“Receipt” or “Recipe”?

Recipe for soft molasses cookiesOld-cookbooks occasionally refer to recipes as “receipts.” A hundred years ago, “receipt” was already considered an archaic term. Here’s what it said in a 1925 magazine:

“Receipt” or “Recipe”?

When our grandmothers wrote out the ingredients for any dish and the method of making it, they called this “a receipt,” and in their times the apothecaries had a monopoly of the word “recipe,” which meant to them the physician’s prescription. The tendency, today, is towards the use of the word “recipe” for the cooking formula, while “receipt” is more logically reserved for the written form of acknowledging payment, or the receiving of money.

American Cookery (April, 1925)

Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Turnovers

Rhubarb Turnovers

Rhubarb is one of my favorite spring foods, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Rhubarb Turnovers.  The turnovers were lovely.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rhubarb Turnovers
Source: American Cookery (1925)

I was intrigued by the idea of using syrup from canned fruit as the topping for the Rhubarb Turnovers, so I used the syrup from a can of peaches canned in heavy syrup. A lemon sauce would also be tasty.

The instructions called for “red strawberry rhubarb.” The rhubarb I used was not particularly red, so the turnovers may not have been as attractive as they would have been if a redder rhubarb had been used, but they still looked nice.

I interpreted the instructions to roll the dough out to “less than 1/2 inch thick” to mean about 1/3 inch thick. I ended up with a few more turnovers than the 12 indicated in the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rhubarb Turnovers

  • Servings: Approximately 12 - 15
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups rhubarb (cut into 1-inch pieces)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1 cup milk

water and sugar

lemon sauce or syrup from any kind of canned fruit (I used syrup from peaches canned in heavy syrup.)

Combine the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Using medium heat bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the sugar syrup reaches the thread stage (225◦ F.). Add rhubarb pieces and cook until the rhubarb is soft and tender. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 400◦ F. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl; then cut in the butter until the pieces are small (about the size of a peas). Add milk and mix using a fork until dough starts to cling together. Roll the dough on a prepared surface to about 1/3-inch thick. Cut the rolled dough into 4-inch rounds. (I used an inverted champagne coupe glass to cut the rounds.)

Using a slotted spoon, put a tablespoon of the cooked rhubarb in the center of each round. Fold in half. Moisten edges with water and seal by pressing edges with a fork. Put on baking tray, and bake for 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Removed from oven and use a pastry brush to brush with water, and then sprinkle with sugar. Return the turnovers to the oven for an additional  two minutes. Remove from oven.

Serve hot with lemon sauce or the syrup from any kind of canned fruit.

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1925 Description of Electric Stoves

1925 Electric Stove
Source: School and Home Cooking by Carlotta C. Greer (1925)

Electric stoves were just beginning to be commonly used in 1925. Here’s a description of electric stoves in a 1925 home economics textbook:

Electric Stoves

It was mentioned previously that electricity is not a fuel. Hence electric stoves are not provided with burners. They have heaters which contain coils of wires through which an electric current passes.

Electricity is the cleanest source of heat for cooking. But in order to operate an electric stove economically, it is necessary to utilize the current required for a heating element to its great extent. For example, if the current is turned on to heat the oven as many foods as possible should be cooked in the oven.

School and Home Cooking by Carlotta C. Greer (1925)

The textbook includes a note to teachers which indicates that if none of the pupils have an electric stove in their home that “the portion of the lesson regarding these stoves may be omitted.”

Walnut Grove Potatoes (Scalloped Potatoes and Hard-Boiled Eggs)

Walnut Grove Potatoes

HAPPY EASTER!

If your household is like mine, you have hard-boiled Easter eggs sitting in the refrigerator and are looking for ways to use them.  I came across a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Walnut Grove Potatoes, which is a fancy name for Scalloped Potatoes with Hard-Boiled Eggs. It was delightful, and is a great way to use those hard-boiled eggs.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Walnut Grove Potatoes
Source: Cook Book (Compiled by Women of the Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City, Missouri)

When I made this recipe, I interpreted “cream dressing” to mean white sauce. It did not work very well to put all of the white sauce on the top of the top layer of breadcrumbs, so I changed the recipe to indicate the white sauce should be one of the layers so that it is more evenly distributed.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Walnut Grove Potatoes

  • Servings: 3 - 5
  • Difficulty: moderate
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3 cups sliced, peeled potatoes (1/4-inch slices)

1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

1 cup coarsely-torn breadcrumbs (tear bread into 1-inch pieces) + 1/8 cup finely-torn breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

approximately 1/3 green pepper, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put the sliced potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water; add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil using high heat; reduce and simmer until the potatoes are just barely tender (about 10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

In the meantime, in another pan, using medium heat, melt butter, then stir in the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Gradually, add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat.

To assemble: Put 1/3 of the white sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish, add 1/2 of the cooked sliced potatoes, then add a layer composed of 1/2 of the hard-boiled egg slices, and a layer of 1/2 of the coarsely-torn breadcrumbs. Pour a third of the white sauce over the layers. Repeat the layers with the remaining sliced potatoes, hard-boiled egg slices, and coarsely-torn breadcrumbs. Pour the remaining white sauce over the top. Garnish with the green pepper slices and finely torn breadcrumbs. Put in oven and bake until hot and bubbly (about 30 minutes).

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Old-Fashioned Stuffed Baked Onions

Stuffed Baked Onion

Onions are seldom the main attraction when making a vegetable side dish. I use lots of onions, but I generally use them as an ingredient in other dishes. That’s too bad. There are some lovely onion recipes, including a 1925 recipe for Stuffed Baked Onions that I recently came across.

The Stuffed Baked Onions were tasty. They are stuffed with a delightful savory bread crumb and cheese filling.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Stuffed Baked Onions
Source – Home Economics and Cook Book: The Daily Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), Supplement – March 13, 1925

I found it somewhat difficult to remove the inside of the onions after they were boiled. I have seen other Stuffed Onion recipes that call for removing the inside prior to boiling with a spoon or melon ball scoop. I think that the inside probably could be removed either before or after boiling. 

Only a small amount of stuffing is needed to fill 3 medium onions. This recipe makes a lot more stuffing than is needed. I divided the stuffing ingredients by half when I updated the recipe (except for the paprika which I reduced from 1/6 teaspoon to 1/8 teaspoon.)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Stuffed Baked Onions

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: moderate
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3 medium onions (They should be fairly flat so they sit evenly when stuffed.)

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated cheese + 1 tablespoon grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese.)

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon ketchup

1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel

water

Preheat oven to 350◦ F.  Trim the onions and remove the outer peels. Put the onions in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. Remove the insides of the onions using a knife, spoon, or melon ball scoop. Leave 2-3 outer layers. If the bottom of the onions are inadvertently removed, take an inner onion piece and lay it in the onion across the bottom. Reserve the onion scraps. Set aside.

Chop half of the onion scraps. (The other half of the scraps could be refrigerated and saved for use in another recipe.) In a bowl mix the chopped onion scraps, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup grated cheese, salt, paprika, ketchup and lemon peel.  Then stuff the onions with the mixture. Garnish with the 1 tablespoons of grated cheese. Pour a little water into the baking dish (about 1/8 inch). Cover the baking dish and put into the oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the cover from the baking dish, and bake for 10 additional minutes to lightly brown the tops of the stuffed onions. Remove from oven.

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