The Iron Chef......

[MStuart]

I'm at Cedar Creek, and I decide to fix up a little skillygalley to go with my slab bacon and corn bread. This is where I think I screwed up, or, maybe not. I soak my Bents hardtack in some water for about 10 minutes, then put the cracker in my canteen half with the remants of some of my bacon grease and fry it up some. What came out was the most tastless concoction I've had in a while. Where did I go wrong? It certainly wasn't "Good Eats".

Mark

[flattop32355]

If you look up the word "skillygalee", you'll find different versions of it, though the CW version seems to be what you made.

The times I've tried it, I've found you'd better eat it quick while it still has the consistency of rubber, or it turns back into an even harder rock than it was before frying.

Some folks soak it in coffee rather than water.

It was also used to extend rations in the old West, post CW.

[JerseySkilletLicker]

I assume that you broke up the tack before soaking and frying, if not, that might be one of the problems. The smaller bits of soaked tack sop up the hot grease better...not the worlds tastiest dish, but filling in a pinch.

[MStuart]

Joe:

I soaked it "whole" for lack of a better word, then pulled it apart and into the grease. I've had better taste when I've just crumbled a hard cracker into the grease without soaking it. Tasted like bacon grease fried cracker and really pretty good.

Mark

[toptimlrd]

Mark,

I've never soaked it first, but broken it up and let the grease soak into it. Still not the tastiest thing in the world, but edible. I would guess that by soaking it ahead of time it became too saturated to soak up the grease, oil and water after all.

While on the subject, I'm no culinary expert about the ACW, but does anyone know if there are period accounts of making "red eye gravy" with the rendered grease by pouring a little water or coffee into it then soaking the cracker? I did a search on red eye gravy but came up empty.

[Rob]

In my first attempt to make skillygallee, I forgot to soak the hardtack... I just crumbled it into the hot grease. A little crunchy, but not too bad.

The second time, I made it the same way, except that I cracked two eggs over it and stirred it all together with a pinch of salt and pepper, and let it soak for a while before cooking. A hardtack and bacon omelette!

[bulletsponge]

Mark,

You probably didn't fry up enough bacon. It seems to me that the hardtack goop should cook in about 1/4" of grease. Ideally, it should float (think funnel-cake or donut). Talk about your artery-clogging, heart-stopping goodness.

[JerseySkilletLicker]

Mark,
When I did "soak" it, is was just a very very short while and it was with cold coffee - to give that "old and mellow" flavor.

Robert,
I have done the "red eye gravy" thing quite a few times and it is very very tasty! What I did was after I finished frying the tack, I added the coffe to what was left of the grease, simmered it a few minutes and poured the resulting "gravy over the hardtack bits and whatever rice or hominy I could scrounge up. Corn meal sloosh is also real tasty when the dough is made with "red eye" gravy. I am no expert either as to whether it is period or not but would imagine it probably is.

[MStuart]

Joe:

After you soaked it in the coffee, what was the next step? Yer makin' me hungry. And what's your red eye gravy recipe?

Mark

[GrumpyDave]

If it tasted like &#!t you got it right. I think cardboard fried in bacon grease would be about the same.