Back in the Old West, folks weren't as lucky as we folks today with hopping in our car and heading to the grocery or butchershop. If they wanted meat on their table, they had to hunt it themselves, from what they raised on their ranch, or by trading with a neighbor. Then came the fun part of plucking, skinning, cleaning and...well, you get the idea.
In days gone by, families took pride in their dinner table with linen table cloths, napkins and forks and knifes at the right side of the plates. Canisters with condiments or fresh flowers were in the center. Folks properly combed their hair, and no one came to the table with grubby hands.
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Fried Chicken
Sunday dinner used to be chicken with all the fixings, where families gathered around the table.
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbs. salt
2 tbs. paprika
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
Flour
Vegetable oil
Place chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour buttermilk over. Cover. Put in icebox (refrigerator) for at least 8 hours.
When you are ready to fry the chicken:
Pour enough oil into a skillet to fill a half an inch. Heat to 325 degrees.
Drain chicken using a colander. In a small bowl, combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion, powder and cayenne pepper. Mix together. Season chicken. Dedge chicken in the flour; shake off axcess.
Place the chicken in the skillet and fry until golden brown on each side, about 10 to 12 minutes each.
Drain chicken on a rack. Serve hot right away.
(Note: Back in the olden days, paper towels weren't invented, thus cooks just let chicken naturally drain. It also helped to prevent coating from softening.)
* Good with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob. Or whatever makes
yer mouth water.
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Chickens Fried With Cream
(From The Young Housewife's Counsellor and Friend, by Mrs. Mary Mason, c. 1875)
After plucking, and cutting up your chickens, lay them for an hour in cold water, then, after wiping them dry, salting, peppering, and flouring, fry them in lard till of a handsome, light-brown color. Now take them from the frying-pan, and, after carefully taking out all the burnt bits of flour, pour into the pan a cup of rich, sweet cream, with a handful of chopped parsley, and half a teaspoonful of curry-powder. Let the gravy stew till the parsley is quite done, dish your chickens, and pour the gravy over them. This is a very delicious dish.
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Squirrel Pie
1 8-inch pie shell, unbaked
2 squirrels, skinned, cleaned, cut in pieces
3 tbs. butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
Flour
Dash of Tabasco Sauce
Place meat pieces in a kettle or larger saucepan and just cover with water. Add a teaspoon of salt and 1/8 tablespoon pepper. Cover kettle and cook over low heat until meat is tender. Drain off liquid and set aside. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones. In a large skillet melt butter and lightly fry onions. Stir in parsley. Measure the liquid drained from kettle. For each cup of the reserved liquid add 1 1/2 tablespoon of flour to skillet mixture. Add a tablespoon at a time and mix well. Add the reserved liquid slowly, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Add Tabasco sauce. Drop meat pieces into boiling mixture. Pour entire mixture into pie shell and bake at 425 degree for 15 minutes.
* (Dedicated to the squirrely squirrel...my evil twin, Leta! This one's for you!
Above: Our pet Squirrel, Scooter)
Tabasco Sauce first came on the market in 1868. Some historians say the name "Tabasco" is a Central American Indian word that means “land where the soil is hot and humid.” Other historians have put forth that it actually means “place of coral or oyster shell.”
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Squirrel Stew With Dumplings
1 Squirrel
1 quart water
3- 4 slices bacon
3 potatos, chopped
Chopped tomatoes
Beef broth to taste
1 cup kernel corn
1 large onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
Place water in kettle, along with cut up squirrel. Cut up bacon and add. Let simmer
until meat is tender, then all remainder of ingredients. Salt and pepper well. Let stew
until potatos are tender.
What you will need for dumplings:
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Mix together ingredients with just enough flour to make the dough drop readily from spoon. Drop into your stew, cover until done-- they will be round fluffy balls.
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Apple Pork Chops
2 cups hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped sage
3 Tbs molasses
1/2 tps salt
3 Tbs flour
Peel, core and slice apples. Place chops in skillet, sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and sage over them. Brown in skillet, remove -- and save drippings. Put chops in deep dish, lay apples on top -- add molasses to top. Make sauce by adding flour to drippings in skillet -- cook until brown. Add water, going at it slowly, then add 1/2 teaspoons salt -- cook until it boils. Pour over chops. Cover and bake in oven for one hour.
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Prairie Dog
Nope, lil' buckaroo. No needin' to go huntin' down a prairie pup.
Jest hot dogs, or weiners, will do.
Take a wiener and split it lengthwise. Rub the insides of the wiener with ground sage, and broil until done. On one side of a bun, spread mustard and cover with thinly sliced dill pickle. On the other, sprinkle with Worcestershire. "It makes the usual catsup and mustard wiener sandwich taste very poor in comparison."
* Word around the smoke pit is that Wild West lawman/gunfighter/writer
and friend of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson invented this recipe. I ain't sayin'
this is the gospel, as we all know how rumors start like bacon grease
leapin' from a frying pan.
In 1849, England's Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce was first imported into the United States from Great Britain.
Out of a labor of love of my favorite era -- the Wild West. No pages within my
Web site may be reproduced in form or by any means without prior permission from me
Lady Belle Outlaw Productions. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2000 - 2009
