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Illinois Cook Book

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Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Illinois Cook Book

Ingredients

Directions

  1. water, then fry them as above. This way of prepar- ing them over night in winter is better, as the mornings are so very short, and it takes considerable time to pre- pare them. This way is preferred to almost any other way of frying potatoes. It would not do for an every day dish, as it takes considerable lard, and would be rather expensive at the end of a year.

  2. Potato Fritters.

  3. ( MBS. RYAN. )

  4. Three eggs, one quart sweet milk, and a little flour ; rub in the flour with the eggs, salt to the taste. The batter must not be too thin. Then add well mashed potatoes ; have a little lard in a skillet, it must be hot, and drop the mixture in by spoonsful in small cakes ; fry a light brown. They must be eaten hot.

  5. Plain Fried Potatoes.

  6. Potatoes can be par-boiled, and the skins removed ; then sliced and fried, for either breakfast or dinner; and the potatoes left from dinner, put away carefully, are nice sliced and fried.

  7. French Batter for Frying Vegetables.

  8. Moisten a little flour with water, and add to it a small quantity of salt, a tablespoonful of olive oil, and a spoonful and a half of French brandy ; beat up the mixture thoroughly, and when you are ready to use it,

  9. beat into it the white of an egg previously beaten to a strong froth. This batter may be used for frying sweet entremets, in which case sugar must be put instead of salt.

  10. Potato Snow.

  11. Pick out the whitest potatoes, put them on in cold water ; when they begin to crack open, pour off the water and put them in a clean saucepan before the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces ; rub them through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent to the table in, and do not mash them, but let them remain as they fall from the sieve. They should be salted, of course, while they are boiling.

  12. Gather the summer squashes when young and ten- der. If the scallop, the seeds will do no harm ; cut it in quarters, and boil in a bag until tender ; squeeze out all the water, and season with salt and butter ; pepper can be added at the table.

  13. Should always be boiled whole, and put in much after either carrots or parsnips, as they require less boiling. When used in stews, they are cut into small pieces the size of dice, or made into shapes with a little instru- ment to be found at all cutlery shops. They may be mashed in the same manner as parsnips, but some per-

  14. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 95

  15. sons add the yelk of a raw egg or two. They are also frequently made into a puree to thicken mutton broth.

  16. String Beans.

  17. Gather them while young enough to break crispy ; break off both ends, and string them ; break in halves, and boil in water with a little salt, until tender; drain free from water, and season with butter.

  18. Succotash, or Corn and Beans.

  19. If old beans are used, they must be soaked over night, and parboiled in two waters before putting in the pork. The corn should be added to the beans and pork about fifteen minutes before the hour for serving the dinner. It is well to boil the cobs with the beans and pork in the last water. Remove them before adding the corn. For using beans not fully ripe, one change of water is sufficient ; the pork can be parboiled at the same time. Beans for succotash should remain whole ; care must be taken that they boil gently, so as not to break them. Considerable water is generally used in boiling the beans, that no more need be added when the corn is put in ; most persons like consider- able soup in this dish. Families can be governed by taste in this. Dish the corn and beans in a deep dish with the broth, and season with butter and a very little salt; use no pepper, if any person desire it, it is easily added. Serve the pork on a platter, after taking off the skin and dotting it with pepper, by dipping the

  20. little finger in ground pepper and pressing it on the pork.

  21. Tomato Stew.

  22. Take large, ripe tomatoes, scald, peel and quartei them, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper. Put in a stewpan some thin, tender beef steaks, lamb or mutton chops. Bury the meat in the tomato, and add bits of fresh butter rolled in flour and sugar, if you do not like the acid of the tomatoes ; add a chopped onion or two, if you like it. Cook slowly till the meat is done and tomatoes all dissolved to a pulp. Add no water to this stew. A very wholesome dish.

