Happy Independence Day Weekend! I pulled out some recipes from my Fred Harvey culinary archive that are perfect for the holiday. Several appear in the recipe appendix for Appetite for America, but the ones marked with * are “new” and never-before-published.

May Fred be with you on Independence Day! And don’t forget to check out the new Fred Harvey Cookbook Project!

OLD VIRGINIA SOUR MILK BISCUITS
Stir into two cupfuls of loppered milk or buttermilk, a day old, one rounded teaspoonful of soda (no more). Whip into this with a few swift strokes one tablespoonful of melted (not hot) butter. Have ready in your mixing bowl one quart of flour twice sifted. Measure after sifting. Make a hole in the middle of this and pour in gradually but quickly the frothing milk, stirring the flour down into it with a wooden spoon. The dough should be very soft. Mix, roll, cut out very rapidly with as little handling as possible, and bake in a quick oven.

FRIED CHICKEN CASTAÑEDA
Fry an onion, chopped very fine, in butter, add flour, mix and pour in one quart chicken broth and one- half pint cream. Stir and let come to a boil. Let it cook about ten minutes. Add two egg yolks and parsley, and remove from the fire. This sauce must be quite thick. Dip thin slices of one three- pound hen in the sauce so that it adheres to both sides. Lay them in a pan sprinkled with bread crumbs and also sprinkle the chicken with bread crumbs. When cold, dip them in beaten egg and crumbs and fry in deep hot grease. Serve with tomato sauce and French peas as garnish. If handled properly, one three- pound hen will make ten to twelve fair- sized orders.

HARVEY COLE SLAW
In a large bowl, combine one medium head cabbage, shredded, and one small onion, finely minced. Spread one- third cup granulated sugar over it, toss with fork. Next, bring to boil one teaspoon sugar, one and one- half teaspoon salt, one- half teaspoon dry mustard, one- half teaspoon celery seed, one- half cup salad oil, one- half cup apple cider vinegar. Pour over cabbage, toss thoroughly and refrigerate for at least four hours. Serves five to six, lasts beautifully.

GERMAN POTATO SALAD
Boil twelve potatoes. While hot, cut into thin slices, cover with finely sliced onions and add one teaspoon of salt and one- half teaspoon of pepper. Mix the yolk of one egg with three tablespoons of olive oil and four tablespoons of vinegar. Pour the well- mixed dressing over the potatoes, then pour a half- cup of boiling water or broth over the whole mixture and stir well. Sprinkle with chopped parsley; cover and let stand a few hours. This salad will never be dry.

*NEW PEAS WITH LETTUCE
Simmer in butter one head shredded lettuce. Add one pound shelled new peas, season with salt and pinch of sugar. Cover with chicken stock and cook until peas are nice and tender. Serve in vegetable dish and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

*HOME MADE BLUEBERRY CAKE CHANTILLY
Make a sponge cake with one-half pound flour and two ounces yeast dissolved in one gill (gill=1/2 cup) of lukewarm milk. Cover with cloth, let prove and when double its size mix with five eggs, five ounces sugar, five ounces melted butter, a little salt, one teaspoon grated lemon rind, and one and one-half pounds flour. Make a medium stiff dough, beating well and let raise again. Cover with cloth and place in ice box until ready to use. Roll out above dough to one-third-inch thickness. Cover bottom of buttered cake pan and fill with four quarts blueberries mixed with one and one-half ounces cornstarch and one and one-half pounds sugar. Bake in medium oven for about thirty minutes and cover with oiled paper. Cut in suitable pieces and serve with whipped cream.

*PRUNE LOAF WITH WHIPPED CREAM
Cream one pound butter, one pound sugar, add eight eggs one at a time. Mix one pound sifted flour with one pound cooked and pitted prunes, and combine other ingredients. Place in a buttered pan, and bake in moderate oven for about one hour. Let cool, cut in nice slices and serve with whipped cream.

All recipes from Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West–One Meal at a Time (Bantam, now available in paperback and ebook) except *, which are from the author’s own cache of unpublished Fred Harvey recipes. For more information, www.stephenfried.com or the One Nation Under Fred blog at www.fredharveybook.com/blog.

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