Farmer Boy Recipe - Pocketbooks

I just had to include this recipe here, because it sounds like it comes right out of "Farmer Boy", the book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  If you wonder why I say that, you need to read the book, especially Chapter 18.

This is a hand-me-down recipe.  My family's genealogical lines are broken and I don't really know exactly who first made up this recipe.  But I do know that this version is my Granny's granny's recipe.  I guess that would make her my great, great granny.  And I guess that means it would have first appeared in the family about 1850 or so.  Anyway, it comes from the "old country", (but nobody's real sure which old country that would be at this point!).  This recipe is as long as the Bible, from cover to maps!  So, pull up an easy chair; here goes...

Pocketbooks, in case you don't know, are little leather purses, used to carry just enough money to make a grocery purchase in the olden days, (when you could buy a 20 lb. sack of flour for about half a buck!).  This small purse was also made to fit with an apron pocket, (which is apparel no homemaker would be without!).
Now that you have a handle on that, your probably thinking, "What does a little purse have to do with a recipe?" Well, just this - the finished product of this recipe looks like a pocketbook; hence the name.  So, if you complete this recipe and it doesn't look like a pocketbook, then you've goofed, or I have in telling you how to make these!

Now, bear with me.  This recipe comes in two parts - pastry and filling.  This is the way the pastry portion has been handed down. (with the addition of my interjected, running commentary in parenthesis, that is)

"You'll need 3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour.  If you don't have all-purpose flour on hand, you can use whole wheat or even buckwheat flour, but (as her story goes) it just won't taste the same." (duh!  Forgive me, but that's the way Granny's granny said it.  Of course she didn't even know anything about bleached or unbleached flour either!  On to the next in her narrative recipe) -  "1 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of lard, carelful now, (here we go again!) make sure you don't let the lard catch fire as you render it."  (Just imagine if you still had to do that!  You'd spend a lifetime in the kitchen!  How'd they ever manage to have time to make a family?   And now for the finale -) "About 5 Tablespoons of cold water, use clear ice, fresh from the ice man and scrape off enough to melt into 5 Tablespoons full."  (Ice man?  Maybe this recipe is from the Ice Age!  Okay, now we have the directions on how to make this pastry.  Ready?)

"Into a large chilled bowl - put it under the house for a couple hours in the summertime, or just outside the kitchen door in the winter.  Sift the flour and the salt together." (When's the last time you did that?)  "Then, cut in the lard - use lard which you hardened off in the ice box or out in the snow, with two knives, until the pieces are the size of small peas."  (By the time my granny got this recipe she had a pastry knife to use instead of those 2 knives.)

"Gradually sprinkle the cold water over the mixture, mixing it lightly with a fork after each addition of cold water.  You'll want to only add enough water to hold the pastry together.  If it gets too sticky, you'll need to add more sifted flour and salt, but not too much!" (Now, that's what I like, precession!)  "Once you have a ball formed, roll it out on a floured bread board.  Make sure you roll it out so that it's bigger than the pan." (Now, I have to interrupt old granny here, to tell you to not pay any attention to that last direction, because we aren't going to put this pastry into any special pan made just for this recipe - or, for that matter, we won't be putting it into a pie pan, which might be that which she was referring to here.  Okay, Granny, finish up now.) "What ever you do, don't stretch the rolled out pastry as you fit it into the pan. This would cause it to shrink up when it's baked."  (Okay, Okay! - A real stickler, ain't she?)

(Now, having said all this, the directions for using this pastry in making the Pocketbooks says:)
"Use only two thirds of the pastry recipe."  (So that means you'll divide it into 3 balls before rolling it out and only use 2 of them.  Don't ask me, I just follow! - By the way, I've found you could use that third dough ball for all kinds of other recipes, so don't just throw it out!)

"Next, you roll each dough ball into about 9 inches and about 1/8 inch thick."

(And at this point we get to the actual Pocketbook recipe - or at least, we move to the "filling" portion and how to put the two recipe parts together.  I told you this was a long ordeal!)

(Here are the ingredients to finish this: Pastry, as described,) "2 small red potatoes or new potatoes.  Pare the potatoes and slice into real thin slices." (More precession!  I'd say, about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch ought to do it.)

"1/2 pound finely diced meat" (More precession!  Any beef - ground chuch works real good here, but I've tried pork and even lamb works good too.  And, in a pinch, chicken or beef liver works, believe it or not!)
"2 Tablespoons of chopped onions - dried yellow onions or whatever kind you have on hand.  2 small carrots, thinly sliced", (Need I mention that precession again? My family always, and I mean always, pared those carrots, but I've broken from tradition, so long as they are clean it is good enough and I've found that you'll need about a 1/2 cup of them.) "2 small turnips, thinly sliced." (Ibid.)  "Pinch of salt and pepper." (My great uncle, not from the old country, used to pinch my cheeks, but I'm sure these pinches should be smaller and less painful!)

(And here comes the last ingredient, simply said -) "Butter"  (Sorry about that, no mention of how much!)

(And now on to the preparation of this.) "Using on half of the meat and vegetables for each Pocketbook, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, as you begin to layer each half-moon of pastry." (Poetic, isn't it?) "Layer, starting with potato slices, then meat, onion, carrot, turnip and end up with meat." (I have no idea why it has to be done in that order!)  "Then, dot with butter, or drizzle a small amount of cream on top." (Where'd the cream come from?) (No, I know it comes from a cow! I meant, why wasn't that option listed with the other ingredients before?)

"Then, fold the pastry over the filling to form a pocketbook," (Now it looks like a half-moon.)  "and seal the edges well, using a wet fork or pastry wheel." (Got one of them?) "Slit the top to allow steam to escape while baking.  Place each pastry in its pan." (We'll just put them out on a non-stick sheet pan.) "Don't you dare grease it!" (Okay, Granny - getting kind of bossy, aren't you?)

(Now, get this:) "Place in a hot oven for about 15 minutes."  (Now, for all of you who weren't edgimagated, as I was: a hot oven is about 425 degrees F.  They didn't have gauges or thermometers on those old wood stoves when Granny wrote all this down, so they'd put their hand in for a couple seconds to feel how hot it was in the oven. Then adjustment was made by stoking the wood chamber or opening or closing the flu.  Pretty spoiled these days, aren't we?  Okay, Granny, finish up.)  "Then, reduce the heat, to a medium heat." (That's 350 degrees in modern-day lingo!)  "And bake another 40 minutes or till golden brown."

Now you know the story of the Pockebooks.  I hope you've enjoyed it, but I'll tell you; it's even better to eat 'em!  I can almost eat both of them, which this recipe makes.  I'd suggest you make a bunch of them and freeze them.  You can pop them into the oven, at "medium heat", frozen and in about 15 - 20 minutes you've got a great meal!  It's a recipe that's good even after over a century; and you'll still have money left in you Pocketbook!  :)

If you make these, please let us all know by leaving a comment here.  Thanks. The Old Man in the Bib Overalls