  23. Sweetbreads and €a^llifiowers.

  24. Take four large sweetbreads and two cauliflowers. Split open the sweetbreads and remove the gristle. Soak them awhile in lukewarm water ; put them into a saucepan of boiling water, and set them to boil ten minutes. Afterward lay them in a pan of cold water to make them firm. The parboiling is to whiten them. Wash, drain and quarter the cauliflowers. Put them in a broad stewpan with the sweetbreads on them ; season with a little cayenne and a little nutmeg — add water to cover them. Put on the lid of the pan and stew one hour. Take a quarter of a pound of fresh butter and roll in two tablespoons of flour; add this with a teacup of milk to the stew, and give it one boil up, and no more. Serve hot, in a deep dish. This stew will be found delicious.

  25. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 97

  26. To Stew JRed Cabbage.

  27. Slice a small, or half a large red cabbage, wash and put it into a saucepan with pepper, salt, no water but what hangs about it, and a piece of butter; stew till quite tender, and when going to serve, add two or three spoonsful of vinegar, and give one boil over the fire. Serve it for cold meat, or with sausages on it.

  28. Fried Egg Plant.

  29. Peel the egg plants, slice them thin, sprinkle a little salt over them,* and let them remain half an hour ; wipe the slices dry, dip them into beaten yelk of egg, then into grated cracker, and fry them a light brown in boiling lard, seasoning them slightly with pepper while they are cooking. Another way is to parboil the egg plants, after they are peeled, in water with a little salt, then slice thin, dust them with corn meal, flour, or corn starch, and fry them brown.

  30. Green Corn Dumplings, '

  31. A quart of young corn grated from the cob, Half a pint of wheat flour sifted, Half a pint of milk, Six tablespoonsful of butter, Two eggs,

  32. A saltspoonful of salt, A saltspoonful of pepper, Butter for frying. Having grated as tine as possible sufficient young fresh

  33. corn to make a quart, mix with it the wheat flonr, and add the salt and pepper. Warm the milk in a small saucepan, and soften the butter in it. Then add them gradually to the pan of corn, stirring very hard, and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs light, and stir them into the mixture when it has cooled. Flour your hands and make it into little dumplings. Put into a fryingpan a sufficiency of fresh butter, (or lard and butter in equal proportions,) and when it is boiling hot, and has been skimmed, put in the dumplings, and fry them ten minutes or more, in proportion to their thick- ness. Then drain them, and send them hot to the din- ner table.

  34. Green Corn in Winter.

  35. Take tender green corn, (sweet corn is best,) boil it ten minutes. Then cut it from the cob and dry it in the sun. Corn preserved in this way will keep for years, and will be perfectly fresh when brought on the table. To prepare for use, cook it until tender in as little water as possible. When nearly done, add milk, butter and salt to taste.

  36. Tomato Pudding.

  37. Pour boiling water on tomatoes, remove the skins ; put in the bottom of the pudding dish some bread crumbs, them slice the tomatoes on them, season with sugar, butter, pepper and salt; add some more bread crumbs, then the sliced tomatoes and seasoning; and if

  38. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 99

  39. the tomato does not wet the bread crumbs, add a little water. Then, for a small pudding, beat up two eggs, and pour over the top. Bake about twenty minutes.

  40. To Broil Tomatoes.

  41. Wash and wipe the tomatoes, and put them on the gridiron over live coals, with the stem down. When that side is brown turn them and let them cook through. Put them on a hot dish and send quickly to table, to be there seasoned to taste.

  42. To Bake Tomatoes.

  43. Season them with salt and pepper; flour them over, put them in a deep plate with a little butter, and bake in a stove.

  44. Fricasseed Egg Plant.

  45. Having peeled and sliced the egg plants, boil them in water with a saltspoonful of salt, until they are thoroughly cooked. Drain off the water, pour in suf- iicient milk to cover the slices, and add a few bits of butter rolled in flour ; let it simmer gently, shaking the pan over the fire till the sauce is thick, and stir in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs just before it is served.

  46. These should be, as all other vegetables should be, fresh gathered, carefully selected, well washed, and

  47. 100 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

  48. they should be put into cold water. In cutting off the tops, do not cut too closely, or you will lose the rich, red color. They should be salted while boiling, and when done, taken up and thrown a few moments into' clear, cold water, the skin will then slip off easily ; slice them thin, and dress with butter and pepper; vinegar, if it is preferred.

