Why Does Yolk of Egg Keep White From Beating Stiff?

egg white with a little yolk mixed in

I know that if there is even a bit of yolk in egg whites that they won’t beat well, and that it is impossible to get stiff peaks. Over the years, I’ve often broken a yolk when separating the whites from the yolks and ended up discarding the egg white (or the whites from multiple eggs if I was being cavalier and had assumed that I wouldn’t have problems and directly separated eggs into a bowl that already had whites from other eggs). But I never knew why until I read a short article in a hundred-year-old magazine. (It’s amazing how many new things I’ve learned over the years from old books and magazines.)

Why Does Yolk of Egg Keep White from Beating Stiff?

If even a small portion of the yolk of the egg gets mixed with the white, this will keep the white from beating to the same kind of stiff froth that the white alone will beat into, because there is enough oil present, in the little portions of yolk, to keep down the froth. You know you cannot beat olive oil, for instances, into a froth. You know that “pouring oil on troubled waters” is a very real, rather than poetical expression of the smoothing-down effect of oil on a rough sea and angry breakers. Yet if only a very little of the yolk gets mixed with the white, and if you beat long and hard, you will get a fluffed up mass, though not of the same texture attainable by beating of the white alone.

American Cookery (December, 1924)

Okay, I guess this makes sense – but I’m still a little confused. Why can heavy cream (with lots of fat) be whipped into stiff peaks, while skim milk (with no fat) doesn’t whip at all?

Old-Fashioned Mushroom Omelet

Mushroom Omelet

I enjoy the challenge of making omelets and I like mushrooms, so I decided to make a hundred-year-old recipe for Mushroom Omelet. The omelet turned out well and was tasty.

The 1924 New Butterick Cook Book had two Mushroom Omelet options. I selected the first one. Here are the original recipes:

Mushroom Omelet Recipes — The New Butterick Cook Book (1924)

I used milk instead of cream. One teaspoon of salt (and 1/2 teaspoon or pepper) seemed like a lot, so I used half that amount for each.

And, here is the original omelet recipe that I used:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Mushroom Omelet

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Omelet

4 eggs, separated

4 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place egg whites in a bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then stir in the milk, salt, and pepper. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

In the meantime, heat a large oven-proof skillet on the top of the stove using medium-low heat.(I used a 12-inch cast iron skillet.) Put butter in pan. When the butter is melted, pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Then move the skillet to the oven, and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes or until the egg mixture is set. Remove from oven, and loosen the edges of the omelet from the skillet with a knife or spatula, then turn onto a plate. Put the mushroom filling (see below) onto half of the omelet, and then fold in half and serve.

Omelet Filling

1 cup mushroom pieces (fresh or canned)

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup milk

Cut mushrooms into small pieces. Melt butter in a saucepan, then add the mushrooms. Sauté for several minutes, then stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually add the milk while stirring constantly. Heat until the mixture is hot and bubbly.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Hundred-Year-Old Table for Tracking Cooking Times

Cover of the New Home Cook Book — Source: The New Home Cook Book (1924) published by the Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL)

With the new year, I’m moving to 1924 cookbooks. I’m re-energized by the opportunity to explore “new” hundred-year-old cookbooks.

By 1924, more cooks were getting gas and electric stoves, and cookbooks were addressing their challenges as they learned new cooking techniques. The New Home Cook Book noted on the cover that it included a cooking guide for “wood-fire, gas, and electricity.” Cooks apparently found it challenging to know how long foods should be cooked, so the book included a table that could be used for tracking cooking times, temperatures, and the oven rack used.

Table for recording cooking results — Source: The New Home Cook Book (1924) published by the Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL)

Old-Fashioned Bacon Cream Soup

Bowl of Bacon Cream Soup

It’s cold and wintery outside, and I’m ready to cozy up and enjoy comfort foods. I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Bacon Cream Soup that fits the bill. The soup was delicious and easy to make.

Here’s the original recipe:

It seemed odd that the old recipe called for putting sliced potatoes (and onions) in the soup. Smaller pieces seem more typical for a soup, so I cut the potatoes, onions, and celery into small pieces. The original recipe calls for whole milk. I think that skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk would work in this recipe, so I didn’t specify the type of milk when I updated the recipe.

