Chuckwagon: Buffalo Stew For An Army
Buffalo Stew For An Army:
2 large size buffalo
Lots of brown gravy
Cut buffalo into bite size pieces. This may take up to two months.
Put in a very large pot and add enough gravy to cover the meat.
Add vegetables as desired.
Cook stew over a fire for about 4 weeks at 400 degrees.
Periodically add water and stir.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Pie Plant Pie
3 cups pie plant (rhubarb)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon full flour
1 teaspoon full butter
Pie crust for top and bottom
Wash pie plant, do not skin; cut into small pieces.
Mix sugar and flour well with pie plant.
Place in crust, dot with butter and cover with upper crust.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Fried Cakes
Here is a great treat whether you are a cowboy on a cattle drive; a member of a family on your way west; or spending the evening watching TV. Obviously today you need to substitute an oil that builds less cholesterol than rendered beef fat. Sprinkling the Fried Cakes with sugar can make them a great dessert.
Fried Cakes
Mix well with fork 1-½ cups of flour and 1 cup water. With plenty of flour on hands and rolling surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch squares. Heat rendered beef fat in skillet, and add dough squares. Brown on both sides. Sprinkle fried cakes with salt. Makes about 20 cakes.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon – Curing Bacon
For curing bacon you will need one peck salt to five hundred pounds pork. To five gallons water add:
4 pounds salt
1 pound sugar
1 pint molasses
Mix, and after sprinkling the fleshy side of the ham with the salt, pack in a tight barrel. Hams first, then shoulders, and middlings. Pour over the brine; leave the meat in brine from four to seven weeks.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Spotted Pup Pudding
To make Spotted Pup Pudding, take whatever amount needed for hungry cowboys of fluffy, cooked rice. Put in Dutch oven and cover with milk and well-beaten eggs. Add a dash of salt; raisins and a little nutmeg. Sweeten well with sugar. Add raisins and a little nutmeg and vanilla. Bake in slow oven until egg mixture is done and raisins soft.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon – Red Bean Pie
Beans were a staple of the cowboy’s food, particularly when he was on the trail. Beans could be easily stored and they were inexpensive. And although it probably wasn’t known, Red Bean Pie is also nutritious.
Here is yet another way the cook could feed cowboys beans.
1-cup cooked and mashed pinto beans.
1-cup sugar.
3-beaten egg yokes.
1-teaspoon vanilla.
1-teaspoon nutmeg.
Place combined ingredients in an uncooked piecrust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Make a meringue with the leftover egg whites. Spread over baked pie and return to oven to brown.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Old West Candy Recipe
Below is an Old West candy recipe from the October 23, 1893 Albuquerque Evening Citizen.
Chocolate Carmels – boil together a pound of white sugar, a quarter of a pound of chocolate, four tablespoons of molasses, a cup of sweet milk, and apiece of butter as big as a walnut. When it will harden in water, flavor with vanilla and pour on a buttered slab. When nearly cold, cut in squares.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Fart and Dart Beans
The following recipe for Fart and Dart Beans is not an actual 1800’s cattle drive recipe. However, it is in the spirit of the bean dishes the cowboys ate. Even better yet, it tastes great.
Fart and Dart Beans
Mix together one 16 ounce can of the following: Pinto beans, pork & beans, red kidney beans, lima beans, white northern beans and butter beans.
1 lb cut up bacon 1 chopped onion
½ tsp minced garlic ½ tsp prepared mustard
½ cup vinegar 1 cup brown sugar
Fry the bacon until done, but not crisp. Pour beans, bacon, onion and garlic into large pan and mix. Simmer for 15 minutes a combination of the mustard, vinegar and brown sugar. Pour the liquid over the beans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Mix the beans a couple of times during the cooking process.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Cowboy Coffee Roast
Cowboys loved their coffee. Here’s a recipe where coffee is actually used in cooking a cowboy coffee roast.
Cut slits in a 3 to 5 pound brisket. Insert garlic and onion into the slits. Pour one cup of vinegar over the meat, and work it into the slits. Marinate for 24 to 48 hours – refrigerated, of course.
