Mock Roast Oysters

To mock roast oysters, take a heavy skillet, lay your [drained]oysters flat out in the pan until you have the bottom of the pan covered. Then, as they begin to make juice in the pan, pour it off or take it out with a spoon. Keep turning oysters over and over until browned a little; then have some melted butter in a hot serving dish, with pepper and salt to suit taste.

Lift the oysters from pan into butter sauce and send to the table hot.

 This may be a little trouble to cook, but the persons who eat the oysters never get through talking about them 

Recipe from The Baltimore Sun, 1890 

Ves Heil

Wassail (Old Norse "ves heil", Old English was hál, literally 'be you healthy') is a beverage of hot mulled cider, traditionally drunk as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval southern English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year. The name comes from the salute 'Waes Hail', first used as a simple greeting. The later Danish-speaking inhabitants of England seem to have turned "was hail", and the reply "drink hail", into a drinking formula adopted widely by the indigenous population of England.

This recipe from "Maryland's Way" is served on Christmas Greens Day at The Hammond-Harwood House.

1 Gallon Apple Cider

48 Whole Cloves

4 Teaspoons Whole Allspice

12 Pieces Stick Cinnamon 

1 Cup Sugar (or to taste)

1 Cup Fresh Squeeze Orange Juice

6 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Combine ingredients and bring to a slow boil. Simmer 10 minutes. Strain and serve hot. 4 cups apple brandy may be added after boiling, if desired. 

Wassail! wassail! all over the town,

Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;

Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink unto thee.

Tomato Pie

6 Red-Ripe Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Brown Sugar
3 Cups Bread Crumbs
3 Tablespons Butter

Scald Tomatoes to remove the skins; cut each in two crosswise. Butter a deep pie dish and place six halves on bottom. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with sugar. Cover with crumbs and add a few bits of butter. Repeat with a second layer and bake in a 350 oven for 1/2 hour.

Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen, 1873
Miss Agnes Tilghman, Gross Coate  (Talbot)

I used my homemade bread crumbs which added to the quality of this delicious dish.

Served as a side with some smoked turkey necks 

Smearcase

Smearcase from the Fenwick Bakery on Harford Rd. is a unique Baltimore dessert. Similar to cheesecake, this version comes to Maryland by way of German immigrants.

Old Fashion Rice Pudding

Miss Fanny's Receipt Book
(West River) Anne Arundel

1/2 Cup Rice
1 Quart Rich Milk
2 Eggs
3/4 Cup Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Lemon
1/2 Cup Raisins
Nutmeg

Boil Rice slowly in milk until soft and creamy. Mix beaten yolks of eggs with sugar, salt, juice and grated rind of lemon. Add to rice; stir in raisins and stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Pour into a pudding dish; sprinkle with nutmeg and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. (I made mine sans raisins)

Maryland Pride

Seen on the Eastern Shore on a sweltering Summer day

Great Grandmother Calvert

Great Grandmother Calvert's Fruit Cake



1 lb Golden Raisins
1 lb Currants
1/2 lb Citron, sliced thin
1/2 lb Candied Cherries and Candied Pineapple, cut nicely as you please
1/2 lb dates, you must cut them fine
1 lb Whole Pecan Meats
1 lb Ground Almonds
1 lb Macadamia Nuts, chopped
1 Pint Good Brandy
1 Cup Molasses
1 lb Butter
1 lb Brown Sugar
1 Dozen Eggs
1 lb Sifted Flour
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Allspice, slightly rounded
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
3/4 Teaspoon Cloves

Prepare fruit and nuts and soak overnight in half the brandy in a tightly covered container. (Keep cut up dates separate, as they tend to stick together). The soaking keeps fruit and nuts well apart, makes cake moist and pleasantly aromatic.

The next day, beat butter to a rich cream, then add sugar slowly and beat until fluffy and light. Add molasses and mix well. Beat yolks of eggs until lemon colored, then add to butter mixture and beat very light. Sift flour, salt, and soda, mix in spices, and add to mixture, alternating with remaining brandy. Stir in soaked fruit and nuts. (Only then cut-up dates need to be floured (I floured them with the ground almonds)). Beat whites of eggs until stiff and fold them into cake. Bake in a slow oven in well greased pans for 2 or 3 hours according to size.  Quantity makes one large and one medium cake. When cool wrap in an old napkin moistened with brandy, make airtight and put away in cool, dark place to mellow.