Try this Recipe from 1796 with Me
Every year around Thanksgiving time, I rekindle my interest in classic American foods from waaaaay back in the early days. This brings me back to my cope of American Cookery, the very first cookbook published by an American way back in 1796.
This book is full of timeless wisdom (such as how tender cuts of meat need less cooking time than tough cuts of meat, and a good way to check if it’s done is to stab it with a fork to check for tenderness). It also has a few bits of, let’s say, “aged” wisdom, such as don’t let your salmon rest in the moon, which is far more damaging than the sun.
I think my favorite thing about this book is seeing how differently, yet similarly, old Americans ate compared to us these days. For example, I don’t know many classy American home cooks touting their famous beef tongue recipes or telling me I just have to come try their baked turtle. Yet at the same time, we have so much in common! We love apples, we love beef, and we love pies.
However, Amelia Simmons loved all at the same time.
That’s right… I’m about to share a recipe from the mother of all American cookbooks: Amelia’s Mincemeat pie, which was a sweet and savory pie consisting of beef and apples!
Ew gross that’s not what my mom made when I was in kindergarten and therefore it is very yucky and also gross and I will not be eating it thank you.
Okay, sure. You do you. However, this recipe is surprisingly principled. Apples have classically been a favorite garnish for savory recipes—in fact, this tradition still survives with southern pork chops! Additionally, when I lived in Chile, I frequently enjoyed hand pies stuffed with ground beef and raisins. Sweet and savory go together since time immemorial. So you know what? I want to try Amelia’s mince meat pie recipe.
Oh, and I almost forgot, I’ve also included my great-great-grandmother’s pie crust recipe! You’ll need that too (but perhaps omit the sugar from it for a meat pie).
Hazel's Pie Crust
This is the pie crust I've cooked with my whole life and has been passed down in my family for five generations. The ingredients are simple. Execution is everything.
Prep time:
Yield: 1 9" Pie Crust (plus some extra)
Serving size: 8
Calories per serving: 166
Ingredients:
Yield: 1 9" Pie Crust (plus some extra)
Serving size: 8
Calories per serving: 166
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 ice water
Directions:
1. Combine the flour, salt and sugar.
2. Use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut in the shortening until uniformly crumbly, in pieces about the size of peas.
3. Pour the ice water over the top gradually, tossing gnetly to incorporate to form a soft dough. A little bit of water may be left unused.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to your desired thickness (I usually go thin enough that the crust is just barely translucent, but I keep it thicker than this for extra wet pies, like apple, razzleberry, or meat pies.
If you are baking the crust without a filling, prick the bottom all over with a fork and bake at 425∞F until nicely browned. Don't underbake.
If you are going to fill the crust before baking, don't prick the bottom.
2. Use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut in the shortening until uniformly crumbly, in pieces about the size of peas.
3. Pour the ice water over the top gradually, tossing gnetly to incorporate to form a soft dough. A little bit of water may be left unused.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to your desired thickness (I usually go thin enough that the crust is just barely translucent, but I keep it thicker than this for extra wet pies, like apple, razzleberry, or meat pies.
If you are baking the crust without a filling, prick the bottom all over with a fork and bake at 425∞F until nicely browned. Don't underbake.
If you are going to fill the crust before baking, don't prick the bottom.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Amelia's 1796 Meat Pie
This isn't actually my recipe. I took it from the oldest cookbook in America, called American Cookery and published in 1796 by Amelia Simmons. It is quite an interesting book with several recipes that aren't easy to make these days (baked turtle, anyone?). However, the ingredients for this recipe are close at hand, so I'm willing to try a taste of the 18th century.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield: 1 Pie
Serving size: 2
Calories per serving: 979
Ingredients:
Cook time:
Yield: 1 Pie
Serving size: 2
Calories per serving: 979
1 pound ground beef
1 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
1/4 pound tallow
1 cup red wine or cider
1/4 ounce mace
1/4 ounce cinnamon
1/4 nutmeg
1/2 pound raisins
salt to taste (two teaspoons, more or less)
Directions:
Equipment needed:
∞Cutting board
∞Chef's knife
∞Large, deep frying pan
∞Flat, wooden spatula
∞Kitchen scale
∞Pie pan
1. Set the large burner of your stove to medium-hot. Once the pan is hot, place your tallow in it and let it melt and get hot. If the tallow smokes (its burning point is around 400∞F), your pan is too hot.
2. Once the tallow is hot, add your ground beef and let it sit for a while to get nice and brown. Then break it up with your spatula to cook it evenly. Add about half of your salt as you go.
3. As the beef cooks, peel, core and thinly slice your apples. You can also do this long before cooking your beef.
4. Remove your ground beef from the heat and add the apples, spices, and raising, including the rest of your salt. Mix it all together to incrporate everything evenly. Transfer it to a larger bowl if necessary.
5. Prepare a double recipe of pie crust. Place the bottom portion of the pie crust in the bottom of your pie pan, fill it with your beef and apple filling, then top it with your second portion of pie crust.
6. Bake at 380∞F. This is hotter than the usual 350∞F. According to Amelia Simmons, meat pies should cook at a hotter temperature than fruit pies. For now, I won't question her.
7. Remove from the heat and let cool until no longer runny.
8. Serve and eat. Welcome to 1796!
∞Cutting board
∞Chef's knife
∞Large, deep frying pan
∞Flat, wooden spatula
∞Kitchen scale
∞Pie pan
1. Set the large burner of your stove to medium-hot. Once the pan is hot, place your tallow in it and let it melt and get hot. If the tallow smokes (its burning point is around 400∞F), your pan is too hot.
2. Once the tallow is hot, add your ground beef and let it sit for a while to get nice and brown. Then break it up with your spatula to cook it evenly. Add about half of your salt as you go.
3. As the beef cooks, peel, core and thinly slice your apples. You can also do this long before cooking your beef.
4. Remove your ground beef from the heat and add the apples, spices, and raising, including the rest of your salt. Mix it all together to incrporate everything evenly. Transfer it to a larger bowl if necessary.
5. Prepare a double recipe of pie crust. Place the bottom portion of the pie crust in the bottom of your pie pan, fill it with your beef and apple filling, then top it with your second portion of pie crust.
6. Bake at 380∞F. This is hotter than the usual 350∞F. According to Amelia Simmons, meat pies should cook at a hotter temperature than fruit pies. For now, I won't question her.
7. Remove from the heat and let cool until no longer runny.
8. Serve and eat. Welcome to 1796!
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Matthew Christensen