Old-Fashioned Creamed Rutabaga

Creamed Rutabaga

I love to browse when I’m in the produce section of the supermarket. There are so many interesting vegetables and fruits. But after looking at them, I typically select the same old, same old – lettuce, potatoes, bananas, apples, and other items that I buy almost every week. One vegetable I almost never purchase is rutabaga. But when I saw a recipe for Creamed Rutabaga in a hundred-year-old cookbook, I decided it was time to give it a try.

The Creamed Rutabaga was lovely. The rutabaga tasted like a cross between turnips and carrots.

The cookbook that I got the recipe out of is called Low Cost Cooking. The author noted that rutabagas cost about 4 cents per pound. The one I bought weighed about 2 pounds and cost $1.99 per pound – which isn’t cheap, but I guess that it is a reasonable price for a fresh vegetable. I only used about half of it when making this recipe, so I’ll need to either find another rutabaga recipe or, more likely, I’ll make this dish again.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Creamed Rutabaga — Source: Low Cost Cooking by Florence Nesbitt (1924)

The recipe says that the cooked rutabaga chunks could be put into a white sauce which would be made using butter and milk, or that that the sauce could be made using water and milk (and skipping the butter). This reminds me that the cookbook is all about how to prepare inexpensive meals, and this probably was seen as a cost saver.

This recipe calls for a whole rutabaga, as well as for three cups of white sauce. Rutabagas are large- and this would be a lot, so I used half a rutabaga and made about of 1 cup of white sauce. (I decided not to go with the low cost water and milk option for the sauce.)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Creamed Rutabaga

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups chunks of rutabaga (about 1/2 of a medium rutabaga; chunks should be about 1/4 inch thick, 1/4 inch wide, and 1/2 inch long)

1 teaspoon salt +1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

dash pepper

1 cup milk

Put rutabaga chunks in a saucepan and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the rutabaga is tender (about 30-40 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

In the meantime, in another pan, using medium heat, melt butter, then stir in the flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Add the cooked rutabaga chunks and stir gently. Remove from heat and serve.

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Boston Roast Recipe

Boston Roast

A week or so I did a post on 1924 meatless menus that included menus for five meals. One of those menus included a dish called Boston Roast.

Several readers made comments about Boston Roast. A couple wondered what it was; another did an online search and found a recipe for Boston Roast and discovered that it was made using kidney beans, and still another noted that Boston is sometimes called “Bean Town” so it was made sense that the dish was called “Boston Roast.”

I’d found the meatless menus in a hundred-year-old cookbook. After getting all the comments about Boston Roast, I looked at the book’s table of contents and found the recipe for Boston Roast. The recipe called for kidney beans, grated cheese, onions, bread crumbs (cubes), chopped onions, and milk. The recipe also noted that “this is a good meat substitute.”

The recipe turned out well – though it had a slight tendency to fall apart when I sliced it. The kidney beans were the predominant flavor.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Boston Roast — Source: The New Butterick Cook Book (1924)

I used canned kidney beans rather than dried ones. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of dried kidney beans which is the equivalent of 3 1-pound cans of kidney beans. I didn’t use the 3 tablespoons of salt since I didn’t cook dried beans in salted water. Instead I just used 1 teaspoon of salt which I mixed in the with other ingredients.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Boston Roast

Servings: 6 - 8
Time: 55 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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3 1-pound cans kidney beans

1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese.)

2 tablespoons onions, chopped

1 cup bread cubes (coarse bread crumbs)

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

melted butter

hot water

Preheat oven to 375° F. Drain kidney beans and then chop. (A food processor or blender can be used to chop the kidney beans.) Put the chopped beans in a mixing bowl and add the cheese, onions, bread cubes, milk, and salt. Stir until thoroughly combined. Shape into a loaf (or put into a loaf pan) and put in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. If the top seems dry while baking, baste with melted butter and water.

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Old-Fashioned Potato Biscuits

Potato Biscuits

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Potato Biscuits, and decided to give it a try. The biscuits were soft and tender. This recipe is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes.

Here’s the original recipe:

This recipe calls for using the Crisco brand of shortening. That’s because the recipe was published in a 1924 promotional cookbook for Crisco. When I updated the recipe, I changed it to just “shortening” since any brand would work. I used all-purpose flour rather than pastry flour when I made this recipe, and it worked fine.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Potato Biscuits

Servings: approximately 10 biscuits
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed potatoes

1/4 cup shortening

approximately 1/3 cup milk, as needed

Preheat oven to 450° F. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together; stir in the mashed potatoes. Then cut (work) in the shortening and butter using fingers, pastry blender, or food processor. Gradually add the milk while mixing with a knife or spoon. Continue adding liquid until there is a soft dough. The amount of milk needed varies depending upon the type of flour. On a floured board, pat or roll the dough until 1/2 -inch thick. Cut with a round biscuit cutter. (I used a drinking glass as the cutter.) Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

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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
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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.

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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
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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.

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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
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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).

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Old-Fashioned Mulled Cider

mug of mulled cider Hot mulled cider makes a delightful holiday drink. I found an easy and tasty mulled cider recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Mulled Cider

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 quart cider

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon whole cloves

Put cider and sugar in a large saucepan. Add cinnamon stick and cloves tied into a cheesecloth bag. Bring to a boil using medium heat; reduce heat to low. Remove cinnamon and cloves before serving. Serve hot.

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