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Cheese Dishes

A collection of old-fashioned cheese dishes, including cheese on toast, savoury cheese custard, bread and cheese pudding, and a baked cheese fondue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Abel, Mary Hinman, b. 1850 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 24 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Cheese Dishes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cheese toast

  1. Grate old cheese to cover the prepared toast.

  2. Set the toast in the oven to melt the cheese, and put the slices together as sandwiches.

  3. Stir 1/2 lb cheese, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 cup milk till smooth over a gentle fire or in a water bath.

  4. Spread the mixture over the toast.

  5. Stir 1/2 lb cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 teaspoon mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper to a smooth paste.

  6. Spread the paste on the toast and set it in a hot oven for 4 minutes.

Make the custard

  1. For each person, cook 1 egg, 1 tablespoon grated cheese, 1/2 teaspoon butter or 1 tablespoon milk, a little salt and pepper like custard in a pail set in a kettle of hot water, stirring till smooth.

  2. Use the custard on toast or pour it out on a platter.

  3. Alternatively, steam it 5 minutes in little cups, or bake it very slowly for 10 minutes.

Make the cheese bread and sauce

  1. Soak slices of lightly buttered bread in 3 eggs beaten with 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 teaspoon salt till soft but not broken.

  2. Lay the bread pieces in a pan, cover with 1 cup grated cheese, and bake or steam.

  3. Add 1/2 lb grated cheese to 1 gill of milk, with a little baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, a little white pepper, cayenne, 1 oz butter, a grating of nutmeg and 2 tablespoons baked flour.

  4. Heat carefully till the cheese is dissolved.

  5. Add 3 beaten eggs and stir till smooth.

  6. Bake separately for each person in patty pans or paper cases and eat immediately.

  7. Serve all cheese dishes very hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

920Calories
35 gProtein
36 gFat
112 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Abel, Mary Hinman, b. 1850. 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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  4. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 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

What each ingredient does

Cheese
Melts into a smooth sauce and gives the dishes their main flavour.
Eggs
Set on heating to give the custard and bread puddings their body.
Milk
Makes the cheese mixtures smooth and loosens them into a sauce or custard.
Butter
Adds richness and fat for a smoother, softer texture.
Baked flour
Thickens the cheese mixture so it holds together rather than separating.

The step that matters

Heat carefully till the cheese is dissolved. Cheese sauces turn grainy or oily when overheated, because high heat tightens the proteins and separates the fat. Gentle heat keeps the sauce smooth.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, cheese, pepper, egg, flour, mustard):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

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

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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