A dash of salt and *

1. Scapple

   #41

   Cool weather conjures up thoughts of hog killin' and scrapple makin'. After the hams and bacon have been put down in cure and the sausage is all ground and the lard rendered and the feets pickled and the snouts soused, you take what's left (the scraps) and make scrapple. Now, I have seen a lot of recipes for making scrapple. Most say to start with a shoulder or some such good piece of meat. Blasphemy! Everybody knows there are better ways to use a shoulder and such wanton waste would not have been tolerated back when times were tight and folks had to make the most of what they had. I have also had some Pennsylvania scrapple that was way too strong in liver. Here's how we used to make it back when I was a youngun.
   
   Ingredients:
   1 Grandmother to make sure everything is done "just so"
   1 Mother to do most of the preparations. Overseen by ingredient #1
   2 Children, big enough to stir the pot but not smart enough to be somewhere else
   Hog heads (number depending upon how many hogs were killed)
   About 1/4 of the livers (the rest having been made into liver pudding or fried)
   Hearts
   Various and sundry other parts of the pig not used to make other delicacies
   Salt
   Sage
   Pepper
   Maybe a little celery salt to highlight the flavors (optional)
   Stone ground white cornmeal
   
   The feature attraction is the cleaned head. Remove the eyeballs (the brains were removed on killing day and scrambled with eggs the next morning), break the head(s) into manageable pieces with a cleaver, and cook them down in a kettle of boiling water 'til the meat is easily pulled. Skim the fat from the water and save. Pull all of the meat and fat (separate) from the heads and chop up the chunks. Cook the liver and heart and whatever else wasn't used in other delicacies and grind them up. Get a tote-sack full of corn meal and keep it handy. Put the meat, heart, and other scraps (except liver) back into the simmering kettle of stock. Add liver until you can taste it but the liver flavor does not predominate. You can put some of the fat in if you wish. Add salt and celery salt - the cornmeal will take a lot of salt so you get this mixture fairly salty. Stir. Taste. Add sage and pepper to taste - not too much, now. Stir. Taste. Pass the spoon around so everybody can pass judgment. When it's right, you should taste salt first, then liver - but not too strong, rich pork meat flavor and a hint of sage. When everybody (especially ingredient #1) is agreed that it couldn't possibly be better, bring out the cornmeal and kids.
   
   Now comes the hard part! Slowly stir in the cornmeal with a long wooden spoon - not too much at a time, now. Keep stirring. Add cornmeal. Keep stirring. Add cornmeal. Keep stirring. As the mixture starts to get thick, add some of the liquid fat that had been skimmed earlier. Keep stirring. Not thick enough yet. Add a little more corn meal. Keep stirring. A little more fat until there is a slight sheen to the surface but no visible oil. Keep stirring.
   
   "Just where do you think you're going? Get back there and stir that pot!! "
   
   As the mixture thickens and you fine tune the ratio of fat to cornmeal, it will start to separate from the sides of the kettle. This is a good thing 'cause the kids are about tuckered. Ladle it into lightly greased, shallow, rectangular or square tin pans to a thickness of about 2 1/2 inches. Be careful - it's still hot! Start slapping it down with the palm of your hand. Slap it like you mean it! SLAP IT! If you are doing it right, your hand should be beet red, sore and covered with a light coat of pig oil. Good. Now let the pans cool, cover with waxed paper and put them in the frigidare or cold pantry.
   
   Next morning, remove scrapple from the pan and slice about 3/8" thick. Lightly flour both sides. Heat about 1/4" of bacon grease in an iron skillet 'til it just starts to smoke. Fry until outside starts to crisp but the inside is still soft. Drain briefly on a paper towel. Serve with Log Cabin syrup and eggs. There's nothing else like it in this world!!
   
   It sounds like a fantasy food, but it is a real thing. Be afraid, very afraid. The write up is precious. Dan Gill (c) 1997 (just in case) http://www.velvitoil.com/Scrapple.htm

2. Antioch Spicey Orange Beef

   #42

   In Antioch, they love their food. However, they love bland food. As a rule, the way of Antioch is not to have very spicy food, but simply flavorful food prepared quickly so they can get to eating. given their choice about it, in large quantities. Antioch Spicey Orange Beef is the exception that proves the rule. This is a how it is prepared in most households.
   
