Because there are so many great meatloaf recipes out there, I will be posting the old family and heritage ones I come across. Here’s the first to start you off:

Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium onion, sliced
2 eggs, unbeaten
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 c. stewed tomatoes
2 slices bread, broken into pieces
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 strips bacon

Combine all ingredients except bacon. Pack into 9×5x3″ loaf pan. Place bacon strips across the top. Bake in preheated moderate oven (350 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

This recipe for Ozark Salt Risin’ Bread provides an interesting (and simple) approach to bread making. The recipe arose out of necessity, as yeast was not always readily available to early settlers. The initial batter stage uses ingredients that ferment together to produce wild yeasts that enable the dough to rise. Salt risin’ bread is so good that even after commercial yeast became available, the recipe was not altered. The bread is great toasted.

Ozark Salt Risin’ Bread

While getting breakfast in the morning, as soon as the teakettle has boiled, take a quart tin cup or an earthen quart milk pitcher, scald it, then fill 1/3 full of water about as warm as the finger could be held in. To this add a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of brown sugar, and coarse flour enough to make a batter of about the right consistency for griddle-cakes. Set the cup, with the spoon in it, in a closed vessel half-filled with water moderately hot, but not scalding. Keep the temperature as nearly even as possible and add a teaspoon of flour once or twice during the fermentation. The yeast ought to reach to the top of the bowl in about five hours. Sift your flour into a pan, make an opening in the center and pour in your yeast. Have ready a pitcher of warm milk, salted, or milk and water (not too hot, or you will scald the yeast germs), and stir rapidly into a pulpy mass with a spoon. Cover this sponge closely and keep warm for an hour, then knead into loaves adding flour to make the proper consistency. Place in warm, well-greased pans, cover closely and leave till it is light. Bake in a steady moderate oven, and when done let all the hot steam escape. Wrap closely in damp towels and keep in closed earthen jars until it is wanted.

I’m not a big proponent of corn syrup for various reasons (which is in this recipe), but I just had to post this black walnut pie recipe! Black walnuts are found all across the U.S., but the largest one is located right here in my own backyard–on Sauvie Island, just minutes from Portland! Here it is:

Enough about walnuts, on to the recipe!

Black Walnut Pie

1 c. dark corn syrup
1 tsp. flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp. salt
Chopped black walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. sugar
Egg white
Melted butter
Uncooked pie crust

Combine and mix well corn syrup, flour, three eggs beaten, salt, vanilla, sugar. Pour into uncooked pie shell. Brush pie crust with egg white. Put butter over pie and cover with chopped black walnuts. Bake about 40 minutes in a very low oven, about 250 degrees.

Sorghum Molasses Pie

2 c. molasses
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. melted butter
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pie crust

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat well. Pour into pastry and bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) until done.

Mince Meat

Boil and chop fine: 3 lbs. beef tongue or venison tongue. Add 4 lbs. suet, also chopped fine.

Then add:
4 lbs. brown sugar
4 lbs. raisins
3 lbs. currants
4 lbs. apples, chopped fine
1 lb. finely sliced citron
1 Tbsp. each of mace, cloves, and cinnamon
2 nutmegs (coarsely ground)

Mix with enough brandy to wet well. Keep moist and it will “keep” all winter.

This old recipe comes from the Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, published in the 1950s. I love this cookbook because all it talks about is how much men love meat and potatoes! The salads it features are basically intended for women’s luncheons. The Garden Salad Loaf recipe is one of the classic Jello mold recipes of the 50s and 60s, so I thought it was pretty appropriate for this blog.

I wonder if anyone ever cooks these things anymore?

Garden Salad Loaf

2 green peppers, cut in small strips
4 chopped green onions (include tops)
20 radishes, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, thinly slices
4 small tomatoes, cut in thin wedges
¾ c. French dressing
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
¼ c. sugar
1 tsp. Salt
2 2/3 c. very hot water
½ c. vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 c. shredded chicory or lettuce
1 c. coarsely torn spinach or shredded cabbage
¼ c. minced parsley

Combine first 5 vegetables and marinate in French dressing 15 minutes or more

Combine gelatin, sugar, and salt; add hot water and stir to dissolve ingredients. Add vinegar and lemon juice. Chill until gelatin thickens.

Drain vegetables well. Fold marinated vegetables and crisp greens into gelatin mixture. (Chicory, spinach and parsley do not wilt easily, but you may use lettuce or shredded cabbage, too.) Pour into oiled loaf pan, about 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 3″. Chill until firm.

