Here I am with the first recipe from the 1800’s – fried salted Pork
Hi. As Mrs Ingalls I had to learn to cook an 1800’s meal and I decided to do fried salt pork with beans and mashed Potatoes. Since we do not live in the 1800s I could not use the same utensils as they used or indeed the same food! Instead of salt pork I used Gammon ham.
I just want to use a quote from “The Little House Cookbook” before I write the recipe:
” Outdoors was crisp and cold. Sunshine gilded the frosty windows, and in the house everyone was hearty and cheerful. How the travellers did enjoy that breakfast! They praised everything they ate …the slices of fat pork were thin and crisp, and the gravy was smooth and brown and creamy. There was hot brown-sugar syrup, and plenty of fragrant steaming tea.
“This meat is delicious,” Reverend Stuart said. “I know it is just fat salt pork , but I never tasted any like it . Would you tell me how you cook it , Sister Ingalls?” (By the Shores Of Silver Lake)
This is the recipe
For 6 servings you will need:
salt pork 1/2-1 pound
white flour , 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose
homogenised milk 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups
salt and pepper
skillet, 12-inch ; container for drippings.
First, I sliced the gammon ham thinly and parboiled the meat in boiling water. After parboiling, I rolled the meat in a batter of flour seasoned with salt and pepper. I heated some lard in a frying pan and fried the meat, one or two slices at a time, until crisp (mummy helped me with this) and served with green beans and mashed potatoes. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!
Fried salted pork with mashed potatoes and green beans
A Summer of Little House Living 
That was delicious. Can’t wait to see what else is coming up
Thanks Daddy! Next up is hasty pudding! Love you!
Good job, it does sound good.
Thank you. It really was good!
Ooooh… my mouth is watering just reading this! Well done! I am sure it must have been delicious! Looking forward to your next recipe! x
Thanks, it was delicious! You can come round for the next 1800’s meal, if you would like? It’s hasty pudding next! Mmmmm
What a great recipe & how clever of you Lillie to choose it & cook it (almost) unaided! I like the quote from the book, we were at Silver lake in Washington State I wonder if it was the same lake? There are probably lots of them in America, it’s a very big place. Pat
Hello Pat. Thanks for visiting C10, T11 and my site, it’s so nice to know you are reading and sharing our adventure. We found out that Laura’s Silver Lake was in South Dakota and not in Washington.
I thought there must be more than one.
It sounds delicious. I look forward to hearing more of your adventures.
Reese
Thanks Reese. Why don’t you try the recipe yourself and let me know how it goes. Thanks for visiting, look forward to hearing from you soon!
We read By the Shores of Silver Lake just last week, and I especially remember how Reverend Stuart asked Ma how she made the delicious salt pork. Laura describes the scene so beautifully, it made ME want to cook it!
Thank you so much for sharing what you did (great idea to use gammon), we will definitely be following in your footsteps!
Thank you, let us know when you cook it, I (L10) would love to know what you thought of it!
I was at the grocery store this afternoon and saw they had salt pork in the meat case. It reminded me of how my Grandma use to cook in southern West Virgina! I currently live Seattle.
I love following your adventures.
Thank you. Did your grandma cook the pork in a similar way to Laura? Did you enjoy it? We were surprised how ours tasted.
That does sound delicious. I remember when I was little my father used to fry up salt pork and he said that they put flour on it because it was mostly fat and the flour helped to keep the fat from just melting away. I don’t know if he was serious or not. He grew up in a farmer-waterman family. Lots of hard work and as there were thirteen in his family, there were lots of mouths to feed. They used everything. I think I shall have to try this recipe sometime.
That is really interesting to know. Thank you for sharing it with me. I will tell my brother and sister too.
That really looks good I will try it . I always loved the little house. Thank you for doing such a good job with all your projects, you are an inspiration all of you. Love from Switzerland.Myriam
Thank you for such a lovely comment. It is so encouraging to us!
We have always used salt pork to flavor our pinto beans. I never thought to fry it 🙂
We will have to try it out.
I love beans, but mummy isn’t too keen, so we don’t have them very often. I think beans with salt pork would taste lovely!
Well done, isn’t it great to try cook something new that tastes delicious? Do you think you’ll be making it more often?
Thank you. It was good to try something new. My sister, C10, is going to make it tonight. Instead of serving with mashed potato it will be served with corn bread.
I really liked the sound of this recipe a tasty alternative to things I already cook, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Pat. We are looking forward to seeing you on Sunday! I just hope the weather is like today!
Awesome! Was it hard not using the same utensils? What did you instead?
Thank you. We just used what mummy had in the kitchen!