Old-Fashioned Cottage Cheese and Tomato Salad

Sometimes I get in a rut when making salads, and basically make the same lettuce salad almost daily. It was time to look for some “new” salads, so I started browsing through my hundred-year-old cookbooks and came across a recipe for Cheese and Tomato Salad, or to be more specific, Cottage Cheese and Tomato Salad.

Medium tomatoes are stuffed with a cottage cheese, paprika, and chopped almond mixture; and, served with a vinaigrette dressing. The salad was lovely, with the sweet, slightly acidic taste of the tomatoes balancing nicely with the mild, salty, tanginess of the cottage cheese. The chopped almonds added a nice, crunchy texture.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for (Cottage) Cheese and Tomato Salad — Source: Westminster Cook Book:1926 (Cherokee, Iowa)

I decided to stuff three tomatoes, so, in the updated ingredients list, I included amounts needed to stuff that many tomatoes. A hundred-years-ago tomatoes were often peeled, but today they are seldom peeled, so I did not peel them when I made the recipe. Since cottage cheese (as well as the French Dressing) already contains salt, I did not add additional salt to the stuffing mixture.

The old recipe called for serving the salad with French Dressing. A hundred years ago, French Dressing was a vinaigrette dressing, and quite different from the commercial, orange-colored French dressing that is common today. There was no recipe for French Dressing in the cookbook that contained the salad recipe, so I found a French Dressing recipe in another cookbook:

Recipe for French Dressing — Source: The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes (1926)

This recipe makes more French dressing than needed for three stuffed tomatoes, so I halved the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cottage Cheese and Tomato Salad

Servings: 3
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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3 medium tomatoes (Select tomatoes that are nicely shaped and that will be level when placed on a plate.)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/8 teaspoon paprika (plus additional paprika to garnish, if desired)

2 tablespoons almonds, chopped (plus additional chopped almonds to garnish, if desired)

lettuce leaves, if desired

Step 1. Cut the top of the tomatoes and then scoop out the pulp in the center. (Be sure to leave the shell of the tomato.) Turn tomato upside down on a plate to drain out any remaining liquid.

Step 2. Make the filling for the tomatoes by putting the cottage cheese, paprika, and almonds in a small bowl; stir until mixed.

Step 3. Stuff the tomatoes with the filling. If desired, sprinkle additional paprika and chopped almonds on top. The stuffed tomatoes may be served on lettuce leaves and with French Dressing (recipe below).

French Dressing (Vinaigrette Dressing)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

Step 1. Put the salt and paprika in a small bowl.

Step 2. Gradually add the olive oil while stirring constantly.

Step 3. Then slowly add the vinegar, a small amount at a time, while continuing to stir.

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Substituting Kernza Flour for Graham Flour (with a Nut Bread Example)

There are many recipes in hundred-year-old cookbooks that call for graham flour. Back then, graham flour was a popular type of flour, and cookbooks contained recipes for graham bread, graham muffins, graham pudding, and other graham foods. But, now graham flour is almost impossible to find, so when browsing through hundred-year-old cookbooks, I generally skip over any recipes that call for it. I even did a post several years ago titled “Why is it so Difficult to Find Graham Flour?”

But, I recently looked through Beth Dooley’s Forever Green Cookbook, and came across this statement:

Kernza flour resembles whole wheat flour and has a nutty, earthy flavor that is reminiscent of graham flour.

I was ecstatic. If Beth was right, maybe I could make some of those old recipes that called for graham flour. I have known Beth since I took a food writing class from her many years ago. Beth is a James Beard Award-winning author, has written numerous cookbooks, and is a food writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She also has a Substack newsletter called Beth Dooley’s Kitchen, as well as held an endowed chair at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Minnesota. Much of her recent work focuses on integrating traditional knowledge with the latest science to help support healthy eating and regenerative farming practices. Soon Beth and I had an email conversation going about how to substitute Kernza for graham flour.

What is Graham Flour?

