Recipes Using Hardtack

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
Here are a couple recipes using ingredients actually in the rations of Civil War soldiers.

Hardtack Pudding: This is a tasty little treat that Federal soldiers invented. This took a bit of scrounging to get the extra ingredients that were not part of the rations.

  • Take 1-2 full pieces of hardtack and wrap it up in a clean cloth
  • Break the hardtack up until it is almost a powder
  • In a frying pan, combine the crushed hardtack, one handful of flour, brown sugar, salt, and enough water to make a dough. This dough may be sticky so use flour on your hands to knead and roll it into a ball.
  • Pat the dough out until it is flat
  • Place on the dough any fruit that you may have in your possession
  • Fold the dough over into a dumpling making sure to pinch the edges shut
  • Wrap the dumpling into a clean cloth and place it, cloth and all, into a pan of simmering water
  • Let the dumpling cook for around 15-20 minutes or until cooked.
  • Remove from the cloth and eat

Union Skillygalee:
  • Hardtack, broken into small chunks
  • Water
  • Salt Pork
  • Bacon grease
  • Break up hardtack into small chunks in the bottom of a bowl.
  • Soak hardtack for 10-15 minutes or until soft.
  • While hardtack is soaking, fry up some salt pork. After frying, chop the pork into small pieces.
  • Dump the soaked hardtack pieces into grease remaining in frying pan. Return the chopped salt pork to the skillet also.
  • Fry this until heated through.
  • Remove from heat and eat.
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
There's a Confederate skillygalee using their version of hardtack - johnny cakes. They set up like concrete! Forrest was known to cook for himself - we have an account from an aide who came to the general's tent and found him outside cooking his own breakfast. It was skillygalee!
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
There's a Confederate skillygalee using their version of hardtack - johnny cakes. They set up like concrete! Forrest was known to cook for himself - we have an account from an aide who came to the general's tent and found him outside cooking his own breakfast. It was skillygalee!
I have seen actual hardtack and it also turns to concrete when wet. That's why in the dumpling recipe, they basically ground it to powder. In the skillygalee recipe the hardtack is saved by frying it to crisp it up.
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
There's a difference, too, in the wheat grown in the North and the wheat grown in the South. Tends to be more like cake flour when ground up. Hardtack was given to the Indians who used buffalo grease...and decided to skip trying to soften it up altogether. Just get out the grinding stones and make fry bread. That's exactly where fry bread originates!
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
There's a difference, too, in the wheat grown in the North and the wheat grown in the South. Tends to be more like cake flour when ground up. Hardtack was given to the Indians who used buffalo grease...and decided to skip trying to soften it up altogether. Just get out the grinding stones and make fry bread. That's exactly where fry bread originates!
I admit to a love for fry bread. I am a bread freak and a carboholic. The whole purpose of gravy is for sopping up with bread!
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
Oh, yes indeed! (Well made pot likker, too...)
Ain't nothin' like the pot likker from my mother-in-law's collards. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. She made kickass drop biscuits, too. RIP Billie Faye.
 

jgoodguy

Webmaster
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
7,116
Reaction score
4,148
There's a difference, too, in the wheat grown in the North and the wheat grown in the South. Tends to be more like cake flour when ground up. Hardtack was given to the Indians who used buffalo grease...and decided to skip trying to soften it up altogether. Just get out the grinding stones and make fry bread. That's exactly where fry bread originates!
To make soft biscuits use White Lily flour. It uses Southern Wheat, while most other flour uses the Great Plains wheat. I've heard finding While Lily outside of the South is difficult. https://www.whitelily.com/#:~:text=White Lily® Flour is,Learn More
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
It is! I'd never realized this difference - never could make granny's big fluffy biscuits...and I REALLY wanted to! (Almost got her beef soup down, though.) Literally a couple weeks ago discovered there's different types of flour used in the South.
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
Speaking of drop biscuits and White Lily flour:
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Ooooh, drop biscuits! Granny had fig jam to go with that, too. And beans.

