Taklik-Tokse / Taklik-Kvmokse

taklik-tokse / taklik-kvmokse
“bread-sour”
sour cornbread

Charles Gibson, 1918

It takes three days to prepare this bread according to the old way.

A peck or even more of clean, shelled flint corn is prepared for making a quantity of this bread to have on hand for several meals. The shelled corn is placed in a large vessel, covered with luke warm water and soaked over night.

The soaked corn, a portion at a time, is pounded lightly in the wooden mortar so as not to crush the grain yet loosen the hulls. Then the grain is put into a fanner and the hulls cleaned out. The clean corn is soaked another night as before.

The next step in the preparation is to pound the soaked corn in a mortar to fine meal, in which there is always a small portion of fine grits. Sift out the meal, and boil the grits down in water to a gruel thoroughly done. Mix the meal with the gruel, and place the mixture in an earthen jar holding anywhere from two to ten gallons. The jar should be placed near a fire where it can be kept warm.

The third morning the dough will be fermented a little, and ready to put into a Dutch oven to be baked very slowly, an hour or longer until done. This bread, by adding a little salt and soda to the dough before baking, will be whiter than any flour bread when cooked done, having a delicious taste actually sweet without sugar.

Lilah D. Lindsey, 1933

Take one gallon of sofkey grits, soak overnight.

Next morning drip dry in a riddle or sugar sack, pound or grind into meal, mix as for corn bread with salt, soda, baking powder, and one cup of flour, pour in a jar, set in a warm place to ferment for twelve hours.

Then pour into hot greased iron kettle and bake same as corn bread.

Beulah Simms, 1970

Soak about one pound vce-cvlvtwe (flint corn) or vce-hvtke (white corn) in water until soft. It may require overnight soaking.

Pound in a keco with a kecvpe. Separate the coarser grains of corn from the fine powder. (The coarser grains may be dried and stored for later use.) Cook a thin gruel of two cups rice and while the mixture is still hot, mix with the powdered corn. Put the mixture into an earthenware crock which is large enough to allow for expansion and let set overnight in a warm room.

When you are ready to bake the bread, add one tablespoon baking powder and two tablespoons sugar and mix thoroughly. The sugar which is added gives the bread added flavor. Bake in oven as you would corn bread. 

Taklike-tokse is served with meat dishes.

American Indian Recipes, 1970

Soak two gallons of cracked corn in three or four gallons of hot water over night.

Drain water from corn and beat into fine meal, the last of which will form into a coarse meal. Save as much as two quarts coarse meal and cook with the water which it was soaked in. Combine one-half cup baking soda and a little water, enough to make a thin paste, then stir into the coarse meal. When the course meal is cooked thick enough to work with, add the fine meal and stir until its a little thicker than cornbread. Put into a stone jar for it to turn sour.

Then next day add a little flour and bake as cornbread.

Native American Recipes, 1996

Combine two cups cornmeal, two cups flour, one pinch baking soda, and one pinch baking powder. Add two cups water. Let mixture stand in a warm place until it becomes bubbly, usually overnight.

Pour into a greased cast iron skillet and cook on top of the stove under low to medium heat. Serve hot.

Some batter may be saved as a starter for the next batch of bread.

Bertha Tilkens, 2004

Cornmeal, made by pounding dried corn into powder, is used to make sour cornbread. Cornmeal is mixed with water and left to sit for several days until the mixture becomes sour. This mixture is then used to make cornbread, which tastes tangy and rather sour. This bread is delicious when served with soup or meat.

“Mvskoke Traditional Foods,” 2006

Combine two cups plain white corn meal, one-and-three-quarters cups flour, one teaspoon salt, one-quarter cup sugar, one cup cooked rice, and two cups warm water. Stir together until it looks fluffy and has some bubbles in it. Then let it set in a window or  somewhere for two days.

Add one tablespoon baking powder and one teaspoon baking soda, and a little water if it is too thick. Preheat oven to three-hundred-seventy-five degrees. Bake three cups of mixture in a greased skillet.

