Tag: recipe

Old-Fashioned Marcaroni with White Sauce

Macaroni with White Sauce

My first reaction when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Macaroni and White Sauce, was Mac and Cheese – yes. Mac and White Sauce. . . hmm, that’s different. But, I decided to give Macaroni and White Sauce a try. I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate taste of Macaroni and White Sauce. It’s similar to Mac and Cheese and has a creamy milkiness but without a cheesy taste.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Macaroni with White Sauce
Source: The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1923)

A hundred years ago macaroni came in long pieces that were broken into pieces. I just used the modern small pieces of macaroni when I made the recipe. I think that the tablespoon of salt was supposed to be added to the water that the macaroni was boiled in – however, that seems like a lot to me, so I put 1 teaspoon salt in the water.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Macaroni with White Sauce

  • Servings: 2 - 3
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 cup macaroni

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

Put water and 1 teaspoon salt into a large saucepan, and bring to a boil using high heat. Add macaroni, and reduce heat so that the water gently simmers. Cook the macaroni until al dente, then drain and rinse with cold water.

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. Stir in the macaroni and gently simmer for 5 – 10 minutes while stirring occasionally, or until excess liquid has been absorbed by macaroni. Remove from heat and put in serving dish.

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Old-Fashioned Luncheon Caraway Bread

Luncheon Caraway Bread

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Luncheon Caraway Bread, and decided to give it a try. It is a white quick bread with caraway seeds. This tasty, easy-to-make bread was flavorful and slightly sweet.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Luncheon Caraway Bread
Source: The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1923)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Luncheon Caraway Bread

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 2/3 cups flour

3 teaspoons caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 400° F.  Put butter in a mixing bowl, cream with the sugar. Add the egg and milk; stir. Stir in the baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Add flour and stir until mixed. Add caraway seeds, and stir. Put into prepared bread pan or 8″ X 8″ pan. Put in the oven and bake for 35 -45 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

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Old-fashioned Apple Pudding

Apple Pudding

Fall is in the air, and it’s apple season. I found a recipe for Apple Custard in a hundred-year-old cookbook, and decided to give it a try. The Apple Pudding is made by putting stewed apples in a casserole dish, adding a lovely custard, and then topping with meringue.

This recipe is different from most modern recipes for apple desserts because it uses no cinnamon or other spices, and it calls for very little sugar (only 4 tablespoons). The result is a tasty, yet delicate dessert.

Here’s the original recipe:

Apple Pudding Recipe
Source: General Welfare Guild Cook Book (Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, Pennsylvania, 1923)

Apples vary a lot  in size. Apples often were smaller a hundred years ago then they are today, so I interpreted the 4 apples called for in the recipe as approximately 2 cups of peeled, cored, and quartered apples.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Apple Pudding

  • Servings: 3 - 5
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Apple Pudding

4 apples (approximately 2 cups, peeled and quartered apples)

water

1 cup milk

2 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons sugar + 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Peel apples, remove cores, and cut into quarters. Place them in a saucepan and add a little water to prevent scorching until the apples begin to soften.  Bring to a boil using medium heat and then reduce heat. Continue to simmer gently until the apples are soft (approximately 10-15 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.

Put egg yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar, and flour in a small bowl. Stir to combine then set aside.

In the meantime, put the milk in another saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium heat, while stirring frequently.

Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot milk into the bowl containing the egg, sugar and flour mixture; then add the mixture to the hot milk. 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 milk.) Continue heating using medium heat, while stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens into a custard. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put the cooked apples in a casserole dish. (I used a 1-quart dish, which was quite full; an 8-inch square pan would also work.) Pour the custard over the apples.

Place egg whites in a bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar while continuing to beat. Then spoon on top of the custard and swirl. Put in oven for 10 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.

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Old-fashioned Shrimp Salad

Shrimp SaladSometimes I’m surprised how long some foods have been around. I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Shrimp Salad that called for canned shrimp. I never would have guessed that canned shrimp was available in 1923.

In any case, I decided to try the recipe. The recipe called for the canned shrimp, celery, and mayonnaise – plus a few capers to garnish the salad. This tasty recipe was quick and easy to make, and in some ways seemed very modern.

Here’s the original recipe:

Shrimp Salad Recipe
Source: The Calorie Cook Book by Mary Dickerson Donahey (1923)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Shrimp Salad

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
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1 can shrimp (either a 4-ounce or 6-ounce can will work in this recipe)

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon capers

lettuce leaves, optional

Drain and rinse the canned shrimp. Unless the shrimp are very small, cut into pieces. Put shrimp, celery, and mayonnaise in a bowl; mix until thoroughly combined. Arrange lettuce leaves on plate(s), and place mounds of the Shrimp Salad on the lettuce. If desired the lettuce can be skipped, and the Shrimp Salad can be put in a bowl to serve. Garnish with capers.

