Wild West Wednesday: Frontier Cooking

 

I have a hankering for old recipes, dusty cookbooks, and vintage kitchen utensils. I love taking a peek into how meals were prepared and served way back when. 

This recipe from an industrious homemaker has survived the century-plus since its publication. Recently I made this in my kitchen and the fritters were tasty--although my images of a handsome cowboy sitting across the table from me were purely in my mind. No matter how many fritters I fried, the cowboy just wouldn't show up to dinner! 

In all seriousness, if you'd like to check out some interesting recipes from the days when the west was settled, this nineteenth-century cookbook called Catering for Two: Comfort and Economy for Small Households by Alice James is worth a peek! 

Cauliflower Fritters

2-3 cups cauliflower florets

butter

1 beaten egg

pinch of salt

1T milk

1t flour

Boil cauliflower in salted water for twenty minutes. Drain. 

Add a pat or two of butter and mash. When cool enough to handle, form into small cakes. 

Combine the pinch of salt, beaten egg, milk, and flour to make a batter. Dip cakes into batter, then fry in a skillet using shortening of choice. 


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