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Printable recipe below! This is a historical dish that fed soldiers during the civil war- a creamy mac and cheese dish!
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0:01
[Music]
0:05
Today we're going back about 160 years
0:07
to the Civil War and we're fixing up mac
0:10
and cheese the way soldiers and families
0:12
of that time might have seen it. Now it
0:14
might not have come in the blue box that
0:15
you see in the stores now, but it was a
0:18
creepy delicacy that was fixed for
0:20
troops in some of the worst camps you've
0:22
ever seen in the hardest of times. And
0:24
its history you can taste.
0:29
Now, we thought we'd go back to them old
0:31
Civil War camps and make this recipe the
0:34
way that the old cooking they had in
0:36
camp would have made it. Now, this is
0:39
pretty simple and pretty easy to put
0:41
together and started with really canned
0:43
milk. You know, it was invented in the
0:45
1850s and due to its use in the Civil
0:48
War that brought about its popularity
0:50
and then it just grew and grew. But you
0:52
could take it anywhere. I still take it
0:54
on ranches today. But the thing that
0:56
we're using, the cheese sort of shocked
0:58
me when I doing some research.
1:01
What? Parmesan cheese. It's dried really
1:03
well. It's hard. It keeps well. It's not
1:05
going to melt so bad in conditions that
1:07
are really hot like you would see
1:09
cheddar and stuff that we use today.
1:12
Butter. Got to have some butter. Now, in
1:15
the recipe when I was doing the
1:16
research, it said barrel like pasta was
1:20
used. So, I picked up rietoni. I think
1:23
that's how you say it because it really
1:26
does hold cheese well. So, I think
1:28
that's what old Cookie would have used
1:29
something like that, but it would have
1:31
been a lot thinner than that many years
1:32
ago. And hey, I'm going to give you a
1:34
little old secret right now. Ain't no
1:36
water in it. I know all of you be
1:38
thinking, you going to boil that pasta
1:39
in some water? No. We're going to boil
1:42
it in that canned milk and you think
1:45
it'll scorch. Not if you pay attention.
1:56
[Music]
2:02
camp do look a little different today
2:04
and the ground is wet. Good Lord blessed
2:06
as he did. But I got to thinking I need
2:08
to cook this like I think they would
2:10
have cooked it back during the Civil War
2:11
time or them old families that were
2:13
pioneers back then. So just a tripod
2:16
Dutch oven hanging right there on it.
2:17
Now, they might have just done this with
2:19
just some rocks and some coals
2:21
underneath it, but this is the way we're
2:23
going to do it today. And it all starts
2:25
with what? Some canned milk. And that's
2:28
hot. You can tell.
2:32
Now, we're going to go ahead and pour
2:34
that pasta in there. Now, if I can find
2:36
a hole that'll fit, which is right
2:38
there. Do not run off and leave this. I
2:41
need you to stir because that will
2:45
scorch. And there ain't a lot of ways to
2:48
be turning this fire down unless we just
2:49
go to raking it all the way around here
2:51
in a minute. But we got to let that
2:53
boil. Probably going to take about 15
2:55
minutes. But the milk will begin to
2:58
decrease in there and that pasta just
2:59
soaks up that great flavor of that
3:01
evaporated milk. I will never cook pasta
3:04
in water again. It'll always be like
3:06
this. So they've done taught me
3:08
something from the Civil War. Reason I
3:11
think that they boiled this in milk
3:13
instead of water is you're going to get
3:16
more calorie intake than just boiling in
3:18
water. And water might have been scarce,
3:20
too. Might not have been a whole lot of
3:21
water where there's at in some of them
3:22
old camps. So, I'm thinking they had
3:25
milk. They'd probably used it all the
3:26
time. And uh I think even the settlers
3:28
and the pioneers that would just go out
3:30
to the barn and do this right here. Get
3:32
them some fresh milk, bring it in there.
3:34
Hey, but canned milk got a rich flavor.
3:37
I'm all for it.
