Tag: recipe

Old-Fashioned Tuna Souffle

Tuna Souffle

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Tuna Souffle, and decided to try it. The recipe called for separating the eggs and stiffly beating the egg whites, then folding them into a white sauce and tuna mixture which is baked.

The Tuna Souffle was tasty. When I made this recipe, the tuna became the bottom layer of the souffle. It was topped by a light souffle topping. My husband said it was “good” which is a high compliment from him.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Tuna Souffle
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

I used one can of tuna when I made this recipe. That is less tuna than the original recipe called for, but the recipe turned out fine. The size of tuna cans have decreased over the years. I think that a can of tuna in 1926 may have contained about 1 cup of tuna. Today, many cans of tuna contain 5 ounces, which is less than 1 cup.

The recipe called for a “hot” oven. I interpreted this to mean 400° F.

Tuna SouffleHere’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Tuna Souffle

  • Servings: 2 - 3
  • Difficulty: moderate
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2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 can (approximately 5 ounce) tuna

3 eggs, separated

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

Step 2. Melt the butter in a skillet using medium heat. Stir in the flour and salt, then gradually add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue stirring and cooking until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add tuna, flake and stir to combine.

Step 3. Put egg yolks in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot mixture into dish with egg yolk, stir quickly. (The egg is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs when introduced into the hot combination.)  Add egg mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan; stir. Set aside.

Step 4. Put egg whites in a bowl; beat until stiff peaks form.

Step 5. Fold the beaten egg whites into the tuna mixture.

Step 6. Pour into a 1-quart baking dish. Put into the oven and bake until set and lightly browned (about 30 minutes.

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Rice Caramel Pudding (with Apples)

Rice puddings are a classic comfort food, so I was intrigued when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Rice Caramel Pudding. I decided to give it a try. The recipe made a baked rice pudding that contained apples. It called for using brown sugar rather than the more typical white sugar.

The Rice Caramel Pudding was rich and sweet with lovely caramel undertones. I used coarsely chopped apples. The apple variety I used softened and lost their shape when cooked. This worked well, though for the apples to be more prominently featured in this recipe, an apple variety could be selected that keeps its shape when cooked and they could be sliced rather than chopped.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rice Caramel Pudding (with Apples)
Source: Westminster Cook Book 1926 (Cherokee, Iowa)

The recipe called for 1 cup of water. It does not list when the water should be added to the pudding, except to say that water should be added after the rice pudding was put in a baking dish. I found this confusing. It seemed like the 1 cup of water should be stirred into the pudding mixture before it was put in the baking dish (which is what I did), and that the “add water” referred to setting the baking dish in a pan with water so there would be a water bath while it baked. That said, I may not have understood the recipe writer’s directions.

For this recipe, I interpreted a “slow oven” to mean 325° F. I cooked the pudding for about 45 minutes.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rice Caramel Pudding (with Apples)

  • Servings: 5 - 7
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 large apple (2 medium apples), peeled and coarsely chopped or sliced (I chopped the apples.)

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup water + additional water

Step 1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

Step 2. Put apples in a saucepan; add a little water so the apples won’t stick to the pan, then heat with medium heat. Cook until the apples they soften (about 5 – 7 minutes), then remove from heat.

Step 3. Put the brown sugar and flour in a mixing bowl; stir to combine. Then add the butter, rice, cooked apples, water, salt, and vanilla; stir to mix the ingredients.

Step 4. Put the mixture in a 1-quart baking (or similar-sized shallow) baking dish.

Step 5. Set the baking dish in a pan with 1-inch of hot water, then place in oven and bake until the rice pudding is hot and has thickened (approximately 45 minutes).

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Old Fashioned Egg and Olive Sandwiches

Egg and Olive Sandwich on plate

HAPPY EASTER!

A few days ago, I colored hard-boiled eggs with my grandchildren. We had lots and lots of fun coloring and decorating the Easter eggs, but we ended up with lots of them. I then needed to figure out how to use all those eggs, which (me being me) sent me to my hundred-year-old cookbooks.

I found two versions of recipes for Egg and Olive Sandwiches, and concluded that they must be good if the cookbook author liked them enough to provide two options. Here are the original recipes:

Egg and Olive Sandwich Recipes
Source: The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes

I decided to make the first option. The Egg and Olive Sandwiches were wonderful. The egg salad was nicely seasoned, and the olives added additional zest and tanginess.