   16 ounces shaved beef
   1 cup broccoli, cut into small trees
   1 carrot, julienned
   1/4 red onion, sliced (Antioch Onions are like Visalias)
   1/4 pound snow peas (strings removed)
   1 cup mushrooms, chopped
   1 can bamboo shoots
   1 can sliced water chestnuts
   1 cup Mandarin orange segments
   3 cloves pressed garlic (more to taste, some recipies go upto 12)
   3 tablespoons sesame seed oil
   3 tablespoons olive oil
   1 cup beef broth
   1 tablespoon corn starch
   1/2 cup Mandarin syrup
   1/2 cup Thai ginger sauce (Spicey Ginger Sauce actually comes from Amar)
   
   Enough thin egg noodles to fill the personal bowl of everyone eating.
   
   
   DIRECTIONS
   In a large deep cooking pan (WOK), heat 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add beef and cook. Remove beef from pan and add remaining oil to pan. Heat 1 minute, and add broccoli and carrots continue to cook until the vegetables start to cook. Add onions and pressed garlic. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Mix the beef broth and corn starch together in small bowl. Add peas, bamboo shoots and chestnuts to pan and toss. Cook 1 minute. Add broth mixture to pan and toss over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add oranges and remaining sauces to pan. Toss. Serve over Noodles in a personal bowl.

3. A dash of salt and

   #43

   Nothing like starting the day with a good cup of Klah. Starbucks should make this stuff.
   
   "Klah: a hot, stimulating drink made from tree bark and tasting faintly of cinnamon." - Anne McCaffrey: The Dragonriders of Pern.
   
   This is the classic recipe from "The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern" but most people have their own version.
   
   2 tablespoons sweet ground chocolate
   1/2 cup dark cocoa (same as Dutch cocoa)
   3/8 teaspoon cinnamon
   1 teaspoon dark instant coffee, ground to a powder
   1 pinch nutmeg
   
   Or a more traditional recipe
   3/4 cup of coffee
   1/4 cup very very cold milk
   2 tsp cocoa
   1 tsp cinnamon
   Mix things in this order and stir well.
   
   For best results, don't try to make pot full of this stuff - one cup at time! Note that cinnamon doesn't mix too well with the coffee, so don't put tons of it into cup (and the description says "tasting faintly of cinnamon", anyway =) and you probably want to stir it a bit every time you take a sip, or otherwise it will end up into the bottom of the cup and you miss all the cool stuff.
   
   My Klah Recipe The Dragon Lovers Guide To Pern
   
   Brew a fresh pot of coffee
   with Vanilla flavored beans
   
   In a large mug, combine one
   package of hot cocoa mix,
   2 teaspoons Hazlenut creamer
   a dash of cinnamon and
   a dash of nutmeg
   
   Fill mug with hot coffee
   Stir well and enjoy!

4. Noodle Goo

   #44

   The people in Antioch has such a flair with words don't they? This is a traditional Antioch dish that has found its way to all of Northern Thirdland, down in Avon, and can be found in pubs and inns across the known world. Large pots are made, then they are broken down into individual bowls (kept cold). Those bowls are then heated up and the toppings melted/ browned when ordered. This fare can be served at home, or from a food cart, or in any inn.
   
   Additional ingredients are possible. Cooked ham bits are very popular, as are assorted vegetables, crisped bacon, seared beef bits, squicken, or a variety of noodle stuffs. Many places "personalize" their Noodle Goo on the menu.
   
   1/2 pound short pasta.
   In most Known World places this would be a short broad egg noodles. To Earth sensibilities, it should be elbow macaroni
   3 tablespoons butter
   3 tablespoons flour
   1 tablespoon powdered mustard
   3 cups milk
   1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
   1 bay leaf
   1/2 teaspoon paprika
   1 large egg
   12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
   (Any combination of nice melting cheese can be done. Avalon's variety of goat cheeses is without peer.)
   1 teaspoon kosher salt
   Fresh black pepper
   
   Topping:
   3 tablespoons butter
   1 cup panko bread crumbs (In Antioch, it would be smashed fried flour flat bread chips (tortilla))
   
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
   In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
   
   While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
   
   Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the pasta into the mix and pour into either individual baking bowls OR a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
   
   Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the crumbs to coat. Top the pasta with the bread crumbs and extra cheese.
   
   Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
   
   Remember to save leftovers for Noodle Bricks. Left overs are often pushed into a large flat baking pan to cool.
   
   Leftover baked macaroni and cheese, refrigerated for at least overnight
   1 cup all-purpose flour
   1 teaspoon salt
   1 teaspoon pepper
   1 teaspoon cayenne (optional. Nobody in Antioch would be so spicy)
   1 egg beaten with 2 ounces water
   1 cup panko bread crumbs or any crunchy product.
   Oil for deep frying, preheated to 375 degrees
   
   Cut cold Noodle Goo into slices or bite size pieces.
   Season the flour with salt and pepper (and cayenne). Dredge each piece through the flour and gently tap off excess. Dip in the egg wash and then coat with the bread crumbs. Allow them to rest for 5 minutes so the crust can set. Very carefully drop into the oil and fry until golden brown. Remove to a baking sheet fitted with a rack and rest for 2 minutes before serving.
   
   Yumm! Also a popular inn snack.

5. Joe's Potatoes

   #45

   It is unclear if Joe is a proper noun, a personal name, or a description. However the recipe has found its way across the Known World. It is most prevalent in Antioch, Avalon, The Villages, Avon, MaskLand, and parts of SecondLand and FirstLand. Those in Avon and SecondLand serve this for breakfast; In Antioch, The Villages, and MaskLand it is served for Supper. Other places serve it for snack.
   
   7 (8-ounce) baking potatoes. Any size will do really.
   1/2 lb ground or shredded Turkey or Squicken
   Though some make it with ground beef or sausage
   1 large bunch spinach
   1 good sized white onion.
   1/4 lb cut mushroom pieces (optional)
   Salt and pepper
   
   Rub seven 8-ounce baking potatoes, well scrubbed, with softened, unsalted butter, sprinkle them with salt, and bake them in a preheated hot oven (400 degrees) for 1 hour, or until they test done when pierced with a skewer.
   
   In a skillet, brown ground or shredded poultry. Remove and conserve the little fat. Begin to cook onions, when softening add spinach (you can blanch the spinch first). Cook until nearly done. At end, add meat to keep it warm. Salt and pepper mixture slightly.
   
   Cut a 1/2-inch slice from the top of six potato, scoop out the pulp, and reserve the shells. Peel one potato, cube it, and add to pulp. Mash well or puree the pulp through a food mill or ricer into a large bowl (should be about 3 cups). Combine with poultry, onion, spinach mixture. Mix well.
   
   Heap mixture into the reserved potato shells. Arrange the potatoes in a lightly buttered baking dish and bake them in the upper third of a preheated moderately hot oven (350 degrees) for 5 to 15 minutes or until they are well warmed.
   
   This is a personal favorite of mine. It is simple and good. For dinner make it with HUGE potatoes.
   
   This is a descendent from a Breakfast classic. It is made with pan browned hash browns and scrambled egg, plus the turkey (or beef/ sausage) spinach, onion, mushroom, served in a pan.

6. An Average Avon meal

   #46

   While fishing is good most of the year, fishing can't hold on forever. Thus fish is salted to preserve it for the long Avon winter. Here is another "average" meal from an Avon table.
   
   1 1/2-pounds salt cod
   4-ounces salt pork, diced
   4-medium beets, peeled and sliced
   4-medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
   2-large carrots, cut into chunks
   8-small whole onions
   Cream Sauce
   
   In a bowl, soak cod in enough water to cover for about 12 hours, changing water once I recomend changing the water like four times, but I was not raised on this stuff.. In a saucepan cook the salt pork till crisp. Drain; set the pork aside. Discard drippings. Drain salt cod well. In the same saucepan cover cod with fresh cold water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or till the fish is tender. Drain.
   
   Meanwhile, in a second saucepan cook beets, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water for 20 minutes or till tender. In a third saucepan cook potatoes, carrots, and onions, covered, in boiling salted water for about 20 minutes or till tender. Drain all vegetables. Arrange fish and vegetables on a warm platter. Stir salt pork into Cream Sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over fish. Top with hard-cooked egg slices if desired. Pass any remaining sauce. Makes 4 servings.
   
