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CHAPTER 1

Breads and Muffins

Baking Powder Biscuits

Makes 18 2-inch biscuits

Baking powder biscuits tend to show up most often at breakfast. They are good with jam and butter. Yet they do very well at lunch when baked with a slice of cheese between two flat dough cutouts. Their usefulness extends to strawberry shortcake, too. They attain greater height while baking if cut from dough versus dropped in mounds on a baking sheet. Tasha did both, and they tasted the same. She rolled the dough on a small, yellow, free-standing marble-top counter.

The more dough is worked, the tougher biscuits are. Tasha observed the addition of an egg to baking powder biscuits was prevalent in New England, but less so in the Southern states.

1 egg
½–¾ cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Whisk together egg and milk in small bowl. In separate large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut butter into marble-size pieces and mix lightly into flour with hands. Add milk and egg mixture. Mix minimally with fork until ingredients are barely combined.

Press dough out onto counter with hands, then roll to ½-inch thickness. Cut straight down with sharp biscuit cutter.

Bake 8–12 minutes or until just browned on top. Makes about a dozen biscuits.

Banana Bread

8 servings

Banana bread was more of a traveling or picnic food, and less a regular menu item for Tasha. Spring in New England meant day-long excursions to plant nurseries in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and sometimes New York State. The day before the trip was spent packing a really good lunch with plenty of snacks for the drive there and back. We usually arrived a little before noon at the farthest places, parked in the shade, and set up a picnic blanket in a quiet corner of a display garden. Tasha brought hot tea in a thermos bottle and a wicker picnic basket that held six cups, six plates, banana bread, deviled eggs, brownies, fruit, and six pearl-handled knives to spread jam or butter on cracker sandwiches. Many years have gone by since these trips now, and a lot of the nurseries Tasha frequented are gone. Some are not, however, and the trees that provided shade during picnics are still there and doing well. Tasha always had wonderful stories to tell during the drive, and endless enthusiasm for the nurseries, the proprietors, her traveling companions, the plants, and getting back home.

6 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl place warm, almost-melted butter. Add sugar, eggs, then remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Bake in well-greased bread pan for 45–50 minutes, or until fork inserted in top center comes out clean.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes 18 muffins

The high quantity and broad distribution of blueberry bushes around the periphery of Tasha's garden is a source of delight for the birds. Yet this planting technique is such that here and there an entire blueberry bush is overlooked or unheeded by blue jays and robins. Tasha put these blueberries straight into blueberry muffins, pies, or the freezer for later use. Many lowbush blueberries inhabit the fringe of fields and wild spaces adjacent to Tasha's garden, and were prized by her for use in jams and muffins.

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ cup sugar
½ cup shortening or butter
2 eggs
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Add shortening or butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract, and mix until barely combined. Fold blueberries into batter.

Grease muffin pan, and spoon batter in, about ? full. Sprinkle tops with sugar and cinnamon if desired.

Bake 20 minutes or until just browned and fork comes out clean.

Bran Muffins

Makes 24 small muffins

Prior to the 1980s, Tasha made bran muffins from a receipt that varies from the one she used later. Both are good. This is the pre-1980s version, a breakfast staple for the first sixty-five years of Tasha's life. Bran muffins are durable. They travel well, store well, and are nourishing, filling, and invariably welcomed by visitors. Tasha kept unused batter refrigerated in a crock covered by a plate for up to a week, and would make as many as needed to suit the occasion, from two to a dozen. She collected eggs in the evening and stored them overnight on the plate covering the bran muffin batter, to sort the following morning.

2 cups crushed bran flakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons very soft butter
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
¼ cup molasses
½ cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine crushed bran flakes, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix in butter, buttermilk, eggs, molasses, and raisins.

Bake 20–25 minutes in greased muffin pan.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Makes 2 8½- × 4½-inch loaves

One of Tasha's favorite quotes is from Henry David Thoreau. "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." She was also fond of the rumor he had invented cinnamon raisin bread, though knew from receipts in cookbooks published prior to his time that he hadn't. Tasha toasted slices of cinnamon raisin bread for tea, or had it untoasted with butter for breakfast.

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup water at 100–110°F
2 cups milk at 100–110°F
6 tablespoons soft butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing pans and loaves
4 teaspoons sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons cinnamon
¼ cup cinnamon-sugar

In a large bowl, mix yeast and water. Let stand for several minutes. Add milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and flour. Knead for 10 minutes or so and allow to rise and double in size. Place raisins in a saucepan with 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, drain, and cool.

