Antique Recipes

Pennie never let me forget this one. It was the hardest and most fidgety culinary adventure we ever did. And, the home-made jelly stunk up the house!

COOKBOOKS USED

Elsie’s Cook Book, by Elsie the Cow (with the aid of Harry Botsford), Bond Wheelwright Company, Publishers, NY (1952) – was my maternal grandmother’s book

The First Ladies Cook Book, Parent’s Magazine Press, NY, MCMLXIX (1969?) – My great aunt just gave this to me. Given to her in 1971.

Larousse Gastronomique, First American Edition, Crown Publishers, NY (1961)

Joy of Cooking

We didn't end up using recipes from this book, but did research it:

The Model Cookery and Housekeeping Book, publishing info missing, but info from online search suggests: Warne, nd, (1900) – My parents found it, along with other books when we moved into the house in NJ that I lived in from about nursery school to 2nd grade. The house had been owned by an elderly brother and sister who died. Their heirs sold us the house with all that stuff the attic.

Assorted Barquettes

Larousse Gastronomique (p. 499)

Small oval-shaped patties made of pastry, baked blind (empty), garnished with different fillings.

All preparations mentioned in this section on cold hors-d’oeuvre can be used as garnishes for barquettes.

The following are just a few examples, which can be infinitely varied.l All recipes given for filling pattied, canapés and tartlets apply to barquettes.

Barquets are generally served on a paper doyley. On the menu they are often called “frivolities”, a name originally given them by Escoffier.

Salpicon: (p. 834) In French cookery parlance a preparation made up of one or more ingredients cut in small dice and boud with a sauce, whether rich or plain, white or brown.

Salpicons, with other hors-d’oeuvre mixtures are used to fill pastry barquetted and other tartlets, canapés, and pastry cases, croustades or hollowed bread cases, rissoles and timbales. They may be made into kromeskies, cutlets, and croquettes. They are used to stuff eggs, poultry, game and fish as well as some cuts of meat.

Cold salpicons are seasoned with Vinaigrette or mayonnaise.

In pastry-making and confectionery, salpicons of fresh or candied fruit are used.

Pastry

[The sweet barquette recipe (p105) but the savory ones (p499) didn’t specify. However, the tarlet recipe (p 527) called said you can use all kinds of doughs, but as a rule made from fine lining paste. However it didn’t tell how to bake it, so I’ll use the directions from the puff pastry dough.]

Fine Lining Paste or pastry dough I. (p. 354)

3-3/4 cups of sifted flour, 1-1/4 cups of butter, one egg, 1/2 – 3/4 [WE USED 1/4 CUP] cup of water, 5 tablespoons of fine sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt.

Method. Spread the flour in a circle on the board, make a well in the middle and put in egg, butter, water, sugar and salt. First mix all these ingredients together, then little by little, incorporate the flour. [WE MIXED DRY FIRST, THEN CHOPPED BUTTER, THEN MADE WELL]

Knead twice, roll the paste in a ball and wrap in a cloth.

Keep in a cold place until ready for use. Lining paste should always be made several hours before it is needed, and the less this paste is handled the better, as it quickly becomes tough.

[A cookbook at Peppercorn said to lightly butter the tins]

[from p 105] Line the boat-shaped tartlet tins with this pastry, rolled out to a thickness of 1/8 inch and cut out with a fluted oval-shapped cutter. [you can lightly butter the bottom of another tin and push the dough down with it and then scrape the excess pastry off the edges with a dull knife blade.]

Prick the bottom to prevent the pastry rising during cooking [and sprinkle with a small pinch off fine sugar – maybe not for savory] This recipe talks about baking with the filling in at 350° for about 20 minutes, but the savory recipe says we should bake blind, yet dosen’t give directions, since all ingredients will be cooked.] Take out of tins and allow to cool on wire rack.

[the Peppercorn cookbook has you leave the second tins on top of the dough, weighted down, and bake 5 minutes at 425°, then remove them and bake for another 3-4 minutes – not sure if we want to bother with this.]

Beauharnais baarquettes

Garnish the barquettes with a salpicon of [cooked] breast of chicken and truffles. Cover this garnish with a layer of mayonnaise, to which a puree of tarragon, as well as some gelatine, has been added. Decorate with tiny pieces of truffles and cover with jelly.

Salpicon of chicken and truffles: I see many salpicons, but none with chicken. There are many that just specify a white sauce though, including a salpicon of cocks’ combs and truffles bound with allemande sauce (which is a compound sauce including veloute). So…I’m going to use a veloute.

Marivaux Barquettes

Fill the barquettes with a salpicon made of [cooked] shrimps and [cooked] mushrooms, blended with gelatine-strengthened mayonnaise. Decorate with rounds of hard-boiled eggs and chervil [WE USED PARSLEY]. Coat with jelly.

Veloute sauce (p. 842)

For 2-1/2 [halve this recipe] quarts: stir 2-3/4 quarts of white stock made with veal or chicken into 1 cup of pale blond roux made with butter and flour.

B lend well together. Bring to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until the first bubbles appear. Cook the veloute very slowly for an hour and a half, skimming frequently.

Strain through a cloth. Stir until it is completely cold. Note. Veloute is a great basic sauce and it may be prepared in advance. Obviously, it may also be made just before it is used.

Mayonnaise (Made our own) (p. 860)

For 2-1/2 cups: 3 egg yolks, 2-1/2 cups olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.

Method. Put into a bowl (or into the salad dish) the egg yolks free from any white of egg. Add the salt (very dry), the white pepper and a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice.

Mix these ingredients with a whisk, not beating too hard.

Add the oil, drop by drop at first, then in a thin trickle, beating constantly either with a whisk or with a wooden spoon.

Absorb, in this way, the whole of the oil into the mayonnaise.

