From Mrs. Ellis’s Complete Cook or Perfect Instructor, 1867
This cookbook is nearly 150 years old, and it’s one of my favorites because of its historical value. It was published right after the Civil War, when our country was on the mend. The kitchen table likely set the stage for conversations about politics and reformation when our country was figuring out how to recover and how to be reborn.
The meals served around the dinner tables then were made from readily available, seasonal ingredients, most of which were available locally. Local then was not from the Farmer’s Market or the county produce stand but from one’s backyard. The evidence of this is in the recipes themselves because not only are the ingredient lists very short, but there are multiple substitutions for every ingredient on the list.
I was eager to bake a pie this week, so I flipped through the old cookbook to see what it had to say. I studied its pages for about an hour before I hopped in the kitchen. It really is studying because not every ingredient has a measurement. Once I read the old recipe, I scour the internet and my more modern cookbooks for similar recipes and come up with a measurement that way. Then I pray it will come out okay, otherwise my chickens and dog will win the human food lottery.
The recipe suggested to make a pie crust out of beef shortening, though “any shortening will do”. Butter was an alternative, which the writer said tasted better, but advised using animal shortening because it would “present better”. Presentation-Taste. What to do?
Since I’m trying to keep these recipes as authentic as possible (aside from living in Fairbanks where the locavore movement is only alive and well in the very short growing season that is summer), I figured I would try to make the crust with chicken fat. Initially, I was horrified. Pot pie, okay, I get it. I was actually nervous when I stepped in the kitchen because I’ve never dreamed of putting chicken fat in a dessert. The fat I had stored away was being reserved for a big pot of Matzo Ball soup, but given winter is almost over and I didn’t get around to it when the temperatures were dreadfully cold, I figured it was time to use it. For Dessert.
I grabbed my pastry cutter and began cutting equal parts flour in with the frozen fat until there were pieces no larger than a pea. I then added enough ice water until it formed into a ball. I tried rolling it immediately as the recipe suggested, but as quickly as I worked, the fat began melting and it was sticking like crazy to my board and pin. There’s nothing like the combination of melting chicken fat and flour to convince you you’ve made a very bad decision.
As a last ditch effort, I threw it in the freezer for about 20 minutes, or long enough for it to harden enough to roll out.
The filling was very basic. I stewed the pumpkin, as the recipe advised (though roasting pumpkin or squash would work just as well) and added the few ingredients it called for: sugar, milk, molasses, eggs, and nutmeg.
I baked the pie in a very hot (450 degree) oven for about 35 minutes and let it cool.
As for the taste of the pie: it was to die for, or so I hear. I ate a slice a few days after it was baked, so I can’t tell you how it was the day it was made. According to Mrs. Ellis, it’s not nearly as good a few days old. To hear about why I couldn’t taste it the day it was baked, you have to read my other post detailing the awful affliction known as pine mouth. Though I couldn’t taste the pie necessarily on day one, I could enjoy the texture of it and the texture of the crust was unlike any pie crust I’ve ever had made with butter. It was so crispy and the crunch did a glorious job balancing the pureed sweet squash.
My overall review: I can’t speak to a pie crust made with beef shortening, but I would do a pie crust like this again in a heartbeat. I know it’s a hard sell to convince you to use that precious chicken fat in a dessert, but if you have some extra animal fat hanging around your freezer, try it in a pie crust. There’s plenty more chicken fat for future vats of Matzo ball soup.
The recipes are tough to read because it’s written in prose. In the event you want to make this recipe yourself, you can find a more reader-friendly version below.
- For the Crust:
- ½ pound of shortening
- 1 pound of flour
- Butter for oiling pie pan
- ---
- For the Pie Filling
- 1 pie pumpkin or other squash (I used butternut), yielding 4 cups
- 3 Eggs
- 4 cups milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. molasses
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- For a good common pie-crust, allow half a pound of shortening to a pound of flour. Pie crust looks the nicest made entirely of lard, but it does not taste so good as it does to have some butter used in making it...
- When the shortening is thoroughly mixed with the flour, add just sufficient cold water to render it moist enough to roll our easily.
- Divide the crust into two equal portions-lay one of them one side for the upper crust, take the other, roll it out quite thin, flouring your rolling board and pin, so that the crust will not stick to them, and line your pie plates, which should be previously buttered.
- [Heat oven to 450 degrees]
- Halve the squash, take out the seeds-rinse the pumpkin, and cut it into small strips-stew them over [medium heat in a heavy saucepan], in just sufficient water to prevent their burning to the bottom of the pot.
- When stewed soft, turn off the water, [cover the pan] and let the pumpkin steam...for fifteen or twenty minutes.
- Take it from the [oven], and strain it when cool, through a sieve.
- Mix the sugar and the eggs,
- [Once pumpkin is cool, mix the pumpkin, milk, molasses, and nutmeg with the eggs and sugar.]
- [Pour in a pie crust and cook in a very hot oven for 35-45 minutes or until filling is no longer liquid.]
- **Notes from the cookbook to be followed after Step 8 if you so choose: "If you wish to have the pies very rich, put to a quart of the stewed pumpkin two quarts of milk and twelve eggs. If you like them plain, put to the quart of pumpkin one quart of milk and three eggs. The thicker the pie is of the pumpkin, the less will be the number of eggs required for them. One egg, with a tablespoonful of flour, will answer for a quart of the pumpkin, if very little milk is used. Sweeten the pumpkin with sugar, and a very little molasses -- the sugar and eggs should be beaten together. Ginger, grated lemon rind, or nutmeg, is good spice for the pies.
Maureen says
I always, if possible, use beef fat for pie crusts. It doesn’t melt like chicken fat does so you have a bit more working time. I also like that using beef fat (or lard) I can reuse the trimmings.
Mary Catherine says
I’ve read recipes that incorporate beef fat in the crust. Do you prefer it over store-bought shortening or butter in your crusts and do you typically substitute 1:1 in place of conventional fat? I’m eager to try it!