3:44
We are getting pretty close here. And
3:46
you can see that I'd say that milk has
3:49
soaked into that pasta. Probably half as
3:52
much milk in there as what we had. We do
3:54
need to check one of them little pastas
3:56
just to see. Oo, feel pretty tender.
4:02
In go the butter.
4:05
We'll get it stirred around. Let it go
4:07
to melting and then it's time for the
4:11
cheese. In it goes.
4:14
Make sure everybody gets in there. So,
4:16
just keep stirring till everything is
4:19
smooth and creamy and cheesy. But if
4:21
you're doing this in the house, turn
4:22
that burner to low right now because you
4:24
don't want to scorch anything that's
4:26
there.
4:32
Now, macaroni and cheese has deeper
4:35
roots than most folks realize. This dish
4:37
traces back to Europe with recipes
4:39
appearing in English cookbooks as early
4:42
as the 1700s, usually involving pasta
4:45
layered with butter and parmesan. Now,
4:47
Thomas Jefferson is often credited with
4:49
making this dish so popular in America.
4:52
After visiting Italy, he brought back
4:54
pasta and even a macaroni press. and his
4:57
enslaved chef James Hennings helped
5:00
adapt the dish for Monaceel's Kitchen.
5:02
By the early 1800s, mac and cheese had
5:05
spread into the American cookbooks,
5:07
including Mary Randolph's Virginia
5:09
Housewife in 1824, which layered
5:12
macaroni with butter and cheese baked in
5:14
a hot oven. By the time of the Civil
5:17
War, macaroni and cheese was known among
5:20
wealthier families and in cities. But it
5:23
wasn't everyday fair for common
5:24
soldiers. Cooking in camp was rough and
5:27
most of the time men survived on rations
5:29
of salt pork, beans, coffee, and the
5:33
dreaded hard attack. A flour and water
5:35
biscuit hard enough to chip a tooth.
5:37
Kitchens were improvised with cast iron
5:39
pots, Dutch ovens, or frying pans
5:42
balanced on rocks. In Union camps,
5:44
soldiers had slightly better access to
5:47
supply wagons and could sometimes
5:49
supplement meals with dried fruits,
5:52
vegetables, or preserved foods like
5:54
condensed milk. Confederate soldiers
5:56
often fared worse with broken supply
5:59
lines, food shortages, and less variety.
6:02
Southern troops sometime boiled cornmeal
6:05
mush and forage greens just to stay
6:07
alive. For both sides, fresh dairy and
6:10
cheese was prized, but rare. So, a dish
6:13
like macaroni and cheese were considered
6:15
a delicacy, a rustic version of the
6:17
comfort food we know today. Now, life in
6:20
camp was harsh. Diaries describe endless
6:23
drills, sickness from poor sanitation
6:26
and long nights by the fire, chewing on
6:29
hard attacks softened in coffee or
6:31
frying up in salt pork to break the
6:33
monotony. In that world, a simple pan of
6:36
macaroni and cheese, plain though it
6:38
was, must have felt like a taste of
6:41
heaven. A brief escape from the
6:43
hardships of war.
6:45
Now, before we go any further, I think
6:47
we should pay a great tribute to another
6:50
dish that helped soldiers survive during
6:52
all these hard times in these camps. And
6:54
what was it called? Stuff on a shingle.
6:58
[Applause]
7:05
[Music]
7:09
During the Civil War, gr was a thin
7:12
mixture of grain cooked in water or milk
7:15
and was often given to sick soldiers
7:17
because it was very easy to digest. Now,
7:20
back in camps, soldiers would often soak
7:22
hardtack to soften it up, mixing grl. In
7:26
1864, Lieutenant George G. Smith of the
7:30
First Louisiana US Infantry put the two
7:33
staples of rations together. A piece of
7:35
bull salt pork, hardtac, and some gravy.
7:38
This was the earliest version of SOS.
7:41
Now, in the 1900s, the military refined
7:44
this dish even further, and they made it
7:46
creamed chip beef, which was in milk
7:49
gravy served over toast, a delicacy that
7:53
so many soldiers have had.
