Period Corporal's Kitchen-Vegetables

[Albert Sailhorst]

Food basket
liz west from Boxborough, MA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Corporal's Kitchen-Vegetables

As we begin to reap the benefits of our gardens, pick up deals at local Farmer's Markets or receive gifts from friends, vegetables provide a great staple of food! The balance of the diet for the average person during the Civil War time period was vegetables, as they were easy to grow and could be preserved easier than meat could be procured on a daily basis.
Below, we offer several recipes from the bounty of the soil! We hope you enjoy!

Potato Pie
"The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual", By William Kitchiner, 1830​

Peel and slice your potatoes very thin into a pie-dish; between each layer of potatoes put a little chopped onion (three-quarters of an ounce of onion is sufficient for a pound of potatoes); between each layer sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh butter into little bits, and lay them on the top: cover it close with puff paste. It will take about an hour and a half to bake it.
The yelks of four eggs (boiled hard) may be added; and when baked, a table-spoonful of good mushroom catchup poured in through a funnel.
Cauliflowers divided into mouthfuls, and button onions, seasoned with curry powder, &c. make a favourite vegetable pie.

Egg Plant
"The Virginia Housewife", By Mary Randolph, 1860​

The purple ones are best; get them young and fresh; pull out the stem, and parboil them to take off the bitter taste; cut them in slices an inch thick, but do not peel them; dip them in the yelk of an egg, and cover them with grated bread, a little salt and pepper--when this has
dried, cover the other side the same way--fry them a nice brown. They are very delicious, tasting much like soft crabs. The egg plant may be dressed in another manner: scrape the rind and parboil them; cut a slit from one end to the other, take out the seeds, fill the space with a rich forcemeat, and stew them in well seasoned gravy, or bake them, and serve up with gravy in the dish.

Fried Cucumbers
"The Book of Household Management", By Isabella Beeton, 1861
​

2 or 3 cucumbers, pepper and salt to taste, flour, oil or butter.
Pare the cucumbers and cut them into slices of an equal thickness, commencing to slice from the thick, and not the stalk end of the cucumber. Wipe the slices dry with a cloth, dredge them with flour, and put them into a pan of boiling oil or butter; Keep turning them about until brown; lift them out of the pan, let them drain, and serve, piled lightly in a dish. These will be found a great improvement to rump-steak: they should be placed on a dish with the steak on the top.

Baked Tomatoes
"The Book of Household Management", By Isabella Beeton, 1861
​

8 or 10 tomatoes, pepper and salt to taste, 2 oz. of butter, bread crumbs.
Take off the stalks from the tomatoes; cut them into thick slices, and put them into a deep baking-dish; add a plentiful seasoning of pepper and salt, and butter in the above proportion; cover the whole with bread crumbs; drop over these a little clarified butter; bake in a moderate oven from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour, and serve very hot. This vegetable, dressed as above, is an exceedingly nice accompaniment to all kinds of roast meat. The tomatoes, instead of being cut in slices, may be baked whole; but they will take rather longer time to cook.
20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

 

[Ethan S.]

I am now officially hungry.

 

[Mrs. V]

Omm. Nom!

 

[scone]

View attachment 322444

File:Food basket.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

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Corporal's Kitchen-Vegetables

As we begin to reap the benefits of our gardens, pick up deals at local Farmer's Markets or receive gifts from friends, vegetables provide a great staple of food! The balance of the diet for the average person during the Civil War time period was vegetables, as they were easy to grow and could be preserved easier than meat could be procured on a daily basis.
Below, we offer several recipes from the bounty of the soil! We hope you enjoy!

Potato Pie
"The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual", By William Kitchiner, 1830​

Peel and slice your potatoes very thin into a pie-dish; between each layer of potatoes put a little chopped onion (three-quarters of an ounce of onion is sufficient for a pound of potatoes); between each layer sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh butter into little bits, and lay them on the top: cover it close with puff paste. It will take about an hour and a half to bake it.
The yelks of four eggs (boiled hard) may be added; and when baked, a table-spoonful of good mushroom catchup poured in through a funnel.
Cauliflowers divided into mouthfuls, and button onions, seasoned with curry powder, &c. make a favourite vegetable pie.