Graham flour is a coarsely ground whole wheat flour that contains the endosperm, bran, and wheat germ of the wheat kernels. Year ago, it was considered a health food. Graham flour is named after its inventor Sylvester Graham. He began making graham flour in the 1830s, and promoted it as part of a health movement which encouraged eating vegetarian meals and unseasoned foods.

Even if graham flour is found today, it may not contain the wheat germ. Modern graham flours sometimes have most of the wheat germ removed to prolong shelf life and to help keep it from going rancid. In the past, I sometimes substituted whole wheat flour for graham flour, but was not totally pleased with the results.

What is Kernza?

Kernza is an intermediate wheatgrass. According to the Forever Green Cookbook:

Kernza: This relative of wheat, developed by The Land Institute and the Forever Green Initiative, is high in nutrients and long on flavor. Unlike wheat, it’s a perennial crop and its ecological benefits to the land are immense – filtering water, retaining topsoil and nutrients, and providing habitat for wildlife while producing a kernel that may be milled for flour.

A New York Times article provides additional information about the environmental benefits of Kernza:

Kernza, which can be used as a substitute for wheat, has roots that can stretch more than 10 feet into the ground, allowing it to absorb more carbon dioxide than many crops. And because Kernza is a perennial grain and doesn’t need to be replanted each year, it requires less water and fertilizer than traditional wheat, making it a boon for cost-conscious farmers.

Updating a Hundred-Year Old Graham Nut Bread Recipe to Use Kernza Flour

I looked through my 1926 cookbooks, and found several recipes that called for graham flour. I shared them with Beth, and we decided that a recipe for Graham Nut Bread would be a good one to try updating:

We decided to substitute Kernza flour for the graham flour at a 1:1 ratio. In other words, instead of using 2 cups of graham flour, I used 2 cups of Kernza flour. Since the old recipe called for baking the bread in a “moderate” oven, I baked it at 350° F. until a wooden pick came out clean (about 1 hour and 15 minutes).

The bread was sweet, had a rustic, firm texture, and contained lots of chopped walnuts and raisins. It was not crumbly. In my opinion, the crust was a little thick, though when I took it to a coffee group gathering, it was a huge success. They loved it, and two people even asked if they could have slices to take home.

I also shared my experience making the bread with Beth, and she said that the crust might be better if I baked the bread at a lower temperature (325° F). This would also mean cooking it for a little longer. Additionally, she suggested adding ¼ cup of melted butter.

I made the bread again using Beth’s suggestions, and the bread was perfect. The crust had just the right amount of crustiness, and the bread still had a lovely rustic, firm texture. Success! Kernza flour was a great substitute for graham flour (and it has the added bonus of being good for the environment).

A minor issue is that many stores do not carry Kernza flour, but it is available at some food co-ops and online. Hopefully, before too long, it will be more readily available.

Here is the updated recipe:

Kernza Nut Bread

Servings: 8 - 10
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups Kernza flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter, melted

2 cups milk

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup raisins

Step 1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease a 9” X 5” loaf pan.

Step 2. Combine Kernza flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder; set aside.

Step 3. Put the eggs, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl; stir to combine. Add butter, then stir. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk (add about a third of each at a time). Stir until just mixed.

Step 4. Add chopped walnuts and raisins; stir just enough to distribute throughout the batter.

Step 5. Put batter into prepared loaf pan.

Step 6. Put in oven and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes (or until a wooden pick comes out clean). Remove bread from oven, and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before removing it from pan.

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Old-Fashioned Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan

Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan in baking dish

Sweet potatoes are a delightful, but often under-utilized vegetable. Often, they are served on Thanksgiving and then forgotten until the following November. That’s unfortunate. They are a seasonal, widely available vegetable in January, and they are very nutritious.

A cup of sweet potatoes contains more than 100% of the daily value (DV) for Vitamin A and almost half of the daily value for Vitamin C. They also contain substantive amounts of manganese (43% of DV), copper (36% of DV), pantothenic acid (35% of DV), Vitamin B6 (34% of DV, potassium (20% of DV), and niacin (19% of DV). Additionally, they contain 6.6 grams of fiber. So when I saw a recipe for Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan while browsing through a hundred-year-old cookbook, I decided to give it a try.

