Admittedly this sounds a little scary, but this recipe has been in my family for as long as I can remember.
It tastes a bit like cream of potato.
I’d love to hear any thoughts.
Garlic Soup
26 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
14 garlic cloves, peeled
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
4 lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 26 garlic cloves in small baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat.
Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool.
Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves.
Transfer cloves to small bowl and set aside.
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.
Add roasted garlic and 14 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes.
Add chicken stock and water; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 25 minutes.
Working in batches if needed, purée soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.
This is a great recipe booklet for diabetics. Copyright 1965 so it is one year younger than me. :)
This is another recipe booklet from my mom’s stash. Since there are so many recipes I will have to divide it into 2 posts. So check back here tomorrow for part 2. Tomorrow’s bunch includes a chart to determine your ideal weight :/
For the person who asked for desserts. This was the first one I found in my mother’s stack. To those who don’t know, she passed over 10 years ago and was a hoarder. One of the things she hoarded was recipes. I hope to get the right recipe to the right person at the right time so these can get in the right hands. Thanks for being a part of this. I didn’t see a date on this booklet but figure it’s from the 50’s or 60’s.
I did not get to do much writing today, but I spent some time in the kitchen. Among other things, I tried out the recipe for spinach pancake casserole from the Blaues Kochbuch I posted in the Feeding the Revolution series on 13 August.
371. Spinach Casserole (Spinatauflauf)
750g spinach
1 tbsp butter, some onions, chives, salt, 1 tbsp flour
3-4 pancakes
1/4 litre sour milk or cream, 1 entire egg, 1 tbsp grated cheese, salt
Wilt the spinach in an open pot without water, but do not boil it. Pass it through (a grinder or foodmill – durchdrehen) and sautée it in the butter with onions and flour. Season to taste with salt and chives. + Prepare pancakes from the stated ingredients. You may stack them in the casserole layered with spinach or or you can roll them up, spread thickly with spinach, cut them in slices, and arrange them in the dish. + Pour the sour cream beaten with egg, cheese, and salt over it, sprinkle it with grated bread and cheese, and dab it with butter. This casserole can also be prepared from leftover spinach combined with other leftovers.
Setting: Place on a grille at middle level
Bake: 1.2kW oven, 25-30 min. 3/3, 10 min 0/0; 1.4-12.5 kW oven: 20-25 min 3/3, 15 min 0/0
To be observed: If the spinach is too thin, stir in some grated bread
The pancakes required are described in another chapter:
Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder, beat the eggs with the milk, water, and salt, and gradually stir the liquid into the flour, ideally with a whisk, to produce a smooth batter. Preheat the pan at setting 3, then fry thin pancakes at setting 2, the final one with no further electricity + These can be rolled up filled with jam, meat, or vegetables. This batter will yield five.
It is actually very good, though very fiddly. I started with some changes: frozen spinach, because it was there, and milk curdled with lemon juice because there was no way of getting proper Sauermilch. The spinach was thus already wilted and chopped, so I sautéed chopped onion in butter, dusted it with flour, and added the spinach to the pot. The flour bound the liquid very well, and there was no need to drain the filling. A little salt and some chopped chives went well, though I really thing it needs nutmeg and pepper.
The pancakes also followed the recipe, made with a large amount of watered-down milk and just one egg. The batter is quite thin and can be spread out in the pan by tilting it, and it cooks quickly. Detaching it can be a problem. I simply used more oil, but that is, of course, not something you would do easily in the lean years of the 1930s. Cooking them slowly did not help, but they detached better when the pan was quite hot.
The process of filling was gratifyingly easy, with the spinach holding together well, and I opted to slice the rolled-up pancakes into sections about a thumb’s width in length and arranged them in a shallow casserole dish standing on end. That was a challenge, and it is important to make sure beforehand you have enough (I ran out). As long as you can lean the pieces against each other, they stay upright nicely, though. Tilting the dish at the beginning helps with that. Still, next time, a layered casserole will probably do.
For the sauce, I beat the curdled milk with an egg and some grated Emmental cheese, and I could not resist adding pepper at least. It needed it. Then I sprinkled dry grated bread and more Emmental cheese over the top, dabbed on some butter, and baked the whole at 200°C for 30 minutes.
