• Welcome to the Receipts of the Blue & Gray. - The receipts you will find here are original Antebellum, and Civil War period receipts, as originally published between the years 1796 and 1880. One exception, is: Newspaper Clippings & Periodical Receipts are limited to a publishing period from 1858 to 1866.

    Some receipts from this era attempted to give medicinal advice. Many dangerous, and in some cases, deadly, "cures" were given, reflecting the primitive knowledge of that time period. Don't assume everything you read here is safe to try! Recipes and Receipts posted here are for Historic Research Purposes, enjoy them, learn from them, discuss them!

    ★ If you attempt to try one of these recipes / receipts, you do so at your own risk! ★

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Soup/Stew/Chowder Sweets/Treats Oyster Soup / Oyster Cream (Ice Cream)

oyster soup
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(from The Virginia House-wife, by Mary Randolph, 1825)

Ingredients:

2 quarts oysters​
3 quarts water​
3 onions​
2 or 3 slices of lean ham​
pepper and salt​
1 additional quart oysters​
4 spoonsful flour​
2 gills rich cream​
6 fresh egg yelks​
optionally, thyme may be added​

Instructions:

Wash and drain two quarts of oysters, put them on with three quarts of water, three onions chopped up, two or three slices of lean ham, pepper and salt; boil it till reduced one-half, strain it through a sieve, return the liquid into the pot, put in one quart of fresh oysters, boil it till they are sufficiently done, and thicken the soup with four spoonsful of flour, two gills of rich cream, and the yelks of six new laid eggs beaten well; boil it a few minutes after the thickening is put in. Take care that it does not curdle, and that the flour is not in lumps; serve it up with the last oysters that were put in. If the flavour of thyme be agreeable, you may put in a little, but take care that it does not boil in it long enough to discolour the soup.​


oyster cream
(from The Virginia House-wife, by Mary Randolph, 1825)

Ingredients:

oyster soup​

Instructions:

Make a rich soup, (see directions for oyster soup,) strain it from the oysters, and freeze it.​


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Mary Randolph, author of The Virginia Housewife

On a recent visit to Montpelier, the docent said that Dolley Madison loved ice cream and that her favorite flavor was oyster. I was shocked! I had never heard of oyster ice cream? Well it turns out Mary Randolph surely had.

She included a recipe for it in The Virginia Housewife. Please let me know if you try it. I'm skeptical of this one. Really skeptical.
 
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I have tried lobster ice cream. After all New England and especially Eastern New England is the ice cream capital of the world. And I love oysters, but when I got to the ham and onions, I said no. Some things are just wrong. Just because you can make or do a thing doesn't mean you should!
 
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