7:55
[Music]
7:56
[Applause]
7:59
[Music]
8:04
All right, this is probably the simplest
8:05
gravy you can make. Butter, a little
8:08
flour. Cook that down a little till you
8:10
begin to see that butter brown just
8:12
slightly. And then what? Hey, Maji says
8:15
there's a burglar. You okay?
8:20
So, we got our flour in there. Got it
8:21
all smoothed out. Canned milk again is
8:24
the star here. Add a little at a time.
8:26
Keep stirring. Try to get them lumps out
8:28
of it. I will tell you, if you've got
8:29
one of them rubber spatulas, got all
8:31
them holes in it to where you can mash
8:32
them lumps. If you got some, you're in
8:34
pretty good shape. Just don't use metal
8:37
against metal. So, gravy's getting
8:39
pretty good here. We took our
8:43
dried chip beef that come out of that
8:45
jar, sliced it up to where there's
8:47
little bite-sized pieces. Now, that
8:50
stuff I'm going to go ahead and taste it
8:52
because I can already tell you it's
8:55
pretty salty. It's sort of like salt,
8:57
pork, and bacon. You don't want to be
8:59
adding a lot of salt to this dish. So,
9:01
we're just going to put a little pepper
9:02
in here to give it a little color.
9:06
In go a jar of this wonderful beef.
9:10
Get it all stirred up. If it gets too
9:12
thick, we still got some canned milk
9:15
here.
9:16
But hey, this got a lot of soldiers
9:19
started off with breakfast. But don't
9:22
you know this was a treat back in Civil
9:24
War time. If you could have had this
9:25
instead of munching on some of that hard
9:27
attack because you didn't have one tooth
9:28
left, you already broke the rest of them
9:30
out. So, I would think that right there
9:34
is a done deal. We'll let that cook
9:37
through just a little to warm that meat
9:38
up. But just remember, keep your little
9:40
milk handy so if you need to thin it,
9:43
you're in good shape. But don't walk off
9:45
and leave it. Never know when Duke will
9:47
sneak up here and lick the gravy out of
9:48
the bowl.
10:01
[Music]
10:04
Done deal it is. But I'll tell you right
10:07
now, if you want to get better
10:08
instructions, go back to and watch our
10:10
fulllength video on SOS right there. We
10:14
made it with hamburger meat. Now, this
10:15
chip beef is really traditional what
10:17
they used and served in so many places.
10:20
But I'm going to have me a little bite.
10:21
I am
10:24
cuz I do like gravy. I think gravy
10:27
should be its own food group. That is a
10:29
tough piece of toast.
10:35
It's double dens.
10:37
Mhm.
10:40
I will tell you right now,
10:43
don't salt it, okay? Cuz the dried beef
10:46
is really salted anyway to help the
10:48
curing process. So, don't be putting no
10:50
salt in it. Just sprinkle you some
10:52
pepper on there. You'll be good to go.
10:53
You know, it's really important not to
10:56
forget what we've come from. This would
10:58
be a good time to have a rear view
11:00
mirror and look back all the hard times
11:02
people had before us to sacrifices they
11:04
made to get us where we're at today. And
11:06
it was all brought about by hard work. A
11:09
lot of very good, tough men and women
11:11
across the United States that put their
11:13
heart and soul into everything they did.
11:15
What they come up with some great
11:17
recipes so many years ago. And I'm so
11:19
glad that history is there for us to
11:21
share with y'all. But if y'all are going
11:22
through a hard time now, remember,
11:24
you're not alone. You're family to me
11:26
and Shan. We care about you, but also
11:29
God is there. He's waiting for you. All
11:31
you got to do is ask. Put your problems
11:33
on him. Put your burdens on him. He'll
11:35
carry them for you will. But remember,
11:37
you're part of our family. Hey, be sure
11:40
and leave me a comment. I want to know,
11:42
did you have this in the service? What
11:43
branch of service were you in? And was
11:46
it this variety? Or was it hamburger,
11:48
meat, or sausage? Or maybe your grandma
11:50
made it for you at home? Did you put it
11:51
on toast? Did you put it on biscuits? I
11:53
know that's a lot to ask out of you. You
11:55
got your homework. I want to see.
