When browsing through a hundred-year-old cookbook, I came across a recipe for Rice and Peas, and decided to give it a try. This recipe is easy to make, and was very tasty. I served it as a side dish, though it would also work well as a meatless entree.
Prepare rice following the directions on the package.
In the meantime, cook the peas.
Also, heat the butter or oil in a skillet, then add the chopped onions and sauté until the onions are tender and translucent. Add the cooked rice and peas; gently stir.
Ever struggle to use left-over pancakes? They tend to just languish in my refrigerator (if I don’t immediately toss them). There actually are lots of ways to use them. Here’s two suggestions in a hundred-year-old magazine:
Other Ways to Use Cold Pancakes
“I use them,” writes our correspondent, “in two ways. First, after they are quite cold I cut them into very thick strips, like noodles, with a very sharp knife, put them in the soup tureen, and pour over them a well-seasoned beef broth. This makes, when served at once, a very good soup. My second way is to make them into a dessert. The cold cakes are spread with a mixture of sugar, ground cinnamon, and raisins, each pancake is rolled with the mixture inside, and they are placed in a baking dish in a row, and quite close to one another, milk is poured over almost to cover them, and then they are put in the oven and baked. This makes a very good pudding, not unlike a bread pudding.”
There are lots of food trends and fads. Some foods become more popular over time; other decrease in popularity. Prunes are a food that were much more popular a hundred years ago than what they are now – though personally, I like them. So when I saw a recipe for Prune Souffle in a 1924 cookbook, I decided to give it a try while recognizing that prunes are not trendy.
The Prune Souffle didn’t puff up like the typical souffle. It was very rich, and contained chopped walnuts which added a nice crunch. The dominant flavor was the prunes, though there was a hint of cinnamon. I’m not sure exactly how I’d rate this dessert. It’s definitely different than what I expected, and it’s richer than I’d like; but in an old-fashioned way, it was tasty.
Here’s the original recipe:
Source: The Metropolitan Cook Book (Published by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1924)
I’m not sure why the souffle did not puff up. It called for several fairly heavy ingredients – the chopped nuts and prune puree which may have weighted it down. Also, since the old recipe calls for a “slow oven,” I baked the souffle at 325° F. but maybe it would have worked better if it had been baked at a higher temperature.
When I made this recipe I wasn’t sure how many prunes were needed to get 1 cup of pulp, but I estimated that I’d need about 1/2 pound of prunes. I cooked the prunes for about 30 minutes get them nice and soft, and then put them through a Foley Mill. (Another option would be to puree them.) I ended up with a little less than 1 cup of pulp, but went with it.
1/2 cup grated bread crumbs (I grated 1 slice of bread.)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/6 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 325° F. Put prunes in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil then reduce heat and gently simmer until soft. Remove from heat and drain; reserve 1/2 cup of the prune juice. (If there is less than 1/2 cup of prune juice, add water to make 1/2 cup.) Puree the prunes or use a Foley Mill to press through a sieve. Set aside.
Beat egg whites until fluffy and stiff. Set aside.
Put the chopped nuts, bread crumbs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice, grated lemon rind, pureed prunes, 1/2 cup of prune juice, and egg yolks in a mixing bowl; stir to combine. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Put in a 1-quart baking dish, and bake until the top is lightly browned and starting to crack (30-40 minutes). Can be served warm or cold.
A hundred-years-ago men’s roles and women’s roles were defined very differently. Women were responsible for cooking, and their culinary skills were considered a measure their success. This poem in a 1924 cookbook reminds me of the old saying that “food is the way to a man’s heart.”
Marble Cake has always been one of my favorite types of cake, so when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Variety Marble Cake, I decided to give it a try. The old recipe had lots of options, including options for Marble Cocoa Cake and Marble Spice Cake. I went with the Marble Cocoa Cake option.
The cake was easy to make and tasty. This recipe makes a small 8″ X 8″ cake, which is perfect for a small family.
Here’s the original recipe:
Modern Priscilla Cook Book (1924)
When I made this recipe, I needed to add about 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the eggs to get 1/2 cup. I used vanilla for the flavoring.
The recipe says to alternate putting spoonfuls of light and dark batter into the pan. I followed this direction – though if I made the cake again, I’d also lightly swirl the batters using a knife to get a more even marbleing.
The recipe says to bake the cake for 45 minutes. When I made this cake, it took significantly less time (more like 35 minutes).
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan. Put all ingredients (except for the cocoa) in a mixing bowl. Beat until well blended.
Put 1/3 of the batter into another bowl; then add the cocoa to this batter. Beat until well-blended. Alternate putting the light and dark batters into the prepared pan, then lightly swirl with a knife.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Frost, if desired.
I enjoy reading household tips in hundred-year-old magazines and cookbooks. Often the advice is good, and has stood the test of time. However, occasionally an old tip leaves me scratching my head. Like this tip about how to store grated cocoanut. Is it really a tip when the author says that the advice given is guesswork, and that she does not really know how it is done?
And, by the way, what is currently considered the correct spelling for “cocoanut”? I tend to think that “cocoanut” is an archaic spelling, and that it is usually is now spelled “coconut,” but am not sure.
When my children were young they used to enjoy making Eggs in a Hole where a hole is cut out of a slice of toast and an egg is dropped into the hole. So when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Baked Eggs that looked similar to Eggs in a Hole, but with a twist, I had to give it a try. Instead of just cutting one circle in the toast, two circles are cut to create a ring of toast. The egg is then dropped into the ring. It gave an old classic a new twist -though that’s not quite right. Maybe I should say that I found an old twist for a classic recipe.
I enjoyed making this recipe, and anticipate making it again when children or grandchildren visit.
Source: The Metrolpolitan Cook Book (published by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1924)
The old recipe says that the hole the egg is put into is created by removing a little of the center. I interpreted this to mean that a small circle should be cut out of the center of the toast.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease an oven-proof skillet with butter. Cut a large round circle out of the toast. (I used an inverted champagne glass to cut the circle). Then cut a smaller circle out of the center of the circle. (I used a round cookie cutter to cut the small circle. A small inverted juice glass would also work.) Put the resulting toast ring in the skillet, then gently break the egg and put the contents in the hole. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with a few small pieces of butter. Spoon the milk over the egg. Put in oven and bake until the egg is cooked (about 10-15 minutes).
