Historical Nibbles

This Week in History: Civil War Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia

/ sandramervillehart

Tuesday, June 9, 1863

Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to fight the battle above the Mason-Dixon. He began marching his army west from Fredericksburg toward Culpeper Court House. Lee wanted the protection of the Shenandoah Valley and asked General J.E.B. Stuart to mask the army’s movements with his cavalry.

Stuart had about 9,500 cavalry troops at Brandy Station—a small crossroads between the Rappahannock River and Culpeper—on June 8, 1863. Lee ordered Stuart to lead a raid across the river on June 9th to create a diversion.

Federal General Joseph Hooker, having guessed Stuart’s plan, deployed his cavalry under General Alfred Pleasonton to attack on June 9th. His men surprised Confederate pickets at Beverly’s Ford at 4:30 am and chased them back to their camp near St. James Church on the road to Brandy Station.

Confederates suffered until their artillery was ready to fire on Union troops at the church. Union General Buford ordered his troops to charge. They were repulsed.

In the meantime, Union General David Gregg brought his cavalry behind Stuart’s men with Fleetwood Hill blocking them. Union artillery fired on Fleetwood Hill, startling Stuart but he rallied in time to fight the Union’s charge.

After almost five hours of hard fighting, Pleasonton received reports of Confederate reinforcements and withdrew at 5 pm. Union casualties totaled 866 with 81 killed. Confederate casualties were 523.

The infantry used to joke, “Whoever saw a dead cavalryman?”

The fierce battle at Brandy Station ended that.

The Union cavalry was respected after the battle.

And the battle hid the Confederate march northward.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Sources

“Brandy Station,” Civil War Trust, 2017/05/01, http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/brandy-station.html?tab=facts.

Long, E.B with Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, A Da Capo Paperback, 1971.

 

Cabbage and Beet Soup

/ sandramervillehart

I recently ran across The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in an antique store. This book was originally published in 1896.

Stock, water enriched by the food cooked in it, is an important ingredient in numerous soups. Homemade stock brings full-bodied flavor to recipes. The recipe for the beef stock used in this recipe is found  here.

To make this soup, peel and dice 2 cups of raw beets. The beet juice briefly stained my hands, my counter, and my cutting board, but it washed off easily with dishwashing liquid.

Chop 1 onion. Coarsely chop 2 cups of cabbage. Place all three ingredients in a pot with 4 cups of beef stock or 4 cups of beef bouillon. (I used two cups of each, which worked very well. You may also use beef broth in place of the beef stock.)

Bring this to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer the soup for about 30 minutes. Cook a little longer if the beets are not tender. Replace liquid that evaporates during cooking with additional water or beef stock.

Remove from the heat. Add freshly ground pepper to taste and 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar. Salt to taste. (I added ½ teaspoon of salt and thought that was the perfect amount.)

When serving, you may add a teaspoon of sour cream to garnish. I tasted the soup with and without the sour cream. If there is no sour cream, another tablespoon of vinegar is needed. When I ate the soup with the sour cream, all the ingredients worked well together.

This is a delicious soup that I will make again.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

Preparing Beef Stock

/ sandramervillehart / 1 Comment

I recently ran across The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in an antique store. This book was originally published in 1896.

Fannie’s advised that making beef stock from bones without meat lacks flavor. Use marrow bones from the butcher if available. Request that these be cut into two-inch pieces.

My local butcher didn’t have any marrow bones on hand, so he cut another bone into three chunks about the size of my palm. They weighed less than two pounds—the recipe called for two and half pounds with an equal amount of lean stew beef. I took what they had and purchased two and half pounds of stew beef.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees to brown meat, bones, and vegetables. According to Fannie, browning all these ingredients before cooking adds flavor and color to the stock.

The recipe calls for 3 sliced onions. Having already made chicken stock, I knew that vegetables are discarded at the end as they are limp from the cooking process. I decided to save time and cut the onions in halves. Three celery stalks were cut in half. I set aside the onions, celery, and nine baby carrots.

