1910 Dinner Menu: Cream of Asparagus Soup, Redfish Bouilliabaisse, Chicken Saute aux Petits Pois, Carrots a la Creole, Peach Meringue Pie

Woman's World Cookbook (1922) 

1910 Dinner Menu

The Picayune's Creole Cook Book

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Celery, French Olives, Pickles

Bouilliabaisse (Redfish and Red Snapper)

Potatoes à la Maitre d’Hotel

Chicken Sauté aux Petits Pois, Boiled Rice

Parsnips

Carrots a la Creole

Roast Venison, Currant Jelly

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Green Pepper and Tomato Salad, French Dressing

Peach Meringue Pie

Roquefort

Fruit

Café Noir

Cream of Asparagus Soup

1 large bunch of asparagus

1 tbs of butter

1 quart of milk

3 tbs of rich cream

3 even tbs of flour or corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

Croutons

Wash the Asparagus, tie it in a bunch and put in a saucepan of boiling water. Let it boil gently for about three-quarters of an hour, or until perfectly tender. Take it from the water, cut off the tips or points and put them aside until wanted. Put the milk on to boil in a farina boiler. Press the asparagus stalks through a colander, and add them to the milk. Rub the butter and cornstarch or flour together until perfectly smooth, and add to the boiling milk, stirring constantly till it thickens. Now add the asparagus tops, salt and pepper, and serve, without croutons, as the asparagus tips form a beautiful garnish.

Bouillabaisse

6 slices of red snapper

6 slices of redfish

½ bottle white wine

½ lemon

6 large fresh tomatoes or ½ can

3 onions

1 herb bouquet

3 cloves garlic

3 bay leaves

3 sprigs thyme

3 sprigs parsley

6 allspices

2 tbs olive oil

1 good strong pinch of saffron

Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

Butter toast

This is the dish that drew from Thackeray that famous tribute to Creole cookery: "In New Orleans you can eat a Bouillabaisse, the like of which was never eaten in Marseilles or Paris." The reason is clear, for in those old French cities the Bouillabaisse is made from the fish of the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, notably the Sturgeon and the Perch combined, while in New Orleans it is made from those matchless fish of the Gulf of Mexico, the Red Snapper and the Redfish (Poisson Rouge). It will be noticed that it takes two kinds of fish to make a Bouillabaisse. The first Bouillabaisse was made in Marseilles, and the old Creole tradition runs that it was the discovery of two sailor fishermen, who were disputing as they sat in a schooner as to the proper way of cooking a Sturgeon and Perch combined. Both essayed: One succeeded in making a delightful dish that would have gladdened the heart of any old French "bon vivant." The other failed. The successful one enthusiastically offered to teach his friend, and as the latter was following the directions implicitly, and the finishing touches were being given to the dish, the teacher, seeing that the critical and important moment had come when the fish must be taken from the fire, or it would be spoiled if it cooked a moment longer, cried out, bringing down his hand emphatically: "Et quand ca commence a bouillir Baisse!" Hence the name "Bouillabaisse," which was given to the dish from that moment. From all portions of Europe people go to Marseilles to eat a "Bouillabaisse" on the seashore. The taste of the Bouillabaisse still lingered in the mouths of the old French Creole settlers of New Orleans. The famous old chefs sought two fish from the water of the Mexican Gulf that might be used in the making of the dish with a reasonable hope of success. They chose the Red Snapper and the Redfish. The result is told in Thackeray's tribute. The Creole Bouillabaisse, with the modifications and improvements that early ingenuity suggested, is a dish that was the standing offering in antebellum days to every distinguished Parisian or foreigner that visited New Orleans. Its reputation is sustained by the Creole cuisinires of our own day. It is made as follows: First cut off the head of the Red Snapper and boil it in about one and a half quarts of water, so as to make a fish stock. Put one sliced onion and a herb bouquet consisting of thyme, bay leaf and parsley, into the water. When reduced to one pint, take out the head of the fish and the herb bouquet and strain the water and set it aside for use later on. Take six slices of Redfish and six slices of Red Snapper of equal sizes and rub well with salt and pepper. Mince three sprigs of thyme, three sprigs of parsley, three bay leaves and three cloves of garlic, very, very fine, and take six allspice and grind them very fine, and mix thoroughly with the minced herbs and garlic. Then take each slice of fish and rub well with this mixture till every portion is permeated by the herbs, spice and garlic. They must be, as it were, soaked into the flesh, if you would achieve the success of this dish. Take two tablespoonfuls of fine olive oil and put into a very large pan, so large that each slice of the fish may be put in without one piece overlapping the other. Chop two onions very fine and add them to the heating oil. Lay the fish slice by slice in the pan and cover, and let them smother for about ten minutes, turning once over so that each side may cook partly. Then take the fish out of the pan and set the slices in a dish. Pour a half bottle of white wine the pan and stir well. Add a half can of tomatoes, or six large fresh tomatoes sliced fine, and let them boil well. Then add half a lemon, cut in very thin slices, and pour over a pint of the liquor in which the head of the snapper was boiled. Season well to taste with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne. Let it boil until very strong and till reduced almost one half; then lay the fish slice by slice, apart one from the other, in the pan, and let boil five minutes. In the meantime have prepared one good pinch of saffron, chopped very fine. Set it in a small deep dish and add a little of the sauce in which the fish is boiling to dissolve well. When well melted, and when the fish has been just five minutes in the pan, spread the saffron over the top of the fish. Take out of the pan, lay each slice on toast, which has been fried in butter; pour the sauce over and serve hot immediately. You will have a dish that Lucillus would have envied.

