Real Vermont Cooking

6lbs tomatoes

2lbs sliced onion 

1�2 cup salt 

1 pint vinegar 

1 1/2 lbs sugar 

2 tbs curry 

2 dsp mustard 

3 heaped tbs cornflour

5oz vinegar, extra 

1 tsp mace 

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pepper 

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp nutmeg 

1 dsp salt 

Scald & skin tomatoes, add onions & salt.  Cover with water & stand overnight.  Pour off brine, add vinegar.  Bring to boil then add sugar. Take curry, mustard, cornflour & mix to a paste with extra vinegar. Stir until mixture thickens.  Boil 1�2 to 1 hour, when finished boiling add remaining ingredients.  Stir in well. Bottle.  Make double quantity. Makes 9 1 liter bottles. 

Cucumbers are such a great summer food. Radishes and scallions add some bite to this dish

Ingredients
2 cucumbers
4 radishes, thinly sliced
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
4 teaspoons seasoned vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon black and red pepper mix

Directions
Cut the cucumbers into quarters and remove the seeds. Cut the quarters into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and keep cool until ready to serve.

Baked beans started off as a stew made by sailors who were inspired by similar stews found in France. Just about every region in America has their own twist on this dish. This one, of course, uses maple syrup.

Ingredients
2 lbs. dried navy beans
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 lb. bacon (the thicker the better!), cut into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 cups boiling water

Directions
Let your beans soak overnight, then boil them until soft. Drain and rinse.
Preheat your oven to about 350.
Line the bottom of a casserole dish with about half the bacon, layer the onion pieces on top of the bacon and then the beans on top of the onion.
Mix together all of the remaining ingredients, except the bacon and dump those on beans. You may need to add a bit more water to cover everything depending on the size of your pot. Now put the remaining bacon on top and bake for 5 hours or so. If too much liquid is being burned off, add in more boiling water and maple syrup.

These yummy biscuits are great for every day meals. You don’t need have to cut them from the dough, just drop spoonfuls onto your cookie sheet. This recipe makes about 1 dozen biscuits. You flatlanders and omit the pepper if you just want to have plain biscuits.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 stick butter, chilled
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup plus two tablespoons milk

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into 1/4 inch or so slices and places into the bowl. Mix with a hand-mixer until the you have a mixture that resembles cornmeal (you may need to cover the bowl with a towel to keep the flour from flying everywhere).
In a separate smaller bowl, mix the yogurt and 1/3 cup of milk with a whisk and pour into the larger bowl. Mix with a fork until most of the liquid is absorbed, then add the pepper and remaining milk. Continue mixing until you have a consistent dough.
Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by the spoonful. You should have enough dough to make 12 biscuits. Space them appropriately. Bake until the tippity tops are just turning golden brown, or around 17-19 minutes.
Serve warm with butter or jelly!

Ahh, rarebit. I’ve been told that the name is based on “Rabbit”, but with the phonology of the Scottish or Welsh retained. The Welsh part comes from the silly notion that Welshman would have a pot ready for their rabbit stew, but they would never be able to nab a rabbit. Not wanting the heated pot to go to waste, they would dump some cheese, beer and whatever else they could find to make “rabbit” stew. I can only imagine some 17th century Wendy’s lady going “Where’s the Rabbit?”

Moving on, this is snack is based on putting some cheese on toast, but with some kick! This is a great mid-day snack. Be careful about eating this just before going to bed, the gastro-instenstial effects of some of the ingredients have been known to cause nightmares in some people

Ingredients
2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup European* beer
2 tsp. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. paprika or red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 egg
4 slices toast

Directions
Cook cheese, beer, butter and dry ingredients in saucepan over a low heat until cheese is melted, and stir it every once in a while.

Next, take a bit (tablespoon or so) of the cheese sauce from saucepan and put into a small bowl, add the egg and beat together. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir until well blended. Continue cooking until it’s thickened.

Make your toast and spoon the sauce on it. Yum!

*Keep the intended taste of the sauce by using only European or like-minded beers that have some taste to them. Killians Irish Red is good. Samual Adams is good. Local micro-brews are probably good. Bud, Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Corona, etc are NOT.