Sources

Sakkonepke

sakkonepke
“in-a-liquid-cooked-thing”
meat and corn stew

James H. Hill, ca. 1936-40

You pour water in a small pot, put the osafke corn in, add meat, cook it, and it’s called sakkonepke.

Acee Blue Eagle, 1956

Prepare one squirrel, place in pot, cover with water and cook until tender. Add four cups sofkey grits, cook together until consistency is like hominy.

Rice is sometimes used in place of sofkey grits.

Indian Recipes, 1975

Cook sofkey grits until three-fourths done. Add short ribs of beef that have been baked or browned. Let simmer until meat and sofkey grits are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lois Neal, 1992

Cook cracked corn about two hours. Clean raw squirrel and cut into serving pieces. Add to hominy and cook until done. Cook about four hours, stirring often. Add salt when done.

Bertha Tilkens, 2009

Brown pig feet before placing them in a crock pot. Add two cups of hominy corn and fill  the crock pot about three-quarters full with water to cover the pig feet and corn and cook until the corn is soft. To add flavor, use bacon drippings and salt to taste.

Sources

Vce-Sokv

vce-sokv
“corn-whole-grain”
hominy

James H. Hill, ca. 1936-40

Shell black or white corn, put water in a pot to boil, set it over the fire, put in a small amount of strong ashes without any charcoal, and when it boils, put in the shelled corn, and after it boils, take out the corn, and wash it off until all the corn skin is removed.

When the same corn was boiled and cooked without grinding, grease was added, and it was called sokv and eaten.

Beulah Simms, 1970

From a wood fire, pull out one gallon of hot ashes and some small glowing embers. Put one quart white corn and the ashes into a large iron kettle. Arrange the kettle so that it is tilted to one side. It is easier to stir this way. Stir the corn and ashes over a low fire until the corn turns light tan in color. Separate the corn in a colander or a can with holes punched in the bottom. Pour water through the corn until the corn turns white and all trace of the ashes has been removed. Dry the corn and store for later use.

Boil the desired amount of corn in water for approximately one hour until thoroughly cooked. Season with lard or pieces of pork for flavor (hogshead can be used for this).

American Indian Recipes, 1970

Take a half bushel bucket of squaw corn and half bushel bucket of strong ashes, about three buckets full of water heated in wash pot and bring to a boil. Add the sifted ashes and boil briskly, adding the corn and stirring it until it’s skinned, then wash until it’s clean.

This is a large amount and can be used in different ways. Soak this overnight and cook very similar to beans. Also can be cooked together with hogshead. Another way it has been used is to cook hominy with salt pork and wild greens that Indians eat. These are the greens that are ready to eat right after the wild onions are gone.

Native American Recipes, 1996

Add enough water to cover one quart wood ashes and bring to boil. Add one gallon shelled corn and bring back to boil. Boil for one-half hour stirring often. Pour out ashes and water. Rinse corn thoroughly four to five times in different water each time.

Pour corn into clean pot, cover with water or broth from soup bone and cook until corn is done. Serve warm.

Indian Territory: A Cookbook of the Early Years, 1998

Boil two quarts dried shelled corn, two gallons water, and two ounces lye in iron cooking pot for thirty minutes. Set off and let sit for thirty minutes to cool.

Rinse in cold water and remove skin and eyes. Put back in clean pot, add clean water and bring to boil, cook for five minutes. Empty. Repeat this two more times to remove all the lye.

After last bath, cook again for thirty minutes.

Creek Muscogee Recipes, Cooking Tips and Lore, 1999

A traditional method for preparing hominy is to take clean wood ashes (hardwoods such as oak or hickory are best) sifted and put into an iron kettle (aluminum is never used for making hominy). Cover wood ashes and dried corn, removed from the cob, with water and boil until the skin slips off the corn. Wash the skins and ashes away with plenty of fresh water.

The kernels are then boiled in fresh water until tender.

