s are easily made by dropping a quantity of the hot mush
in the frying-pan, having previously stirred in a small quantity
of soda, and turning it as soon as the lower side is browned. A
Johnny cake thus made is always appetizing, and with the addition
of a little sugar, it becomes a positive luxury. Hoe cakes, so
much relished by many, can be made by mixing up a quantity into
a thick mass, adding a little soda. Bake in the fire on a chip or
flat stone. The trapper's ground is generally in the neighborhood
of lakes or streams, and fresh fish are always to be had. They
may be cooked in a manner which would tempt a city epicure; and
when it comes to the cooking of a fresh brook trout, neither a
Prof. Blot nor a Delmonico can compete with the trapper's recipe.
The trout is first emptied and cleaned through a hole at the neck,
if the fish is large enough to admit of it; if not, it should be
done by a slit up the belly. The interior should be carefully washed
and seasoned with salt and pepper; and in the case of a large fish,
it should be stuffed with Indian meal. Build a good fire and allow
the wood to burn down to embers; lay the fish in the hot ashes
and cover it with the burning coals and embers; leave it thus for
about half an hour, more or less, in proportion to the size of the
fish (this may be easily determined by experiment); when done,
remove it carefully from the ashes, and peel off the skin. The
clean pink flesh and delicious savor which now manifest themselves
will create an appetite where none before existed. All the delicate
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flavor and sweet juices of the fish are thus retained, and the trout
as food is then known in its perfection.
By the ordinary method of cooking, the trout loses much of its
original flavor by the evaporation of its juices; and although
a delicious morsel in any event, it is never fully appreciated
excepting after being roasted in the ashes, as above described.
The other method consists in rolling the fish in the Indian meal
and frying it in the frying-pan with a piece of the salt pork.
Seasoning as desired.
Partridges, ducks, quail, and other wild fowl are most delicious
when cooked in the ashes as described for the trout. The bird should
be drawn in the ordinary manner, and the inside washed perfectly
clean. It should then be embedded in the hot coals and ashes, the
feathers having been previously saturated with water. When done,
the skin and feathers will easily peel of
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