11:59
Well, had to raise it up a little here
12:01
to control me a little heat. And folks,
12:03
that is some cheesy cheesy goodness
12:05
right there. I can see it. But let's
12:07
talk about what they would have seasoned
12:08
it with. Now, they would have had some
12:10
coarse ground black pepper and a little
12:12
salt. And I got that mixed together. I
12:14
do. And it don't take much. Just give it
12:16
a little sprinkling. But a thing that
12:19
sort of blowed my mind and when you go
12:20
looking at old recipes from years ago,
12:23
Civil War pioneers back in the 1800s
12:26
early was nutmeg. They put in a little
12:29
everything and margarine and mice dried.
12:32
So, we're going to give it a little
12:33
sprinkle. Now, this stuff is pretty
12:34
overpowering. You don't want to go
12:36
overboard with it. And give it a little
12:38
shake of nutmeg. Just don't use too
12:40
much. I'd say that was probably enough,
12:42
but I think maybe so. They might have
12:45
had a little ground mustard. They'd have
12:46
thrown that in there, too. But we're
12:48
keeping it traditional to what I
12:50
researched and seen. And this is all
12:52
that's in it, folks. Now, we'll give you
12:55
viewers at home a little tip here. If
12:56
you want to dress this up even a little
12:58
more, grease you up a little casserole
13:00
dish. Dump this in it. Sprinkle it
13:03
pretty heavy on top with breadcrumbs or
13:06
dried cornbread. And then just sprinkle
13:09
you a little bit of smoked paprika in
13:10
there. Stick it in the oven at 350°.
13:13
Probably going to take it about 15
13:14
minutes to brown that up. Bring it out.
13:17
You have changed Civil War macaroni into
13:19
I want to set it on the Thanksgiving
13:20
table for fancy now.
13:27
Well, I hope we would have made them
13:29
soldiers and that old cook proud today
13:31
cooking this because folks, I'm talking
13:33
about pretty easy to put together. And
13:35
you know, sometimes what does apron say?
13:37
Can't get full on fancy. Simple is the
13:40
best thing in life. And really, what are
13:42
we talking about? Canned milk, pasta,
13:45
salt, pepper, nutmeg, parmesan cheese,
13:47
and that's it. And it is cheesy cheesy
13:50
goodness in every bite.
13:57
do a ho down.
14:02
I think the parmesan really brings out
14:05
the richness of flavor you get here. But
14:07
that little tingle of nutmeg that's in
14:10
there sort of sets it over the top. I
14:13
learned two things today. First of all,
14:15
we are not going to boil pasta in water
14:17
no more. And we're going to add a little
14:19
nutmeg. Nobody will ever know the
14:21
difference and they'll think, "Hey, this
14:22
is the best macaroni and cheese ever."
14:24
So, keep it simple, keep it flavorful.
14:26
It is a great dish to put on the table.
14:28
Thank y'all so much for sharing a little
14:30
food and a little history with us today.
14:33
We had a great time. Beautiful day it
14:35
is. Hey, it is with great pride, honor,
14:38
and privilege that I tip my hat to all
14:40
the servicemen and women and all the
14:42
veterans that have kept that old flag of
14:43
flying over camp. We commend you all.
14:45
Rest of you, get on up in here. I'm
14:47
going to give you a hug. them pretty
14:48
smoky.
14:51
God bless you each and everyone and I'll
14:53
see you down the Civil War trail making
14:55
mac and cheese.
14:59
Y'all have been on time out today
15:02
because you kept wandering away from
15:03
camp. I know you're just trying to
15:05
patrol and keep everything safe, but
15:07
let's see. Do you like Civil War mac and
15:10
cheese? There's one. What do you think?
15:14
Woo says, "I don't know."
15:16
Yeah, I think everybody agrees. Dooker,
15:19
cheese time. You know you love cheese.
15:21
Get up here. Come on.
15:25
Was you going to miss out on cheese?
15:27
Huh? You know you're a cheese head from
15:30
way back. Look here. It's cheese. Oh,
15:33
man.
15:35
He says so good.
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