Sources

Vhv-Cvmpv Taklike

vhv-cvmpv taklike
“potato-sweet bread”
sweet potato bread

Lilah D. Lindsey, 1902

After paring, grate three raw potatoes. To one quart of grated potatoes, add one-and-a-half tablespoons flour, teaspoon of sugar, pinch of black pepper, mix and make into small cakes. Bake as biscuits, but more slowly.

The Indian Cook Book, 1933

This bread is made by boiling sweet potatoes, then mixing with corn meal, seasoned with salt, and baking powder, if desired. Baked in a hot oven.

Beulah Simms, 1970

Select four or five medium-sized potatoes. Wash and peel. Boil in water until soft. Mash as you would in making mashed potatoes. About two tablespoons of flour may be added to hold the patties together. Cinnamon may be added for extra flavor. Add two tablespoons butter or shortening, and two tablespoons sugar. Make into small patties or biscuits. Bake as you would bake biscuits until cooked.

American Indian Recipes, 1970

Take any amount of sweet potatoes that are gritted, put in a little sugar and a little flour and roll into a biscuit from the palm of the hand. Bake in an oven.

Indian and Pioneer Cookbook, 1971

Grate two big sweet potatoes. Mix with about one-quarter cup of butter, one cup of corn meal, one tablespoon of flour, one-half cup of sugar, one teaspoon of nutmeg, and two egg yolks. Fold in two beaten egg whites. Form into pones and bake on sheets of shallow pan, an iron pan is best. Bake in a slow oven, three-hundred-fifty degrees, until done.

Cookbook of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma, 1976

Scrape or peel about four medium-size potatoes. Grate and add three-quarters cup sugar, one-half teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix and form into patties and place in greased pan. Bake in oven three-hundred-seventy-five degrees for thirty minutes.

Gifts of the Earth, 1982

Cook and mash three medium-sized sweet potatoes. Combine with one-half cup hot water, one-quarter cup whole-germ cornmeal, and one tablespoon wildflower honey. Add more cornmeal if the batter is too thin to make into cakes. Heat one-half cup beef or pork fat until it sizzles. Lightly roll cakes in cornmeal and fry in the hot fat, about two minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Seminole Indian Recipes, 1996

Preheat oven to four-hundred-twenty-five degrees. Place one-and-one-quarter cups cooked and mashed yams into a bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix together two cups all-purpose flour, two teaspoons sugar, one teaspoon salt, and three teaspoons double-acting baking powder. In a measuring cup combine one-half cup vegetable oil and one-half cup milk; add to yams and blend well with a fork. Add the flour mixture and mix lightly with the fork just until the mixture holds together.

Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead for about one minute, or until the pastry is smooth and holds together. On a floured surface roll out the pastry to one-quarter inch thickness and cut with a floured biscuit cutter. Butter lightly and sprinkle baking sheet with flour. Tap baking sheet on edge of sink to get rid of excess flour. Place the rounds on the baking sheet and bake in oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. Serve hot with butter on the side. Cold cakes may be split and toasted. Makes about seventeen three-inch cakes.

Indian Territory: A Cookbook of the Early Years, 1998

Parboil four large sweet potatoes until tender; peel and mash them. Mix in three eggs, one cup flour, one-and-one-half teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Heat two tablespoons cooking oil. Take a scoop of potato and pat between your hands to make a patty. Put patty in oil and fry.

Creek Muscogee Recipes, Cooking Tips and Lore, 1999

Boil four large sweet potatoes until tender. When cool, peel potatoes and mash them in mixing bowl. Add three eggs, one teaspoon soda, one-and-one-half teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon fresh ground pepper, mixing into a smooth batter. Heat oiled griddle. Drop batter onto hot griddle from large spoon. Brown on both sides, flattening with spatula, to make cakes about three to four inches in diameter. Serve hot with butter.

“Sweet Potato Cakes” by Juli Spencer Trapp, in Gifts of the Earth: 55 Authentic Indian Recipes from 15 American Indian Tribes (Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Co., 1982).

Other Sources