   Cream Sauce: In a small saucepan melt 2 tbsp of butter or margarine. Stir in 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp white pepper, and 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg. Add 1 cup milk all at once. cook and stir till bubbly. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

7. FourthLand

   #47

   The cuisine of FourthLand (outer) and Amar are quite similar. It could have something to do with similiar climates and cultures. Both lands have this basic recipe. There are family variations of it, but this is the "core" recipe.
   
   
   Chicken Roasted with Apricots
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   4-pound chicken (or goose)
   1 pound fresh apricots, pitted and halved
   1 T. sugar
   2 cups chicken Stock or broth
   1/4 cup each butter and honey
   1 t. each rose water and salt
   1/2 t. black pepper
   1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds or chopped pistachio nuts
   
   1) Combine: Butter, Honey, Rose War, Salt, Pepper.
   2) Rub mixture, both inside and out, over 4 lb chicken:
   3) Turning to brown all sides, roast in a 425° oven until golden. Lower heat to 350°. Add one cup of stock/ broth (hot)
   4) add Apricots and Sugar to pan juices. 5) Baste chicken and apricots with juices and continue roasting 20 minutes or until tender. (Add more stock if needed to simmering pot, but be careful not to make the ""sauce" too runny. )
   5) Remove to heated plate, pour juices over and sprinkle with nuts.
   
   Serves 6-8.

8. HardTack

   #48

   Hardtack is thick cracker made of flour, water, and sometimes salt. When properly stored, it will last for years. It's quite probable that its history began in prehistory. Prehistoric people boiled grains; they cooked grains and added vegetables and herbs to the mixture; and sometimes they ground it into a powder, mixed it with water, and dried it on a hot stone. 6,000 year old unleavened biscuits have been found in Switzerland.
   
   Even after yeast was discovered by the Egyptians, there was a purpose for unleavened breads. Hunters could take some with them when they traveled in search of something tastier. With hardtack to keep them alive, warriors found that they could travel further and take fewer breaks. Centuries later, Christopher Columbus took unleavened bread with him on his journies.
   
   Armies throughout history have had hardtack in various forms. Because it could be prepared cheaply and would last so long, hardtack was the most convenient food for soldiers, explorers, pioneers, or anyone else who needed to be able to pack light and move fast. It is something almost every soldier might recognize.
   
   During the early settlement of North America, the exploration of the continent, the American Revolution, and on through the American Civil War, armies were kept alive with hardtack. A basic concept in war is that the side that can keep its soldiers from going hungry will probably win.
   
   Wheat flour is more than 10% protein and includes Vitamin B. People can live for quite a while on just bread and water. Although raw flour is hard to digest, in the form of hard bread, it is edible. Inexpensive, stable, and easy to transport, hardtack was a staple in military life throughout most of our history.
   
   No one has determined just when, or how, during the American Civil War, hard bread began to be referred to as hardtack, but it was probably during the second year of the conflict. It appears that it was first called hardtack by the Union Army of the Potomac; although the name spread to other units, it was generally referred to as hard bread by the armies of the West.
   
   Note: Union and Confederate soldiers were usually issued a half pound of beans or peas, bacon, pickled beef, compressed mixed vegetables and a pound of hardtack. Most common of all was the hard tack. Too hard to be eaten whole, it was sometimes broken up with a rock or rifle butt, placed in the cheek and softened with saliva until it was soft enough to be chewed and swallowed. It was more often soaked in water and fried in bacon grease. Hardtack was also called "sheet iron crackers", "teeth dullers", or "worm castles", a reference to the weevils and maggots that were all too often found in the boxes of hardtack.
   
   Upon eating Hardtack: Hardtack was eaten by itself, or crumbled into coffee. Probably more were eaten that way than in any other, as they were usually eaten as breakfast and supper, but there were other ways to prepare them. Sometimes they were crumbled into soups, which they served to thicken. Some soldiers crumbed them into cold water, then fried the crumbs in the juice and fat of meat, creating a dish that was known as skillygalee or cush. Some preferred to eat them toasted, either to more easily crumb them into coffee; or in the rare case when it was available, with butter. A few who managed to save a portion of their sugar ration spread it upon the hardtack.
   
