old recipes

Welcome to Old Recipes Found

Charming old recipes from old cookbooks posted as found.

Brandied Sweet Potatoes

BRANDIED SWEET POTATOES
from, HOW AMERICA EATS, Clementine Paddleford, 1960

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, unpared
1/4 pound butter or margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup brandy

Cook sweet potatoes until soft. Remove from water and cool. Peel and slice crosswise in 1-1/2 inch thick slices. Place in well-greased, shallow baking dish. Dot with butter. Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Sprinkle over potatoes. Pour brandy over. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Yield 6 portions.

French Apple Cake

FRENCH APPLE CAKE

METHOD: Sponge: At night soak for 20 minutes 1/2 cake yeast dissolved in 1/4 c. luke warm water + 1 c. milk, scalded, then cooled to luke warm +1/2 tsp. salt + 2 c. sifted flour. Beat smooth, cover, let rise in warm place 78 degrees F. over night or until double in bulk. In morning add to this sponge 1/2 c. milk, scalded, then cooled + 1/2 c. butter, creamed with 3/4 c. sugar and 1 tsp. salt + 2 beaten eggs. Add enough flour (4 c. or more, sifted ) to make a soft dough. Knead. Let rise until double in  bulk.
Roll on floured board 1/2 inch thick. Place in round or square buttered pans, brush top with melted butter, let rise. Place slice pared apples in circular form over round cake or in rows on square cake. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, bake 25 minutes in moderate 375 degree F. oven. Use this same dough for various kinds of coffee cakes, adding desired toppings.

-- from the 1936, Food for Family Company and Crowd,  by Jessie Marie DeBoth

Chestnut Yule Log

Chestnut Yule Log
(Buche de Noel aux Marrons)

 A rich and relatively easy traditional French Christmas Cake.

1 1/2 pounds chestnuts
1/4 pound soft unsalted butter
4 squares bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
candied cherries
angelica

Cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut and put them into a large pan of rapidly boiling water. Boil the chestnuts 30 minutes. Drain and peel them, removing the inner skins as well as the shells. Force the nuts through a food mill. Add the butter and the chocolate, which has been melted and blended with the water, sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Roll into a long thin log and wrap in buttered wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours.

Unwrap the log from the wax paper and place on a long serving platter. Run the tines of the fork lengthwise over the surface of the cake, to give the appearance of bark and decorate with candied cherries and angelica.

-- from the 1954, Tante Marie's French Pastry, translated and adapted by Charlotte Turgeon

ORIGIN: Rumor has it that when Napoleon ordered all chimneys to be closed during the winter, a mischievous French chef devised this lovely faux log dessert paying homage to the original tradition of decorating a log for the fire.

Christmas Eve Salad (Ensalada de Noche Buena)

Christmas Eve Salad (Ensalada de Noche Buena)
-- from Elena's Secrets of Mexican Cooking, 1958, by Elena Zelayeta

This traditional salad served on Christmas Eve in Mexico serves 6.

2 beets, cooked and sliced
1 cup pineapple cubes, fresh, canned, or frozen
2 apples, cored and sliced
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 banana, sliced
1/3 cup raw peanuts
seeds from 1 pomegranate
mayonnaise, thinned with cream*

Arrange fruits in large glass bowl and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and peanuts. Pass dressing separately.

*Zelayeta notes that Mexicans use a little sugar in place of her dressing and that jicama is a traditional addition, but she prefers without.

Christmas Spice Cookies

Christmas Spice Cookies
-- from The Settlement Cookbook, 1976

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup syrup or honey
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 ounces citron, ground very fine
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
juice and rind of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons milk

Add sugar to syrup and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add butter, cool.  Add spices to flour. Mix all ingredients and add additional flour to handle, if necessary. Roll 1/8-inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Bake on greased baking sheets in moderate oven, 350 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes.

