Old-fashioned Fried Eggplant

Fried Eggplant on plate

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that I seldom use. I’m often not quite sure how to prepare it, and will pass over it when selecting vegetables to purchase. But I recently saw a really basic Fried Eggplant recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook and decided to give it a try. Slices of eggplant were breaded with bread crumbs, then fried. It turned out well. The Fried Eggplant slices were crispy and delicious.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Fried Eggplant — Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

I dried the eggplant slices using paper towels. The recipe makes it sound like cloth towels would have been used a hundred years ago.

I breaded the eggplant slices with bread crumbs rather than dipping in flour. I made my own bread crumbs. Starting with 2 slices of bread, I used a blender to make fine bread crumbs. A food processor would also work, or purchased bread crumbs could be used.

The old recipe called for soaking the eggplant slices in salted water for several hours before cooking. I think that modern eggplants are less bitter than the eggplants of days gone by, so I’m not sure if soaking is needed, but I did it. I’ve seen other recipes that call for just sprinkling eggplant with salt, letting sit for awhile, and then drying with paper towels. That might be another option.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Fried Eggplant

Servings: 4 - 6
Time: 20 minutes active prep time
Difficulty: moderate
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1 medium eggplant

2 tablespoons salt

water

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup fine bread crumbs

fat (lard, shortening, etc.) or oil

Peel eggplant, then slice into 1/4 inch thick slices. Put in a bowl and cover with water that contains the salt. Let sit for 2 – 4 hours, then drain, and dry the eggplant slices with paper towels.

Put the beaten egg in a shallow bowl, and put the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg, and then roll in the breadcrumbs to coat.

Heat 1/4 inch of fat or oil in a large frying pan. Carefully place the breaded eggplant slices in the pan in a single layer. Depending upon pan size, the slices may need to be cooked in several batches. Fry for approximately 3-5 minutes or until the bottom side of each slice is lightly browned, then gently turn and fry until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Combination Cabbage Salad (Cabbage and Celery Gelatin)

Combination Cabbage Salad in bowl

I can remember eating gelatin salads that contained vegetables when I was a child, so was intrigued when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Combination Cabbage Salad. The salad actually is a gelatin salad that contains shredded cabbage, chopped celery, and chipped pimento. It is made using unflavored gelatin. The recipe only called for 1/2 cup of sugar, while calling for 1 cup vinegar and the juice of a lemon. The result was a salad that was very tart and tangy.

The recipe suggests serving the salad with whipped cream that has a little salad dressing stirred into it. I used Ceasar dressing. This added to the overall tartness of the salad. Combination Cabbage Salad on plate

This salad is very old-fashioned–and definitely very different from modern sweet, fruit-flavored, gelatin salads, but I enjoyed it. The salad was refreshingly tart on a hot summer day – though if I made it again I think that I’d skip the whipped cream topping. The whipped cream and salad dressing mixture amplified the sourness of this dish, and overwhelmed the other ingredients.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Combination Cabbage Salad — Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

I skipped the suggestion to mold this gelatin salad in teacups, and went right to the suggestion to put it in a pan – though I actually used a square, flat baking dish.

This recipe required lots of interpretation on my part. I have no idea how much one-half package of Larkin Gelatin would be, so I added up all the liquids and estimated that this recipe calls for approximately 5 2/3 cups of liquid. My rule of thumb is to use one packet of unflavored gelatin for each 2 cups of liquid, so I used 3 packets. That worked well.

I don’t know how much 1/4 can of pimientos would be. I used 2 tablespoons of chopped pimento.

I put a little salad dressing in the whipped cream. I’m curious about what type of dressing the recipe author used. I used Ceasar dressing because I had it on hand – though that’s probably not very authentic when making a hundred-year-old recipe. If I made this recipe again, I skip the salad dressing (and probably would also skip the whipped cream).

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Combination Cabbage Salad (Cabbage and Celery Gelatin)

Servings: 7 - 9
Time: 20 minutes active prep time
Difficulty: moderate
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3 packets (0.25 ounce) unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup water + 4 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

2 cups cabbage, shredded

1 1/2 cups celery, chopped

2 tablespoons pimento, chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (if desired)

2 teaspoons salad dressing (if desired) – I used Ceasar salad dressing, though think that a sweeter dressing might be better.)

Put 1/2 cup cold water in a bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the water, and let soak for 5 minutes.

Put 4 cups water, the sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add the gelatin that has been soaked in water. Bring back to a boil while stirring constantly until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar and lemon juice. If needed, strain. Cool slightly, then stir in the cabbage, celery, and pimento. Mold or pour into a dish or bowl. (Use a fairly flat dish, if you plan to cut the gelatin into squares to serve. A 9″ X 9″ baking dish would work well.) Refrigerate until firm.

If desired, serve with whipped cream. Whip the cream until peaks form, then stir the salad dressing into the whipped cream. Put a dollop of the whipped cream on top of each serving.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Hundred-Year-Old String Bean Recipe

string beans

Sometimes the most basic ways of preparing a simple food changes over the course of a hundred years. String beans are a good example. Here’s what it says in a hundred-year-old cookbook:

The old recipe calls for boiling the string beans 1-3 hours!! And, for breaking or cutting them into 1-inch pieces. Today, many people leave them whole. (I normally break string beans into 2 -3 inch pieces, but if preparing a meal for my children or grandchildren I would definitely leave them whole.) The old recipe also calls for removing the strings from the beans – which many string beans no longer have. (I guess that technically they may not be string beans.)