The recipe does not say whether green or black olives should be used. I decided to go with green olive that were stuffed with pimento. The recipe also does not provide guidance regarding the amounts of olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. I used 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, about 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2  1/2 tablespoons of vinegar. When I made this recipe, I tasted the egg mixture after putting in a little vinegar and thought it seemed a bit bland, so added a little additional vinegar to make it tangier. Similarly, the original amount of olive oil and vinegar that I used was insufficient to make the mixture cling together, so I added a little more.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Egg and Olive Sandwiches

  • Servings: 2 - 4 sandwiches
  • Difficulty: easy
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4 hard-boiled eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt (If the olives are very salty, use a little less salt.)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil + more, if needed

2 1/2 tablespoons vinegar + more, if needed

2 tablespoons chopped green stuffed olives

bread slices

butter, if desired

Step 1. Mash or finely chop the hard-boiled eggs.

Step 2. Add the salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar; stir to combine.

Step 3. Taste the egg mixture. If it does not taste as tangy as desired, add a little more vinegar. If the mixture is not clinging together, add a little additional olive oil and vinegar.

Step 4. Stir in the chopped olives.

Step 5. Spread on slices of bread (buttered, if desired), and top with additional slices of bread.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Carrot and Celery Salad

Carrot and Celery Salad in dish

Occasionally, a hundred-year-old recipe brings back vivid memories. I recently came across a recipe in a 1926 cookbook for a Carrot and Celery Salad. Suddenly long forgotten memories flowed back. Easter dinner and other family gatherings were often held at my parents’ home, and my mother generally served a Carrot Salad. When my brother and I were in elementary school, we assisted in preparing the big meal. Mom always found fun, but easy tasks for us. A favorite kid task was to grate carrots for Carrot Salad.

For some reason, I can’t remember much about those Carrot Salads. I don’t know what the other ingredients were or what they tasted like. I just know that it was fun grating carrots.

In any case, when I saw the old recipe for a Carrot Salad that contained carrots and celery, I immediately knew that I wanted to make it, and I’m glad I did. The Carrot and Celery Salad was quick and easy to make. It only contained three ingredients: grated carrots, chopped celery, and a little mayonnaise to bind everything together.

This salad is a winner. The slight sweetness of the carrots combined with the crunchiness of the celery, and the rich, tanginess of the mayonnaise was delightful.

Here’s the original recipe:

Carrot Salad Recipe
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

I decided to put the salad in a bowl rather than on lettuce leaves. The recipe does not provide any details about the salad dressing. The same cookbook also contained another recipe for “Carrot Salads” which suggests that mayonnaise should be used as the salad dressing, so I went with that when updating this recipe. Here is the old Carrot Salads recipe:

Recipe for Carrot Salads
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Carrot and Celery Salad

  • Servings: 4 - 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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2 cups grated carrot

1 cup celery, chopped

1/4 mayonnaise

Put all ingredients in bowl; stir to combine, then put in serving dish.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Chicken Wiggles (Creamed Chicken with Vegetables and Walnuts)

I was flipped through a hundred-year-old cookbook, and a recipe for Chicken Wiggles caught my eye. What was this food with such a strange name?

I read the recipe, and it was a recipe for creamed chicken, peas, celery, and walnuts.  Chicken Wiggles is served on toast (though it would also work well with rice). I’m always looking for tasty lunch foods, so I decided to give the recipe a try.

Chicken Wiggles was delightful. It is somewhat similar to Chicken a la King, but the walnuts added a delightful crunch. And, celery is not typically included in Chicken a la King recipes.

Intrigued by the name, I did an online search for “wiggle recipes” and discovered that there is also a dish called Shrimp Wiggle. Wiggles are quick and easy to prepare. According to The Takeout, the recipe for Shrimp Wiggle was even included in some editions of The Joy of Cooking.

Wiggles were a popular chafing dish food a hundred-year-ago, and college students sometimes made them in their dorm rooms using cans of Sterno, often for late night impromptu parties.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Chicken Wiggles
Source: 1926 cookbook compiled by the Domestic Science Class of the Peoria (IL) Women’s Club

This recipe calls for English walnuts. Years ago, regular walnuts were often referred to as English walnuts to distinguish them from black walnuts.

It worked fine to use egg yolks as the thickening agent in this recipe  – though I wondered why flour wasn’t used to make a more typical white sauce. (When egg yolks are used to thicken a sauce, care needs to be used to keep the egg from curdling when added to the hot mixture.) Then I realized that this is a gluten free recipe. Gluten allergies were not a specific identified issue a hundred years ago, but people did more generally recognize food allergies. This recipe makes me wonder if the recipe author was allergic to wheat flour.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Chicken Wiggles (Creamed Chicken with Vegetables and Walnuts

  • Servings: 3 - 5
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cooked chicken, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup green peas (canned, frozen, or fresh)

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

toast

Step 1. Put the cream and milk in a saucepan, and scald using medium heat while stirring continuously.

