolted is best)

2 cupsful of milk,

2 teaspoonsful of cream of tartar,

1 teaspoonsful of baking soda,

1 egg,

¹⁄₂ cupful of sugar,

¹⁄₂ teaspoonful of salt.

Stir the flour and meal together, adding cream of tartar, soda, salt and sugar. Beat the egg, add the milk to it, and stir into the other ingredients. Bake in a gem-pan twenty-minutes.

MAMMY’S LIGHT ROLLS

Yeast,

One egg beaten lightly,

One tablespoonful of sugar,

One half cake of yeast, dissolved in one-third cup of cold water,

One cup of hot potatoes mashed fine,

One quart of flour,

One tablespoonful of lard,

One teaspoonful of salt.

Put yeast mixed in the order given in a bucket to rise. Let it rise for about forty-five minutes or longer. Then when risen, put it into the flour, which has been mixed with the salt and lard. Do not knead the flour, just stick it together and beat it for fifteen minutes with rolling pin. If yeast does not make dough soft enough a little warm water may be used. After beating the dough, put it into a vessel to rise in warm place for about three hours. When risen, roll it lightly until about one-fourth of an inch thick. Then cut with biscuit cutter and dip into hot grease. Lastly fold the biscuits over and put into pans to rise about an hour or more.

Graham rolls are made the same way.

GOLDEN TOAST

Toast as many slices of bread as desired. For twelve slices use three hard boiled eggs and about two cups of cream sauce. Mash the whites of the eggs fine and stir them into the cream sauce. Spread each piece of bread when toasted with cream sauce, and then grate yolks over the top. Return to oven and heat just before serving.

MISSISSIPPI BISCUITS

Two cups of flour,

One-fourth teaspoonful of soda,

One and one-half teaspoonsful of baking powder,

One teaspoonful of salt,

Two tablespoonfuls of lard.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Then work in lightly the lard and mix with sufficient milk to make soft dough. Roll thin, cut into biscuits with small biscuit cutter and bake in quick oven.

VIRGINIA WAFFLES

One and one-half cups of pastry flour,

Two teaspoonsful of baking powder,

One-half teaspoonful of salt,

Four tablespoonsful of melted butter,

One cup of milk,

Two eggs.

To beaten yolks add milk, flour, baking powder, salt and butter. Add stiffly beaten whites last.

COTTON BLOSSOM POPOVERS

Two eggs,

One cup of milk,

One cup of flour,

One-half teaspoonful of salt.

Beat eggs together, add milk, and salt and pour this on the flour. Mix well and bake about forty minutes in rather slow oven. Serve at once.

DIXIE BISCUIT

One pint of milk,

One teaspoonful of lard,

Two teaspoonsful of butter,

Two teaspoonsful of sugar,

One heaping teaspoonful of salt,

One-half yeast cake,

Six cupfuls of flour.

Put milk on stove in double boiler with butter, salt, lard and sugar. When milk becomes scalded, let it cool until blood heat. Dissolve yeast and stir it into the scalded milk. Then add to milk when cooled two and a half cups of flour and mix to a stiff batter. Next add an egg well beaten to the batter and put the batter in a warm place to rise. Let it rise bout five hours and then knead as for ordinary biscuit using three and a half cups of flour. Knead until dough can be handled easily, then roll out to one-half inch thickness. Rub each biscuit with melted butter, put two biscuits together and place in pans far enough apart not to touch. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes in hot oven.

FLOUR MUFFINS

Two eggs,

One cup of milk,

One and one-half cups of flour,

One tablespoon of lard,

One teaspoonful of salt,

Two teaspoonful of baking powder.

Beat eggs separately. To yolks, add salt, melted lard, milk, flour, and baking powder. Lastly, put in the well beaten whites and bake twenty or twenty-five minutes.

BALTIMORE EGG BREAD

Two eggs,

Three cups of meal,

Four cups of sour milk,

One tablespoonful of lard,

One teaspoonsful of salt,

One-fourth teaspoonful of soda,

One and one-half teaspoonsful of baking powder.

Beat eggs well together, add milk, meal, salt, soda and baking powder and lastly the hot melted lard. Bake in moderate oven. One cup of fresh corn cooked until tender may be added to the batter.

SOUTHERN PASTRY

One cup of flour,

One-fourth teaspoonful of salt,

One-fourth cup of lard or butter.