Place in a Dutch oven. Pour 2 cups of strong coffee and 2 cups water over the meat. Simmer for 4 to 6 hours. If necessary, add water during the cooking.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Calf’s Head Soup
Calf’s Head Soup: From an 1879 cookbook.
Scald and clean the head, and boil in two gallons water with:
A shank of veal. A small piece of bacon.
2 carrots. A bunch of sweet herbs.
3 onions.
When boiled a half hour, cut meat off head and shank. Let the soup boil half an hour longer, and then strain it. Put meat back in the soup and season. Thicken with butter and brown flour.
Let boil an hour longer. Just before serving add tablespoon of sugar browned in frying pan and a half pint wine. Good substitute for turtle soup.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Cowboy Corn Muffins For Breakfast
For Cowboy Corn Muffins, pour one quart of boiling milk over one pint of fine cornmeal. While the mixture is still hot, add one tablespoonful of butter and a little salt, stirring the batter thoroughly. Let is stand until cool, then add a small cup of wheat flour and two well-beaten eggs. When mixed sufficiently, put the batter into well-greased shallow tins (or, better yet, into gem pans) and bake in a brisk over for one-half hour, or until richly browned. Serve hot.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Winter Red Flannel Hash
A great way to use left over corned beef is to add a few new ingredients and create Red Flannel Hash. Who knows who came up with the beets, but it really is colorful, and sticks to the ribs.
1 ½ Cups chopped corned beef
1 ½ Cups chopped cooked beets
1 Medium onion, chopped
4 Cups chopped cooked potatoes
Chop ingredients separately, then mix together. Heat all ingredients in a well- greased skillet, slowly, loosen around the edges, and shake to prevent scorching. After a nice crust forms on bottom, turn out on a warmed plate and serve. If it seems a little dry add a little beef broth. Try with a couple poached eggs, for a hearty meal.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Chuckwagon Terms
Chuckwagon Terms:
Wreck pan – The pan in which cowboys placed their dirty dishes following a meal.
Squirrel can – The large can in which cowboys scraped the food scraps before placing them in the wreck pan.
Cook’s last job of the evening – Point the tongue of the chuckwagon toward the north so the herd could “follow the tongue” the next day.
Gut robber, greasy belly, biscuit shooter – Cowboys names for both the ranch house and trail drive cook.
Coffee recipe – A hand full of coffee for every cup of water.
Possum belly – A rawhide apron attached to the underside of the chuckwagon in which wood and buffalo chips are stored for the dinner fire.
Why cooks threw dirty dishwater under chuckwagon – This helped protect the cook’s domain by discouraging cowboys from taking a nap in the shade under the chuckwagon.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Old Fashioned Shortcake
Old Fashioned Shortcake from an 1891 recipe book entitled “Palatable Dishes.”
For Old Fashioned Shortcake take one quart of nice buttermilk, add to it one teaspoonful of soda, quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of unmelted lard, then stir in enough sifted flour to make as soft a dough as can be handled. Roll out to about half an inch thick, cut into diamonds and bake quickly.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Spiced Corn Beef
To 10 pounds of beef, take 2 cups salt, 2 cups molasses, 2 tablespoonfuls saltpeter, 1 tablespoonful ground pepper, 1 tablespoonful cloves; rub well into the beef.
Turn every day, and rub the mixture in. Will be ready for use in 10 days.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Plum Pudding Sauce
Ingredients: Glass of brandy; 2 oz of fresh butter; Glass of Madeira; Pounded sugar to taste.
Mode: Mix pounded sugar with part of the brandy and the butter. Warm until sugar and butter dissolved then add the rest of brandy. Either pour it over the pudding or serve in a tureen.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Sourdough Cornbread
This recipe comes from the Hashknife Outfit of Winslow, Arizona.
1 cup starter.
Enough cornmeal to make a beatable batter.
1 ½ cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs beaten
¼ cup warm melted butter, or fat
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon soda
Mix starter, cornmeal, milk, eggs and stir thoroughly in large bowl. Stir in melted butter, salt and soda. Pour into a 10 inch greased frying pan or Dutch oven, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Old West “Refrigeration”
In the 1800’s people in the West didn’t have a refrigerator or freezer to keep their meat fresh, so they used other means. Below are summer guidelines for storing meat. Incidentally, we don’t recommend your trying these methods today. They are not that dependable.
