Lettuce with Cucumber Sauce

Lettuce with Cucumber Sauce on plate

I recently came across a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Lettuce with Cucumber Sauce. It is a tasty Wedge Salad recipe with a mayonnaise dressing that contains chopped cucumber, onion, and green pepper.

Lettuce with Cucumber Sauce is an intriguing combination of new and old. Wedge Salad is currently a somewhat trendy way of serving lettuce (and I actually was surprised to see a Wedge Salad-type recipe in the old cookbook), while the mayonnaise with chopped vegetables dressing seemed old-fashioned.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Lettuce with Cucumber Sauce

Servings: 6 servings
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 small heads iceberg lettuce or 1 large head iceberg lettuce

1 slice onion, finely chopped

1/2 large cucumber, peeled and then finely chopped

1/3 green pepper, finely chopped

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Cut lettuce into wedges. If the head is small cut into thirds; if large into sixths. Set aside.

In the meantime, put the onion, cucumber, pepper, and mayonnaise into a small bowl. Mix until the vegetables are evenly distributed in the mayonnaise.

To serve: Put each wedge on serving plate. Spoon 1/6th of the mayonnaise and vegetable sauce over each wedge.

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 Dutch Salad

Dutch Salad in bowl

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Dutch Salad, and decided to give it a try. It is a lettuce salad with a hot vinegar dressing. The this simple, classic salad was delightful.

Here’s the original recipe:

This makes a lot of dressing, so I halved the recipe. And, I skipped seasoning the lettuce with salt and pepper.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Dutch Salad

Servings: 8 - 10
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 head lettuce

1/2 onion

salt and pepper, if desired

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Wash lettuce, dry, and then tear into small pieces and put into a bowl. Cut onion into small pieces and add to the lettuce. If desired sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Melt and lightly brown (using care not to burn) the butter in a skillet. Stir in the sugar and vinegar, using medium heat bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over salad. Toss and serve.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Winter Salad

Winter Salad on Plate

Some holiday foods seem to have largely gone out of style. I have vague memories of decorative salads made by carefully arranging canned fruits and other ingredients on individual plates that were served at holiday gatherings when I was a child – but haven’t had one of these salads in years. But when I saw a recipe for Winter Salad in the December, 1922 issue of American Cookery, I was intrigued, and decided to give it a try. A canned peach half, that is surrounded by grapefruit segments, is filled with chopped celery and pecans, and placed on some lettuce leaves. It is then topped with whipped cream flavored with paprika and topped with a candied cherry. (I used a Maraschino cherry.)

I wasn’t quite sure about this recipe – the combination of ingredients seemed very unusual and I thought it extremely unusual to flavor whipped cream with paprika instead of sugar. That said, the Winter Salad was very attractive in an old-fashioned way.

This recipe won’t quite make the cut for the family Christmas dinner. I can’t quite picture serving it to friends and family at a holiday event (some things are just out of style); however, the combination of ingredients and flavors actually worked – and I can honestly say that the salad was tasty.

Here’s the original recipe:

Winter Salad

The recipe provides no information about how many peach halves should be used; however it does say that 1/2 cup of cream should be whipped. This recipe makes a lot of whipped cream, so I think that the recipe is for a large can (29 ounce) of peaches (or a quart of home canned peaches) – which typically contain about 8 peach halves. So I indicated below that the recipe is for 8 servings. However, it is easy to use smaller amounts of the various ingredients if fewer servings are needed.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Winter Salad

Servings: 8
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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Leaf lettuce

29-ounce can peach halves (8 peach halves)

2 -3 grapefruit (peeled and separated into segments)

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

8 candied or Maraschino cherries

Arrange lettuce leaves on individual salad plates, and top with a peach half. Surround the peach half with grapefruit segments. Fill each half with a mixture of the chopped celery and pecans.

Meanwhile, put the heavy cream in a deep mixing bowl; beat until soft peaks form. Add the paprika, salt, and lemon juice; beat to combine. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the whipped cream on top of each filled peach, then top with a cherry.

http://www.hundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Potato and Egg Salad

Potaot and Egg Salad in bowl

Memorial Day doesn’t seem complete without Potato Salad – and the best Potato Salads contain hard-boiled eggs, so I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Potato and Egg Salad.

