Hi Robert, Yes I know that hominy is made from corn. But what they do to the beloved corn kernal is a shame.It is just not to my tastes.  I do make a sort of corn dodger that I carry in my haversack that I am fond of.1 part flour , 1 part corn meal , a little sugar(for my sweet tooth)salt to taste an a little baking powder, And just enough water to make a thick dough.Bake in a mini muffin tin until light brown. then set on the counter top untill good and dry.I like store bought corn nuts and pass them of as parched corn.(Is that cheating?)
I will need to try something with salt pork. That is new to me.
Pvt. Dan 6th Ohio

Dan,

Just yanking your chain a bit. Without the germ on it it does have a different texture. Corn nuts basically is parched corn and as long as you are not pulling out the foil bag and eating out of it you are probably OK.  

--Last edited by toptimlrd on 2007-07-16 22:28:11 --

Dan, what is your next event, and if it is one of those generic encampment and skirmish affairs, does it have some sort of background theme or scenario? We may have some fun here.

Charles, I figured you would want to get involved here.  

--Last edited by toptimlrd on 2007-07-16 22:31:28 --

Little slow, Bob?  

Quote :

Charles Heath wrote : Little slow, Bob?

It was your comment about having "fun". I've heard of some of your culinary delights and wish we were closer so I could be at some of the events you are at. Oh well maybe someday.

Bob, plan to cool off somewhat from that Florida weather next summer, and make a trip up to Virginia. You may find something to your liking, but you are on your own in terms of cooking.

Charles and Robert,
I don't put out anything in view that is modern. Poke sacks,small tins(for Lemon drops, rock candy)or wrapped in a little wax paper a put in a poke sack.

In a previous hobby(Ham Radio)I cooked outside on gas grills and such for 20 to
25 guys.I am not above having a little fun with the troops. I made a large pot of chili one cold day and just before serving I dropped a handful of white seedless grapes in the pot.I told the boys I put some road-kill possum in the pot.
I told them if they got the possum's eye ball they won a prize.
They laughed at me untill one of those smart-$#%&^ teen-age boys came up with a grape on his spoon on the way to his pie-hole.He turned green and it was my turn for a laugh.Thanks for the helpfull hints. My next even is Buffington Island on the Ohio river. Small turn out so I will not cook much. Mid-September is our staging event for Mill Springs late Sept.I will cook at both.
Keep your powder dry, and your pots clean. The Union Forever!
Pvt. Dan Girton 6th Ohio

Dan,

Figuring out what forage items were seasonal in that part of Ohio in mid-July 1863 may give an idea as to what to serve. Is the 6th coming as Squirrel Hunters to get ol' Morgan? As you know, Hank and Linda have a good grip on SE Ohio agriculture, and may be of some assistance beyond issue meat, hardbread, coffee, and sugar.

Mill Springs presents an opportunity for some good reading. That land is not yet stripped of good things to eat, but it is the dead of winter.

Quote :

wrapped in a little wax paper a put in a poke sack.

If you are trying to present an accurate appearance, you might want to check into that wax paper. Not much evidence for it as a food wrapping in the 1860s, unless you know something I don't.

Quote :

My next even is Buffington Island on the Ohio river.

That's just up the river from me an hour or so! Went there a few years ago, as a spectator. Are you portraying the local militia chasing Morgan? It sticks in my mind the Union side was mostly cavalry, mounted infantry, and militia. If you really wanted to research the situation, there ought to be some pretty interesting cullinary possibilities with a militia company.

I was planning to go to Mill Springs but there just didn't seem to be anything I could add as a civilian, but one challenge there would be providing only foods available in January when the actual battle happened, despite the event being held in the bounteous garden season of late September.

If reenactors appreciate the subtleties, there's lots of room for unique historic interpretation with food. I don't know how to say this without sounding wrong for this forum, but there may be a limit on allowable authenticity if you're cooking at mainstream events. Reenactors may demand modern food or modern-tasting food or out-of-historical-context food, and exert pressure until that's what you have to fix.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Hank,

Discussing authenticity in the mainstream folder is OK as long as it doesn't break down into the tired old us vs. them.

Quote :

Charles Heath wrote :   Still having flashbacks from RECON 1?

Actually I think I missed that event.. but then again after all the years they have blurred together..

Greg,

Consider yourself fortunate in that regard.  

Quote :

Charles Heath wrote : Greg, Consider yourself fortunate in that regard.

I was at Recon II (in 2002) but I don't recall Recon I.  What year was that again?

Greg,

The year was 2000, and the month may have been May. The site was Oak Ridge Plantation between Charlottesville and Amherst, and this was also the location for several Stanardsville reenactments.

There's a guy posting on this tread who can take mystery meat and 40 pounds of other foods that magically apear out of his and everyone else's haversacks and knapsacks into a meal fit for a king. He knows about field cooking. And, he's very very good at it. Listen to Charles. Believe you me. Burp.

There was that gray coffee at McDowell... (Coffee + bakers chocolate). The boys drank it all up, it was really good.

There's one good and easy meal that would seem to be perfect for Friday night in a mainstream camp, the often overlooked bubble and squeak. It's simply layers of sliced cabbage (sliced as if for sauerkraut) and finely cubed beef, stacked in a kettle with enough water in the bottom to keep it from burning. If you brown the beef first in a fry pan with quite a bit of salt (maybe with some bacon to give you grease) you've got about all the flavoring it requires. The trick seems to be to not overcook the cabbage, to keep it crunchy (and therefore sweet, although this is not something most folks realize). It's served up with a teaspoon of vinegar sprinkled on each serving as it comes out to the pot. All the different flavors and textures -- salt, sour, sweet, crunchy, and nice moist chunks of beef -- combine to make this a lot more interesting and tasty than you'd suspect going into it. And while it's good to not overcook the cabbage, at the same time this has a "pot life" of several hours, so folks coming in up to midnight can still get a cup of good food.  I know of one fellow who also had it for breakfast the next morning, but he was as brave as the first man to ever eat an oyster, because it just didn't look like food any more. (He survived.)

When I've been in a hurry I'll first really fry the beef and boil the cabbage for about 10 minutes before stacking it all in a second kettle. But that's with the luxury of a full-blown kitchen with three kettles and a big frypan. With one kettle you're kind of steaming the stuff from the bottom over a little more time and have to keep an eye that you don't run out of water.

I say Friday because if you wait until Saturday someone is going to fuss about keeping that beef cold until then.

I always just add the vinegar directly into the "stacked" pot. One good meal.

Bill,

Next time you make bubble & squeak or boiled beans, take one of the larger nesting sheet iron (okay, mile steel these days) kettles, fling four or five stones about the size of shooter marbles, and then insert a smaller kettle. The medium kettle inside the large works rather well for this. Then, add a little water to make a water jacket between the inner and outer kettle. This adds but a few moments the cooking time, and the vittles are less likely to scorch. A side benefit is the boiling water surrounding the smaller kettle allows for more even heating.

Grumpy, that secret "gray coffee" ingredient still eludes you.

Great idea, Charles.