I don't think Indians can get along without beans and fry bread! Every household there's a pot of beans simmering on the stove - all kinds, too - and fry bread sitting on the counter. I'm notorious for it - people will come in the front door, "Hi, Grandma!" and head straight for the kitchen. Wait...do I know you? :D
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
You know, my dad's father was from Kentucky and made biscuits that were fantastic. He did it from memory and Dad said that's what him and granddad lived on until the housekeeper was hired. He put the old fashioned buttermilk in and some sugar. Dad wrote the recipe down - I'll try to find it! Good luck getting REAL buttermilk, though - sure miss my uncle the dairyman! (Along with the ability to digest his goods...)
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
You know, my dad's father was from Kentucky and made biscuits that were fantastic. He did it from memory and Dad said that's what him and granddad lived on until the housekeeper was hired. He put the old fashioned buttermilk in and some sugar. Dad wrote the recipe down - I'll try to find it! Good luck getting REAL buttermilk, though - sure miss my uncle the dairyman! (Along with the ability to digest his goods...)
You can still get real buttermilk at some stores. But if you can't find it, the culture for making your own is available everywhere.
 

jgoodguy

Webmaster
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
7,116
Reaction score
4,148
Ooooh, drop biscuits! Granny had fig jam to go with that, too. And beans.

I don't think Indians can get along without beans and fry bread! Every household there's a pot of beans simmering on the stove - all kinds, too - and fry bread sitting on the counter. I'm notorious for it - people will come in the front door, "Hi, Grandma!" and head straight for the kitchen. Wait...do I know you? :D
Ooooh, drop biscuits! Granny had fig jam to go with that, too. And beans.

I don't think Indians can get along without beans and fry bread! Every household there's a pot of beans simmering on the stove - all kinds, too - and fry bread sitting on the counter. I'm notorious for it - people will come in the front door, "Hi, Grandma!" and head straight for the kitchen. Wait...do I know you? :D
Indians invented the common bean, along with corn and squash. Common beans are the good tasting ones
 

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
I am a fan of beans - pretty much all varieties. But a couple legumes, black-eyed peas and field peas are my favorites, though they are not beans.
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
It was the Three Sisters planting the Navajos used - same hole put in beans, corn and squash. From time to time a small fish was added. The amazing varieties of corn and potatoes would knock you over! There's definitely a distinct difference in soils as well. Sorry, Conagra, commercial farming just don't cut it! Before somebody's mule pulled up a pile of gold while eating some grass, we had an abundance of beans without having to take up heavy duty farming. Totally different concept about it as well!
 

jgoodguy

Webmaster
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
7,116
Reaction score
4,148
Why is Buttermilk Used in Baking?
The extra acid in buttermilk tenderizes gluten, helping to create baked goods that are light and fluffy. Buttermilk also helps with leavening. When combined with baking soda, the acid in buttermilk helps to create a high rise. Buttermilk can also impart a subtle tangy flavor that can take a recipe from good to great.
 

jgoodguy

Webmaster
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
7,116
Reaction score
4,148
You can use commercial cultured buttermilk to make more.

Homemade Cultured Buttermilk link
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (from the store or home cultured)
  • 1 to 2 quarts skim,1%, 2%, or whole milk from the store or raw milk
Also needed:
  • 1 clean, dry quart or half gallon jar with a tight fitting two piece lid.
Okay. Ready? If you blink you’ll miss how to do it.
Pour buttermilk (1/4 cup for a quart jar or 1/2 cup for a half gallon jar) into your clean jar. Top off the jar with your plain milk. Tightly screw lid to the jar and shake vigorously for 1 minute. Place in a warm (but not hot) area out of direct sunlight. Let it sit there for 12 to 24 hours, until thickened. Refrigerate when thick. Use within two weeks. If you re-culture this regularly, you can carry on re-culturing indefinitely. I always feel like I’m stickin’ it to the man when I do homemade stuff like this. Who doesn’t love beating the system?
 
Top