Fannie suggested using a roasting pan to brown the meat and vegetables in the preheated oven. In hindsight, that would be quicker because everything will fit at once. I used a cast iron skillet where all the ingredients didn’t fit. It took three different browning sessions to cook everything.

Heat 2 tablespoons of shortening or oil in the roasting pan or skillet. Add the bones and stew beef. Stir and turn these frequently. Add the celery, carrots, and onions after 10 minutes. Stir the vegetables and watch so that they don’t scorch. When the meat is browned, remove everything from the oven.

Carefully transfer meat, vegetables, and bones to a stock pot or large kettle.

Add a cup of boiling water to the roasting pan and stir to get all the scrapings off the pan. Then add this to the stock pot.

Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, a bay leaf, 2 sprigs of parsley, and 6 crushed peppercorns to the pot. Add 4 quarts of cold water.

Cook on medium high heat until water begins to boil then reduce to simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 2 ½ hours. If you plan to use the stew beef in another recipe, remove it now and refrigerate for later use. I used a slotted spoon to take out the beef and scalded my hands a couple of times, so be careful.

Continue simmering for another 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. The total simmering time is four to five hours.

Fannie suggests waiting to add salt until using the stock in a recipe. This allows for salty flavors of other ingredients.

Should you choose to season the stock itself, add salt to taste just before it is done.

Strain the stock and allow to cool, uncovered. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

I don’t generally use a lot of onion in my recipes. I will only use one onion the next time I make beef stock, but I wanted to try Fannie’s recipe her way.

This stock is very aromatic while cooking. I will let you know how I use the stock and the beef in a future recipe and I’d love to hear from you, too!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

 

 

The La Vale Toll House on the National Road

/ sandramervillehart

Work on a National Road near the Potomac River in Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio River in Wheeling, Virginia (later became part of the newly created state of West Virginia during the Civil War) in 1811. This section of road was completed in 1818 though the road continued into Ohio after that.

High traffic caused lots of wear and tear on the road, making it difficult to maintain. The federal government turned over the maintenance of the road to the states in the early 1830s. To cover the cost, the states built toll houses to collect tolls.

Maryland built its first toll house, the La Vale Toll House, about six miles from Cumberland around 1833. This toll house is the state’s only one still standing on the National Road (also called Cumberland Road.)

Tollkeepers collected tolls there until the early 1900s. Included in their $200 annual salary were free living quarters.

It’s fun to read the toll rates. For example, horse and riders paid 4 cents for ten miles or 14 cents for thirty-five miles. Travelers paid 8 cents for ten miles or 28 cents for thirty-five miles for every sleigh, sled, chaise, or Dearborn “drawn by one horse or pair of oxen.”

Dearborn wagons contained four wheels generally drawn by a single horse. The vehicle usually had one seat, with top curtains and sometimes side curtains. From 1819 to 1850, truck farmers and peddlers used the affordable Dearborn.

Gateposts are all that remain of a second Maryland toll house outside of Frostburg. This one was located thirteen miles from Cumberland. There’s a nice photo of the toll house on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum site.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Day, Reed B. The Cumberland Road: A History of the National Road, Closson Press, 1996.

“Dearborn Wagon.” Dictionary of American History.. Encyclopedia.com. 23 Apr. 2017<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Edited by Raitz, Karl. A Guide to The National Road, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

“First Toll Gate House,” The Historical Marker Database, 2017/04/22  http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=442.

Schneider, Norris F. The National Road: Main Street of America, The Ohio Historical Society, 1975.

“The La Vale Toll House,” The Historical Marker Database, 2017/04/22 http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=443.

“The National Road & Toll House near Frostburg, MD,” Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, 2017/04/22 http://www.eduborail.org/nps-1/image-1-nps-1.aspx.

 

 

 

 

Chicken Gumbo Soup Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

I prepared chicken stock using a recipe found in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, giving me cooked chicken and chicken stock. I decided to make chicken gumbo soup.