Step 2. In the meantime, put egg yolks in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolk, stir quickly. (The egg is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs when introduced into the hot combination.)  Add the egg mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan; stir.

Step 3. Add butter and salt. Cook until it thickens while stirring continuously.

Step 4. Stir in peas and celery; cook until heated through.

Step 5. Add walnuts; stir, and remove from heat.

Step 6. Serve immediately on toast (Rice could be substituted for the toast.)

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Old-Fashioned Delmonico Potatoes

Delmonico Potatoes in Baking Dish

Delmonico Potatoes have been around for a long time. They were first served in the 1800s at the Delmonico Restaurant in New York City. Rumor has it that Abraham Lincoln enjoyed eating them at that  restaurant.  The Delmonico Restaurant has a long history of developing recipes that have stood the test of time. Eggs Benedict, Chicken a la King, and Lobster Newberg were also purportedly first served there.

Delmonico Potatoes are a creamy, cheesy potato dish. As might be anticipated, given its long history, there are lots of variations. Some Delmonico Potato recipes call for shredded potatoes, others for cubed potatoes, and still other recipes call for sliced potatoes. I found a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook that called for cubed potatoes and a little onion in a rich cheesy sauce, and decided to give it a try. That recipe also called for topping the dish with buttered cracker crumbs.

The recipe was a winner. The cheesy sauce was the perfect consistency – not too juicy and not too thick – and it nicely complemented the potatoes. I had few multi-grain table crackers that that I crushed to make the topping  (though I recognize that basic round butter crackers or saltines probably were the type of crackers that were actually used a hundred years ago). I really liked the way they looked and tasted. They added a bit of crunchiness to the dish. I definitely plan on making it again – maybe as soon as next week when my daughter will be visiting.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Delmonica Potatoes
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

I think that the name of this recipe is misspelled in the 1926 cookbook, and that it should be “Delmonico Potatoes” rather than “Delmonica Potatoes,” so that is the spelling I used when updating the recipe.

Since I didn’t have 2 cups of left-over potatoes, I peeled and diced 4 medium potatoes. I then covered the potatoes with water and cooked them. After the diced potatoes had softened (about 10-12 minutes), I removed the potatoes from the heat and drained them. I then proceeded with assembling the recipe using the warm potatoes.

This recipe’s directions are a little difficult to understand. One place it calls for 1/4 cup melted butter (and the same sentence also refers to white sauce which would contain butter). Two sentences later, the recipe explains how to make the white sauce, indicating that 2 tablespoons butter should be used. Near the end of the recipe, it indicates that the cracker crumbs are “buttered crumbs.” I interpreted all of this to mean that the white sauce should be made using 2 tablespoons of butter, and that the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter should be melted and the cracker crumbs should then be stirred into the butter.

Over my years of doing this blog, I’ve seen many vague measurement terms (dash, pinch, etc.), but a “shaving” of onion was new for me. I decided to finely chop 3 tablespoons of onion and layer it with the potatoes and cheese – though that may not be exactly the intent of the recipe author.

I used cheddar cheese when I made this recipe.

Delmonico Potatoes in baking dish

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Delmonico Potatoes

  • Servings: 3 - 4
  • Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes), peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 1/4 cups milk

paprika

1/2 cup cracker crumbs (I crushed 5 multi-grain table crackers. Classic round butter crackers would also work well.)

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

Step 2. Put the diced potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

Step 3. In the meantime, put 2 tablespoons of melted butter and the cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Stir to coat the cracker crumbs with the butter. Set aside.

Step 4. Additionally, in the meantime, make a white sauce. Using medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in another saucepan. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Slowly add the milk while stirring continuously. Continue stirring until the liquid thickens.

Step 5. Assemble this dish by putting one-third of the cooked diced potatoes in a 1-quart baking dish. Put one-third of the chopped onions on top of the potatoes, then spread one-third of the grated cheese on top of the potatoes and onions. Repeat until all the potatoes, onions, and cheese are layered in the baking dish.

Step 6. Pour the white sauce over the layers in the baking dish, then sprinkle with paprika. Top by spreading the buttered crackers on top.