Potatoes à la Maitre d’Hotel

6 potatoes

Sauce à la Maitre d’Hotel (see below)

Boil the potatoes whole and serve hot, with sauce à la Maitre d’Hotel poured over them.

Maitre d’Hotel Sauce

1 tbs butter

1 tbs flour

1 pint consommé

Juice of ½ a lemon

Yolk of 1 egg

1 tbs chopped parsley

Put the butter and the flour in the saucepan and let them blend without burning. Mix well over a slow fire, and add one pint of consommé. Add the juice of half a lemon and the chopped parsley, and let all boil about fifteen minutes. When it reaches this point take off the stove and add the yolk of one egg, well beaten; mix well, stirring round, and serve with boiled fish, etc. Never add egg while the sauce la on the fire, as it will curdle immediately.

Chicken Stewed with Green Peas

1 nice chicken of a year old

1 pint green peas

2 tbs butter

2 chopped onions

1 clove of garlic

1 square inch ham

1 pint boiling water

1 pint fresh milk

1 tbs of flour

1 sprig each thyme, parsley, and bay leaf

Cut and season the chicken nicely. Put it in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of butter, and let it simmer nicely for about ten minutes without browning. Add two nicely-chopped onions and let these brown slightly. Then add a square inch of ham, chopped very fine, and minced thyme, parsley and bay leaf, one sprig each. Add the garlic, nicely minced. Let all brown together, slightly simmering all the time. Then pour in one pint of boiling water, and set back on the stove and let simmer gently for an hour and a quarter. About twenty minutes before serving add one pint of milk, and let all cook for twenty minutes. Serve with the green peas heaped around the chicken, which should be placed in the center of the dish. Pour the gravy over, and bring to the table.

Mashed Parsnips

6-8 parsnips

1 tbs butter

1 tbs four

½ pint milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the parsnips until so tender that they break easily under pressure. Then mash them well, after draining off all water. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, and add a tablespoonful of flour. Blend, without browning, and add a half pint of milk or cream. Stir well, and as the mixture begins to boil, add the parsnips. Mix thoroughly, season with salt and pepper, and serve in a dish, heaping up the parsnips in pyramidal shape.