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup okra, frozen or fresh

2 stalks of celery, sliced

½ cup carrots, bite-sized slices

1 can (about 16 ounces) diced tomatoes

½ cup uncooked rice, brown or white

2 cups cubed or shredded chicken

Salt

Pepper

Fresh minced parsley (optional)

As Fannie warned, my chicken stock gelled in the refrigerator. Also, it had only made about 3 ½ cups of stock. I added enough water to make 4 cups into a large kettle. I warmed this over medium heat until in liquid form again.

Add okra, celery, carrots, and tomatoes to the warmed stock. Stir in the uncooked rice. Cover and cook on medium heat for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the soup from sticking.

Reduce heat to low. Add chicken. Salt and pepper to taste. (Since I had not salted my chicken stock, I used a teaspoon of salt—the perfect amount for me.) Cook on low for about ten minutes to heat the chicken.

Garnish with a little minced parsley, if desired.

This made a hearty soup that I found delicious. One bowl is plenty for a meal.  I think an extra cup of stock would have been perfect, so I will use 5 cups of stock next time.

I’d love to hear from you if you try these recipes. Enjoy!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

Preparing Chicken Stock

/ sandramervillehart / 1 Comment

I recently ran across The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in an antique store. This book was originally published in 1896. Fannie Farmer’s name is still well-known today.

Reading Fannie Farmer’s recipe for stock intrigued me. I’ve made chicken broth from chicken but realized that is different from Fannie’s chicken stock.

Instead of making stock using chicken wings, necks, backs, and bones, I decided to use a whole chicken. This gave me boiled chicken to make soup for an easy supper the following day.

A local butcher cut up the chicken for me. Included in the package were the neck, heart, gizzard, and back. I used the legs, breasts, thighs, wings, neck, and back and discarded the rest.

Wash the chicken and put into a large pot, holding out the breasts and wings to be added later. Add eight cups of cold water. Cut one peeled onion in half and place in the pot. Add six baby carrots or peel two carrots and cut them into thirds.

Slice in half three celery stalks, including the leaves. Add a bay leaf, a teaspoon dried thyme, and six crushed peppercorns.

Cook on medium high heat until water begins to boil then reduce to simmer. Since white meat cooks more quickly than dark meat, add breasts and wings after the stock has simmered for twenty minutes.

Cover and simmer until chicken is done. Mine was ready in about an hour. Remove chicken from pot. Debone. Add bones and skin back into the stock and continue simmering.

Refrigerate the chicken for later use in another recipe.

The total simmering time is four to five hours, which includes the time it takes to cook the chicken.

Fannie suggests waiting to add salt until using the stock in a recipe. This allows for salty flavors of other ingredients.

Should you choose to season the stock itself, add salt to taste just before it is done.

Strain the stock and allow to cool. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Stock made from bones will gel in the refrigerator. When the broth thaws out, skim off the top layer of fat.

This smells and tastes delicious, even without salt. The stock smells so aromatic and appetizing that your family may be hungry for supper a little early.

Enjoy!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

Fannie Farmer’s Tips on Preparing Stock for Soups

/ sandramervillehart

I recently ran across The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in an antique store. This book was originally published in 1896. Fannie Farmer’s name is still well-known today.

Stock, water enriched by the food cooked in it, is an important ingredient in numerous sauces and soups. Homemade stock brings full-bodied flavor to recipes.

Though stocks may take all afternoon to cook, they are not difficult to prepare. Once the ingredients simmer in a pot, simply check periodically that the stock isn’t cooking too quickly.

Use fresh ingredients. Preparing stock allows cooks to use beef bones, chicken bones, and necks. Onions, parsley, dill, mushroom stems, and celery—including celery tops are foods that go into stock.

Start with cold water as it draws the meat juices into the soup as it comes to a boil. After this initial boil, reduce heat to a simmer.

Partially cover during simmering to maintain the simmer. This reduces the liquid without losing nutrients.

Wait to season with salt until the stock is almost done if you know how you plan to use it. If storing it for later use, do not add salt now because it won’t reduce after being salted. The rule of thumb seems to be to season when you are ready to prepare it for your family.