Turn out on platter. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Here’s a secret: raccoon is good eats! A recipe for roast raccoon was included in the 1931 edition of The Joy of Cooking, and more recently, it received an article in the Kansas City Star. Raccoon tastes good, is lean, and highly nutritious. In Missouri, one whole raccoon sells for $4-$7 and feeds 4-5 hungry adults. Coons are safest to eat out West, as East Coast coons sometimes have diseases, so make sure your meat looks healthy before buying (and no trapper will sell you diseased meat in the first place). If you happen upon some fresh, wild coon meat, you may be surprised to find one paw remaining on the carcass. This is required by law to prove that the meat is, in fact, raccoon, and not some mystery meat.

If you trap them yourself, you only want to catch them during freezing temperatures, apparently they taste better then. Follow these steps for dressing the game: skin, draw, and clean the meat as soon as possible. Carefully remove the scent glands from under the forelegs, thighs, and back. They are brown, bean-shaped kernels, and you don’t want to break them.

This recipe comes from a farm journal and makes enough for 24 people, so pare it down if you aren’t serving that many.

Roast Raccoon

3 to 4 raccoons, 4-5 lbs. each
5 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 c. flour
1 c. oil for frying (use only as much as needed at one time)
8 medium onions, peeled
12 bay leaves

Cut meat into pieces, saving meaty backs and legs for baking. Cook bony pieces in water to make a broth for the gravy and dressing, adding a small amount of seasonings. Simmer until meat falls from the bone, strain, and set aside.

Season the rest of the meat with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, brown in a skillet with the oil, and put in a roasting pan. Add onions and bay leaves, cover, and bake at 350° for about 2 hours or until tender.

Afterword, make the gravy by adding flour to the pan drippings (2-3 Tbsp. flour for 1 c. liquid). Serve with vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing.

Now, this pawpaw pie recipe is too interesting to pass up! Pawpaws are native to the Midwest and are as large as a mango. They have a creamy, custardy inside and taste like a tropical fruit, somewhere in between a banana and a mango. Pawpaws were consumed in North America for centuries before European settlers came over, but you’re best bet finding it now is at a local farmer’s market if you live in the Midwest. Some people sell them through mail order catalogs as well.

Pawpaw Pie

1 c. sugar
1 c. milk
1 egg
¼ tsp. Salt
1 ½ c. paw paws (peeled and seeded)

Place all ingredients into stew pan and stir together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake until the crust is done. Can be topped with meringue or other topping.

This recipe is adapted from a 1939 pamphlet advertising Rawleigh’s food products. It’s called the “50th Anniversary Good Health Guide” and includes horoscopes and recipes, mainly for pies and cakes. As I read through the recipes, this cucumber-horseradish relish caught my eye. It’s got a consistency reminiscent of my grandma’s Jello molds–who knew that carrots and Jello go together?

Before Jello came around, these gelatinous dishes were known as aspics or cabarets. They date back to at least the Middle Ages—you can find a recipe for aspic in Le Viandier, a cookbook written in the 1300s. Aspics hold together various ingredients; meats, vegetables, and fruits have all been incorporated into aspics at some point. Try this one the next time you want something different to go with your meat.

Jellied Cucumber and Horseradish Relish

1 Tbsp. gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 lg. cucumber, diced
2 Tbsp. horseradish
1 sm. onion, chopped
1/2 c. mild vinegar
1 Tbsp. green or red pepper, minced

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water and dissolve over boiling water. Mix remaining ingredients and add gelatin. Pour into tiny individual mold that have been rinsed in cold water. Chill until firm and serve with meat.

This recipe for catfish soup dates back to at least the 1850s. We’ve modernized it, using olive oil for the vegetable saute and bulking up the veggies. Serve with homemade biscuits and you won’t be disappointed!

Catfish Soup

2 to 3 lbs. catfish, deboned
4-6 c. water
1 sliced onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 potato, chopped
Garlic
Bay leaf
Parsley
Thyme
1 c. milk or cream
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Saute onion, celery, and carrots, then add garlic and potatoes and cook for one minute. Add herbs, water, and catfish. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, the simmer until everything is tender. Stir in milk near end and serve warm.

Rhubarb is a vegetable that has been cultivated for centuries, but not many people continue to grow it in their home gardens. Surprisingly, there are many rhubarb recipes besides strawberry rhubarb pie–all it takes is looking in the right place! This rhubarb punch recipe makes a gorgeous drink that is great on its own, but you can also substitute sparkling water or add vodka for an adult version of the drink!

Rhubarb Punch

2 c. rhubarb juice
4 c. water
1 ¾ c. orange juice
1 ¼ c. grape juice
½ c. sugar

Serve cold. Makes 8 or 9 servings.

**If you don’t have a juicer, you can make rhubarb syrup the old fashioned way: cut rhubarb into 1″ pieces and put in soup pot. Cover with part of the water and sugar, bring to boil, then simmer until tender. Strain out the pulp.