Recipes, Winnifred May Kline

Winnie Kline Beals' food came from her German family background and life on the farm. Two favorites of those who remember her kitchen,and hard to come by elsewhere lest you make them yourself, are kopfleish, and dandelion greens.
Kopfleish (translated head meat) was a ground stewed mixture of pork head meat and perhaps other meat scraps at butchering time, and the pork liver. Kopfleish was canned and stored in the cellar. For breakfast, a jar was opened, the sausage warmed on the stove, and served to be spooned on top of buckwheat pancakes. Homemade maple syrup completed the dish. After Winnie died, her son and daughter-in-law then living on the farm saved the last jar of kopfleish from the cellar until a summer day when far-flung family had gathered. We ate the breakfast knowing an era had ended. No one had the recipe.
For dandelion green, Grandma would take a bucket and knife to the yard in early spring, when the greens were young and tender. Leaves and unopened buds were gathered, washed, and then wilted in a bacon, vinegar & sour cream sauce. This was served for lunch or dinner, over boiled potatoes as a source of early spring vitamins after a long winter living on canned foods and smoked meat.

Kopfleish
In our search for a Kopfleish recipe , Nancy Beals Walls found that the fresh Liverwurst as prepared by Hirsh's Meats of Kossuth, Clarion Co. PA, is very similar. However, smooth commercial liverwurst spreads available in most groceries bears no relationship in flavor or texture to kopfleish.

Bertha Beals Chambers' recipe for Head Cheese is presumed to be either Beals or Kline in origin. It has not quite tje same ingredients as kopfleish, but the process is probably similar.

Head Cheese
6# of chopped meat - ( assumed to be pork due to wording later on)
3 Tbs. salt
4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. red pepper
2 ½ tsp. all spice
3 tsp. cloves
2 Qt. broth from boiling of meat

Clean head removing the snout, eyes, ears, brains and remove all skin. Trim off all fat. Quarter head.
Using ½ salt /1 gallon of water - soak covered head - 5 hours or overnight Hearts, tongue, liver may also be soaked with head. Wash in clean water to remove all blood. Cover with HOT water and cook until meat falls off the bones. Cook and remove meat - strain broth and measure. Chop meat fine. Cook broth and spices boiling 15 minutes. Mix into chopped meat and pack into jars leaving 1” from lid. Simmer lids, place on jars, add rings and tighten.

Pressure cook pts. 75 minutes and qts. 90 minutes. Cold pack qts. & pts. 3 hours.

Kopfleish had neither red pepper or cloves; no sage; simply salt & pepper. And there was a stage of roasting in the oven; Grandpa (James Elgie Beals) would sample it with a fork to test for doneness & flavor. He wouldn't allow sage to be added.

Dandelion Greens
Fry 4 slices of bacon (for the grease) and 2 slices cubed ham (for the brownness), until bacon is crisp and bottom of skillet is brown. Add enough flour to absorb the grease, and allow the flour to brown. Add enough water to make a very thick gravy paste. Add 1/2 pint sour cream and about 1/2 cup vinegar thinned with some water. Stir together. Mix in about 6 cups washed & drained young dandelion leaves & buds, and allow to wilt in the hot gravy. Do not allow the greens to cook or they toughen. Serve over fork-mashed boiled potatoes.
Note: dandelion greens should be picked before they bloom; older plants have a more bitter taste.