Mix flour and salt, work lard lightly into the flour and mix with iced water to make stiff dough. Do not knead dough at all, just mix lightly together.

GRIDDLE CAKES

One and one-half cups of stale bread crumbs,

Two cups of milk,

One tablespoonful of butter,

One teaspoonful of salt,

One-half cupful of flour.

Scald milk and pour over bread crumbs. Beat two eggs well together, then add salt, milk and bread crumbs, flour and lastly the melted lard or butter.

SALLY LUNN

One quart of flour,

Four eggs,

One tablespoonful of sugar,

One cup of yeast,

One cup of milk,

One teaspoonful of salt,

One-half cup of butter,

One-half cup of lard.

Beat the eggs separately. Then mix and add yeast and sugar. Sift salt into flour, melt butter and lard and add eggs, yeast and milk before putting in flour. Leave in bowl and set away to rise. When risen, beat hard and put into greased pan to rise again. For seven o’clock tea make it at twelve.

JEFF. DAVIS MUFFINS

Two eggs,

One cup of sour milk,

One cup of meal,

One-half cup of flour,

One teaspoonful of salt,

Two teaspoonsful of baking powder.

One tablespoonful of lard.

Beat eggs separately. To yolks add salt, milk, melted lard, meal, flour and baking powder. Lastly put in the well beaten whites and bake in moderate oven.

CAROLINA CORN MEAL ROLLS

1 cup meal,

1 cup flour,

4 teaspoonsful baking powder,

¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt,

3 tablespoons bacon fat,

³⁄₄ cup milk.

Mix and sift dry ingredients; rub in shortening with finger tips, add milk and mix thoroughly; roll lightly, on a floured board to a thickness of one-half inch; cut with biscuit cutter, brush with milk or water, and fold double. Bake in hot oven fifteen minutes.

CAROLINA BROWN BREAD
(Baked)

1 cupful of Indian Meal,

1 cupful of Rye meal,

¹⁄₂ cupful of flour,

1 cupful of molasses (scant),

1 cupful of milk or water,

1 teaspoonful of soda.

Put the meals and flour together. Stir soda into molasses until it foams. Add salt and milk or water. Mix all together. Bake in a tin pail with cover on for two and a half hours.

SALT RISING BREAD

Pour one pint of boiling sweet milk over three heaping tablespoonsful of corn meal. Beat well and set in a warm place all night. On the morning add to the mixture a pint of warm milk or water, a teaspoonful of sugar, a pint of flour. Beat well and set in a warm place for about two hours or until it looks spongy. Then add one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of lard and enough flour to make a soft dough. Work fifteen minutes, knead into loaves, let them rise one or two hours, and then bake an hour or longer.

Beverages

EGG NOG—MARYLAND STYLE

Beat the yolk of one egg, add a teaspoonful of sugar, and a small pinch of salt, then pour in slowly stirring all the while a cup of milk. Pour in a glass and put spoonful of whipped cream on top and any quantity of “flavoring desired.”

SWANEE FRUIT PUNCH

Two cups of sugar,

One cup of water,

One cup of tea,

One pint of strawberry syrup,

Juice of ten lemons,

Juice of six oranges,

Two cans of grated pineapple,

One large bottle of Maraschino cherries.

Make syrup by boiling sugar and water together for ten minutes. Add the tea, fruit juices, pineapple, and strawberry syrup. Let stand thirty minutes, strain and add enough iced water to make one or one and one-half gallons of liquid. Turn into large punch bowl over a piece of ice and lastly add cherries. This quantity will serve about ten people.

LOUISIANA COFFEE

One heaping tablespoonful of coffee, a little white of egg, one cup of boiling water (Allow this quantity for each person). Scald the coffee pot, add the coffee, egg, and sufficient cold water to moisten. Mix well, add the boiling water and cook five minutes. Then place where it will keep hot, but not cook, for fifteen minutes. It is then ready to serve.

HOT CHOCOLATE

One and one-half squares of Baker’s Chocolate,

Four teaspoonsful of sugar,

Pinch of salt,

One cup of boiling water,

Three cups of milk,

One-half teaspoonful of vanilla.

Melt the chocolate over hot water. Add the sugar, salt and boiling water. When smooth, add the heated milk and cook twenty minutes in double boiler. Then beat with egg beater and flavor. More sugar may be added if desired.

