1899 Dinner Menu: Fried Ham, Cream Gravy, Potato Puree, Stewed Corn, Escalloped Oysters, Cold Slaw, Lemon Meringue Pie
1899 Dinner Menu
Comfort and Economy for Small Households
Alice L. James
Potato Purée.
Fried Ham. Cream Gravy.
Fried hominy.
Stewed Corn or Parsnip Patties.
Tomatoes Stewed in Butter.
Escalloped Oysters.
Cold slaw. Crackers. Cheese.
Lemon Meringue pie.
Tea or Coffee.
Alternative: Mutton Pot-Roast. Cherry Pudding.
PUREE OF POTATOES.
1 heaping cupful mashed potatoes
1 tbs butter
1 tsp flour
1 pint boiling milk
1 tsp onion juice
½ tsp salt
Minced parsley
Squares of bread, toasted
To a heaping cupful of mashed potatoes add a tablespoonful of butter rubbed with a teaspoonful of flour. Stir into this a pint of boiling milk (carefully, to prevent lumping), add a teaspoonful of onion juice, half a teaspoonful of salt, boil up, and strain. Serve with minced parsley and squares of bread toasted brown in the oven.
FRIED HAM.
1 slice ham ¾ inch thick
1 tsp granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
One slice of ham three quarters of an inch thick. Cut off the rind, put ham into a smoking-hot spider, and fry each side one minute. Remove to a cooler part of the range and fry each side ten minutes; sprinkle with a teaspoonful of granulated sugar after turning the last time. Put the meat on a platter, pour into the spider two thirds of a cup of milk, stir the sediment, boil once, and pour over the ham. If ham is suspected of being too salt, soak a few hours in the milk which should afterwards be used for the gravy.
FRIED HOMINY.
Cold, boiled hominy
Flour
Salt pork drippings
Butter
Pepper
Slice cold boiled hominy, dredge with flour, and fry brown in a little hot salt-pork drippings. Serve buttered and peppered
STEWED CORN.
1 heaping cupful green uncooked corn
¼ cupful rich milk
Dust of flour
Salt and pepper
1 tsp butter
Grate a heaping cupful of green uncooked corn, add one fourth of a cupful of rich milk, a dust of flour, pepper and salt to taste, and a teaspoonful of butter. Boil up once and take from the fire. If cooked corn is used, do not boil it, but add to the milk, etc., which must be boiling, stir, and serve as soon as it is hot. Canned corn may be used in the same way.
PARSNIP PATTIES.
1 cupful mashed parsnip
1 heaping tsp butter
1 tsp flour
½ tsp salt
Yolk of 1 egg
Powdered cracker crumbs
Butter to fry
Wash and boil till very tender in salted boiling water, one large parsnip. Scrape off the skin and mash to a pulp while hot; there should be a cupful. Add one heaping teaspoonful of butter, one of flour, and half an even teaspoonful of salt. Stir well, and add the yolk of an egg, and mould into four little flat cakes. If the mixture sticks, dip the hands into cold water, shake off the drops, and proceed. Dip the cakes into powdered cracker crumbs, and when cold fry a delicate brown in hot butter. It will take a teaspoonful of butter for each side. Do not cook longer than actually necessary to brown and heat through, or the egg will harden and the cakes lose their creaminess.
TOMATOES STEWED IN BUTTER.
1 lump butter size of a large nutmeg
½ tsp flour
2/3 cup canned tomatoes or 1 cup sliced fresh tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 tsp flour
Put a lump of butter the size of a large nutmeg into a saucepan, dredge with half a teaspoonful of flour, and on this, carefully, so as not to displace the butter, pour two thirds of a cup of canned tomatoes or a full cup of sliced fresh tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of flour, cover, and cook gently twenty-five minutes. Do not stir while cooking, and use an earthenware dish that may be sent to the table. Butter, flour, and tomatoes should all remain in separate masses, blending only at the point of contact.
ESCALLOPED OYSTERS.
1 pint oysters
Sea-foam or milk crackers
Sweet butter
½ pint milk
Oyster liquor
Melted butter
One solid pint of oysters. On the bottom of an earthen- or agate-ware baking-dish put a layer of whole sea-foam or milk crackers, liberally spread with sweet butter. Cover with a layer of oysters, then one of buttered whole crackers, and another layer of oysters. Pour in a half-pint of milk, sweet and rich; poor milk is apt to curdle. Add to any liquor that remains, enough rolled cracker to make a paste with a tablespoonful of melted butter, and spread over the top of the oysters. If not enough liquor remains, use milk instead. Bake in a hot oven long enough for the milk to reach the boiling point; twenty minutes will probably suffice. The top should be brown. Serve in the baking-dish.
COLD SLAW.
