Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
>
>
> While in Philadelphis last spring, the DH and I had a meal at the City
> Tavern, which opened its doors in 1774. It was not in continuous
> operation to the present, but the present owner/chef, Walter Staib,
> had for sale his cookbook that boasts of "200 Years of Classic Recipes
> From America's First Gourmet Restaurant." I've had a lot of fun since
> making some of the dishes. There are also a number of dishes I
> wouldn't make if you held a gun to me head (Tavern Turkey Stew with
> Fried Oysters, comes to mind) `It also has some interesting trivia
> laced through the pages. And James Beard's _American Cookery_ is long
> on historic American dishes and captions as to where the dish came
> from and what time period for many.
>
> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
> AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA
>
> "Most vigitaryans I iver see looked enough like their food to be
> classed as cannybals."
>
> Finley Peter Dunne (1900)
>

Last Thanksgiving I made a cornbread, giblet and oyster stuffing loaf
to serve with dinner and was very pleased with the results. Normally
I'm not much for mixing oysters with other meats, but it was a common
practice throughout history.

One of my favorite cookbooks for American historic cooking is _A SALUTE
TO AMERICAN COOKING_ by Stephen & Ethel Longstreet. I saw a used copy
on the net for a mere 3 bux plus postage. It's a great book, though,
filled with lots of tidbits about food history in America. And the
recipes are pretty good, too.


I found this one for Sheldon from the Longstreet's cookbook mentioned
above:

"Sunday Breast of Veal with Peaches

4 cups slightly stale bread crumbs
2 TB lard, melted
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 pound can [ummm... they gyp us by about 2 ounces these days- oh
well] peach halves and syrup
3 pounds breast of veal with pocket
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry white wine

Combine crumbs, lard, poultry seasoning and 1/2 cup of syrup from the
peaches: stuff pocket of veal breast and sew or truss to close the
opening. Rub ginger and salt mixture into outside of meat. Place meat
on a rack in roasting pan uncovered. Bake 375 F. for 30 minutes.

Add remaining peach syrup. Cover pan and continue cooking until tender,
approximately 1 hour. Remove cover and lace peach halves around roast.
Add wine and continue cooking for 30 minutes basting two or three times
with syrup, until roast is glazed to a crisp brown. Serve with the
peaches as a garnish."

I'd add some minced celery and onion to the stuffing, maybe a little
parsley, too. And some pepper to everything! Powdered Grains of
Paradise would be awesome in this instead of pepper.

Aloha!

Barb