The recipe for Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan did not call for any added sweeteners, so the natural, rich, almost caramelly taste of the sweet potatoes had the opportunity to shine. The creamy mashed sweet potatoes combined with crunchy chopped pecan resulted in a lovely texture. This dish is perfect for these cold winter days.

Here’s the original recipe:

I’m uncertain about the origins of this recipe. It is from a cookbook page that was neatly pasted onto the inside front cover of a 1926 cookbook compiled by the Domestic Science Class of the Peoria, Illinois Women’s Club. At first, I thought that the page had fallen out of the cookbook, and had then been pasted by the cookbook’s owner onto the inside cover to keep it from getting lost. But the page number is more than a hundred pages higher than the last page of the cookbook, so it originated from another book.

Six sweet potatoes would make a lot of Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan, so I halved the recipe (except for the pecans). It seemed like a recipe that had pecans in the title should contain a substantive amount of chopped pecans, so I stirred two tablespoons of chopped pecans into the mashed sweet potato mixture, and also sprinkled some additional chopped pecans on top of the dish.

I’m surprised that the recipe called for sherry. The cookbook was published a hundred years ago, which was during prohibition, and I seldom see recipes calling for alcohol in cookbooks published during those years. However, since the recipe was pasted into the book, perhaps it is from a book published either prior to or after prohibition. I didn’t have any sherry, but Spruce Eats indicates that wine or apple cider vinegar can be substituted for sherry, so I used white wine.

I could not figure out how to make a mound of the sweet potato mixture on a baking sheet that could be successfully transferred in one piece to a serving plate after it was baked, so I just put the sweet potato mixture in a casserole dish.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Sweet Potatoes a la Pecan

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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3 medium sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sherry, wine, or apple cider vinegar (I used white wine.)

2 tablespoons chopped pecans + additional chopped pecans for garnish (if desired)

Step 1. Preheat oven to 425° F.

Step 2. Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut into 1-inch cubes. Put in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes).

Step 3. Remove the sweet potatoes from the heat and drain, then mash the sweet potatoes. (An electric beater can be used to mash them.)

Step 4. Add the butter, salt, and sherry/wine/vinegar to the mashed sweet potatoes, and beat until well mixed. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of chopped pecans.

Step 5. Put the sweet potato mixture in a baking dish; and, if desired, top with additional chopped pecans.

Step 6. Put the baking dish in the oven to bake until the mixture is hot and lightly browned. (About 20 minutes if the sweet potatoes were hot when mashed; longer if they had partially cooled.). Remove from oven and serve.

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Old-Time Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup Recipe

Cream of Vegetable Soup in Bowl Brrr . . . it’s cold outside. I’ve also made a new year’s resolution not to waste food. The winter weather, plus my resolution, led me to search for hundred-year-old soup recipes that used left-over vegetables. I found an old general description of how to make soup using left-over vegetables as well as a recipe for Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup. I combined the directions from the two sources to make a lovely Cream of Vegetable Soup.

Similarly to now, soup was a popular winter comfort food a hundred years ago. According to an article titled “Soups – Economical and Delicious” – in the January, 1926 issue of Farm Journal:

With plenty of good soup, good bread and butter, some fruit or a simple dessert, a good, hearty meal can be prepared in a short time. Cold weather is just the time for a hearty soup, too.

The article identifies three “classes” of soup: (1) soups made using a single vegetable; (2) soups using meat stock as the foundation; and (3) soups made using left-over vegetables. Here’s what it says about using left-over vegetables to make soup:

Soups of the third class are perhaps the simplest and most economical. Such soups can be made entirely of left-over vegetables or can include both left-over and new cooked vegetables. Perhaps there are some cooked potatoes (cooked any way) on hand, a little gravy, a few spoonfuls of peas or shelled beans, and a little turnip. Put in a kettle enough boiling water to make the required amount of soup for your family. Into the kettle slice one or two onions, two or three carrots and a few more raw potatoes if needed. Cook until tender the left-over vegetables, gravy, and some salt (pepper if liked) and boil up. Now use a wire potato-masher to reduce the vegetables to a smooth, delightfully blended mixture. A most pleasing variety of soups can be had by varying the ingredients. Ripe tomatoes in any form can be used, even the rinsings of the catsup bottle. Boiled beans, baked beans, squash, corn, a little cabbage, a bit of parsnip, celery, macaroni, rice, oatmeal, the left-over meat pie (crust and all) can all be utilized in this way. Celery makes a most delicious soup. The celery itself can be used or crushed dried leaves or celery salt can be used for flavoring. When a straight vegetable soup is made, add fresh or evaporated milk or a little cream to give the desired richness. Lacking these, butter or a good cooking oil can be used.