   Under Hard Bread
   1863 SPECIFICATIONS
   Assistant Commissary General of Subsistence - Lt. Col. C.L. Kilburn - Notes on Preparing Stores for the United States Army and on the Care of the Same, etc, with a few rules for Detecting Adulterations - Printed 1863
   
   Should be made of best quality of superfine, or what is usually known as extra superfine flour; or better, of extra and extra superfine, (half and half). Hard bread should be white, crisp, light and exhibit a flaky appearance when broken. If tough, solid and compact, is evident the fault is either in the stock, manufacture or baking; it should not present the appearance of dried paste. If tough and pasty, it is probably manufacture from grown wheat, or Spring wheat of an inferior kind. In all cases it should be thoroughly cooled and dried before packing. Kiln drying, where practicable, for long voyages, is particularly desirable; but if really and thoroughly dried in the oven, hard bread will keep just as well and its flavor is not destroyed. To make good hard bread, it is essential to employ steam; hand work will not do.
   
   The dough should be mixed as dry as possible; this is, in fact, very essential, and too much stress can not be placed on it. Good stock, dry mixed, and thoroughly baked, (not dried or scalded) will necessarily give good hard bread. If salt is to be used, it should be mixed with the water used to mix the dough. Both salt and water should be clean. Bread put up with the preceding requirements should keep a year; but as a usual thing, our best bread as now made for army use, will keep only about three months. Good, bread, packed closely and compactly should not weigh, net, per barrel, more than 70 or 80 pounds; should it be heavier that 80 it indicates too much moisture. The thickness of the biscuit is important; it should not be so thick as to prevent proper drying, or so thin as to crumble in transportation. The quality of stock used for hard bread can be partially told by rules mentioned in the article 'Flour,' as far as they apply. The term 'sprung' is frequently used by bakers, by which is meant raised or flaky bread, indicating strong flour and sound stock. The cupidity of the contracting baker induces him to pack his bread as soon as it comes out of the oven, and before the moisture has been completely expelled by drying. Bread of this kind hangs on breaking; it will also be soft to the pressure of the finger nail when broken, whereas it should be crisp and brittle.
   
   The packages should be thoroughly seasoned, (of wood imparting no taste or odor to the bread,) and reasonably tight. The usual method now adopted is to pack 50 pounds net, in basswood boxes, (sides, top and bottom 1/2 inch, ends 5/8 of an inch,) and of dimensions corresponding with the cutters used, and strapped at each end with light iron or wood. The bread should be packed on its edge compactly, so as not to shake.
   
   Bread thoroughly baked, kiln dried, and packed in spirit casks, will keep a long time but it is an expensive method. If bread contains weevils, or is mouldy, expose to the sun on paulins, and before re-packing it, rinse the barrel with whiskey.
   
   Army Hardtack Recipe
   Ingredients:
   4 cups flour (perferably whole wheat)
   4 teaspoons salt
   Water (about 2 cups)
   Pre-heat oven to 375° F
   Makes about 10 pieces
   Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add just enough water (less than two cups) so that the mixture will stick together, producing a dough that won’t stick to hands, rolling pin or pan. Mix the dough by hand. Roll the dough out, shaping it roughly into a rectangle. Cut into the dough into squares about 3 x 3 inches and ½ inch thick.
   
   After cutting the squares, press a pattern of four rows of four holes into each square, using a nail or other such object. Do not punch through the dough. The appearance you want is similar to that of a modern saltine cracker. Turn each square over and do the same thing to the other side.
   
   Place the squares on an ungreased cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 30 minutes. The crackers should be slightly brown on both sides.
   
   The fresh crackers are easily broken but as they dry, they harden and assume the consistentency of fired brick.
   
   Swedish Hardtack
   1 cup water
   3 tbsp. vegetable oil
   3 tbsp. honey
   3 cups rye flour (or 1 1/2 cups rye & 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
   1 1/2 tbsp. brewer's yeast (optional)
   1/4 tsp. salt
   Mix liquids together. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Combine the mixtures, stirring to moisten throughout. Form a ball. On a floured surface, flatten the dough, and roll out thinly. Cut into squares and prick each cracker with the tines of a fork a couple of times. Transfer to lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 425° F for around 8 minutes, checking to be sure not to over-brown. It is best served warm.
   
   Simple Recipes
   Flour, water, and a little salt. Mix them together to form an elastic but not sticky dough, Roll to a one-inch thickness, bake in a 400° F oven until slightly brown. Allow to cool. It may yet be soft. Put it in 200° F oven until it is hard. Prick with nail or sharp instrument. No baking powder, soda, sugar, cinnamon, raisins, or anything else.
   
   Simple Recipes II
   Just mix about 2 cups of flour and a half-tablespoon of salt with enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll it out thin on a cookie sheet. Score it into squares of about 2�x2� and poke some holes in it (not all the way through). Bake it at 400 ° F for about 45 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Let it cool in the oven.
   
   Simple Recipes III
   Preheat oven to 400° F. For each cup of flour (unbleached wheat), add1 tsp. of salt. Mix salt and flour with just enough water to bind ingredients. Roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick, and cut into squares 3 inches by 3 inches. Pierce each square with 16 holes about ½ inch apart. Place hardtack squares on cookie sheet and bake in oven until the edges are brown or the dough is hard (20-25 minutes), making sure all moisture is removed from mixture before taking out of oven. Note: The longer you bake the hardtack, the more authentic it will appear. If you want to make it softer for eating, bake only about fifteen minutes.
   
   Simple Recipes IV
   Mix: two cups of all-purpose flour and a half teaspoon of salt. Use more salt for authenticity. Mix by hand. Add a teaspoon of shortening and a half cup of water, stirred in a little at a time to form a very stiff dough. Beat the dough to a half inch thickness with a clean top mallet or rifle butt. Fold the sheet of dough into six layers. Continue to beat and to fold the dough a half dozen times until it is elastic. Roll the dough out to a half-inch thickness before cutting it with a floured biscuit cutteror bayonet. Bake for about a half hour in a 325° F oven.
   
   Simple Recipes V
   The basic ingredients are flour, salt and water. General directions are also similar: Dissolve the salt in water and work it into flour using your hands. The dough should be firm and pliable but not sticky or dry. Flatten the dough onto a cookie sheet to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut into squares 3 inches by 3 inches. Pierce each square with 16 holes about ½ inch apart. Bake in oven until edges are brown or dough is hard.
   
   Simple Recipes VI
   Preheat the oven to 400° F For each cup of flour add 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix salt and flour with just enough water to bind. Bake 20-25 minutes. The longer you bake the hardtack, the more authentic it will appear.
   
   Simple Recipes VII
   Use one part water to six parts flour. Mix in salt. Roll the dough flat and score into cracker shapes. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400° F and let it cool until completely dry before storing in canisters. The crackers should be hard as bricks and indestructibly unappetizing.
   
   Simple Recipes VII
   A cup of water
   2 cups of flour
   6 pinches of salt
   Mix flour, water, and salt into a stiff dough, kneading it several times. Spread dough ½ inch thick onto baking sheet and slice into 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch squares. Poke holes in dough, four lines of four holes across and four down. Bake for ½ hour at 400.° F. Remove from the oven, cut the dough into 3 inch squares. Turn dough over, return it to the oven, and bake for another ½ hour. Turn the oven off, leaving the oven door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until it is cool.
   
   Less Traditional Recipes
   2 c Flower
   1/2 tb Salt (optional)
   1/2 tb Sugar (optional)
   1/2 c Water
   Mix together in an electric blender at medium speed until it has the consistency of playdough. Roll it out with a rolling pin to about 1/3" or so, the thinner the crisper, then cut it into 3 x 3 inch squares. I use the barrel of a ball point pen to punch 16 holes (4 x 4) in each square. Bake at 375° F on the first side for 20-25 minutes or until it turns a light brown color, then turn them over and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste.
   2 1/2 cups flour
   1/2 tablespoon baking powder
   1/2 tablespoon salt
   1/2- 3/4 cup water
   Mix to a stiff dry dough. It should not stick to your hands. Add water slowly. Add more flour if needed. Cut to 3x3 inch squares 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Now put 16 little holes in each one, using a 10 d nail or some other such thing. Toothpick are too small. Bake in an ungreased cookie pan, preheated to 400° F for about 20 to 30 minutes on each side, or until dry. Check it every now and then.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste. II
   1/8 teaspoon baking soda
   3 tablespoons buttermilk
   1 cup flour
   4 teaspoons real maple syrup
   3/8 teaspoons salt
   1-1/2 tablespoons shortening
   Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix the soda and buttermilk, then set aside. Combine flour, syrup, and salt. Cut in the shortening. Add the buttermilk mixture. Roll out very thin and score rectangles in the dough without cutting all the way through. Prick each rectangle several times with a fork. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste. III
   2 cups of flour
   3/4 to 1 cup water
   1 tbl spoon of Crisco
   6 pinches of salt
   Mix the ingredients together to form a stiff batter, kneading several times. Spread the dough onto a baking sheet at a thickness of 1/2 inch. Bake for a half hour at 400° F. Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough. Turn dough over, return to the oven and bake another half hour. Turn oven off, leaving door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until cool.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste. IV
   3 cups all-purpose flour
   1 cup whole wheat flour
   1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
   1/2` cup cracked wheat
   1 tablespoon sugar
   1 tablespoon salt
   1 1/2 cups buttermilk
   Combine the flours, cornmeal, wheat, sugar and salt. Add buttermilk, mix well, and knead briefly. Shape dough into golf-ball-sized portions. Dust with flour and roll very thin. Place on greased and floured baking sheet. Bake at 400° F turning several times, until lightly browned on both sides. Cool; then store in waterproof container.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste. V
   2 Level teaspoons baking powder
   1 pinch of salt
   1 1/2 cup flour
   2 cups sugar
   4 eggs, well beaten
   1 jelly glass of orange marmalade
   1 lb Finely chopped walnuts
   1 lb Finely chopped dates
   Sift ingredients together. Add the remainder of ingredients; mix well. Bake about an inch thick on a cookie sheet in an oven at 375° F for about 45 minutes. Cut into squares while warm.
   
   Small Batch, Just for a taste. VI
   2 cups of flour
   1 cup water
   1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat.
   6 pinches of salt
   Bake for 30 minutes at 400° F. Remove the dough from the oven, and cut it into 3-inch squares. Punch four rows of holes into the dough. Turn the dough over, return it to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
   
   A Sailor's Diet
   2 1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick oats.
   3 cups unbleached flour.
   1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
   1 teaspoon baking soda.
   In a separate container, mix:
   
   1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
   3 tablespoons honey.
   1/2 cup melted bacon drippings or shortening.
   Combine the two sets of ingredients. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, roll it out on a floured board to a thickness of about a quarter inch. Cut out circles of dough with a large drinking glass dipped in flour and put them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 5 1/2 minutes at 450° F. Let the hardtack cool on a wire rack before serving with jam or jelly.
   
   Thank you from http://www.kenanderson.net/ for the number of recipies

9. Ushartian fried baby Giant Squid or Kraken

   #49

   A famous dish served at most of the eating-houses which abound at the Great Market of Ushart,this item is very popular among sailors craving some flavour to revive a tongue nigh killed by an endless diet of hardtack and salted pork during the week at sea.
   
   
   Ingredients:
   One wriggling baby squid or Kraken
   A string of chili peppers.
   A handful of garlic.
   Half a flagon of wine
   
   Dunk baby Giant Squid or Kraken into a wok of boiling oil while it still alive. Doing so,ensure it retains its natural flavours. Wait for twenty minutes while it squirms in its death throes,before mincing the peppers and and garlic and throwing them in. Finally,add the wine and stir the mixture fast and vigorously. By now,the ill fated infant invertebrate is now the color of a rich,golden brown and is ready to be served. Great when eaten with oysters as a side dish.

10. Hemorigan Madmush

    #50

    In the dark lofts of the Hemorigan treetop town of Mojena, where all the shady characters live, there are many delicacies frowned upon by the good folk of the treetop city. Using the mind or body altering fauna which grows in the vast forests which live below them, some meals are made which can have adverse affects. Many people have been fatally poisoned tasting unreputable feasts of this nature.
    
    One of the most popular 'outlawed' meals, however, is known as Hemorigan Madmush, and is made from the hallucanogenic fungus "Chruinich" which sometimes grows along the waters edge of small streams. Approximately ten minutes after eating a bowl of Hemorigan madmush, the consumer's mind begins to addle and his actions become erratic, unpredictable and often quite humorous to anyone watching. The consumer is filled with a sense of complete euphoria and an hour into effects he begins to lose his memory. Some eight hours later, the consumer will come back to his senses in a strange place, often feeling bruised and battered, but also feeling completely giddy - finding even mundane things very amusing until they next sleep. They have no memory of the previous eight hours, but nor do they care about it.
    
