Spoon Bread

A classic from Maryland's colonial times!

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
2 cups white corn meal
3 cups boiling water
5 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 well beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

Instructions:
Add butter to boiling water and gradually stir in corn meal.  Cool.  After cooling,  add to the mixture the sugar, salt, eggs and milk.  Mix well and pour into a buttered casserole dish.  Bake at 350° for 1 hour.  Serve hot.  Serves 6 to 8.
Courtesy My Favorite Maryland Recipes by Helen Avalynne Tawes

These famous biscuits of the Chesapeake Bay region have been made for over 200 years!  You'll get a workout with this recipe.

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. lard or shortening
1 3/4 to 2 cups cold water
1 axe or mallet

Instructions:
Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Cut the lard into the flour with the tips of your fingers, working it quickly.  Little by little, pour in the cold water until you get a good stiff dough.  Place dough on a solid table dusted with flour and make into a ball.  Using the flat side of a clean axe or a mallet, beat the dough continuously until it blisters, about a 1/2 hour.  This makes the biscuits tender.  Form the dough into balls about the size of eggs.  Flatten a little bit.  Put a few pokes in the center with a fork.  Bake in a hot 425° oven for 20-25 minutes.  Makes 3 dozen.  
Courtesy The Chesapeake Bay Cookbook by John Shields