Farm Journal (January, 1926)

A recipe in a 1926 cookbook contained a “standard” recipe for this type of soup:

Recipe for Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup — Source: Mrs. Peterson’s Simplified Cooking (1926)

My research was complete. I now was ready to make the soup. I used the Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup recipe as the basis for the soup, but pulled in some of the suggestions from the Farm Journal article. I had some left-over mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots that I used. I thought that onions and celery would be a nice addition. so I chopped up about half a cup of each. These items didn’t make the 2 cups of vegetables called for in the “standard” recipe, so I added small amounts of frozen green peas, corn, and lima beans that had languished in my freezer in almost empty bags.

And, I was intrigued by the suggestion in the Farm Journal article to add the “rinsings of the catsup bottle” to the soup. It’s difficult to get the lid off many modern catsup bottles, so I just added 2 tablespoons of catsup to the vegetable mixture.

The vegetables (including the water they are cooked in) are pureed after they are cooked, and added to milk that has been thickened with butter and flour. The soup is then heated until it is hot and steamy. The resulting soup had a lovely, delicate flavor. The seasonings should be adjusted if a bolder flavor is desired. The soup is garnished with croutons.

The old recipe said that it made enough soup to serve six. In my opinion, six servings is a stretch. This recipe makes 4-5 generous servings.

The bottom line is that this recipe is extremely flexible and cooks should adjust the recipe based on the left-overs and other vegetables they have in their kitchen. My daughter-in-law often says that she cooks “free style.” This is a recipe for free style cooks. Here’s my combined and updated recipe for Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup.

Standard Cream of Vegetable Soup

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups vegetables (Any combination of left-over vegetables work well in this recipe. I used left-over mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. I also added about ½ cup chopped onions and 1 stalk celery. I then added a few frozen green peas, lima beans, and corn to get a total of 2 cups of vegetables.)

2 tablespoons catsup (optional)

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

croutons

Step 1. Put water and all the vegetables in a sauce pan. If desired, stir in the catsup. Bring to boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender (about 10 – 15 minutes). Remove from heat and cool slightly. (Do not drain.)

Step 2. Puree the cooked vegetables and the water they were cooked in. (A blender or food processor works well.)

Step 3. In the meantime, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the flour. Gradually add the milk, while stirring constantly; cook using medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken.

Step 4. Add salt, pepper, and vegetable puree to the milk mixture. Cook, while stirring constantly, until hot and steamy. If a bolder flavor is desired, add additional seasonings.

Step 5. Put in soup bowls. Garnish with croutons.

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Old-Time Cheese Delight (Cheese & Bread Custard)

Cheese Delight (Cheese and Bread Custard) As the holidays are beginning to wind down, I’m in the mood for comfort food. So, when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Cheese Delight, I was intrigued and decided to give it a try.

Cheese Delight is a delicate cheese and bread custard. It is not the same as modern egg and cheese casseroles that often contain bacon, onions, and green peppers. If you can set aside any possible expectation that Cheese Delight will be the same as modern egg and cheese casseroles, you will will enjoy this dish.

The original recipe called for using American cheese. I thought about updating it to go with a natural cheese that has a tangier flavor, but decided to stick with the recipe author’s choice. The mild and creamy nature of American Cheese (and velvety smoothness when it melts) worked well in this recipe, and made this dish a delightful, old-fashioned comfort food.

Here is the original recipe:

Cheese Delight Recipe — Source: Ladies Home Journal (September, 1925)

I decided to put the custard in a baking dish rather than make individual cups of custard.

