Pennsylvania Dutch Favorite Recipes

Here are some of our Festival’s all time favorite recipes, shared by a few of the finest country cooks in Berks county.

Rice Soup
Ingredients
1 cup flour
Little salt and pepper
½ tsp. baking powder
1 egg
Rice

Directions
Add the egg in the flour and mix with a fork. Bring to a boil. Put in rice. Let it come to a boil again. Tilt lid of kettle. Serve hot.

Hot Biscuits
2 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk

Directions
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening, then stir in buttermilk. Mix until it becomes dough. Knead well on floured board. Roll with rolling pin until ½” in thickness. With a glass dipped in flour, cut biscuits from dough. Place biscuits on greased cookie sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake in 450’ for 12 to 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown.

Potato Cakes or Fritters
Ingredients
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour (not sifted)
1 egg (well beaten)
1 tsp. baking powder
5 tbsp. milk

Directions
Mix the above ingredients in order given. Fry in deep fat, by dropping from a tablespoon. Fat is hot enough when a cube of bread browns in 1 minute. When potato balls are brown drain onto paper. Serve hot.

Sandtarts
Ingredients
1 lb. sugar
2 eggs
1 lb. flour
1 cup crushed peanuts
½ lb. butter
2 slightly beaten egg whites

Directions
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten eggs. Put in the flour mix thoroughly. Chill overnight. Roll out on floured board to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into squares or rectangles and lift on to cookie sheet. Before baking, brush with egg whites and then sprinkle with peanuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Coleslaw
Ingredients
1 med. head of cabbage
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup cream
½ cup vinegar

Directions
Shred cabbage fine. Add all other ingredients except cream. Cook until think in double boiler. When cold, add cream and pour over cabbage.

Corn Pie (9 inch)
Ingredients
2 cup fresh corn cut from the cob
1 tbsp. butter
½ cup milk
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar

Pastry:
1 ½ cups unsifted flour
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup lard
3 tbsp. cold water

Directions
Rub the lard, flour and salt together until lard is size of peas. Lightly blend in the cold water. Roll out half of dough on floured board and line a 9 inch pie pan. Fill with corn filling and cover with crust. Pierce top crust all over with a two-pronged fork. Bake for ten minutes in a very hot oven (400 degrees). Reduce heat to 325 degrees, baking twenty-five minutes more. Serve hot.

Rivvel Soup
Ingredients
2 cups unsifted flour
1 egg, well beaten
½ tsp. salt
4 qts of chicken broth
2 cups corn

Directions
Combine the flour, salt and beaten egg and mix together with your fingers until the mixture is crmbly… Drop these rivvels into the broth… Add corn and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The word “Rivvel” means “lump” – and this soup is full of lumps that look like rice. In it’s simplest version the rivvels are dropped into hot milk that is seasoned with salt and pepper.