The Potato and Egg Salad was delightful with crunchy celery and chopped pickles – but what made the salad really special was the dressing. The dressing was made with whipped cream and vinegar – and was amazingly light compared to the usual mayonnaise dressing. The whipped cream dressing takes a little longer to make than mayonnainse dressing, but it was well worth the extra effort

Here’s the original recipe:

I didn’t have any onion juice, so substituted 1 tablespoon chopped onions.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Potato and Egg Salad

Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups cold boiled potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup celery or cabbage, chopped (I used celery.)

2 or 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (I used 2 large hard-boiled eggs.)

2 tablespoons pickle, chopped (I chopped several Bread and Butter Pickle slices.)

2 tablespoons green pepper or pimento, chopped (I used green pepper.)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon onions, chopped

cream dressing, see below

If desired, lettuce or cabbage leaves

Put the cubed potatoes, celery or cabbage, chopped eggs, chopped pickle,, green pepper or pimento, parsley, and onions in a mixing bowl and gently stir to combine. Chill in refrigerator. Just before serving, add Cream Dressing and gently stir until the potatoes and other ingredients are evenly coated with the dressing. If desired, serve on lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Cream Dressing

2 teaspoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar

dash cayenne (red) pepper

1 teaspoon butter

1/3 cup vinegar

1 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 cup whipping cream

Put the flour, salt, mustard, powdered sugar, cayenne pepper, and butter n a saucepan or double boiler, and gradually add vinegar while stirring constantly. Using medium heat, cook until thickens while stirring constantly. Put a a spoonful of the hot mixture in the bowl with the egg yolk, and immediately stir rapidly; then add the mixture to the mixture in the saucepan or double boiler while stirring rapidly. Continue stirring and cook for 1 minute. The mixture will be very stiff. Put in a small bowl and cool in refrigerator.

Shortly before serving, whip the cream until it is stiff. Add the cooled vinegar mixture, and beat until smooth.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Apple and Celery Salad

Celery and Apple Salad in dish

I always enjoy Waldorf Salad, so was intrigued by recipe for Apple and Celery Salad in a hundred-year-old cookbook. It seemed very similar to Waldorf Salad – but with fewer ingredients (just apples and celery). I wondered, would I miss the nuts and raisins in the typical Waldorf Salad?

The verdict- Apple and Celery Salad was nice, but I prefer Waldorf Salad with the added crunchiness and sweetness of the nuts and raisins.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Celery and Apple Salad — Source: The New Cookery (1921) by Lenna Frances Cooper

I went with the mayonnaise option when I made this recipe, and I did not garnish with lettuce. (Exactly how do you garnish with lettuce?) I also did not peel the apples. To be totally honest, I somehow failed to notice that the apples were supposed to be peeled until I started writing this post. When I made this recipe, I was in a hurry and just glanced at the recipe, and thought that this would be an easy recipe because it was Waldorf Salad minus half the ingredients. I should have read it more carefully. The salad would be different (and less colorful) if the apples had been peeled.

And I also failed to notice that I was supposed to marinate the apple pieces in lemon juice – but we ate the salad soon after I made it, so the apples didn’t discolor. (I think that coating them with mayonnaise also slows discoloration).

I used just enough mayonnaise to coat the celery and apple pieces (about 1/2 – 2/3 cup). I previously made the Golden Salad Dressing recipe that is listed in this recipe when I made another recipe from this cookbook: Pineapple and Strawberry Salad with Golden Dressing. Golden Salad Dressing recipe can be found in that post.

I’m now realizing that I barely made the original recipe for Apple and Celery Salad – and am fascinated that I somehow failed to do so many things quite right with such a simple recipe. I guess it’s a lesson learned about carefully reading directions even for the easiest recipes. That said, the recipe turned out well, so the updated recipe for modern cooks is based on how I made it..

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Apple and Celery Salad

Servings: 5 - 7
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 cups chopped apples (about 1/2 inch pieces) –The apples can be either peeled or not peeled.

2 cups chopped celery (about 1/2 inch pieces)

1/2 – 2/3 cup mayonnaise

Combine apple and celery pieces; stir in enough mayonnaise to lightly coat the pieces.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com