Onion Pie and Sippet Pudding...eat like it's the 1700's!

Still Life, 1660, by Christoff Paudiss

Today I thought it might be fun to share a couple delicious eighteenth century recipes (or "receipts" as they were called in the 1700s.) The first, "Onion Pie," (made with onions, of course, but also with potatoes and apples) is from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1708-1770) and the second, "Sippet Pudding," (a kind of bread pudding made with raisins or currants with a wine sauce) is from The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph (1762-1828.) Beneath each, is a twenty-first century interpretation which keeps the spirit and flavor of the originals but with modern kitchens in mind. Enjoy!

Onion Pie

As written in Hannah Glasse's cookbook:

Wash and pare some potatoes and cut them in slices, peel some onions, cut them in slices, pare some apples and slice them, make a good crust, cover your dish, lay a quarter of a pound of butter all over, take a quarter of an ounce of mace beat fine, a nutmeg grated, a tea-spoonful of beaten pepper, three tea-spoonfuls of salt; mix all together, strew some over the butter, lay a layer of potatoes, a layer of onions, a layer of apples, and a layer of eggs, and so on till you have filled your pie, strewing a little of the seasoning between each layer, and a quarter of a pound of butter in bits, and six spoonfuls of water; close your pie, and bake it an hour and a half. A pound of potatoes, a pound of onions, a pound of apples, and twelve eggs will do.

21st Century version:

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, by Harriet Glasse

• 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 large Granny Smith apples
• 2 medium yellow onions
• 8 large eggs
• 3 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly cracked pepper
• ½ to 1 grated nutmeg
• ½ to 1 tsp. mace
• 4 oz. butter
• frozen puff pastry or homemade pie crust

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Boil and slice the eggs.
3. Pare and slice the potatoes, apples and onions. Slice everything ¼ inch thick. Place the apples and potatoes in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation.
4. Roll out the bottom crust and set it into the pie pan.
5. Mix the salt, pepper, nutmeg and mace to together in a single bowl.
6. Drain and dry the apples and potatoes with a towel.
7. Begin the layers from the bottom up with potatoes, then eggs, then apples and then onions. Sprinkle each layer with a little of the seasoning and little bits of butter. Continue filling and seasoning the pie until you are out of ingredients.
8. Put a top crust on the pie and crimp the edges. Cut 4 or 5 slashes on top crust to allow steam to vent out.
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown.

Sippet Pudding

A Still Life of Cherries and Currants and a Parrot, ca. 1700,
by Jan Frans von Son 

As written in Mary Randolph's cookbook: 

Cut a loaf of bread as thin as possible, put a layer of it on the bottom of a deep dish, strew on some slices of marrow or butter, with a handful of currant or stoned raisins; do this until the dish is full; let the currants or raisins be on top; beat four eggs, mix them with a quart of milk that has been boiled a little and become cold, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a grated nutmeg – pour it in, and bake in a moderate oven – eat it with wine sauce.

21st Century version: 

• A large round loaf of French or Italian bread
• ¼ pound of butter
• ½ cup of dried currants or raisins (currants are sweeter)
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp grated nutmeg
• For Sauce: ½ stick butter, ¼ cup white wine, ¼ cup sugar

  

  Mary Randolph, artist unknown

1. This can best be described as a layered bread pudding with a hard sauce.
2. Grease a 9” pie plate or layer cake pan.
3. Slice the bread rather thin with a serrated edge knife. ¼ inch thick is nice.
4. In the bottom of the plate/pan make one layer of bread slices, then put some butter pats on top, then strew some currants or raisins over that. Repeat that process until your plate/pan is full.
5. In a bowl whip the eggs and blend in the warm milk, sugar and nutmeg until sugar is dissolved.
6. Carefully pour this over the bread mixture in the plate/pan until it soaks into the bread without overflowing.
7. Bake in a 375°F oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until the bread is browned and you can touch the top and it springs back.
8. For the sauce combine the sugar, wine and butter in a saucepan and stir it over medium/high heat until thick and drizzle over the finished pudding.     

Have a good week, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping by...Y'all come back now! 

Kate