Bourbon and Black Walnut Cake

Bourbon and Black Walnut Cake
-- from Come Into the Kitchen, by Mary and Vincent Price

2 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cups butter
6 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 pint 100-proof bourbon whiskey
1 pound black walnut meats

Mix the white and brown sugar until free from lumps. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl and add half the sugar mixture. Cream thoroughly. Then cream some more. This will govern the texture of your cake. In a separate bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy, and add the remaining sugar. Stir into the butter mixture. Sift the flour, salts, and nutmeg and add to the batter, alternating with the whiskey, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the walnut meats, but do not bother to fold; a little extra beating will tend to bruise the walnuts, releasing oil and flavor into he cake. Pour into a well-greased and floured 10 inch tube pan, or if you prefer smaller cakes, into a4 small loaf pans. Bake in 300 degree F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the large cake or 1 1/4 hours for the smaller ones, or until the cake shrinks slightly from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and allow to stand  for 15 minutes, then turn out on a cake rack. When completely cool, wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator. Do not freeze. The crust of this cake will be rather hard and dry, the inside should have a moist texture.

Nippy Tomato Dunk (Hot Appetizer)

Nippy Tomato Dunk
-- from "THE SECOND CHAFING DISH COOK BOOK", 1970

3/4 cup chili sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 6-ounce roll smoke flavored cheese
1 tablespoon butter
assorted crisp fresh vegetables for dipping

Beforehand: Mix chili sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and curry powder. Let stand several hours to blend and mellow the flavors. Break cheese into small pieces. Prepare bite-size pieces of vegetables such as zucchini, cauliflower, turnips, carrots, cucumbers and so forth for dipping. Chill until serving time.

Prep the tray: Chili sauce mixture, pieces of cheese, butter and vegetables arranged on platter for serving.

On stage: Melt butter in blazer pan of chafing dish until it sizzles. add cheese and stir until just melted. Gradually stir in chili sauce mixture, mixing until well blended.

[buy The Second Chafing Dish Cook Book at OldCookbooks.com]

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet-Potato Pie
-- from Time-Life Foods of the World Recipe Booklet, American Cooking: Southern Style

Makes 1 9-inch pie.

4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
A 9-inch short crust pastry pie shell, fully baked and cooled (page 122)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Drop the quartered sweet potatoes into enough boiling water to immerse them completely and boil briskly, uncovered, until they are tender and show no resistance when they are pierced with the point of a small skewer or knife. Drain off the water, return the pan to low heat and slide it back and forth for a minute or so to dry the potatoes completely.

Rub the sweet potatoes through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon or puree them through a food mill. Set the pureed potatoes aside to cool to room temperature.

In a deep bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together by beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with the back  of a wooden spoon until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled pureed sweet potatoes and, when they are  completely incorporated, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the light corn syrup, milk, grated lemon peel, vanilla, grated nutmeg and salt and continue to beat until the filling is smooth.

Pour the sweet-potato filling into the fully baked pie shell, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake the pie for 35 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve the sweet-potato pie warm or at room temperature.

[more about the Time-Life "Foods of the World" series]

Carrot Soup Recipe

CARROT SOUP
from "French Cooking for the Home", Louis Diat, 1956

4-5 medium carrots minced
1 medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup rice
6 cups white stock (page 331) or water
1 cup hot milk, top milk preferred
bread crusts (page 327)

Put carrots and onion in a saucepan with half the butter, the salt and sugar. Cook slowly 15 minutes, mixing from time to time. Add rice, 4 cups of the stock (or water) and cook slowly until carrots are well done, about 45 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, return liquid to pan and add remaining 2 cups stock (or water). Bring to boil, skim, if necessary, and add the milk with the remaining butter. Serve from a soup tureen with crusts of bread floating on top.

[more about "French Cooking for the Home"]

[buy it at OldCookbooks.com]

Blueberry or Apple Slump

Blueberry Slump
[Mrs. M. S. Newcomb]

2 cups blueberries, washed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (about)

Stew blueberries, sugar and water. Mix and sift flour, baking powder and salt; add milk, stirring quickly to make a dumpling dough that will drop from the end of a spoon. Drop into the boiling sauce. Cook 10 minutes with the cover off and 10 minutes with cover on. Serve with plain or whipped cream. Serves 4. On Cape Cod they call this Blueberry Grunt. A steamed berry pudding is also known as a Grunt.

Apple Slump is made in the same way, substituting apples for blueberries. Stew 6 well-flavored apples with 1/4 cup molasses, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and proceed as above.

From the New England Yankee Cook Book, 1939