Crockpot Indian Pudding
Made with apples and maple syrup this is unusually good Indian pudding. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and sharp cheddar cheese on the side for a real Yankee treat.
Indian pudding derives from an old English method of cooking puddings in a bag, by boiling them in a bag in a large kettle on the hearth. It could then be left unattended while the goodwife attended to other chores. In the middle ages the puddings were cooked in the guts of an animal and were primarily made from animal parts with some grain. During Lent the meat was omitted. The English developed the method of cooking their puddings in a cloth bag.
The Indian part comes from Indian meal or corn meal which the early colonists adapted to their English cooking methods. Brown bread is basically a steamed pudding cooked in metal containers. Around here, Grandma cooked her bread in used coffee cans and steamed the brown bread in the oven.
We are blessed with modern gadgets to cook old favorites.
The recipe ingredients:
3 c. milk
½ c. cornmeal
½ tsp. salt
3
eggs
½ cup or a little more to taste of maple syrup
2
tbsp. butter
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp
nutmeg
½ tsp ginger
2 apples, peeled and chopped, or one
if very large.
Lightly grease crock pot and preheat on high while assembling the ingredients. Bring milk, cornmeal and salt to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes, stirring all the while. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Gradually mix the hot cornmeal mixture in and beat until smooth. Pour into the crock pot, cover and cook. High 2-3 hrs. Low 6-8 hrs. My crock pot cooks hot so I watch the pot towards the low end of the cooking time for scalding and sticking around the edges.
I found the following source for pudding bags, if you want to try an old fashioned method: http://www.tidespoint.com/food/pudding_bag.shtml
Susan Briscoe's book: 21 Sensational Patchwork Bags has a design for a pudding bag, not one you would cook with, but of interest to quilters.