Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen (26 page)

But many seedmen were developing and promoting plants that would thrive in the American climate. Scores of new seed varieties listed in the U.S. Patent Office report demonstrated American innovation. We can easily enjoy one of these varieties today. The winter
Hubbard squash comes to market every fall. In an advertisement in the April 1860 issue of
American Agriculturalist
, J. H. Gregory staked his claim to speak to the nature of the squash: “Having given the Hubbard squash its name and having been the first to introduce it to the public notice.” He promoted its virtues in his own advertisement for its seed. “It is the sweetest, richest, driest of all winter squashes.”

The 1854
Farmer's Dictionary
gives some clues to the value of some of these American-cultured vegetables and fruits: “Cauliflower—an improved cabbage, the flowers of which form a mass of great delicacy. Early white, late white and purple.” “Melons—the best varieties are Skillman's netted, green-fleshed citron, green-fleshed nutmeg … and pineapple.” And the “Tomato—much used as a vegetable, preserve and pickle. Seed sown in a hot bed in March and plants set out in May.”

And, as
Simeon Francis's ad suggested, beans were an important food of amazing variety. I'm used to growing
green “snap” beans where
the bean we eat is just the pod with the small, immature seed inside. I've grown lima beans, too, where we ate just the bean seeds and not the pod. We've picked them fresh, or let them dry so that I could cook them baked-bean style in the winter. Many of the beans grown in Springfield gardens did double duty, some enjoyed as fresh green “snap” beans, some left to mature for use as dried beans, as these nineteenth-century descriptions of some of Francis's varieties demonstrate:

Some of these
heritage varieties, once nearly crowded from culture, are available now from organizations and companies that specialize in seed saving and nurturing. I've found several of these historical Springfield varieties by simply doing a Web search for the name of the plant.

I tried growing a few varieties this past drought-stricken, travel-filled summer. Melons, beets, and Hubbard squash failed, but I managed to harvest a few tasty yellow crookneck squash after a clever gardening neighbor told me how to thwart the squash borers by burying the vine every few inches. Freshly pulled white Belgian carrots filled the kitchen with a rich, sweet, and earthy aroma before they were cooked. While the squash and carrots were more flavorful than modern varieties, pole beans were an education in heritage eating. Simeon Francis's descriptions of bean production were bountifully proved even in my somewhat neglected garden. The McCaslin and Kentucky Wonder beans filled the pods much earlier and faster than the skinny almost
non-seedy
green snap beans I'm used to. I cooked the bumpy pods, and we enjoyed a meaty texture and rich taste in the same mouthful with the green bean flavors. Served with a bit of butter and a dash of vinegar, they were wonderful.

At the end of the summer, I left beans to dry on the vine so we could try these varieties in winter soups. An early killing freeze sent me out to the garden to pluck the pods before they froze on the vine. Some were close enough to finish drying on the counter. Most had just passed beyond the snap bean phase. I popped the beans out of their leathery pods and tossed the pods away. Then I cooked the beans like lima beans. Most tasty. From one planting of beans, I ended up with three kinds of meals. I will definitely plant these again.

Some of the heritage seed companies offer historic beans ready for cooking, so you don't have to wait to grow your own. As a testament to this shortcut, I have a lovely five-pound bag of cranberry beans sitting in my pantry. The
baked beans made from them following Miss Leslie's method are simply delicious, although I will admit to adding the traditional “Boston baked bean” spoon of molasses. As the lightly peppered beans, salt pork, and water to generously cover sat all afternoon in the oven simmering in my mother's old bean pot, the kitchen filled with their earthy smell.

We do have an image of President Lincoln eating baked beans. Dr. Henry M. Pierce and his nephew called at the White House. They were shown into a room and discovered President Lincoln “eating a plate of Boston baked beans” for breakfast. This was not an uncommon breakfast during the era. Many period cookbooks suggest hearty breakfast fare in their sample menus and include baked beans among them. Mrs. Bliss wrote in her cookbook, “Baked beans having stood a day or two, are very good warmed over. In some parts of New England they are considered indispensable at a Sunday breakfast.”

Like beans,
cabbage is another key crop with many uses. Of course it is good fresh and it keeps nicely in the root cellar well into the winter. Transformed by the German traditional, salt-cured recipe for
sauerkraut, it keeps even longer. The Lincolns' German neighbors may well have shared some of this homemade kraut to round out one of the family's favorite dishes, corned beef.