Step 7. Put in the oven and bake until the dish is hot and bubbly (about 25 – 30 minutes if warm diced potatoes were used; longer if they were cold.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Orange Layer Cake with Boiled Frosting

Orange Layer Cake

Old community and church cookbooks almost never contain pictures of foods made using the recipes (or pages printed in color), so when I was looking through a 1926 cookbook from Cherokee, Iowa I was surprised to see a beautiful color drawing of an Orange Layer Cake.

The picture was on a page containing an advertisement for Swans Down Cake Flour. The cookbook also contained the recipe for the cake. Apparently, Swans Down was an advertising sponsor for the cookbook. And, the company must have paid a lot, because this was the only color page in the book. Here’s the picture and the original recipe:Orange Cake

Recipe for Orange Cake
Source: Westminster Cook Book 1926 (Cherokee, Iowa)

The cake looked delicious, and each time I flipped through the cookbook, it seemed to almost automatically open to the page with the Swans Down advertisement. After about the tenth time I looked at the picture, I decided to make the recipe. Could I replicate this beautiful cake?

The cake pictured in the old cookbook was a 3-layer cake; but, the recipe was for a 2-layer cake. The directions say, “Bake in 2 layers or double recipe for 3 large layers.” I decided to double the recipe so that my cake would look like the image in the cookbook.

The cake I made looked beautiful and I was pleased with how it turned out, but it was a huge cake, so when I updated the recipe, I did what the old cookbook author did. I provided directions for a two-layer cake with a note that it can be doubled to make a three-layer cake.

The cake in the old drawing has an orangish tint, and the filling is a bright orange. The actual filling I made was not very orange, and had more of a beige hue. Similarly, the cake was yellow, rather than orange. I considered using food coloring to make the filling and the cake orange, but decided against it.  Even without the artificial dyes in food coloring, the cake looked lovely.

The old recipe called for a teaspoon of “flavoring.” I used orange extract.

I did not use a double boiler when making the Orange Filling. I just stirred it constantly, and it worked fine. I did not have any issues with the bottom of the filling burning.

The cake recipe says to ice the cake with boiled icing, but did not include a recipe for it, so I found a Boiled Frosting recipe in another 1926 cookbook:

Recipe for Boiled Frosting
Source: The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes (1926)

I decided to go with the option that called for using two egg whites.

The Boiled Frosting, which is sometimes called Seven Minute Frosting, had a glossy finish and was light and airy. It brought back memories of the tasty frosting on cakes that great aunts made for family reunions years ago.

The bottom line is that this is a very tasty, beautiful cake. The cake layers had lovely texture, the Orange Filling had a bright and sunny citrus taste, and the Boiled Frosting was delectable. It takes time to make and assemble this cake, but it was well worth the effort.

Orange Layer CakeHere’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Orange Layer Cake with Boiled Frosting

  • Servings: 12 - 15
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Note: This recipe makes a 2-layer, 9- inch cake. Double the recipe to make a 3-layer, 9-inch cake.

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon orange extract

Orange Filling (see recipe below)

Boiled Frosting (see recipe below)

2 small mandarin (or other small) oranges, if desired for garnish

Step 1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans.

Step 2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Step 3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and milk; beat to combine. Add flour and baking powder; beat until smooth. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

Step 4. Evenly divide the batter across the prepared pans.

Step 5. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Step 6. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and let completely cool.

Step 7. To assemble cake: If the cake layers are uneven, they may be trimmed to make the tops flat. Spread the Orange Filling between the cake layers. Ice cake with the Boiled Frosting.

Step 8. If desired, garnish cake with thinly cut half slices of oranges which has been peeled. To make the slices, cut the peeled oranges cross-sectionally into thin slices using a sharp knife. Then cut each slice in half. Arrange around the edge of the cake. (I removed the orange garnish before storing left-over cake.)

Orange Filling

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoons cake flour

1 orange rind, grated

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons water

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons butter

Step 1. Put the sugar and flour in a saucepan; stir to mix. Add orange rind, orange juice, lemon juice, water, and egg. Stir to combine. Add the butter.

Step 2. Heat, using medium heat, until the filling thickens (about 10 minutes), while stirring constantly.

Step 3. Remove from heat, and allow the filling to cool to room temperature.

Boiled Frosting

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan, then heat using medium heat. Do not stir while cooking. If a bit of the sugar mixture coats the sides of the pan above the cooking syrup, gently use a dampened paper towel or brush to remove any sugar crystals. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the syrup reaches 235° F. (thread stage).

Step 2. In the meantime, put the egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.

Step 3.  Slowly pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites, while continuously beating. Beat until the mixture is glossy and shiny, and has a nice consistency for icing a cake (about 7 minutes).

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