When I made the recipe I did cut the string beans into 1-inch pieces, but I couldn’t bring myself to cook the beans for 1-3 hours, and in the updated recipe say to boil them for 10-15 minutes – though I did provide information about cooking longer, if desired.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

String Beans

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 20 minutes or longer
Difficulty: easy
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1 pound string beans

water

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

Trim the ends of the beans, and then cut or break the beans into one-inch pieces. Wash and put in a saucepan. Cover with water; add salt. Bring to a boil using high heat; then reduce heat and cook 10-15 minutes. Drain, then add butter. Let the butter melt, stir gently, then serve. (If desired, cook longer for a softer consistency. This will result in string beans that are prepared more similarly to how it was done a hundred years ago. A 1923 cookbook calls for cooking the beans 1-3 hours.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Pineapple and Lemonade

2 glasses Pineapple & Lemonade

Old-fashioned lemonade is refreshing on a hot summer day, but it can get a little boring, so when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Pineapple and Lemonade, I decided to give it a try. The Pineapple and Lemonade was a little sweeter than the typical lemonade, and the pineapple flavor predominated over the lemon, but it was tasty.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Pineapple and Lemonade — Source: Order of the Eastern Star Relief Fund Cook Book compiled by the Michigan Grand Chapter (1923)

This recipe was in an Order of the Eastern Star organizational cookbook. The Order of the Eastern Star is affiliated with the masons. The recipe author was John Hamill. I think this is the first male recipe author that I’ve seen in a hundred-year-old cookbook. The initials after his name (R.W.G.T.) mean that he was the Right Worthy Grand Templar or Right Worthy Grand Treasurer.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Pineapple and Lemonade

Servings: 3-4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple

juice of 3 lemons

4 cups mixture of ice and water

Put water and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil using medium heat while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in the contents of the can of pineapple and the lemon juice, then strain. Add the ice and water mixture, and serve.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Cherry Salad (Cherry Waldorf Salad)

Cherry Salad

Must a Waldorf Salad be made with apples? I’ve always thought it was an apple salad until I made a Cherry Salad recipe that I found in a hundred-year-old cookbook. The recipe called for cherries, walnuts, celery, and mayonnaise – and it sure seemed like a Waldorf Salad, but was made with cherries rather than apples. The Cherry Salad was delicious, and is perfect for a hot summer day.

The old recipe called for creating individual servings of the salad, which were put in “lettuce nests” on salad plates. I replicated the old recipe and made individual servings, but if I did it again, I would just put the entire salad in a bowl to serve.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Cherry Salad — Source: Cookbook compiled by Bethany Shriner Patrol No. 1, Rochester, NY (1923)

This recipe calls for English walnuts. These are the type of walnuts that are typically sold in stores. They were called English walnuts to differentiate them from black walnuts.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cherry Salad (Cherry Waldorf Salad)

Servings: 3 - 5
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 cups cherries, pitted (If desired, keep several cherries whole and unpitted for garnishing.)

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise (Use less if desired)

lettuce leaves (if desired)

If the cherries are large, halve or quarter them; if small they can be left whole. Mix together the cherries, walnuts, celery, and mayonnaise. If desired, for each serving, arrange on lettuce leaves and garnish with a whole cherry; or just put the salad in a dish to serve.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Chives and Cottage Cheese Salad

Chives and Cottage Cheese Salad

Cottage cheese is a nutritious and healthy food, and I’m always looking for new ways to eat it, so was intrigued when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Chives and Cottage Cheese Salad. The salad included cottage cheese, a bit of mayonnaise, chives, parsley and pimiento. The ingredients worked well together, and the salad was very tasty.

A unique feature of the Chives and Cottage Cheese salad was that the mixture was supposed to be shaped into marble-sized balls, and served on lettuce. This gave the salad a very old-fashioned look, though I was a little disappointed that the balls were very moist and didn’t stay together very well.

The verdict: The salad was lovely, but if I made it again, I just put it into a dish and skip shaping it into balls.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Chives and Cottage Cheese Salad

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 pound (1 cup) cottage cheese

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 tablespoon chives, finely chopped (Green pepper may be substituted for the chives.) – I used chives.

2 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon pimiento, finely chopped

lettuce

Put cottage cheese and mayonnaise into a bowl; stir to combine. Add chives, parsley, and pimiento; stir until evenly distributed throughout the cottage cheese mixture. Shape into balls the size of large marbles, and put on a plate covered with lettuce leaves.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Club Sandwiches

I recently was browsing through a hundred-year-old funding-raising cookbook compiled by the Michigan Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star, and was amazed to see a recipe for Club Sandwiches. Somehow I didn’t think that they existed back then – though perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised because I can remember eating Club Sandwiches with my mother years ago when I was a child at a department store restaurant – so they’ve clearly been around for awhile.

The Club Sandwiches were made about the same as modern ones with bacon, chicken or turkey slices, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise – though they weren’t double decker and crusts were trimmed off the bread. They were perfect for lunch on a hot summer day.

Here’s the original sandwich:

Club Sandwiich Recipe — Source: Order of the Eastern Star Relief Fund Cookbook (Michigan Grand Chapter, 1923)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Club Sandwich

Servings: 1
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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For each sandwich:

2 slices bread

butter

2 slices bacon, cooked

2 slices tomato or dill pickle slices (I used tomato slices.)

1 ounce thinly sliced roasted chicken or turkey

1 lettuce leaf

mayonaise

parsley sprig (if desired)

Trim crusts from bread, then toast the bread. Spread with butter. On one of the slices of bread, place a layer of bacon. Next add a layer of tomato or pickle slices. Then add the chicken or turkey slices; top with the lettuce. Spread mayonaise on the second slice of bread (on top of the butter), then put this slice of bread on the sandwich as the top cover. Cut the sandwich diagonally to create two triangles. If desired, garnish with a sprig of parsley. Serve immediately.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com