Johnny Cakes-
for about 8 large cakes

2 cups Cornmeal
1 cup hot water
pinch of salt

1.Mix cornmeal and water together until the dough stays in a moist ball.
2.Let sit for up to 30 minutes.
3.Make dough into patties.
4.Cook with butter or oil in frying pan over medium heat.
5. Flip when bottom gets golden brown.
6.Serve warm with butter, honey, salt or other toppings..
Period Recipes
rock-a-hominy

You can make an easy version of rock-a-hominy by simply browning a cup of regular yellow or white corn meal in a dry skillet on the stove...stir it constantly as it lightly browns...after that let it cool...
Then add brown sugar to taste, or crumble up one of those real Vermont "maple leaf" maple sugar candies for the traditional maple flavor...or you can get all cajun on it for variety with cayanne pepper and spices if youre brave...store it in a small leather draw string sack strung around your neck, and eat a dry spoon full of it washed down with a big swig of water as needed....but a spoonfull or two at a time is all you should eat.
This will swell a little in your tummy, and keep you feeling full on just a few spoon fulls. At least thats how it works for me...
You can even get fancy and make a special spoon just for your measure of rock-a-hominy like the American Indians were said to do...
Basic Pemmican

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef
2 and 1/2 oz. lard or vegetable fat (shortening)
Put the meat in a container lined with plastic film. Melt the fat and let it cool slightly to a gluey consistency. Pour the fat over the meat and let it harden. Wrap airtight and store, preferably in a freezer if you won't need the pemmican for a while.

Pemmican #2

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef
2 and 1/2 oz. lard or vegetable fat
1 T minced dried onions
Prepare as above.

Pemmican #3

2 oz. cooked, ground, and dried beef
3 oz. lard or vegetable fat
1/2 oz. dried (heat dried) ground berries
Prepare as above.

These recipes come from a book entitled The Complete Light-Pack Camping and Trail Foods Cookbook by Edwin P. Drew. The author suggests shaping the pemmican into bars by packing it into a match box lined with plastic wrap and then removing it when hard. He recommends the use of lard over vegetable shortening because of its superior flavor. He suggests that if you are going to carry other foods along with the pemmican, as is commonly done today, that you carry the pemmican and the berries separately. Lightly salting or peppering the pemmican after it cools will add additional flavor. The pemmican, like all dried foods, should be protected from heat and light. Depending on the ingredients, preparation, and storage conditions the pemmican should last up to 8 months or better. Freezing will definitely extend the life.

Pemmican has a very high food value. Made as the basic recipe above, it has 185 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat per ounce.


Onion Pie

½ lb. Potatoes
½ lb Apples
½ lb. Onions
6 eggs
½ lb. Butter
Pastry Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening – (can include up to 1/4 c. butter)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. very cold water

1. Combine the flour and salt.
2. Cut in the shortening with knives or a pastry blender until the mixture is mealy.
3. Add the beaten egg and 1/4 c. cold water.
4. Gradually add the remaining water if necessary to make a soft pastry.
5. Chill well.
6. Divide pastry in half. Roll out each half of pastry to no more than 1/8 inch thick on floured surface.

Pie Recipe
1.Cut the onions, potatoes, and apples into thin slices.
2.Lay half of the pastry in a pie pan.
3.Spread ½ cup butter pats over crust.
4. Beat two eggs. Combine separately,1/4 tsp each Nutmeg, pepper, salt, mace.
4.Add layers of apples, onions, and potatoes until pie is filled, putting some beaten egg and spices between each layer.
6.Spread the left-over butter on top and cover with crust.
7.Cut a few slits in top for steam.
8.Cook in preheated 350 degree oven for l to l ½ hours or until golden brown, or in a large Dutch oven.
9. Let cool then enjoy.
(Be sure to slice the apples and potatoes thin, no more than 1/8”, to be sure they cook through.)
Adapted from the Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop