The Stag Cook Book: Written for Men by Men

Stewart Edward White MULLIGAN This is a camp dish to be cooked over an open fire. I guarantee nothing on a stove. I know nothing of stoves, and have a dark suspicion of them. To make it: Place in a kettle half full of cold water either (a) fish cut in chunks, (b) a couple of dozen clams, or (c) a half dozen chunks of venison about the size of a tennis ball, depending on whether you want a Fish Mulligan, a Clam Mulligan, or a Game Mulligan. Also depending on what you have. Also a half dozen peeled potatoes and three large onions. Salt and pepper, bring slowly to a boil. Add a handful of cubes of salt pork or bacon. Simmer slowly until the potatoes disintegrate. If you have the remains of a can of com or a little residue of cold rice or anything of like nature, drop them in. Next put in all the stale bread or hard tack the traffic will bear. Dissolve a tablespoonful of flour in a little warm water, and stir that in for thickening. Cook slowly until you can't stand it any longer, and fly to it. [69] xxvn Oliver Herford FRIED ELDERBERRY BLOSSOMS This sounds like a joke but it is a perfectly serious dish — I made its acquaintance at the table of a little inn' in South Baden, on the shores of Lake Constance. First you must wait until the elderberry bushes are in full bloom. Then you gather a good sized bunch of them — and cut off each blossom just below the point where the little stems join the main stalk. These you dip into a light egg batter such as is used to make apple fritters (lighter, perhaps), taking care to cover both the flower and as much of the little stalks as possible. They should be served like fritters as soon as made. [70] xxvni Reed Smoot PEACH COBBLER One of my favorite dishes is peach cobbler. I am told that it originated in the south, but its fame has spread far beyond the limits of the Mason and Dixon line. It is made in this way : Line a baking dish or pan, about three and one-half inches deep, with a rich pastry. There must be no break in the pastry. Then fill the dish to the brim with peaches — ripe, luscious ones, that have been pared and broken — not cut — in half. Sugar generously, and leave in about six or eight of the peach pits — they give a certain flavor that only peach pits may impart. Cover the peaches with an unbroken upper crust of pastry ; seal it tightly along the sides, so that none of the juices or aromas may escape. Bake in a slow oven until nearly brown — then sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, that will give a certain professional luster to the dish. After that finish the browning process. A cobbler containing a quart of peaches should bake for about one hour. EDITOR'S NOTE: — Senator Smoot is not alone in his partiality toward peach cobbler. Back in the days before Volstead, famous cobblers were produced just as above with the addition of brandy, say a cup to a quart of peaches—but that, of course, was a long time ago. [71] Ray Long SHAD ROE Dip the roe well in melted butter or bacon fat, place under hot broiler flame, cooking for five minutes on each side. Then place in a greased baking dish, season with salt, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and paprika. Dot over with a little more butter, or bacon fat, add a small quantity of hot water, cover closely and bake in an oven until tender — about fifteen minutes. This may be garnished with crisp bacon which should be cooked separately. Hessert Slice fresh pineapple, cover with sugar, and put on ice for several hours. Serve with lemon water ice. [72] Kenneth C. Beaton ("K. C. B.") LOBSTER