Cut dough in half. Take one half and roll out to 8 inches wide by 24–30 inches long. Coat surface with butter. Combine cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture on dough, then half of raisins on dough.

Roll up dough lengthwise to form loaf, seal edges and ends of loaf, and place seam side down in greased bread pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Let rise until double in size, about 1 hour in a 75°F location.

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until thermometer in center of loaf reads 170°F.

Clover Rolls

Makes 24 rolls

This receipt plays many roles when making menus. A clover roll is merely three small balls of bread dough baked together in a muffin pan. After baking they are easily separated into three pieces, and their manageable size is useful around a busy or crowded table. Tasha often made these rolls with extra dough from other bread receipts. She had affection for this receipt's name, as she often found four-leaf clovers when she walked through clover patches. She pressed them between pages of the books in her library and it is easier to find them there than out in the lawns. Once she found a seven-leaf clover and hung it in a small frame on her east bedroom wall.

1 tablespoon yeast
¼ cup water at 100–110°F
1 cup milk at 100–110°F
4 tablespoons soft butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix yeast and warm water. Let stand for several minutes. Add milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and flour. Knead 10 minutes or so. Let rise until double in size.

Knock down and divide into twelve sections. Now divide each of those into three more and roll into balls. Coat lightly with butter. Place three balls in each muffin cup.

Allow to rise about 30 minutes in a 75°F location, then bake in 350°F oven 12–15 minutes.

Corn Bread

12 servings

This corn bread receipt has remained unchanged for generations. The most important step to follow is the careful incorporation of egg whites into the batter; otherwise the results will be less like corn bread and more like muffins. Corn bread baked in cast-iron muffin pans achieves an ideal exterior texture and is best eaten fresh. If it goes stale, cut lengthwise and toast, or heat in a skillet with a little butter and serve with maple syrup. Tasha made corn bread at either noon or supper and served it with a small bowl of strawberry or raspberry jam. She reliably received sincere compliments on this receipt's excellence.

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine butter and sugar, then egg yolks. Mix in milk, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into batter.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and bake 20–25 minutes.

Best served hot, either plain or with jam, butter, or maple syrup.

Oatmeal Bread

Makes 2 8½- × 11½-inch loaves

The high percentage of oatmeal in this bread is uncommon for such a receipt. Tasha made it regularly, and emphasized the requirement to use bread flour and knead the dough thoroughly, as doing so was one of the determining factors for proper rise. As a rule, Tasha did not waste food, and often made this receipt when extra oatmeal remained in the pot after breakfast.

1 1/3 cups steel-cut oats
3½ cups boiling water
½ cup brown sugar
8 tablespoons butter
2½ teaspoons salt
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
4 cups bread flour
½ cup dry milk
4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add steel-cut oats to boiling water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until all water is absorbed. Add brown sugar, butter, and salt. Transfer to large bowl and add rolled oats, 1 cup of bread flour, and dry milk. Stir until ingredients are combined, then cover and let sit for about an hour.

Stir in yeast and remaining bread flour. Knead thoroughly. Dough will be sticky. Let rise for an hour in warm room.

Grease two standard-size bread pans, divide dough in half, shape to fit pans, and let rise until dough is 1 to 2 inches above rim.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or so, or until thermometer reads 180°F in center of loaf.

The dry milk may be substituted for ½ cup flour, and half of the water replaced with milk.

Salted Crackers

Makes 24 2-inch crackers

These crackers store well and are good to have on hand. Tasha kept crackers in a large, old red tea tin on the main kitchen counter next to the spice drawers, and brought them out for tea parties and lunch or ate them between meals with ham spread. The dough may be cut into squares, stamped out with cookie cutters, or formed into small balls and rolled thin. It's important to roll them to 1/8–1/16 of an inch, and not apply too much coarse salt. Although this receipt is useful only for making crackers, most bread dough rolled thin and baked will turn into crackers as well.

1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cold butter
½2 cup milk Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add butter and use hands to combine. Add milk.

Mix until dough forms and knead briefly on floured surface. The dough spreads out more easily if separated into several smaller balls.

Roll out to 1/8 inch or less. Sprinkle coarse salt on dough and run rolling pin over to press it in.

Cut crackers into desired shape, prick each several times with fork, and bake until light brown.

Wheat Bread

Makes 3 4½- × 8½-inch loaves

Ralph Waldo Emerson authored many quotes Tasha approved of. "Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy" is one she humorously altered to, "Life is not so short but that there is always time to make bread."