Thin down the consistency of the ssauce from time to time by adding a few drops of the vinegar or lemon juice.

As soon as the sauce is finished, incorporate, beating all the time, 2 or 3 spoonfuls of boiling water. This addition is to preserve the texture of the mayonnaise and prevent it from breaking down, or ‘curdling’, if it is to be kept for some time.

Note. If the foregoing instructions are followed, a light and smooth mayonnaise can be guaranteed.

To be sure of success in making this sauce, which is really very simple in spite of the difficulties it seems to have acquired in the eyes of many housewives, it is advisable to bear the following points in mind:

1) Keep to the exact proportions of egg and oil. The maximum amount of oil is 1 cup per egg yolk of medium size.

2) Use oil at room temperature, and if, in winter, the oil has coagulated, warm it very slightly before adding it to the yolks.

3) Add the oil drop by drop at the beginning. Then when the sauce begins to thicken a little, let it pour in a very thin trickle.

Other Ingredients

olives, roasted beets, plain or compound butter, anchovies, red or green pepper, parsley, ham, (butter, parsley and ham), cooked wild mushrooms, chives, hard-boiled egg separated and chopped, sardines in oil.

[THE OTHER ONES WE MADE WERE: CHICKEN SALPICON WITH GARNISH OF ANCHOVY, EGG AND CHIVES; BUTTER WITH HAM-VELOUTE SALPICON, HAM BLACK AND GREEN OLIVES AND RED PEPPER SLICES]

Jelly (p. 549) – Meat Jellie

Ingredients. For 5 quarts of jelly: [halve this recipe]

Nourishing ingredients. 4 pounds beef (leg [shanks]), 3 pounds knuckle of veal [couldn't find], 3 pounds veal and beef bones sawn in small pieces [skipped these], 3 calves’ feet (boned and blanched, with the bones ground), 1/2 pound bacon rinds. [note: Julia Child says you can use either 2 calf’s [used beef] feet (butcher will skin and clean) or 1 lb cracked veal knuckles (butcher will crack), along with 1/4 lb fresh or salt poork rind to make about 3 quarts. – pg 112] [WE COULDN'T FIND ALL INGREDIENTS SO USED WHAT WE COULD FIND – THESE TOOK A LONG TIME TO BROWN IN SHIFTS]

Aromatic ingredients. 2 large carrots, 2 medium-large onions, 3 leeks, 3 stalks of celery, bouquet of herbs, salt and pepper.

Liquid. 8-1/2 quarts of water.

Method. Put the beef, the veal (tied with string) and the bones in a pan and brown slightly in butter.

Transfer the meat and bones to a large stock-pot. Brown them further with the carrots, onions and leeks.

Pour in the water.

Rinse the pan in which the meat and bones were first browned with a little water and add the juice to the ingredients in the stock-pot. Bring it to the boil, skim it and add the calves’ feet and bacon rinds, tied with string, and the bouquet of herbs. Season. Simmer gently for about 5 to 6 hours.

Strain this stock through muslin or a fine strainer. To turn it into aspic jelly, clarify it in the usual way.

Clarify: (p. 164)

Actually, I’d look this up somewhere else! Julia, French Cooking p. 112.

Iceberg Wedge Salad

Iceberg

Tomatoes (wedged)

Cucumber (sliced)

Thousand Island dressing (p 364 Joy of Cooking)

1 Cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup Chili Sauce or Catsup (use homemade if still good)

2 Tb minced stuffed olives

1 Tb chopped grfeen pepper

1 Tb minced onion or chives

1 chopped hard-boiled egg

2 tsp chopped parsley

Combine all together.

Beef Stroganoff

Elsie's Cookbook (p150)

Makes 4 servings

A fine one-dish meal. Serve a salad and have Gruyere or Liederkranz cheese and fruit in season for dessert.

1-1/2 pounds leftover rare or fresh steak

2 tablespoons butter

4 small onions, diced finely

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon catsup

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms ,sliced

salt and pepper

white bread for toast (or buttered noodles)

Slice meat very thin. Melt butter in frying pan. Fry onions and meat in it for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Heat, while stirring, until piping hot, but not boiling. Time about 20 minutes. Serve over buttered slices of toast or plain boiled rice, sprinkled with paprika.

Election Cake

First Ladies Cookbook (p.116)

1 cup currants, soaked overnight in a tightly closed jar in 1/2 cup brandy

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup scaled milk

1 yeast cake (if using dry pkg, use warmer water – see Joy)

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup flour, unsifted

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2-3/4 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon mace

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, whole

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

2 teaspoons lemon juice

To the scalded milk add 1 tablespoon sugar; cool. Dissolve the crumbed yeast in warm water, and add the milk. Add the unsifted flour, and beat until well blended. Let rise in warm place until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Cream butter and sugar until very light. Drain brandy from currants. Place sifted flour, salt, mace and cinnamon in sifter. Add egg to creamed mixture and beat until light. Stir in lemon rind and juice. Add yeast mixture and beat thoroughly. Add currants, retaining the brandy for later. Sift in flour, add brandy, beat well. Place in tube pan or 9x5 loaf pan that has been well greased. Cover with a cloth and place in warm place away from draft. Allow to rise until double in bulk. This mixture rises very slowly and may take 4 to 6 hours to double in bulk. Bake at 375°F for about 45 minutes. Cool in pan briefly. Turn out on rack, allow to cool further. Then brush with lemon or orange glaze.

Lemon or Orange Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup lemon or orange juice

Mix the sugar with the lemon or range juice. Beat well. Then spread thin on top of cake. Let it drizzle down the sides, but do not ice the cake sides.

Negronis

3/4 oz Campari

3/4 oz Gin

3/4 oz sweet vermouth

lemon twist - Rocks glass, stir

Mead (storebought)