Several Hundred-Year-Old French Dressing Recipes

Salad and Salad Dressing Some recipes don’t change across the years; others do. As tastes and preferences change, recipes are updated. In other cases, lack of availability of an ingredient might lead to tweaking of an old recipe. Also, for commercially-prepared foods, government regulations can affect their composition. Last week I was amazed to discover that the government regulated French Dressing for many years.

On January 13, the Wall Street Journal had an article titled “The U.S. Federal Government Deregulates French Dressing.” The government established the standard for French Dressing 72 years ago, and “according to the original 1950 standard, a French dressing should include vegetable oil, and a vinegar and/or lemon or lime juice, and could be seasoned with ingredients such as salt, sugar, tomato paste or puree, and spices such as mustard are paprika.”

This article made me remember the many French Dressing recipes that I’ve seen in hundred-year-old cookbooks over the years, and how those recipes differed from today’s seemingly ubiquitous creamy orange dressing. Back then the dressing was often more of a vinaigrette. Here are two French Dressing recipes from 1922 cookbooks:

French Dressing Recipe Source: Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (1922)

I made the French Dressing in the photo using the first recipe.

Several years ago, I did a post with a recipe for Endive Salad with Homemade French Dressing that contained three 1912 French Dressing Recipes. Here are those recipes:

3 French Dressing Recipes — Source: Lowney’s Cook Book (1912)

And, here is a 1922 magazine article that responds to a reader’s question about French Dressing. The response differentiates between French Dressing and Russian Dressing -though it is mostly focused on French Dressing:

Whew, my head is spinning. Who would have guessed that for a least a hundred years people have been giving lots of thought to exactly what comprises French Dressing?

The Glace Nut Disaster

Glace Nuts

People often ask me if I ever have cooking disasters when making hundred-year-old recipes. And, I usually say, “No, that’s very rare. I like some recipes better than others, but most recipes turn out fine. A few I really like and they become part of my regular recipe repertoire, and I make them many times.”

But today’s post is an exception – I made a hundred-year-old recipe for Glace Nuts that was a disaster. Let me explain.

I wasn’t quire sure about using a pin to dip the nuts in the syrup as described in the old recipe, but I had some fairly long pins so decided to give it a try. (Did they use hat pins a hundred years ago when making Glace Nuts?)

First, I put the ingredients a saucepan and brought the mixture to a boil. I regularly checked the temperature with a cooking thermometer – 240° F. . . . 264° F . . . 285 ° F . . . 296° F. I decided that it was time to get some waxed paper (it probably was similar to oiled paper) out to put the nuts on after I dipped them in the sugar syrup.. I put pieces of waxed paper on several plates, and then looked at the boiling syrup – oh dear, it was brown. I turned off the heat and grabbed the candy thermometer. – 320°. Maybe the syrup was only slightly discolored.

I put some cold water in the sink and lowered the saucepan into it for a few seconds. Then I put some water in the microwave to heat. When it was hot, I poured it into a shallow pan, and then set the saucepan with the syrup in it. I inserted a pin in a walnut and carefully dipped it into the syrup; then I removed the sugar-coated walnut, and laid it on the waxed paper. I repeated the process with four more nuts – as the syrup rapidly began to thicken and then harden in the pan. Clearly not watching the cooking syrup closely enough and letting it reach a temperature of 320° was causing problems. I also noticed that the dipped nuts were sticking to the waxed paper.

I decided to make a fresh batch of the sugar syrup. Sugar doesn’t cost much. It would only take a few minutes to make the syrup, – and I’d watch it like a hawk to ensure that I took it off the stove at exactly 310°.

Twenty minutes later I had a another batch of the sugary liquid. I put it in cold water then, then set the saucepan in some hot water. And, I inserted a pin in a nut and began dipping once again.

One nut. . two. . . three. . . four. . . five nuts. . . the syrup again began to get very thick. I inserted a pin in the sixth nut, and immersed it into the syrup. The rapidly thickening syrup began to pull the nut off the pin. I instinctively reached with my hand to grab the nut before it fell off the pin – and my middle finger and thumb slipped into the hot sticky syrup. OUCH! I’m burned!

Dang it! My fingers hurt – but then I smiled. I always seem to have a minor crisis or disaster during the mad rush in the days before Christmas. This apparently is my disaster this year.

I do not recommend this recipe – and since I don’t recommend it, I not going to update it for modern cooks.

Fig and Cranberry Pie

slice of fig and cranberry pie

I’m always on the lookout for new pie recipes that I might make for Thanksgiving, and fresh, seasonal cranberries are one of my favorite November foods. So when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Fig and Cranberry Pie, I decided to give it a try.

The pie turned out beautifully with a lovely purple filling. The sweetness of the figs and the tartness of the cranberries perfectly balanced each other. If you didn’t tell your holiday guests which fruits were in the pie, I don’t think that they’d ever guess. My husband said that the pie wasn’t too sweet and it wasn’t too sour, but (ala Goldilocks) it was just right.

The recipe is a keeper.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Fig and Cranberry Pie

Servings: 6 - 8
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 pound (8 ounces) figs, chopped

2 cups water

2 cups cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter

juice from 1/2 of small lemon

milk

sugar

pastry for 2-crust 10-inch pie (It might possibly fit in a 9-inch pie shell, but it would be really full.)

Put chopped figs and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the figs are tender (about 15 minutes). Add the cranberries and continue cooking until the cranberries pop.

In the meantime, put the sugar and flour in a small bowl, and stir until combined.