This receipt makes three large loaves. It is entirely possible to make this out of 100 percent wheat so long as the berries have been ground very finely and the finished dough is very soft, thus allowing rising. If you do this, use about a half cup less water.

2 cups milk
3 cups water
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
6 cups whole-wheat flour
6 cups bread flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons salt
¾ cup vegetable oil or butter

In 2-quart or larger pot, warm milk and water to 110°F. Stir in yeast.

In a large mixing bowl, place whole-wheat flour, bread flour, sugar, salt, and vegetable oil or butter. Knead thoroughly for 10 minutes. Let rise until double in size.

Grease three bread pans. Punch down dough and cut into three sections. Shape dough to evenly fit pans. Cover with light cloth and let rise for about an hour or until 1 to 2 inches above top of pan.

Place in 350°F oven for 40 minutes, until loaves sound hollow when tapped, or thermometer reads 165°F from center top.

Bread will continue to bake a little after coming out of the oven. Remove from pans and let cool on rack.

Breakfast

Apple Dumplings

6 servings

Apple dumplings make good breakfast fare. They are also an excellent dessert served with vanilla ice cream. Sometimes when Tasha made apple pie she'd also make extra pie crust dough and wrap apples in 5-inch squares. It's hard to make too many. The sugar and water mixture will thicken by the time the dumplings are done, and may be scooped from the baking dish and poured over each dumpling as it sits on a dessert plate.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
½ cup milk
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add shortening and cut in. Stir in milk.

On floured surface, roll out dough and cut into squares. Place a section of peeled apple in the center of each square, then sprinkle each with a mixture of ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon sugar. Press dough around apple.

Bring brown sugar, water, butter, and cinnamon to a boil. Pour over dumplings and bake for ½ hour or until done.

Cream of Wheat

2 servings

Sometimes a layer of solidified Cream of Wheat remained at the bottom of the pot after breakfast. Tasha refrigerated it overnight. The next morning, she cut it into strips, fried them in a bit of butter, and served them hot on a plate beside a fork and pitcher of maple syrup. This was not an uncommon breakfast, and is a good use for leftover cereal. Sometimes she whisked an egg yolk left over from another receipt into the Cream of Wheat as it cooked. Although Cream of Wheat takes 2½ minutes to cook, once in a while Tasha remarked that it took twice as long in the 1940s.

2 cups water or milk
1/3 cup Cream of Wheat
¼ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon butter

Slowly pour Cream of Wheat into boiling water or milk, stirring constantly. Add salt. Continue stirring until thick, about 2 minutes.

When cool, cut into strips. Add butter to skillet and heat until melted. Place strips in skillet and cook until browned on bottom. Flip to brown on other side.

Serve immediately with maple syrup.

Oatmeal

1 serving

This was probably Tasha's most frequent breakfast. She cooked different types of oatmeal: sometimes steel cut or crushed, but usually rolled. In winter she made oatmeal on the woodstove, but used an electric burner in summer even though she usually started a fire in the woodstove each morning year-round. She lit the fires during summer to take the early morning chill off, and as they were small and she let them go out shortly after, the electric stove was more practical for cooking. To cook oatmeal exactly the way she did requires goat milk. For decades she kept and milked Nubian goats, and attributed her longevity to goat milk. A recently emptied oatmeal pot was immediately filled with soapy water, or cleaned and put away.

1 cup milk or water
½ cup rolled oats Dash of salt

Bring milk or water to boil. Add oats and salt. Stir occasionally over low heat until cooked, about 5 minutes or so. Sweeten with brown sugar or maple syrup.

Omelet

1 serving

Although Tasha made scrambled eggs for breakfast, were she to make an omelet it would be in the evening. The filling was invariably modest: a bit of cheese, ham, bacon, or a few pieces of tomato. She ate in the rocking chair by the fender of the cookstove, and afterward usually took her dogs for a walk. On her return she walked through the barn and closed the large south-facing double doors, the back barn door, and the door by the dovecote. This was also the time of day she did a final check on the goats and chickens, and invariably spent considerable time seeing to their well-being.

2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter

Whisk eggs, milk, and salt until blended.

Over medium heat, coat 6-inch frying pan with butter.

Pour mixture and tilt pan from side to side until egg is evenly distributed. Place filling on one side of omelet, fold other side onto it, and serve right away.

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Excerpted from "The Tasha Tudor Family Cookbook"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Winslow Tudor.
Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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