Book of Days Tales

On this date in 1848 the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo) which officially established peace, friendship, national boundaries, and terms of a financial settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic, thus ending the Mexican–American War (1846–48). With the defeat of its army and the fall of the capital, Mexico entered into negotiations to end the war. The treaty called for the United States to pay $15 million to Mexico and pay off the claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico up to $3.25 million. It gave the United States the Rio Grande boundary for Texas, and gave the U.S. ownership of California, and a large area consisting of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to Mexico or receiving U.S. citizenship with full civil rights; over 90% remained. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty by a vote of 38-14, against the Whigs who had opposed the war, rejected Manifest Destiny in general, and rejected this expansion in particular.

The region ceded to the U.S. by Mexico covers territory that is quite diverse culturally.  Elsewhere in BODT there are several recipes from the Southwest, so I thought it might be interesting to move farther afield.  I settled on Utah because the outdoor Dutch oven is the state cooking utensil, symbol of pioneer days. It is made of cast iron with three legs so that it can sit stably in coals, and a concave lid to hold hot coals.  It is an incredible versatile cooking pot that can be used for stews, baking, frying, and roasting.

Cherry Cobbler

Ingredients:

2 (12½ ounce) cans unsweetened dark sweet cherries
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp poppy seeds
1 egg, beaten
½ cup butter

Instructions:

Drain cherries and reserve juice. Combine the cherries and brown sugar in a small bowl.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and poppy seeds in a medium bowl. Stir to blend well.

Stir in egg and ¾ cup reserved cherry juice to make a fairly thick batter. If necessary, add a little more juice so you can just stir the heavy batter with a spoon.

Melt butter in a 12″ Dutch oven. Spoon the batter over the butter. (Butter will come up over the batter at the edges.) Gently spoon cherries and any juice remaining in the bowl into the center of the batter. Bake at 350°F (see below) or cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour with 16-18 coals on top and 8 coals on bottom. Be sure to rotate the oven cover every 15 minutes for even heating when using coals.

Cobbler is done when the sides just begin to pull away from the pan and a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Note: You can estimate the temperature of a Dutch oven by holding your palm 6 to 8 inches from it and rotating it.  The number of seconds you can hold it there indicates the temperature: 8 = 250-350°F; 5 = 350-400°F; 3 = 400-450°F; 1 = 450-500°F.