A Nice Pie
One pound steak, three soft crackers rolled, one small piece of butter, two tablespoonfuls of water, salt and pepper. Bake in a deep pan.--Mrs. R.
Five ingredients and one line of instruction, which is typical of the contributed recipes in this book: the cook was assumed to know the rest. What is described is a small baked beef dish thickened with cracker crumbs rather than a pie with pastry.
- What kind of steakIn 1878 a "steak" destined for slow baking was likely a cheaper cut such as round or chuck, sliced thin and pounded or coarsely chopped; the recipe does not say. A modern ribeye would be wasted here.
- Soft crackersProbably plain unsweetened water or soda crackers; "soft" in period usage distinguished them from the hard cracker. Period crackers were generally larger than a modern saltine, so three might give roughly half to three-quarters of a cup of crumbs, though the original quantity is genuinely imprecise.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given; the book was written for wood- or coal-fired ranges and left the judgement to the cook. A moderate oven, around 350F, suits it, allowing 45 minutes to an hour if the meat is a tough cut.
- Two tablespoons of water is not a mistakeTwo tablespoons of water -- The small amount suggests the dish was expected to cook largely in its own juices in a deep pan. The recipe does not say to cover it, but covering will stop the crumbs scorching and the meat drying before it tenderises.
- AssemblyThe recipe gives no method beyond "bake in a deep pan"; meat, crumbs and butter layered with the water poured over is one workable reading. Nothing in the text calls for a crust top or bottom.
- Seasoning"Salt and pepper" is the only flavouring given; season as you assemble rather than once at the end. A teaspoon of salt to the pound is a fair starting point.
- YieldA pound of meat in a deep pan feeds two generously or three modestly, as a supper dish with potatoes.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1878), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree from contributions credited to some 250 Virginia housewives, is full of these terse signed entries — "Mrs. R." is one of many contributors identified only by initial. The recipe shows how loosely the word "pie" could be used: a deep pan, a filling and a starch to bind it were enough to earn the name, with no pastry involved. Cracker crumbs as a stretcher and thickener were a common household economy in nineteenth-century American kitchens, doing the work that breadcrumbs or flour would do; a pound of meat handled this way fed more people than a pound of meat alone.