Strain stock after cooking and set aside to cool, uncovered. It’s best to cool the stock quickly and it can be placed in the refrigerator. Covering the stock while it cools may cause it to sour.

If the stock is stored in the refrigerator, reheat it every three days. Boil for two minutes.

Stock freezes well for future use. One of Fannie’s tips was to freeze the stock in ice trays and then bag the cubes in the freezer—easy to grab a few when needing a small amount!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.

 

 

 

 

Macadamized Roads

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

John Loudoun McAdam, a Scottish inventor, traveled almost 19,000 miles from 1798—1814 to form a method of making roads less susceptible to water.

Stagecoaches and wagons got stuck on muddy roads, adding to the difficulty of traveling. As surveyor general, McAdam devised a way to greatly improve roads and wrote of it in his Remarks on the Present System of Road-Making (1816).

To aid in water drainage, McAdam first recommended that roads be higher than the ground beside it. A layer of large broken stones then covered the road. Smaller stones were then laid over them. A fine layer of gravel was the last component.

This design reduced wear and tear on the road. Water drained to ditches on the side.

His recommendation was a great improvement over traveling on muddy roads. His idea spread to the United States.

Construction started in 1811 on the National Road, which began in Cumberland, Maryland, and wound through Pennsylvania and Virginia into Ohio. McAdam’s principles weren’t yet known.

His methods grew in popularity so that road makers used it on a new section of the National Road between Canton and Zanesville, Ohio, in 1825-1830. They broke stones small enough “to pass through a two-inch ring.”

At a width of twenty feet, the road contained the three layers of stone suggested by McAdam. Each layer was compacted with a cast-iron roller. This created the Macadamized road, making travel easier and safer for the pioneers settling in Ohio and farther west.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Bellis, Mary. “John Loudon McAdam – The History of Roads and Asphalt,” About.com, 2017/04/20 http://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blJohnMcAdam.htm.

Edited by Raitz, Karl. A Guide to The National Road, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

“John Loudon McAdam”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

“McAdam, John Loudoun.” The Oxford Companion to British History. . Encyclopedia.com. 19 Apr. 2017<http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

“Macadam”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

 

Four Tips for Better Soups from Fannie Farmer

/ sandramervillehart

I recently ran across The Fannie Farmer Cookbook in an antique store. This book was originally published in 1896. Fannie Farmer’s name is still well-known today.

Hearty soups and stews may be a main course at supper. Soup with a salad or sandwich is considered a nutritious lunch—depending on ingredient choices.

Here are four tips from her cookbook for seasoning soups, freezing soups, incorporating leftovers in soups, and soup garnishes.

Firstly, wait until soup is almost finished cooking to add seasonings as salt intensifies during simmering. The salt content of ingredients varies so it is best to season to taste.

Partially covering the soup while cooking reduces it and intensifies flavor. Nutrients and flavor will be kept by fully covering the pot while simmering.

Secondly, soups freeze well. Make a big pot and freeze leftovers in portion sizes to fit your family’s needs. Soups that have been frozen may require additional seasoning and diluting before serving.

Boil refrigerated soups every third day to prevent spoilage.

Thirdly, don’t be shy about incorporating leftovers from the refrigerator into soup recipes. The type of soup dictates what to use because the ingredients need to work well together. Experience will bring good judgment when it comes to these decisions.

Be careful about adding flavorless leftovers. Those vegetables won’t enhance the soup. If the dish didn’t taste good when first serving it, don’t add it to the soup.

Lastly, garnishes enhance taste. Soups appear more appetizing with fresh herbs such as dill, chives, or parsley sprinkled on top. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for example, is a tasty addition.

A spoonful of sour cream or a slice of lemon is another possible garnish. Nuts, chopped eggs, or raw scallions may work well in some soups. Fresh blanched vegetables make a healthy garnish. Consider soup ingredients when choosing a garnish.

Making a pot of soup and experimenting with garnishes, one bowl at a time, may create a whole new dish for your family. This also allows our pickier eaters to eat ungarnished soup if they prefer.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.