Old-Fashioned Asparagus with Orange Sauce

I was surprised to recently discover a hundred-year-old recipe for Asparagus with Orange Sauce that called for blood orange. I don’t think that I’ve ever previously seen a recipe for blood orange. The recipe turned out nicely. The sauce had a lovely sunny citrus flavor that nicely complemented the asparagus.

Until I read this old recipe, I had never realized that blood oranges were considered a spring citrus fruit a hundred years ago.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Asparagus with Orange Sauce

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

1 bunch asparagus (about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

grated rind of 1/2 blood orange

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons lemon juicee

Juice of 1/2 blood orange

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter, softened

`Wash and trim asparagus. Put in steamer pan. Add water to bottom, and steam for about 5 minutes or until tender.

In the meantime to make the sauce, combine paprika, salt, grated orange rind, lemon juice, and water in a pan. Bring to a boil using medium heat, boil for several minutes until the volume is reduced by half. Remove from heat.

In a separate pan beat butter until creamy, then add to the grated orange rind and lemon mixture. Next add the egg yolks, one at a time, while beating into the mixture. Set pan with mixture into a pan with hot water. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens, then stir in the juice from the blood orange. To heat, put on medium heat for a few seconds while continuing to stir. Remove from heat and serve over the asparagus.

www,ahundredyearsago.com

1922 Easter Menus

Here’s several hundred-year-old Easter menus. They may (or may not) provide inspiration as you plan your Easter menus for this year.

Old-Fashioned Marshmallow Strawberry Pudding

Marshmallow Strawberry Pudding

At potluck dinners when I was young, someone always seemed to bring a salad (or maybe it was a dessert) made with whipped topping, fruit, and marshmallows, so I was intrigued by a hundred-year-old recipe for Marshmallow Strawberry Pudding. It looked similar to more modern renditions – but called for real whipped cream.

I tend to think that a dessert made with lots of whipped cream, marshmallows, and sugar may not be particularly healthy, but that said, the Marshmallow Strawberry Pudding was delicious.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Marshmallow Strawberry Pudding

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 cup strawberries, sliced (or if small cut in half) + several additional whole strawberries for garnish

1/3 cup small marshmallows, cut in half

1 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream until stiff peaks form, then gradually add the sugar and vanilla while continuing to beat. Gently fold in the marshmallows and strawberries. Either put in a large bowl to serve or in individual dishes or cups. Garnish with whole strawberries.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

A Place for the Dishpan

large old-fashioned kitchen sink — Source: School and Home Cooking (1920) by Carlotta Greer

The 1922 edition of Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries has a chapter titled “Kitchen Discoveries.” One of the Discoveries was a suggestion for storing the dishpan:

A Place for the Dishpan

To save reaching under the drainboard to get my dishpan from a nail, which is the usual place for putting it, I have had a shelf built under the drainboard just low enough to take the dishpan. There I keep the dishpan, rinsing pan, and drainer where they may be reached without any effort.

K.S.C., Mass.

This tip left me scratching my head. I couldn’t quite picture how dishpans, rinsing pans, and drainers were stored a hundred years ago. Clearly the typical kitchen sink back then was different from modern ones. And, I’m guessing that many of us don’t regularly use dishpans, rinsing pans, and drainers, which makes it even harder to understand the tip (or the need for it).

Then I remembered a post that I did several years ago where I included a picture of a sink. I found that picture, and though not exactly the same set-up described in the Discovery tip, I think that I have a better understanding of what the author described.

Old-fashioned Sponge Pudding

Sponge Pudding

Occasionally, an old recipe surprises me. A hundred-year-old recipe for Sponge Pudding called for putting the pudding mixture in a casserole dish, sitting it in a pan of hot water, and then baking in the oven, I thought that the Sponge Pudding would be a baked custard-style pudding, or maybe similar to the filling of a sponge pie, and decided to give it a try.

The recipe only had five ingredients – sugar, flour milk, eggs, and butter. Most of the ingredients are first cooked on top of the stove, and then stiffly-beaten egg whites are folded in. The mixture is then put in the casserole dish and baked.