When I made this recipe, I added chopped parsley to the egg mixture. I sprinkled a little paprika on the top before putting in the oven to bake, but I could not see the paprika when I took the dish out of the oven, so would not bother putting any on it if I made the dish again.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cheese Delight (Cheese and Bread Pudding)

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 eggs

1 1/2 cups bread torn into 1/2-inch cubes (I used half white bread and half whole wheat bread.)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 pound American cheese, grated (about 6 slices) (I folded the cheese slices to make a small stack and then grated with a box grater.)

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Step 1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

Step 2. Put the eggs in a mixing bowl and beat. Stir in the milk, salt, and pepper. Add the bread cubes and the grated cheese; stir until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Stir in the chopped parsley.

Step 3. Pour into individual custard cups or into a 1-quart baking dish.

Step 4. Place the custard cups or baking dish in a pan of hot water and place in the oven.

Step 5. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the pudding comes out nearly clean. (It may not be totally clean because of the melted cheese.) It will take a less baking time if individual cups were used than if the mixture was put into a baking dish.

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Cracking Walnuts with Family and Friends Over the Holidays

walnuts in bowl — Source: Ladies Home Journal (December, 1925)

A DIAMOND Walnut advertisement in a hundred-year-old magazine said:

Be sure to have [walnuts] throughout all the holidays – a standing invitation to partake of the distinctive hospitality of your home. They are fireside companions that the entire family will enjoy.

Ladies Home Journal (December, 1925)

Some traditions don’t change (at least not much). I have a bowl of nuts — I went with mixed nuts instead of walnuts — ready for my family to crack and eat as we sit around the fire.

nut bowl

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

“Food for the Gods” (Date Crumbles) Recipe

Date Crumbles with whipped cream topping I recently came across an intriguing recipe in a 1925 issue of Farm Journal. The recipe was labeled “food for the gods or date crumbles.” What a bold assertion! Could this recipe possibly be that good? I had to find out, so next thing I knew I was making the recipe.

Date Crumbles had a crispy crust, with lot of nuts in the middle. The dates cooked down to create a lovely, sweet date filling on the bottom. I scooped the Date Crumbles out of the pan, and put it in serving glasses (dishes would also work just fine). I served it with whipped cream. I thoroughly enjoyed this dessert.

Here is the original recipe:

recipe for "food for the gods" — Source: Farm Journal (April, 1925)

It’s fascinating that the old recipe directs cooks to serve it in “tall glasses.” I took this to mean stemware. I envision Farm Journal readers, living in remote rural locations, feeling like they were serving a very elegant dessert when they put the Date Crumbles in stemmed glasses and topped it with whipped cream. After all, they were serving “food for the gods.”

I did not want 16 servings, so I made half of the recipe. That said, I don’t think that half of this recipe would be enough for 8 people, so when I updated the recipe, I indicated that it would make 5 – 7 servings.

I assumed that a “slow oven” meant setting the temperature at 300° F.

As I prepared to bake the date mixture, I considered putting it in a baking dish instead of a pie pan as indicated in the old recipe; but, in the end just used an old 9-inch metal pie pan that I had and that worked well. A baking dish would also work. Date Crumbles in pan

I would not store Date Crumbles in a tin box. When I made this recipe, I ate some of it right away, and covered the remainder in the pan that it was baked in. It also could be stored in a food storage container.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Food for the Gods (Date Crumbles)

Servings: 5 - 7
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
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1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup nuts, chopped (I used pecans.)

1/2 cup dates, chopped

whipped cream

Step 1. Preheat oven to 300° F.

Step 2. Put egg, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

Step 3. Stir in the chopped nuts and dates.

Step 4. Put the mixture in a greased pie pan or other baking dish (an 8″ X 8″ dish would work well), and spread it out.

Step 5. Put in oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Step 6. Use a spoon to “crumble” the baked dessert; put into dessert dishes or glasses to serve. May be served hot or cold. Top with whipped cream.

Note: The Date Crumbles can be covered and stored in the pan that it was baked in or it can be “crumbled” and stored in a tightly covered container.

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