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Beef Beef Stew

beef stew
(from Camp Fires and Camp Cooking; or, Culinary Hints for the Soldier, etc. by James M. Sanderson, 1862)

Ingredients:

fry or broiling beef​
pepper & salt​
fat​
flour​
six onions​
2 dozen potatoes​
two tbsp. vinegar​
leeks, carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. (optional)​

Instructions:
Take the pieces of beef reserved for frying or broiling, and cut them into pieces about two inches square and one inch thick; sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and put them into frying pans, with a little fat; place them over the fire until half cooked; then turn them into camp kettles, adding a handful of flour and six onions cut in quarters to each kettle, with just enough cold water to cover the meat; add also to each kettle, two dozen potatoes pared and cut in quarters. Stew slowly over a moderate fire, skimming every now and then for three hours and a half; then stir in each two tablespoonsful of vinegar, and serve smoking hot. All kinds of vegetables such as leeks, carrots, parsnips, and turnips can be added to this stew with advantage.​



Army-of-the-Potomac-the-way-they-cook-dinner-in-camp.jpg

Army of the Potomac – Union soldiers cooking dinner in camp – Library of Congress
"We grab our plates and cups, and wait for no second invitation. We each get a piece of meat and a potato, a chunk of bread and a cup of coffee with a spoonful of brown sugar in it. Milk and butter we buy, or go without. We settle down, generally in groups, and the meal is soon over… We save a piece of bread for the last, with which we wipe up everything, and then eat the dish rag. Dinner and breakfast are alike, only sometimes the meat and potatoes are cut up and cooked together, which makes a really delicious stew. Supper is the same, minus the meat and potatoes."

– Lawrence VanAlstyne, Union Soldier, 128th New York Volunteer Infantry


At the start of the war, James M. Sanderson, a member of the United States Sanitary Commission, became concerned with reports of poor food quality and preparation. Sanderson, who was also a hotel operator in New York, believed that his experience would be of value to the Union. With the help of New York Governor Edwin D. Morgan, Sanderson set out to visit soldiers in the field, in hopes of teaching them a few simple cooking techniques.

Sanderson wrote the first cookbook to be distributed to the military. The book was titled: Camp Fires and Camp Cooking; or Culinary Hints for the Soldier: Including Receipt for Making Bread in the “Portable Field Oven” Furnished by the Subsistence Department. Though his grammar was questionable, Sanderson did describe several techniques, such as suspending pots over a campfire, that made cooking slightly more convenient in the battlefield.

City-Point-Cooking-West-Point-Virginia-900x836.jpg

Cooking with a kettle – City Point – West Point, Virginia – Library of Congress
 
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