Even if the Lincolns didn't raise a vegetable garden, they did have apples. And something had to be done with them. Famously frugal Mary Lincoln would have seen to it that they were not wasted. There are a lot of uses for sweet early apples like Jonathans. They make fine pies and sauce. But two trees could produce a lot of apples. When excess fruit is the challenge, recipes that convert the most fruit into the smallest amount for easy storage work well.

It seems to me that a traditional
apple butter would be the perfect way to
preserve the Lincoln apples. Still, I can't see Mary Lincoln actually doing the “putting up.” With three young boys about the house, all the sewing and mending she did, not to mention entertaining, she had enough to keep her busy. Making apple butter takes several hours of watchful stirring. It makes much more sense to let live-in or daytime help take charge of preserving. Or maybe Mary would have split the harvest with
Mariah Vance, the free woman of color who worked on and off in the Lincoln household for years. Vance could have made the apple butter at home and brought back the Lincolns' share.

Most period apple butter recipes cook the apples in cider. Miss Leslie offers an apple butter recipe “without cider,” an essential for the Lincolns' crop, as cider would not be plentiful when these first-of-the-season apples were ripe. Her recipe is huge, calling for eight bushels of apples and gallons of water and molasses. With all of those apples, of course, the apple butter would take a good while to cook. Miss Leslie specified eighteen hours! This kind of recipe also requires a huge cast-iron kettle cooking away on a backyard fire—and close attention, stirring the apples as they cook down and thicken. I decided to make a much smaller batch and let my slow cooker do the scorch-free simmering. I did a few quick calculations, basing them on a forty-two-pound weight for a bushel of apples and reducing the other ingredients in proportion. Two pounds of apples cook down to a couple pints of very nice apple butter, and it only took six hours!

PICCALILLI

 

This recipe takes advantage of pre-pickled vegetables as the basis for the layering of the exotic “Indian” flavors. The earliest recipes in the 1830s called for cooking the raw vegetables in the seasoned brine, drying them, and then covering them with cold vinegar. By the 1850s, cooks discovered that the delightful mixture of “white and green pickles” could be made by steeping already pickled vegetables in the new flavored solution
.

2 (16-ounce) jars pickled mixed vegetables

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dry mustard

½ tablespoon ground ginger

¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

2 cups white wine vinegar

Drain the mixed vegetables, put into a nonreactive, heatproof container, such as a stainless steel pot, and set aside. Wash the pickled vegetable jars in hot water and set aside. Combine the dry seasonings in a small saucepan. Gradually add the vinegar, stirring to dissolve the spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Stir from time to time as they cool. Put vegetables back in their jars, add the spiced vinegar to cover, and store in the refrigerator for the flavors to mellow, about 2 days. Piccalilli will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Makes 2 pints

ADAPTED FROM PERIOD SOURCES.

CUCUMBER CATSUP

 

During the nineteenth century, homemakers made ketchup out of just about anything they could find in the garden or at the grocer's. Everything from lemons to walnuts to mushrooms joined cucumbers, and finally tomatoes, as produce they chopped, simmered, and strained. This cucumber catsup is a tasty accompaniment for chicken, fish, or pork dishes
.

3 large cucumbers (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and grated

1 small onion, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon salt

2 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ cups white vinegar

Mix the cucumbers and onions with salt. Put the vegetables into a cheesecloth-lined colander and let stand for 1 hour. Pour out drained juices and gently squeeze the vegetable mixture until dry. If you want to reduce the salt content, you may rinse off the vegetable mixture before you squeeze it dry.

Mix the salted vegetables, pepper, and vinegar in a heavy 3- to 4-quart pot. Cook gently until the mixture is hot and has turned somewhat yellow, about 5 to 10 minutes. Process with an immersion blender. (Or cool and then carefully process in a food processor or regular blender until smooth.) Return the puree to the pot and simmer until thick, about 20 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking as it reduces and thickens. Pour into clean, sterilized jars and seal. Keeps for a month in the refrigerator. Recipe may be doubled and the catsup may be canned, following the
directions for home-canning
, or frozen.

Makes about 2 cups

ADAPTED FROM “CUCUMBER CATSUP,”
PRAIRIE FARMER
, AUGUST 1854.