Inner cabbage leaves
Dressing (see below)
Shave the crisp inner leaves of cabbage as thinly as possible, cover with ice-water, and set in a cold place until wanted. Drain, and serve with any preferred dressing.
CREAM DRESSING.
Yolk of 1 egg
½ an even tsp salt
½ an even tsp sugar
A pinch of cayenne
½ an even tsp flour
1 tbs cider vinegar
½ tsp mustard
2 tbs milk
4 tbs cream
In an agate-ware saucepan that fits over the teakettle, beat the yolk of one egg with half an even teaspoonful of salt, same of sugar, a pinch of cayenne, and half an even teaspoonful of flour. Mix in a cup one tablespoonful of cider vinegar and half a teaspoonful of mustard, and add to the mixture in the saucepan. Stir well and add two tablespoonfuls of milk; cook over the tea kettle for two minutes, stirring constantly from the bottom and sides. Remove from the fire and whip until cold, with a fork; then add four tablespoonfuls of cream, whipped to a stiff froth, and from three to eight tablespoonfuls of olive-oil. If it should separate, warm it slightly by setting the bowl in warm water for a minute, and beat thoroughly.
LEMON MERINGUE PIE.
Pie crust
2 yolks large fresh eggs
4 tbs sugar
A pinch of salt
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Grated rind of ½ lemon
1 even tsp corn-starch
1 tbs melted butter
1 cupful boiling milk
2 egg whites, beaten
4 tbs sugar
Salt
Line a pie-pan of medium size with pie-crust and bake; then fill with the following mixture: Beat the yolks of two large fresh eggs with four tablespoonfuls of sugar, a pinch of salt, the juice of a whole lemon, and the grated rind of half. Mix one even teaspoonful of corn-starch with a tablespoonful of melted butter and stir it into one cupful of boiling milk; cook and stir for a minute, and when cold pour slowly over the egg mixture. Stir all together and bake in the baked crust about fifteen minutes. Take from the oven and spread over the whites of the eggs which have been frothed and beaten with four tablespoonfuls of sugar and a tiny pinch of salt, return to the oven, and brown a few minutes, being careful not to burn. Serve cold.
MUTTON OVEN POT-ROAST.
2 slices raw or cold roast
Flour
Pepper
Butter
½ cup boiling water
Salt
Mint or wine sauce (see below)
Two slices, each one inch thick, from the middle part of the leg, either raw or cold roast. Trim off the outer edge of fat, put one slice on a meat-rack in an earthen baking-dish, dust with flour and pepper, and dot with butter. Lay the second slice on this and treat in the same way. Pour over half a cup of boiling water, cover closely, and bake in a slow oven two hours. Sprinkle with salt, and send to the table in the baking-dish, after removing the rack. Mint or wine sauce.
Wine Sauce
1 tsp grape jelly
1 tbs sherry
For wine sauce, melt one teaspoonful of grape jelly over a teakettle, add one tablespoonful of sherry, and serve hot.
CHERRY PUDDING (STEAMED).
1 lb cherries, stoned
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs water
1 cupful of flour
1 tsp baking-powder
½ tsp salt
½ cupful suet
½ cupful ice-water
Stone a pound of cherries, put them in a deep quart bowl, and scatter two tablespoonfuls of sugar and two of water over them. Make a crust of one cupful of flour, sifted with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and half a teaspoonful of salt, and chop with half a cupful of kidney suet. Mix with a scant half-cupful of ice-water, pat into shape, and lay on top of the cherries. Steam in a steamer one hour, and serve on a deep platter with rich sauce. The whipped-egg sauce may be used.
CARAMEL. SAUCE
1 tbs butter
2 tbs confectioner’s sugar
A little caramel (see below)
Yolk of 1 egg
Additional caramel and sugar as desired
1 tbs wine or brandy
Stir to a cream one tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of confectioner's sugar. Add a little caramel (directions to follow) and the yolk of an egg. Beat for several minutes. Add more, or all, of the caramel, and more sugar if desired, and, at the last, one tablespoonful of wine or brandy.
CARAMEL OR BURNT SUGAR.
4 heaping tbs granulated sugar
2 tbs water
6 tbs boiling water
To make the caramel, put on a cool part of the stove, to melt, four heaping tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar with two tablespoonfuls water, and let it cook gently for half an hour, covered. At this time it should be bright, coffee-brown syrup, clear as amber. Be careful not to have the fire too hot, or the caramel will be burned and have a bitter taste. It must not be stirred, as this will grain the sugar, but the saucepan can be shifted from side to side, carefully, if necessary. Now add to the syrup six tablespoonfuls boiling water, one spoonful at a time, pouring it directly into the middle of the mass. Let this boil gently for two minutes without stirring, then mix with a spoon, cooking and stirring for another minute. There should be just a half-cupful of syrup, perfectly clear and free from lumps. Cool before using.
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