Carrots a la Creole

9 nice tender carrots

1 tomato

½ square inch ham

1 tbs butter

6 fine chaurice or sausages

3 shallots

1 onion

½ pint of Bouillon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 till white wine

Thyme, parsley, bay leaf, ½ clove garlic

Boil the carrots for one hour and a half. Then cut into dice or nice slices. Put the butter in the saucepan, and add the onion, minced very fine, and the shallots, greens and whites. Let these brown for a few minutes, and then add the half square inch of ham and three Chaurice whole. Let these simmer for three minutes, and add the minced herbs. Then add the tomato and its Juice, mincing it Well. Let all simmer for three minutes more, till the tomato has browned, and add a half pint of bouillon and one gill of White Wine. If you can afford it. Let all this simmer for ten minutes, and then add the carrots, nicely seasoned. Stir well. Cover and let them simmer for about half an hour. Serve hot. This Is a true dish of Carrots 3, la Creole. Eat with Daube, Roast, etc.

Roast Haunch of Venison

A haunch or saddle of venison

Melted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Watercress for garnish

Currant Jelly

Prepare the haunch or saddle of Venison in the same manner as you would the roast beef. (See recipe Roast Beef.) Only pour a cup of water over the venison when putting in the oven, for it is a dry meat, and requires a little moistening if roasted. Bake in a quick oven, allowing ten minutes to the pound. A haunch of Doe Venison will require in the aggregate half an hour less time to roast than Buck Venison. To prevent the hoof and hair just above changing color in cooking always bind this with a coarse piece of muslin, in four or five pieces of thickness, covering the hoof and hair. Wet with cold water, and bind a buttered paper tightly around and over it. Baste every ten minutes, with melted butter first, and then with the drippings of the Venison. When half cooked, turn the venison over, so that the other side ' may cook. Unbind the hoofs and garnish them with quilled paper. Place the venison on a dish garnished with Watercress. Serve with Currant Jelly.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

6-8 sweet potatoes

1 tbs butter

Wash the potatoes, and scrub the skins, but do not peel them. By rubbing the skins of the potatoes lightly all over with a little lard, butter, or fat bacon, it will render the skins soft and pliable to the touch when baked; they will peel readily, without crumbling from dryness, as baked potatoes often do, the peeling coming off in thin strips, leaving the potato intact. Put the potatoes in a baking pan in the oven, and let them cook until their centers are mellow to the touch. Serve in their jackets immediately. Serve with roast meats, daubes, grillades, etc., or as a Friday dish, to be eaten with butter.

To roast potatoes with meat or pork, wash and boil the potatoes well, and a half hour before the roast pork or beef is done pare the potatoes, drain well, and place- in the baking pan, around the pork or beef, and baste frequently with the drippings from the roasting meat. Or put in the pan without boiling, and bake a half hour longer. The former is the best method.

Green Peppers a L’Espagnole

6 green peppers

3 tomatoes

Plain French dressing

Parboil the peppers so that they will peel easily, and scald the tomatoes. Peel them, removing the seeds of the peppers. Cut the peppers into one-inch pieces, slice the tomatoes, and serve with plain French Dressing as a salad.

Plain French Dressing for Salad

3 tbs of best Olive oil

1 tbs vinegar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Pepper.

First put the oil into a small bowl. Then add gradually the salt and pepper until all are thoroughly mixed. Then add gradually the vinegar, stirring continually for about a minute. It is now ready to pour over the salad, and remember that it must be mixed thoroughly. The proportion of vinegar varies according to the salad to be dressed. Lettuce salad requires but little; tomato salad, corn salad or Doucette require more. Serve this dressing with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber and other vegetables and green salads.

Peach Meringue Pie

1 dozen peaches

Sugar to taste

Whites of 6 eggs

6 tbs of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pare and stone the peaches, and stew. Line the bottoms of two pie pans with a rich pie crust, and then fill in with the peaches, which you will have sweetened to taste. Bake in a quick oven twenty or twenty-five minutes. Beat the whites of six egs to a stiff froth with the sugar, which should be fine white powdered. Add a teaspoonful of vanilla. When the meringue can stand alone cover the tops of the pies three-quarters of an inch thick, after baking and set back in the oven and bake for two or three minutes to a nice, delicate brown.