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Old-fashioned Oatmeal Fruit Muffins (Oatmeal Raisin Muffins)

Oatmeal Fruit Muffins

I recently made a hundred-year-old recipe for Oatmeal Fruit Muffins (Oatmeal Raisin Muffins). These classic muffins were delightful with the robust, warm, sweet flavor of molasses and a hint of nutmeg.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe of Oatmeal Fruit Muffins
Source: American Cookery (June/July, 1923)

When I made this recipe, I went with the option of adding an egg. The batter would be very dry if the egg was not added. I’m not sure why the recipe called for dissolving the baking soda in a little water, but modern baking soda is not typically dissolved before combining with other ingredients, so I skipped that step.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Oatmeal Fruit Muffins (Oatmeal Raisin Muffins)

  • Servings: approximately 12 muffins
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1/3 cup molasses

1/4 butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 cup cooked oatmeal (left-over oatmeal)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put molasses and butter in a saucepan. Heat, using low heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in the brown sugar.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in the egg and molasses mixture. Add the raisins, and stir to combine.

Grease muffin pans (or use paper liners). Spoon batter into muffin  cups; fill each cup about 3/4ths full. Place in oven. Bake 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned and the muffins spring back when lightly touched.

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Old Fashioned Fried Chicken (with Milk Gravy)

Fried Chicken

I hadn’t made old-fashioned fried chicken in years, so was intrigued when I saw a recipe for Fried Chicken with milk gravy in a hundred-year-old cookbook and decided to give it a try. The chicken pieces are coated with flour then fried. The recipe called for frying the chicken pieces in a covered skillet. The coating on the chicken is not nearly as thick and crispy as many modern fried chicken recipes, but it is like the coating on fried chicken that I remember from my childhood. The milk gravy was lovely.

Here’s the original recipe:

Fried Chicken Recipe
Source: The Calorie Cook Book by Mary Dickerson Donahey (1923)

In the U.S. today, we generally refer to “skim milk.” The old recipe calls for “skimmed milk” rather than “skim milk.” Most milk was not homogenized a hundred years ago (and often it was not pasteurized), so the cream floated to the top. When using the milk, it could either be shaken to get “whole” milk or the cream on the top could be “skimmed” off to get the equivalent of skim milk. I don’t think that it matters whether skim, 2%, or whole milk is used in this recipe, so when I updated the recipe, I just called for using “milk.”

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Fried Chicken

  • Servings: 4 - 6
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

fat (lard, shortening) or cooking oil

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper; then roll the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.

In the meantime, heat 1/2 inch of fat or oil in a large skillet (that has a lid) using medium heat. When hot, carefully place the floured chicken pieces in the pan.  Cover skillet, and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until the bottom side of each piece is lightly browned, then gently turn, cover skillet, and fry until the other side is browned. The chicken pieces will need to be turned several times. Continue cooking until a meat thermometer indicates that the temperature is at least 165° F. (Put large pieces of chicken in the skillet and cook for a few minutes before adding smaller ones, if there is wide variation in the size of the pieces.)

Remove chicken from skillet, and pour most of the fat or oil out of the skillet. Put back on the stove at medium heat. Stir the 3 tablespoons flour into the remaining fat/oil and browned bits. Slowing stir in the milk. Continue stirring and cooking until the gravy thickens.  Remove from heat and serve.

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Tomato Surprise (Stuffed Tomatoes with Scrambled Eggs and Celery)

 

Tomato Surprise on plate

Sometimes recipe titles in hundred-year-old cook books aren’t very descriptive. For example, a recipe for Tomato Surprise left me scratching my head until I read the recipe directions. Tomato Surprise actually was a recipe for tomatoes stuffed with scrambled eggs and celery.

Tomato Surprise was tasty and made a nice presentation. I made it for a light dinner, but it  would work well for breakfast, brunch, or lunch.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Tomato Surprise
Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

When I made this recipe, I had a lot the scrambled egg mixture left over after I stuffed the tomatoes. The recipe author must have used larger tomatoes than what I used. I revised the recipe to indicate that 3-6 tomatoes should be used, depending upon the size of the tomatoes.

Four stalks of celery seemed like a lot (maybe the stalks were smaller a hundred years ago), so I used 2 stalks.

A hundred-years-ago tomatoes were often peeled. The original recipe called for peeling tomatoes, but I couldn’t bring myself to peel the tomatoes, so I left the skin on.

I didn’t have onion juice, so I substituted 1/8 teaspoon of onion powder.

And, I decided that the tomatoes didn’t need to be served with lettuce or salad dressing.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Tomato Surprise (Stuffed Tomatoes with Scrambled Eggs and Celery)

  • Servings: 3 - 6
  • Difficulty: moderate
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3 – 6 tomatoes (depending upon tomato size)

2 stalks celery, chopped

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash cayenne (red) pepper

1/8 teaspoon onion juice

4 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon butter

lettuce leaves, optional

salad dressing, optional

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Using a knife remove the stem end and the firm core from the tomato and discard. Scoop out the tomato pulp, place in a strainer and drain off any excess liquid.  Chop the pulp.  Set aside. Turn the tomato shells upside down on a plate to drain any liquid out of them.

In the meantime, break the eggs into a bowl. Beat eggs until smooth, then add the salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and milk. Beat until combined.

Using medium heat, melt butter in skillet, add egg mixture and cook the eggs until set. Periodically stir and fold the eggs until they are completely cooked.  Removed from heat and stir in the chopped tomato pulp and celery. Stuff the tomato shells with the mixture.

If desired, serve on lettuce leaves with salad dressing.

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