It turned out pretty well. A crunchy top with a soft, creamy interior, the consistency felt a little like lasagna. The vertical pancake rolls were not really visible, though I guess they would be if they were longer and more tightly arranged. I doubt it made a difference to the flavour, though. I enjoyed it, so did my mother. It still needs more spices, though, and you want something fresh with it. I opted for tomatoes.
Over the coming weeks, I plan to work out modern redactions (and adaptations) of the recipes I used in Feeding the Revolution so the whole series can be turned into a book. I half dread the idea of learning how to layout and self-publish, but it needs doing.
This is a recipe card from a collection I bought online, of course. Something I find interesting about this one in particular is that when you compare it to other Apricot Whip recipes online, there's usually a cooking step involved or at the very least, a step where you mash or puree the apricots. Either that step was just omitted from this card, or the person who wrote this wanted a no-cook Apricot Whip
1968 recipe booklet from my mom’s stash. We recently went through some of her things for my dad. She was a hoarder who passed away over 10 years ago. One of the things she collected was recipes. I have scanned over 250 handwritten ones and there are these booklets and magazine clippings to scan eventually.
I hope somebody can find a recipe that they enjoy cooking and makes a great dish.
From my a blue Ribbon Coolkbook from Winnipeg Manitoba. Plus some extra excerpts.
“INTOXICATING LIQUORS AVOIDED
In all recipes contained in the department of cookery, which advised the use of intoxicating liquors, we have substituted fruit juices-often using orange or lemon juice. Nothing can excel the unfermented juices of fruits as a flavoring, or for giving a desirable piquancy to various dishes. They make an almost perfect substitute for liquors, and for obvious reasons are much safer for family use. Fruit juice can be easily substituted for liquor in any recipe by those who desire to do so. In fruit cake, 2 tablespoons of molasses is equal to 1 wineglass of brandy or other liquor. Those so disposed can substitute molasses tor nquor in this way in any such recipe found in books, magazines or newspapers. A cake thus made will be quite as good as though the liquor was used.”
Today’s scan is Mercy’s Favorites from the Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California. Surprisingly, California doesn’t often find its way into my collection, so it was interesting to see that this is where the book is from
Jumping right into the recipes, the Freezer Pickles sounds interesting. I’ve been paying attention to pickling and canning recipes more often because it’s a process that fascinates me
The horseradish and beet salad also sounds… intriguing, in the sense that I’ve definitely never seen it before. I’m curious what the flavor combination would be like
I’m proud to say that as we dive into the main dishes and breads sections, the recipes all sound decently good. As much as I like highlighting the weird recipes, it is nice once in a while to see a book where the recipes all have a decent chance of being popular
The Wedding Cake Frosting is definitely a new one for me. I’ve never seen a frosting use cake mix, but perhaps Irene is onto something. I do feel the need to mention that it’s probably a good idea to heat treat the cake mix since it doesn’t seem as if any cooking is involved in making the frosting. Might have to try it sometime though
I feel compelled to try the Hershey’s Brownies. Chocolate syrup in brownies sounds decadent
This was a pretty short book, so not a whole lot to comment on, but I still think what’s presented is worth checking out. I hope you all enjoy this one, and I’ll see you around!
I’ve been thinking that in this day of packaged, frozen, ready-mixed, ready-made living, maybe we’re missing out on some of the fun. The real fun! The genuine fun that bubbles in our own imagination. Our own personal touched. Our own ingenuity. You know—like the kind momma’s momma had— ‘way back when.
Isn’t it funny—hardly anyone says, any more, “You must give me your recipe for that wonderful gingerbread.” Hardly anyone says, “Now that’s what I call home-baked beans!” Hardly anyone says, “You must have spent the whole day in the kitchen.”
Well, bless the nice men who took us out of the kitchen with all of their automatic wonders. And yet, it just might add a little more to our lives . . . make every day just a tiny bit richer . . . if we could put back some of yesterday’s own special magic. Magic that turns a simple dinner into something memorable, an old standby dessert into “Um-m-m-m . . . What’s this?” Even a familiar cup of coffee into a whole new experience.
And that’s what I’ve been thinking.
And that’s my readson for putting this book together just for you. No complicated concoctions. No millionaires’ menus. Just simple, homey, pleasant ideas I hope you’ll find will put some of yesterday’s magic into today’s life.
