I often use onions in tuna, egg, and chicken salad, to flavor soups and meats, and I especially like fried potatoes and onions. But I’ve never made stuffed onions, onion soup, sauces, or any of the other recipes listed below. They all sound delicious. If you ever get a chance to buy Vidalia onions, grown in the state of Georgia, be sure to give them a try. They are a sweet tasting onion. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: ONIONS FOR…
INFORMATION FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS “Spinach requires close examination and picking, as insects are frequently found among it and it is often gritty. Nothing is worse than spinach when gritty, so likewise there is nothing more troublesome to get quite clean, from its growing so near the earth. Spinach should be picked a leaf at a time, and washed in three or four waters. Then drain it and put it in boiling water. Fifteen to twenty minutes is generally sufficient time…
Pumpkins were a popular crop in the 1800s. They were easy to grow and if stored properly in a warm, dry place, could be kept all winter. Recipes from old cookbooks used fresh pumpkins, but if one called for stewed pumpkin, it’s like the plain canned pumpkin we buy today. Recipes often did not include baking times or how hot to make your oven. You were supposed to know or learn through experience. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Deep colored…
I never ate any kind of squash when I was a child, but I’ve eaten summer squashes like green zucchini and yellow squash as an adult. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve tried any of the winter squashes: Butternut Squash, Spaghetti Squash, and Delicata Squash. When people in the 1800s cooked foods in their wood burning stoves, there were no thermometers. So recipes referred to the oven temperature as a slow, moderate, or hot oven. The cook…
Summer squashes are picked before they’re mature. The rind is thin and edible, and you can also eat the seeds. But summer squashes can’t be stored like winter squashes. Some summer squashes in the U.S. are: Pattypan squash Crookneck squash Straightneck squash Zucchini (courgette) INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: Summer Squash is a fruit vegetable belonging to the same class as eggplant, peppers, etc. and occurring in many varieties. The different kinds of this vegetable vary greatly in size, shape, and…
FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: Fritters are served for luncheon, dinner or supper, as an entree, a vegetable or a sweet, according to the ingredients used. The foundation batter is much the same for all fritters. They should be fried in deep fat, hot enough to brown a piece of bread in 60 seconds. BATTER FOR SAVORY FRITTERS Put six ounces of flour into a basin, with a pinch of salt, the yolk of one egg, and one-fourth pint of warm water….
When cabbage is cooked, the cover should be removed from the kettle. This plan permits of the evaporation of much of the strong flavor, which arises in the steam, which would otherwise be reabsorbed by the cabbage. It is the retention of this flavor, together with long cooking, that causes this vegetable to disagree with persons who eat it. If it is cooked in an open vessel and it is boiled just long enough to be tender, an easily digested…
Common or garden sorrel has a tart, lemon flavor and was popular in the 1800s. The larger leaves were used for soups and sauces and the young leaves for salads. I haven’t been able to find out why people quit using it, but it now seems to be making a comeback. You probably won’t find sorrel in a grocery store because it doesn’t ship or store well, even when refrigerated. It doesn’t tolerate heat well, so try growing it as…