Egg Plant
"The Virginia Housewife", By Mary Randolph, 1860​

The purple ones are best; get them young and fresh; pull out the stem, and parboil them to take off the bitter taste; cut them in slices an inch thick, but do not peel them; dip them in the yelk of an egg, and cover them with grated bread, a little salt and pepper--when this has
dried, cover the other side the same way--fry them a nice brown. They are very delicious, tasting much like soft crabs. The egg plant may be dressed in another manner: scrape the rind and parboil them; cut a slit from one end to the other, take out the seeds, fill the space with a rich forcemeat, and stew them in well seasoned gravy, or bake them, and serve up with gravy in the dish.

Fried Cucumbers
"The Book of Household Management", By Isabella Beeton, 1861
​

2 or 3 cucumbers, pepper and salt to taste, flour, oil or butter.
Pare the cucumbers and cut them into slices of an equal thickness, commencing to slice from the thick, and not the stalk end of the cucumber. Wipe the slices dry with a cloth, dredge them with flour, and put them into a pan of boiling oil or butter; Keep turning them about until brown; lift them out of the pan, let them drain, and serve, piled lightly in a dish. These will be found a great improvement to rump-steak: they should be placed on a dish with the steak on the top.

Baked Tomatoes
"The Book of Household Management", By Isabella Beeton, 1861
​

8 or 10 tomatoes, pepper and salt to taste, 2 oz. of butter, bread crumbs.
Take off the stalks from the tomatoes; cut them into thick slices, and put them into a deep baking-dish; add a plentiful seasoning of pepper and salt, and butter in the above proportion; cover the whole with bread crumbs; drop over these a little clarified butter; bake in a moderate oven from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour, and serve very hot. This vegetable, dressed as above, is an exceedingly nice accompaniment to all kinds of roast meat. The tomatoes, instead of being cut in slices, may be baked whole; but they will take rather longer time to cook.
20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

sliced okra and sliced yellow crook neck squash period no clue as fried diced potato's or zucchini yellow crook neck squash and onions ?

 

[donna]

Love vegetables. These recipes look yummy.

 

[JPChurch]

I'm gonna try the baked tomatoes recipe since I've so many from the garden right now......

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

I'm gonna try the baked tomatoes recipe since I've so many from the garden right now......

Please let us know how they turn out!
I am always glad to hear when someone cooks a recipe that I post!
Thanks!

 

[donna]

Another vegetable I enjoy is asparagus. This recipe is from "Old Time Recipes To Enjoy", "The Kentucky Explorer".

Asparagus

Boil two cups of asparagus tips in salted water for 15 minutes, then drain them. While they are cooking put one cup of milk in a double boiler, pouring some of it on two lightly beaten eggs, stirring vigorously. Meanwhile, put eggs into double boiler with milk, stirring until it begins to thicken. Add one teaspoon of butter, salt and pepper to taste and remove from the fire. Cut asparagus tips into one half inch pieces and add them to the sauce. Take six rolls, cut off tops, and remove the insides, letting them dry in the oven. When crisp and hot, fill each with asparagus in sauce, replace the tops, then serve.

 

[JPChurch]

So I tried the "Baked Tomatoes" recipe. I think home grown tomatoes are much better, more flavorful than anything store bought. I made a smaller pan, not being sure how it would come out since I'v never tried this recipe. I used lots of plain panko bread crumbs (lower amount of sodium) and lots of black pepper sprinkled in and dotted with about 1/4 stick of butter. Baked @ 325 (I guess that's "moderate") for 1/2 hour.....then let it sit for about 20 minutes. It came out pretty good, but would be improved if I'd added some sliced up Vidalia onion and a few heavy sprinkles of Italian bread crumbs, just to spice it up a bit...…..This would be good alongside a beef roast of some type or a leg of lamb (if you can afford the cost of one).

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

So I tried the "Baked Tomatoes" recipe. I think home grown tomatoes are much better, more flavorful than anything store bought. I made a smaller pan, not being sure how it would come out since I'v never tried this recipe. I used lots of plain panko bread crumbs (lower amount of sodium) and lots of black pepper sprinkled in and dotted with about 1/4 stick of butter. Baked @ 325 (I guess that's "moderate") for 1/2 hour.....then let it sit for about 20 minutes. It came out pretty good, but would be improved if I'd added some sliced up Vidalia onion and a few heavy sprinkles of Italian bread crumbs, just to spice it up a bit...…..This would be good alongside a beef roast of some type or a leg of lamb (if you can afford the cost of one).

Thanks for posting!
Glad it came out well!
A "Moderate Oven" is 350 degrees, but it sounds like you did pretty well!