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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Old-fashioned Nut Cookies

Nut Cookies on Plate

It’s the time of year to make cookies, so I was excited to try a hundred-year-old recipe for Nut Cookies. The cookies are made using egg whites that are stiffly beaten, which results in crispy, light cookies. They have a delightful texture and taste, however, I found them a bit challenging to make. When I made this recipe I used nonstick baking sheets, and had trouble with the cookies sticking to them. I am not sure why.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Nut Cookies

Servings: approximately 48 cookies
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: difficult
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2 eggs, separated

1 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts.)

Preheat oven to 325° F. Put beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add sugar, beaten egg whites, and flour mixed with salt. Gently stir in the nut meats. Drop from the tip of teaspoon onto a greased baking sheet to make circles about 3/4 inch in diameter. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are set and lightly browned.

Note: These cookies may have a tendency to stick to baking sheet.

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Alphonso Potatoes Recipe

Alphonso Potatoes

Now that the weather’s getting cold and wintery, potatoes hit the spot. I recently made a hundred-year-old recipe for Alphonso Potatoes which are diced potatoes and green pepper are in a milk sauce, and topped with Parmesan cheese. This dish is very attractive and makes a nice presentation. The green of the pepper and the white of the potatoes made a visually appealing combination. The Parmesan cheese topping added flavor to the dish, and it was very nice.

Here’s the original recipe:

When I made the recipe, I cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes prior to cooking. Perhaps cooks a hundred-years-ago often had left-over boiled potatoes that could be diced and used in this recipe, but since I didn’t have any left-over potatoes it seemed easier to just dice them into small pieces prior to cooking. I boiled the diced potatoes for a few minutes and then added the green pepper pieces to the simmering potatoes. It didn’t seem like a separate pan was needed. After the cubed potatoes were soft, I drained them, and then added the milk. I salted the water when cooking the potatoes, but did not add additional salt when I added the milk. I cooked for a few minutes more minutes, while occasionally gently stirring (but it was substantively less than 15 minutes). Some of the milk evaporated, and it began to thicken. I then removed from the heat and put into the casserole dish.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Alphonso Potatoes Recipe

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

water

1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt (if desired)

1 medium green pepper, diced into 1/8 inch pieces

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375° F. Put the diced potatoes into a saucepan; cover with water and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the diced green pepper and simmer for an additional 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, and drain. Pour milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt (if desired) on the drained potatoes and green pepper in the saucepan. Heat using medium heat while stirring gently occasionally (do not cover). Simmer for a few minutes until some of the milk evaporates and the liquid thickens a little. (Use care that the milk and potatoes don’t burn.) Remove from the heat and put into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese is lightly browned.

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Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples

I love candied sweet potatoes, but they can be a bit boring, so I decided to look for another way to serve sweet potatoes. I found a recipe for Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples in a hundred-year-old cookbook and decided to give it a try.

The Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples were delightful. Sliced sweet potatoes and apples were embedded in a buttery brown sugar sauce.

I knew this recipe was a winner when my husband said, “You should make this again for Thanksgiving.”

Here’s the original recipe:

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 1 hours 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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3 medium sweet potatoes

water

1 1/2 cups sour apples (Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc.), peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt (if desired, use less)

Put sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender when tested by inserting a knife (30-40 minutes). Remove from heat, drain, and cool slightly so the sweet potatoes can be handled. Gently remove the peels from the cooked sweet potatoes, then slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put 1/2 of the sliced sweet potatoes into a 1-quart baking dish, then top with 1/2 of the sliced apples. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar; dot with small pieces of half of the butter and sprinkle with half the salt. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Put in oven and bake for 1 hour.

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Old-fashioned Cranberry Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Here’s the original recipe: Cranberry Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

‘Tis the season for cranberries, so when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Cranberry Pudding I decided to give it a try. The Cranberry Pudding was delightful. The old-fashioned cake-style pudding was embedded with tart cranberries, and smothered in a lovely vanilla sauce. This recipe is a keeper.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Recipe for Cranberry Pudding — Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

The recipe says to serve with either hard or sweet sauce. Hard sauce of more of a spread than a sauce. I prefer an actual sauce, so decided to go with the sweet sauce. The cookbook that contained the Cranberry Pudding recipe did not have any recipes for Sweet Sauce. However, it did have a recipe for Vanilla Sauce, so I decided to go with that.

Recipe for Vanilla Sauce — Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

I didn’t boil the water that I stirred into the mixture because it didn’t seem necessary, since the mixture is heated to make the sauce.

Cranberry Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Servings: 9 - 12
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup raw cranberries

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and lemon extract in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Stir in the cranberries. Put in a greased and floured 8″ X 8″ baking pan. Bake 35 – 45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with Vanilla Sauce.

Vanilla Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon butter

Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan; add the water gradually while stirring constantly. Bring to a boil using medium heat while continuing to stir, then reduce heat and continue to stir and simmer for 10 minutes (or less if desired thickness is reached sooner). Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

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