I used all of the fat that I got from cooking the bacon. Unless the bacon is extremely fatty, I don’t think that there is no need to measure out an exact amount of bacon fat for this recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Bacon Cream Soup

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, coarsely diced into 1/2 inch pieces

3 stalks celery, coarsely diced into 1/2 inch pieces

3 slices bacon

2 tablespoons flour

4 cups milk

Put the potato, onion, and celery pieces into a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain. Set aside.

Fry bacon until crisp in a Dutch oven or other large pan, then remove the cooked bacon from the pan, and break into small pieces. Set aside.

Stir the flour into the hot bacon fat. Slowly add the milk while constantly stirring and using medium heat. Stir in the cooked vegetables and bacon. Heat until hot and steamy, then serve.

http://www.ahundredyearsag0.com

Finis 1923

Poem about end of year — Source: General Welfare Guild Cook Book (Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, PA, 1923)

The last page of a hospital auxiliary cookbook published in 1923 had this poem. It fits my mood as 2023 comes to an end. I’ve really enjoyed exploring 1923 cookbooks this year to find foods to make for this blog.

I always do recipes on my Sunday post, so there actually will be one more post on December 31 that contains a 1923 recipe. As I browsed through my 1923 cookbooks one last time to select that recipe, it felt a bit bittersweet. There are so many wonderful 1923 recipes that I never had a chance to make – and that I now will never make as I retire my 1923 cookbooks to the bookshelves in the basement family room; but, at the same time, I can hardly wait to start looking through a whole new (actually old) group of 1924 cookbooks.

Have a happy new year! And, thank you to all the readers that I’ve gotten to know over the past 12 years. You’re awesome. You have made this journey so much fun, and I’ve learned so much from you and your comments. I look forward to exploring 1924 foods with you next year.

Old-Fashioned Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey Tetrazzini

Merry Christmas!

It’s always so exciting preparing foods for the holidays (I’m currently in that mode), but I also know that I need to plan for the inevitable left-overs, so I’m sharing a lovely hundred-year-old recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini that I found. It is a great way to use some of that left-over turkey.

Here’s the original recipe:

Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe — Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1923)

The recipe calls for a lot of salt – one teaspoon salt plus 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, so I reduced the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon when I updated the recipe. I used a 4-ounce can of mushroom (stems and pieces) instead of fresh mushrooms.

The original recipe calls for putting the Turkey Tetrazzini in individual-serving ramekins (which would look very elegant), but I just put it all in one casserole dish. I used a 750-ml casserole dish and it was very full. A 1-quart dish would work well.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Turkey Tetrazzini

Servings: 3-4
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoons celery salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup cooked spaghetti, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 ounce of uncooked spaghetti)

1 cup cold turkey, cut into thin strips

1 8-ounce can stems and pieces mushrooms

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup cracker crumbs (Use saltine crackers or other similar plain cracker; put in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin to get the crumbs)

butter

Preheat oven to 375° F. Put butter in a skillet or saucepan. Melt using medium heat, then stir in the flour, salt, celery salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the cream while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the cooked spaghetti pieces, then gently stir in the turkey strips and mushrooms. Put in a 750 ml or 1-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and cracker crumbs on top. Dot with small pieces of butter. Bake in oven until the top is lightly browned (about 20 minutes).

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1923 Baker’s Chocolate Advertisement

Advertisement for Baker's Chocolate — Source: Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1923 editon

Wow! Based on the information in this hundred-year-old advertisement in the 1923 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Baker’s Chocolate has been around for 243 holiday baking seasons.

I’m intrigued by this advertisement because, I posted a very similar advertisement in 2021 from the 1921 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Here’s the image I used from the 1921 cookbook:

It’s fascinating how there are many tiny formatting differences there are across the two years. For example, “Registered U.S. Pat. Office” is two lines in the 1921 advertisement but has morphed into one line that says, “Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.” by 1923. The border frame is also slightly different on the two ads, and, most intriguing of all, the woman’s face and hair have been tweaked. Why did a graphic designer decide that these changes were needed?