A few minutes after I put the Sponge Pudding in the oven, I took a peek and was shocked to discover that the baking mixture had risen several inches above the top edge of the casserole dish – and that I actually was making a souffle-type dessert rather then a custard. I turned the oven light on, and nervously watched the baking Sponge Pudding, fearful it would expand so much that it would spill over and go all over the oven. But, fortunately that didn’t happen, and I soon had a lovely very high lightly-browned dessert.

The Sponge Pudding was delightful – though not even close to what I had been expecting.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Sponge Pudding

Servings: 6 - 8
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups milk + approximately 1/4 cup milk

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 425° F. Beat egg whites until stiff; set. aside.

Then in a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until smooth; set aside.

Mix sugar and flour in a small bowl. Gradually stir in the 1/4 cup milk; continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

Put the 2 cups milk in a sauce pan, bring to a boil using medium heat while stirring constantly. Put a small amount of the hot milk into the flour and sugar mixture and stir until smooth. Repeat several times until the flour and sugar mixture is fairly thin. Then stir into the boiling milk; continue stirring until the mixture thickens and is smooth. Remove from heat.

Put a small amount of the hot mixture into the bowl with the beaten egg yolks, and immediately stir. Then stir the egg yolk mixture and the butter into the hot thickened milk mixture. Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture., and then pour into a 2- or 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. Put the dish in a pan of hot water and put in the oven. Bake until the pudding rises and is light brown (about 30 – 40 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.

http://www.ahundredyears.com

Belle De Graf and Her Cookbook

Each year I buy several cookbooks off eBay for whatever year is currently exactly a hundred years ago. This year one of the 1922 books I bought was Mrs. De Graf’s Cook Book. One of the front pages has a photo of the author, Belle De Graf. The photo is glued into the book, and beneath it is the printed signature of the author. The opposite page contained information about her.

Description Belle De Graf — Source: Mrs. De Graf’s Cook Book (1922)

Intrigued, I googled Belle De Graf, and a bio of her popped up on a site called Lovely Antique Ladies. She lived in San Francisco, and married at 18. A few years later her husband went to prison at San Quentin for seven years for grand larceny. The 1900 census lists her as a widow – even though she had a husband in prison. It doesn’t sound like they ever really got back together, and by 1916 she was teaching cooking classes for the Sperry Flour Company. In the 1920 census she is listed as the Director of Domestic Science at Sperry Flour.

It’s fascinating how Belle De Graf was so resilient and somehow managed to navigate her way through a difficult situation to become a successful cookbook author and Director of Domestic Science.

Concordia Pineapple Salad

Concordia Pineapple Salad is a lovely old-fashioned individually-served salad that makes a nice presentation. A slice of canned pineapple is put on a bed of lettuce. The center of the pineapple is filled with a mixture of diced cucumber and mayonnaise. The mounded cucumber mixture is then garnished with crossed pieces of green pepper or pimento. The pineapple and cucumber combination is unusual, but surprisingly tasty.

I came across this recipe in a 1922 cookbook. A hundred-years-ago, an attractive presentation was an important aspect of many salads. And, they were often served on individual salad plates on a bed of lettuce.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Concordia Pineapple Salad

Servings: 8
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 cup diced cucumber (peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

8 slices of canned pineapple

16 canned pimento strips or narrow green pepper strips (each approximately 1 1/2 inches long) (I used green pepper strips.)

lettuce

additional mayonnaise, if desired

Put the diced cucumber and 1/4 cup mayonnaise in a bowl, gently stir to coat the cucumber pieces with the mayonnaise. Set aside.

To assemble salad: Each serving should be put on a separate plate. Arrange a serving of lettuce on plate, then lay a slice of pineapple on top of the lettuce. Fill the cavity in the center of each pineapple slice with a spoonful of the diced cucumber and mayonnaise mixture. Cross two strips of pimento or green pepper on top of the mounded cucumber and mayonnaise mixture. If desired, may be served with additional mayonnaise.