Cover the meat with sour milk or buttermilk and store in a cellar.
In areas where the nights are cool, hang the meat in the open from a tree so any breeze can pass around it. Make sure the meat is brought inside at dawn. During the day wrap the meat in a tarp and store in a shady place. Make sure the blow flies don’t deposit eggs on the meat.
Keep the meat away from rain and damp nights. Any meat that gets wet must be cooked or jerked immediately.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Cowboy Slang
Cowboys are noted for developing their own vocabulary, known as Cowboy Slang. Sometimes it was because they couldn’t pronounce the word correctly as used in the language of origin. They were famous for perverting Spanish words. Cowboys also named items because the item reminded them of something else. However they came about, cowboys had a vocabulary that was colorful and their own. Below are some cowboy slang words used in reference to chuck, or for the non-cowboy, food, while they were on the trail.
-
- Calf Slobbers – Meringue on a pie.
- Fried Chicken – Bacon rolled in flour and fried.
- Chuck Wagon Chicken – Fried bacon.
- Charlie Taylor – A substitute for butter. A combination of molasses and bacon grease.
- “Man at the Pot!” – Term yelled at a person pouring himself a cup of coffee. A cowboy’s way of saying, “Pour me a cup too.”
- Spotted Pup – Cooking raisins in rice.
- Stacked to a fill – Compliment to the chief following a great meal.
- Dry Camp – A camp that has no water available.
- Prairie or Mountain Oysters – Calf’s testicles.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Sourdough Biscuits
Sourdough biscuits were a delicacy whether on the trail or at the ranch. Once a cook got a good sourdough starter he cherished it like a baby. On the trail he would store it in a dark, cool place in his chuck wagon. Here is one cooks recipe for a sourdough starter.
2 cups of lukewarm potato water.
2 cups flour.
1 tablespoon sugar.
Make potato water by cutting up 2 medium-sized potatoes into cubes, and boil in cups of water until tender. Remove the potatoes and measure out two cups of the remaining liquid. (The potatoes can be used for the evening meal.) Mix the potato water, flour and sugar into a smooth paste. Set the mixture in a warm place until it doubles its original size.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Sweet Potato Pie
Boil sweet potatoes until well done. Peel and slice them very thin. Line a deep pie pan with good plain pastry, and arrange the sliced potatoes in layers, dotting with butter and sprinkling sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg over each layer, using at least ½ cup sugar. Pour over 3 tablespoonfuls whiskey, about ½ cup water, cover with pastry and bake. Serve warm.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Red Flannel Hash
A great way to use left over corned beef is to add a few new ingredients and create Red Flannel Hash. Who knows who came up with the beets, but it really is colorful, and sticks to the ribs.
1 ½ Cups chopped corned beef
1 ½ Cups chopped cooked beets
1 Medium onion, chopped
4 Cups chopped cooked potatoes
Chop ingredients separately, then mix together. Heat all ingredients in a well- greased skillet, slowly, loosen around the edges, and shake to prevent scorching. After a nice crust forms on bottom, turn out on a warmed plate and serve. If it seems a little dry add a little beef broth. Try with a couple poached eggs, for a hearty meal.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Jerky Gravy
Jerky, ground or chopped fine Little fat or grease
Flour Salt & pepper
Milk
Fry the jerky until done. Remove meat from grease, and add flour. Add milk, and salt & pepper. Cook gravy. Add meat to gravy.
The amount of each ingredient depends on how much gravy you want.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
Chuckwagon: Mormon Johnnycakes
Here is a form of cornbread used not only by the Mormon immigrants, as the name indicates, but quite often by most of the immigrants traveling west. Because of the inclusion of buttermilk, a source of fresh milk was a necessity.
2-cups of yellow cornmeal.
½-cup of flour.
1-teaspoon salt.
1-teaspoon baking soda.
Combine ingredients and mix in 2-cups of buttermilk and 2-tablespoons molasses.
Pour into a greased 9” pan and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. To get a lighter johnnycake include two beaten eggs and 2 tablespoons melted butter.
*Courtesy of Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, for more click HERE.