Once the cranberries have popped, gradually add the flour and sugar mixture while stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Turn cooked fig and cranberry mixture into pastry-lined pie pan. Cut the second pie dough circle into strips and make a lattice top crust and flute edges. Brush crust with a small amount of milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in oven for 10 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and juice just begins to bubble.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Polette in dish

A few recipes in the 1921 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book have French names. One of those recipes is Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette. After googling the words in the name, I think that it roughly translates into cut vegetables in a creamy sauce. In any case, this is a nice recipe for an attractive vegetable mixture containing matchstick-sized pieces of carrots and turnips, as well as peas, in a rich sauce made with chicken broth and cream.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Macedoine a la Poulette — Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1921 Edition)

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

Macedoine of Vegetables a la Poulette

Servings: 5 - 7
Time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 cup turnips cut into matchstick-sized pieces (about 1 medium turnip)

1 1/4 cups carrots cut into matchstick-sized pieces (about 3 medium carrots)

1 1/4 cups peas

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper

Cook each of the vegetables (carrots, turnips, peas) in a separate pan; cover each vegetable with water (add salt to water if desired), bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until tender. Drain vegetables.

In the meantime, melt butter in another pan. Stir the flour into the butter. While stirring constantly, slowly pour in chicken broth and cream, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the vegetables. Reheat until the sauce comes back to a boil while stirring gently. While continuing to gently stir, add lemon juice and egg yolks. If desired, add salt and pepper to taste. When the added ingredients are combined into the sauce, remove from heat and serve.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Rye Gems (Rye Muffins)

Rye Gems (Muffins) on Plate

Some ingredients languish in my pantry during the summer months, and then, as the weather cools, I again begin to regularly use them. Rye flour and molasses are two such ingredients. I hadn’t used either in months, but when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Rye Gems (Muffins) that called for both ingredients, I just had to try it.

The rustic sweetness of the molasses merges beautifully to create a hearty muffin. The Rye Gems make a nice dinner muffin. I served them with butter. They nicely complemented the roast beef and baked winter squash that I served with them.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rye Gems (Muffins) — Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1921 Edition)

Gem pans traditionally were made of cast iron, but I just used my usual muffin pans and it worked fine.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rye Gems (Rye Muffins)

Servings: approximately 24 muffins
Time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 2/3 cups rye flour

1 1/3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup molasses

1 1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400° F. Sift together rye flour, flour, baking powder and salt. Add molasses, milk, eggs, and melted butter; stir to combine. Grease gem pans (muffin pans), and then fill each gem 3/4th full with batter. Bake for approximately 20 – 25 minutes or until an inserted wood pick comes out clean.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Baked Pears

baked pears

Pears are a wonderful Fall fruit that often get overshadowed by apples, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Baked Pears. The pear halves were easy to make and very tasty. The Baked Pears were coated with a buttery brown sugar sauce.

I was surprised how little sauce this recipe made – just enough to coat the pear halves. There was not enough to spoon extra over the pears when serving. I did not really miss the extra sauce, but extra sauce would have made a nice presentation.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Baked Pears — Source: The New Cookery (1921) by Lenna Frances Cooper

I skipped the whipped cream when I made this recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Baked Pears

Servings: 8
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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8 pears (Use pears that are ripe, but still firm.)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut the pears in half lengthwise, and then core the pears. Arrange the pear halves in a large baking dish (such as a lasagna dish or a rectangular cake pan). Sprinkle each pear (2 halves) with one tablespoon sugar, and dot each half with 2 or 3 small pieces of butter. Place in oven and bake until tender (about 30-35 minutes). Increase heat (425° F.) to lightly brown the pears. (The pears can be browned using the broiler, if a dish is used that can go under the broiler.)

Remove from oven. Best when served warm. If desired, serve with whipped cream.

Smaller versions of this recipe could easily be made. For each pear, just use a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a little butter.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Jelly Omelet

Jelly Omelet on plate

I’m always looking for looking for nice breakfast foods, so decided to try a hundred-year-old recipe for Jelly Omelet. For the omelet, the eggs are separated and the whiten beaten, which results in a light and fluffy omelet. I’ve seen many recipes in old cookbooks that call for beating the egg whites when making an omelet, and I’ve previously made several of them – and they always turn out wonderfully. By comparison modern omelets seem heavy. Modern recipes seldom call for beating egg whites. I can’t figure out why the older method of making omelets seems to have largely been lost over time.

To make a Jelly Omelet, the cooked eggs are spread with jelly prior to folding to make the omelet. I used currant jelly – though other jams, jellies, or marmalades could be used. The sweet tartness of the currant jelly was a nice complement to the eggs.

This recipe is a keeper, and I anticipate that I’ll make it again. I have lots of jellies that I made last summer, and this is a tasty way to use some of the jelly.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Jelly Omelet — Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1921 Edition)

I did not garnish with a “thin white sauce.”

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Jelly Omelet

Servings: 2
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

4 eggs, separated

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons hot water

1 tablespoon butter, melted

jam, jelly, or marmalade

additional sugar to sprinkle on top of omelet (optional)

Preheat oven to 375° 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 salt, sugar, hot water, and melted butter. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet (or use an omelet pan) on the top of the stove using medium-low heat. (If needed to prevent sticking, liberally grease the skillet before heating.) Pour the egg mixture into skillet, and gently cook for 1 minute. Turn the pan 90° to help ensure that the omelet cooks evenly, and gently cook for another minute. 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. Thickly spread jam, jelly, or marmalade onto one half of the omelet, and then fold in half. If desired, sprinkle sugar on top of the omelet. Serve immediately.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com