    Ingredients
    
    200 mls of cream
    2-3 'rashers' of diced smoked pigmeat - Bacon
    1 cup sliced Chruinich * Normal mushrooms may be used to achieve the same taste, but the hallucanogenic effects won't occur.
    100ml White wine
    30g shaved hard cheese - Parmasen
    100g Long, flat pasta
    
    _____
    
    Cook off pigmeat in a small amount of oil. Add the Chruinich and sweat. Add wine and reduce slightly. Add cream and simmer until thickened to a sauce consistency. Serve on long, flat pasta and garnish with parmasen.
    
    A simple recipe, but a very pleasing result.

11. Common Drunk Shark

    #51

    First you get um drunk and well spiced... then you cover'em over in a warm blanket. Fishermen in any number of places have this basic recipe.
    
    2 lbs. skinless shark steaks or fillets, fresh or frozen
    2/3 c. beer (enough to ensure coverage) + 2 bottles for cooks
    1/3 c. cooking oil
    1 tsp. prepared mustard
    1 tsp. salt
    1/4 tsp. garlic powder
    1/4 tsp. pepper
    1/2 tsp. paprika
    2 tbsp. butter
    4 c. sliced onions
    1 c. dairy sour cream, heated
    1/2 tsp. horseradish
    Enough Rice to serve as bed for fish
    
    0) Start cooking rice per favorite process
    1) If required, thaw meat in shallow dish.
    2) Combine beer, oil, mustard, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Add fish; cover and marinate 30 minutes in refrigerator or similar cool place.
    3) Remove fish from marinade and broil 4 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.
    4) In a saucepan, melt butter and blend in paprika. Add onions and saute until tender but not brown. Combine warm sour cream and horseradish.
    5) To serve, make bed of rice, place steak, top each steak with onions and several spoonfuls of sour cream mixture.
    
    Makes 6 servings.
    
    Land Shark or Sky Shark can be substituted, if not prefered to sea shark. Sharviton (shark humanoids) should be avoided on principle. This recipe also works for Gator and any number of good sized saurians

12. A dash of salt and

    #52

    Blood Vine Stew
    
    10 cups water
    
    1/2 cup crush garlic cloves
    
    1lb dumplings
    
    1 tbs lemon juice or mint (depends on flavor taste)
    
    5 cups crushed or shredded blood vine leaves
    
    1/2lbs diced carrots
    
    1 source of open flame
    
    pork added accordingly
    
    1) Bring the water to a boil
    
    2) add carrots and garlic cloves, wait until they are about half way through cooking, stirring occasionally.
    
    3)add pork, continue stirring until pork is half cooked
    
    4) add dumplings, wait until the pork and dumplings are fully cooked
    
    5)Garnish with blood vine leaves and lemon or mint
    
    6) Bon appetite.
    
    NOTE: Blood vine leaves must be cooked very well and separated from the main plant for safety reasons (see whimsical flora) Pork may be substitute for lamb, chicken, or completely removed if one is a vegetarian.

13. Lamb and Wolfberry porridge

    #53

    This is porridge for improved health and spirit in the winter. It norishes the liver and kidney, benefits essence and marrow, and dispell cold evil. (If you allready have a cold/ flu, avoid the recipe.
    
    Per Person:
    250g (9 oz) Lamb Meat (kidneys if possible)
    30g (1 oz) Wolfberry (Chinese prefered)
    200g (7 oz) Rice
    20g (1 oz) Raw slice ginger
    salt and green onion to taste.
    
    Silce meat and place it in water to cook. In seperate container, cook the rice down to porridge. When the porridge is read, mix in the lamb, wolfsberry and ginger, add other seasonings to taste.

14. Re: A dash of salt and *

    #54

    Now this is a nice, productive thread! Kudos gentlemen.

15. Re: A dash of salt and *

    #55

    Heck yes. And MoonHunter (I am sure) Did move it to the main Citadel for mass consumption.
    
    To save some the search: http://strolen.com/viewing/A_Dash_of_Salt

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