  49. These are a nice winter vegetable, and are very nice boiled and 'dressed with butter, pepper and salt. They should be sliced lengthwise. A very nice way is to have butter hot in a skillet, and lay each piece nicely in the butter, and fry, turning over, that both sides may be browned.

  50. The Early York is a nice summer cabbage, and should be boiled with nice salt pork or corned beef, or a piece of brisket, either is nice, and makes a good family dinner.

  51. Should be young, and freshly cut; boil in a litt)^ salted water; they should be tied carefully before put- ting in the water ; (have nice bread toasted, if it is liked that way;) when done, take up, cut off the string, pour over the toast, if used, and if not, dress it with melted butter.

  52. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 101

  53. Boil peas in salted water, and dress with butter. Some make a drawn butter, and some put cream and butter; all tastes are not alike. In the manner of cooking, that must be left to the tastes of those who are to eat them; but one thing should always be looked carefully to, that is to be sure they have not lain in the market for a week or more; they are not only unfit to eat, but are very unhealthy.

  54. String Beans.

  55. These should always be gathered fresh ; string them, by breaking oif both ends and pulling off the string that is on either side ; they should then be broken. Always boil bacon with these.

  56. To Preserve Mushrooms.

  57. To each quart of mushrooms allow three ounces of butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of one lemon, clarified butter. Peel the mushrooms, put them into cold water, with a little lemon juice ; take them out and dry them very carefully in a cloth. Put the but- ter -into a stewpan capable of holding the mushrooms ; when it is melted, add the mushrooms, lemon juice, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; draw them down over a slow fire, and let them remain until their liquor is boiled away, and they have become quite dry, but be careful in not allowing them to the stick to the bottom

  58. 102 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

  59. of the stewpan. When done, put them into pots, and pour over the top clarified butter. If wanted for im- mediate use, they will keep good a few days without being covered over. To re- warm them, put the mush- rooms into a stewpan, strain the butter from them, and they will be ready for use.

  60. Mushrooms Stewed in Gravy.

  61. One pint of mushroom buttons, one pint of brown gravy, quarter of a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, cayenne and salt to taste. Make a pint of brown gravy, cut nearly all the stalks away from the mush- rooms and peel the tops; put them into a stewpan, with the gravy, and simmer them gently from twenty minutes to half an hour. Add the nutmeg and a sea- soning of cayenne and salt, and serve very hot.

  62. Baked Sweet Potatoes.

  63. Wash them perfectly clean, wipe dry, and bake in a quick oven, according to their size — half an hour for small ones, and from three-quarters to an hour for larger ones. Let the oven have a good heat, and do not open any more than necessary to turn them, until they are done.

  64. Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

  65. Having washed them clean and wiped them dry ; cover them with ashes, and then with hot coals; watch them closely that they do not burn. (This can

  66. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 103

  67. only be done when yon burn wood, and can be done in the hearth of the stove.)

  68. Soiled Sweet Potatoes.

  69. Wash them clean, put them in a pot or stewpan and pour boiling water over to cover them ; cover the pot close, and boil fast for half an hour or more, accord- ing the size ; try them with a fork ; when done, drain off the water, take off the skin and serve.

  70. Fried Sweet Potatoes.

  71. Cold sweet potatoes may be cut in slices, across or lengthwise, and fried in hot lard or butter.

  72. Summer Squash.

  73. Squashes to be tit to eat, must be fresh, if they are not, the outside will be crisp when cut with the nail. Cut them in small pieces, and if not very tender, pare off the outside skin, scrape the seed from the inside ; wash them and put them in a saucepan and cook till tender ; add salt to make them palatable. After they are cooked well, let them cook down slowly till all the water is all cooked out and they are thick; then dress them with butter and pepper; put them in a dish; smooth them over the top, and they are ready for the table.

