Barrycdog
Major
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Location
- Buford, Georgia
I know this is another hard tack recipe but this biscuit was found in Atlanta
FOOD IN THE CIVIL WAR -- HARDTACK
The most common -- and likely the most hated -- food for Civil War soldiers was hardtack, a simple cracker made from flour and... water. Hardtack was described as "indestructible, imperishable, practically inedible, too hard to chew, too small for shoeing mules, and too big to use as bullets."
Cooks tried to make it more palatable in recipes such as bully soup (hot cereal made from cornmeal and hardtack, boiled in water, wine and ginger) and skillygalee (hardtack soaked in water then fried with pork grease.)
The hardness of hardtack was legendary and gave rise to many soldier jokes. This one was typical.
Private Jones: I bit into a piece of hardtack and hit something soft.
Private Green: A worm?
Private Jones: No, by glory, a ten-penny nail!
Below is a simple recipe that you can make at home.
4 cups of flour
4 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of Crisco or vegetable fat
About 2 cups of water
Mix first three ingredients together and add just enough water to make them stick into a stiff batter. Knead and roll or spread out onto a baking sheet in a rough rectangle about _ inch thick. Bake for _ hour at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and cut into 3-inch squares. After cutting, press into each square a pattern of four rows of four holes using a clean nail or a similar instrument. [Note: just 'press' into the dough, don't punch through it, creating a saltine cracker-type look.] Turn each square over and repeat. Return to oven and bake another _ hour. Turn off the oven, leaving the hardtack inside to cool remove and enjoy!
-- Recipe courtesy: The Museum of the Confederacy
-- Photo: Actual hardtack relic from the Civil War. From the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Collection.
Expired Image Removed
FOOD IN THE CIVIL WAR -- HARDTACK
The most common -- and likely the most hated -- food for Civil War soldiers was hardtack, a simple cracker made from flour and... water. Hardtack was described as "indestructible, imperishable, practically inedible, too hard to chew, too small for shoeing mules, and too big to use as bullets."
Cooks tried to make it more palatable in recipes such as bully soup (hot cereal made from cornmeal and hardtack, boiled in water, wine and ginger) and skillygalee (hardtack soaked in water then fried with pork grease.)
The hardness of hardtack was legendary and gave rise to many soldier jokes. This one was typical.
Private Jones: I bit into a piece of hardtack and hit something soft.
Private Green: A worm?
Private Jones: No, by glory, a ten-penny nail!
Below is a simple recipe that you can make at home.
4 cups of flour
4 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of Crisco or vegetable fat
About 2 cups of water
Mix first three ingredients together and add just enough water to make them stick into a stiff batter. Knead and roll or spread out onto a baking sheet in a rough rectangle about _ inch thick. Bake for _ hour at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and cut into 3-inch squares. After cutting, press into each square a pattern of four rows of four holes using a clean nail or a similar instrument. [Note: just 'press' into the dough, don't punch through it, creating a saltine cracker-type look.] Turn each square over and repeat. Return to oven and bake another _ hour. Turn off the oven, leaving the hardtack inside to cool remove and enjoy!
-- Recipe courtesy: The Museum of the Confederacy
-- Photo: Actual hardtack relic from the Civil War. From the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Collection.
Expired Image Removed
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