Indian Pudding

Thoughts:

During the colonial period in America, many early cookbooks made references to “indian” dishes, or “indian meal”. This simply meant dishes that included cornmeal, which was a primary staple food for many native tribes, and a somewhat novel ingredient to the European colonists.

Indian Pudding was essentially the New England counterpart to traditional English steamed puddings. The original puddings called for ingredients such as ground almonds, heavy cream, sugar, rosewater, and so on. The colonial pudding is more modest, making use of what ingredients were more readily available, such as cornmeal and molasses.

The consistency of this pudding, drawn from a 1796 recipe, is more firm than many modern versions of the same dish. I actually like this firmness, as it provides a nice counterpart to the lighter, softer whipped cream. The flavor is very similar to a gingerbread, and I would not have been able to guess that cornmeal was the primary dry ingredient. It’s rich, filling, and flavorful, and can be kept for days- a serious boon around holidays…

Indian Pudding Recipe

Ingredient:

3 pints scalded milk
1 pint meal
2 eggs
4 oz. butter
1/2 cup sugar or molasses
1 tsp. each ground cinnamon and ginger
heavy cream (optional)

Combine the butter with the warm milk, stirring until it has melted in. Allow to cool, then mix with remaining ingredients in a large bowl. If you have one, pour this mixture into a pudding mold, and place the lid on. If you don’t have a pudding mold, you can use a bowl just large enough to hold the batter. Place a lid of aluminium foil on top. Set the pudding mold into a water bath that comes most of the way up the sides. Bake for two hours at 25oF. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you are making this for a holiday, go ahead and make it the day before. Refrigerate, then either allow to come to room temperature, or gently reheat before serving. Scoop into bowls, and pour a little cream over top, or serve with a dollop of slightly sweetened whipped cream. It’s also tasty with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Acorn Cakes

Thoughts:

Now, don’t get too excited by the term “cake”, because these are much more like flapjacks, johnnycakes, or pancakes that a proper fluffy birthday cake sort of a treat. They’re based on a recipe from 1786 for “Indian Slapjack”, from the book, “American Cookery”, one of the earliest American recipe collections.

I tried a couple techniques with this until I determined that, like many things, they were best fried. Ideally, the slightly nutty flavor of the acorns is there, provided that the de-tannining process didn’t strip too much of it out. Even my very finely ground corn meal retained a little crunch and texture, and the eggs held everything together.

As with many breakfast items, it’s all about what you put on it. Honey, maple syrup, and fruit jellies all go beautifully with these little flapjacks, but you could certainly improvise, as well.

Where in Westeros?

Anywhere with oak trees, potentially. I suspect, though, from the amount of labor that goes into processing acorns, that only those without many other options would go through the trouble. It seems just the sort of thing the Liddles, Norreys, or Flints might make around the heart in their wild northern homes.

Acorn Cake Recipe

Cook’s note: I liked the ratio of 2/3 acorn meal to 1/3 corn meal. For info on how to process acorns into flour, check out my previous post on the topic.

Ingredients:

1 pint meal, mixed acorn meal and corn, ground fine
4 spoons whole meal flour
pinch of salt
4 eggs
warm water, enough to mix
1/4 cup suet, lard, or butter

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, then gradually begin adding water until you have a mixture the consistency of pancake batter, that can be dropped into a hot pan in spoonfuls.

Melt a little of the fat in a skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat. Drop a couple of spoonfuls into the hot pan, allowing them enough room to spread out. Let the cakes cook for at least 30 seconds, then peek underneath to see if they are done. When the first side is lightly browned, flip the cakes and cook for the same amount of time on the other side. Remove to a plate, and repeat with the remaining batter.

The cakes are best eaten fresh from the pan, but can be gently reheated the next day, as well.

Wheat Sheaf Breadsticks

So some of you might remember that I posted this photo on FB with some obscure hints about holiday cooking:

Well, here is the big reveal:

They’re breadsticks in the shape of wheat sheafs!

How fun is this? That photo above was just the practice run, and I decided that I wanted to get something with a little more definition. This batch is from the recipe posted below:

I was looking for a fun way to do bread for my Thanksgiving soup course (before I decided to go Colonial, anyway), and this creative idea struck me. I’m usually a fan of soft breadsticks, but when they can look like this, I’ll make an exception for the crunchy kind.

They’re small, light, and depending on your choice of topping, savory and difficult to stop eating. They are great as a festive touch to a feast table, sides to the appetizer cheese course, poking out of a cornucopia, or artfully placed atop soup bowls.

Bonus: Because they’re crunchy, these breadsticks can be made several days ahead of time, shaving off just a little bit of the crazy preparation from a big holiday.

Wheat Sheaf Breadsticks

Ingredients:

3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups flour
1 cup whole meal flour
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbs. cold water
heaping 1/3 cup sesame, poppy, or other seeds
1 Tbs. seasoned salt mixture

In a medium bowl, combine the warm water, honey, salt and yeast, and allow to sit for a few minutes, until frothy. Add the olive oil, then gradually add in the flour until you have a nice, supple, workable dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead for several minutes, until the dough bounces back when poked. Divide in half, cover with a clean tea towel, and allow to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Take one half of the dough and press or roll it out into a 9″x12″ rectangle. Brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle evenly with half of the seeds and seasoned salt. Press the top lightly to push the seeds in a little. Use a sharp knife (a pizza cutter is better) to cut the dough into strips 1/2″ wide.

Taking each end of a strip in each of your hands, twist until the topping side is spiraled all around in a pretty manner. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat with the rest. To make the decorative tops, snip around the end of the dough strip with a sharp pair of kitchen shears, overlapping your snips. It’s totally fine if they’re not perfect- just call it “rustic!”

Preheat the oven to 425F. Allow the twists to rise for about 30 minutes, then bake for about 12 minutes, until they are just slightly tipped with brown.