  74. Young Beets.

  75. Wash fresh pulled young beets; break the tops

  76. 104 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

  77. from them, pick from them all the withered leaves, and put them with the beets into a pot of hot water; cover it, and let them boil fast for half an hour, or longer, if the beets are large; then take the tops into a colander, and press all the water from them ; take the beets into a pan of cold water and rub off the skin with the hand: put the pressed tops into a dish, slice the beets over them ; make a small cup of vinegar hot, with a bit of butter the size of an egg ; add salt and pepper to the taste ; add a teaspoonful of made mustard, if liked. If the stalks of beet tops are long, cut them from the beets and the leaves, tie them in bunches and boil, and serve like asparagus.

  78. Greens and Sprouts.

  79. Cabbage sprouts, young beet tops and the green, young turnips, are boiled with salt meats or in clear,

  80. salt water.

  81. Spinage should be carefully picked over and well washed, and let remain in cold water till ready to cook ; have your water boiling and salted; put in your spinage, and do not let it boil more than twenty minu- tes. When time to serve, drain in a colander till all the water has drained off; then dress with butter and pepper. Another way to dress it, is to drain it as dry as you can, and put it in a chopping bowl, chop it very line indeed ; have ready eight or ten hard boiled

  82. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 105

  83. eggs, chopped as tine as you can chop them; mix the the eggs well through the spinage; put butter and pep- per. It will have to be returned to the stove and warmed again before putting it on the table.

  84. A little cayenne,

  85. Three-fourths of a teacupful vinegar,

  86. Three-fourths of a teacupful cream or new milk,

  87. One-half teaspoonful celery seed. Mix and beat all well together, and place the mix- ture in a another vessel containing boiling water till it is the consistency of thick cream; stir well; pour hot over cabbage.

  88. Hot Slaw.

  89. Cut the cabbage with a slaw cutter, or very tine with a knife ; put a little vinegar, butter, pepper and salt, into a skillet, let them get hot; put in your cab- bage, and when heated thoroughly, add a little cream, if you have it, and dish up. It is nice without cream. —11

  90. 106 ILLINOIS COOK BOOK.

  91. To Sake Beans.

  92. Boil the beans, (of course the quantity must be reg- ulated by the size of the family,) say one quart in two or three quarts of water, till they begin to crack open ; put in a teaspoonful of soda while they are boil- ing ; when ready to bake, drain off all the water in which they were cooked ; then put them in a pan large enough to hold them, and a piece of nice, fat salted pork which will weigh one or two pounds; score the pork across the top and settle it in the middle of the beans ; cover all with water, and two tablespoonsful of molasses or sugar, and bake in a moderate oven two hours. Do not forget the sweetening, or you will not have Yankee baked beans.

  93. Corn, for boiling, should be full grown, but young and tender. When the grains become yellow, it is too old. Strip off the leaves and all the silk; some leave the inner leaves and pull them up over the corn before putting it in the water ; have plenty of water ; add salt, and let the pot boil briskly for half an hour.

  94. Wash the hominy clean, through two or three waters ; then put it into a pot, allowing two quarts of water to one quart of hominy ; let it boil slowly three or four hours. When done, take a portion up in a dish, dress with butter, and serve hot. The rest can be put

  95. ILLINOIS COOK BOOK. 107

  96. away, to keep cool, and be used the next day; add salt while it is boiling. Hominy is very nice fried as a breakfast dish.

  97. Cucumbers.

  98. Have them fresh gathered ; pare them and lay them in cold water till near dinner; slice them very thin; pepper, salt, and vinegar to the taste.

  99. Scrape the salsify roots, and wash them in cold water; parboil them, and if preferred, cut in small slices and fry. The nicest way is to boil tender, and add salt, pepper, butter and cream. If exposed to to the air it will turn blackish.

  100. Com on the Cob.

  101. Corn to boil should be young and tender; remove the husks, and carefully take off all the silk; have a pot of boiling water salted sufficient for the corn, and boil from twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour, according to the age of the corn.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1392Calories
61 gProtein
56 gFat
163 gCarbs

Counts 18 of 20 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 18 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery Seed1 stalk (40g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Wheatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Owen, Mrs. T. J. V. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, butter, mushroom, sugar, pepper, celery):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, butter, mushroom, sugar, pepper, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.