An excellent substitute for whipped cream to serve with hot chocolate is marshmallows. Drop one in each cup of the hot liquid.

TEA—SOUTHERN STYLE

Take one-half teaspoonful of tea to one cup of boiling water. Put the tea in the pot, pour the boiling water upon it and let stand where it will keep hot for five minutes. Then serve. Tea should never be boiled for it makes it bitter.

ICED TEA

Use one scant teaspoonful of tea to one cup of boiling water. Pour boiling water over tea leaves and let stand until milk warm. Then strain and sweeten to taste while tea is still warm, as it requires less sugar. Serve with crushed ice, green mint leaves, and sliced lemon and orange.

UNCLE REMUS MINT JULEP

³⁄₄ cup sugar,

Juice 3 lemons,

1 cup of water,

4 sprigs of mints,

1 pint ginger ale,

or

“Any flavoring desired.”

Boil sugar and water ten minutes, and cool; add strained lemon juice, mint leaves bruised, and ginger ale; half fill glasses with crushed ice, and julep, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

DEWBERRY VINEGAR

Over three quarts of dewberries pour one pint of vinegar and let it stand twenty-four hours. Strain and add one pound of sugar to one pint of juice. Scald twenty minutes and bottle tight. Strawberry and raspberry vinegar may be made in the same way.

Cakes

DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE

Two eggs,

Two cups of brown sugar,

One cup of butter,

One cup of buttermilk,

Three cups of flour,

Half cake of melted chocolate,

One and one-half tablespoons of cinnamon,

One teaspoon of cloves,

One teaspoon of allspice,

One teaspoon of soda dissolved in half cup of boiling water.

Cream butter and sugar and add to well beaten eggs, next add milk, melted chocolate, flour beaten in lightly, vanilla and spices, and lastly the boiling water and soda. Bake in layer tins and moderate oven.

FILLING
(For Devil’s Food Cake)

Two cups of white sugar,

One cup of sweet milk,

Half cake of chocolate,

Yolk of one egg,

Butter size of an egg,

One teaspoonful of Vanilla.

Put all the ingredients except vanilla on to cook. Cook until thick, then beat until creamy, add vanilla and spread on layers.

OLD DOMINION CAKE

Cream one cup of butter and two cups of powdered sugar. Add stiffly beaten whites of six eggs, three cups of flour, in which has been sifted two teaspoonsful of baking powder, and one teaspoonful of vanilla. Bake in layers in moderate oven.

FILLING FOR OLD DOMINION CAKE

Put on two cups of white sugar with enough water to dissolve thoroughly and cook until it spins a thread. Then add one teaspoonful of vanilla and pour slowly over the whites of two eggs beaten stiff. Beat until creamy and then spread on cake layers. Thickly strew the top of icing with raisins, English walnuts and blanched almonds.

ANGEL’S FOOD CAKE

Whites of eleven eggs,

One cup of flour,

One and one-half cups of sugar,

One teaspoonful of cream of tartar,

One teaspoonful of almond extract.

Sift flour and sugar together five times, then add cream of tartar. Have whites well beaten and add sugar and flour slowly, then almond extract. Beat very little after flour goes in and bake in round cake pan in moderate oven for about fifty minutes.

FILLING

Put on to cook two and one-fourth cups of brown sugar, three tablespoonsful of cream, one tablespoonful of butter. Cook until thick, then beat until creamy and spread on layers.

TUTTI FRUTTI CAKE

Two cups of sugar,

One cup of milk,

One cup of butter,

Three cups of flour (sifted three times),

One cup of cornstarch into which has been sifted three teaspoons of baking powder,

One teaspoonful of almond extract.

Cream butter and sugar, add milk, flour, cornstarch and flavoring. Bake in layers in moderate oven.

MAGNOLIA SPONGE CAKE

Three eggs beaten separately and then together,

One and one-half cups of sugar,

One and one-half cups of flour,

One and one-half teaspoonsful of baking powder,

One-half cup of boiling water.

Mix in the order given and cook in biscuit pan in moderate oven.

BRIDE’S CAKE

Whites of eighteen eggs,

One pound of flour,

One pound of sugar,

Three-fourths pound of butter.

Sift flour three times after adding to it a teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar. Cream butter and sugar until very light and add to the stiffly beaten whites. Next add the flour, beating it in lightly with the hand. Flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla or almond extract and bake in slow oven.

PONCIANIA CAKE