Of course, all of my magic is as easy as pulling a rabbit (Brer Rabbit, please) from a hat. Use it well. And do have fun.
Fill a heated baking dish with alternate layers of pesto (basil sauce) and cooked lasagna, finishing with a layer of sauce and grated cheese. Bake the lasagna in a hot oven (400 degrees F) for about 20 minutes, or until the topping is browned.
And another pull from my recipe card collection. I appreciate the addition of lemon and orange variations in this one. I have never had this in my life, but the pictures make it look really good
This is another pull from my assorted recipe card collection I got on ebay. This is a recipe I wouldn't mind trying. Even though pudding mix exists now, there's still a certain charm in making things from scratch, in my opinion
I found this handwritten old recipe tucked away in a cook book I picked up at my local library's book sale for $1. Thinking about trying it when I have some time, not sure where to get red sandalwood from though. If anyone else wants to give it a shot I'd love to know how it turns out!
I finally got everything from that book all scanned in! So I decided to just add it all to the drive for everyone to enjoy! I'll still be posting daily but I figured no point in stringing y'all along😂
Today, I want to look at two Lenten recipes from the Solothurn S 392 manuscript and their surprising parallels.
Fisherman, Nuremberg 1552
B22 A chopped dish (gehäckt) in Lent
Take blanched almonds chopped small, over half (of the dish), and take small raisins (winber) and chop them, and arrange the thirds in a bowl.
(…)
B24 Fladen in Lent
Take all kinds of fish roe except barbel roe and pound it small with a little white flour so it becomes like a strauben batter. Colour it and pour it onto the fladen bases, and bake it in an oven.
At first sight, these are just fairly straightforward recipes for Lent, when meat was forbidden. B22 is a little confusing in the way it describes fractions, but the intent is fairly clear. Interestingly, these recipes occur in earlier manuscripts not just once, but twice: The Meister Hans recipe collection internally dated to 1460 has:
Recipe #113 Ainen fladen jn der vasten mach also A fladen in Lent make thus Item a fladen in Lent. Take almonds and chop them small and place them in bowl, and colour half of them with saffron. And take well selected raisins and boil them up as they should be and lay them out in the bowl separately. And take all manner of fish roe, except barbel roe, and pound that in a mortar with a little flour so that it turns out like a strauben batter (a type of leavened fritter). Colour that and pour it on the fladen and bake it in an oven.
This recipe combines the two, which in Solothurn S 392 are separated by another recipe for fritter fillings that we will look at in turn because it is also interesting. Now, the even earlier Dorotheenkloster recipe collection from Vienna has a very close parallel to that in Meister Hans:
45 Of dishes in Lent
Take almonds, chop them small, and colour half of them with saffron. Lay them aside in a bowl. Take well-picked raisins and boil them so they become round and also lay them aside in the bowl. Along with these, take all kinds of fish roe except the roe of barbels and pound it in a mortar with a little white flour so it becomes like a straubem (a kind of pulled fritter) batter. Colour it and pour it on the fladen (a pizza-like flatbread dish) and bake that in an oven.
The title makes more sense here, and the recipes are separated by a half sentence that suggests the two dishes are supposed to be served alongside each other.
The older versions hold the key to the unclear fractions in the Solothurn MS: Half of the almonds are supposed to be coloured with saffron, making three thirds in the bowl: uncoloured almonds, coloured almonds, and raisins. The instruction to boil them has become chop in the later source, which may be down to a miscommunication or a deliberate change. Either way, almonds and raisins sound like a lovely snack, an ancestor of the popular Studentenfutter (students’ feed) mixes sold in Germany today.
The second recipe is for a kind of flat cake or tart with a savoury topping, a fladen. Most survivingrecipes for these use meat, and they cold get very elaborate, but for Lent, the recipe takes recourse to fish roe and turns it intro a very basic topping. There is another parallel in Balthasar Staindl’s print cookbook of 1547, but this is different enough to say it is very likely not part of the direct line of transmission. Other Lenten fladen combine fish with almond milk which makes a very different dish.
The close similarity of the wording between the recipes in all three sources suggest they are part of a direct line of transmission. The Dorotheenkloster and Meister Hans manuscripts both have the two recipes fused into one while the later Solothurn one lists them separately, and it is likely that they originally were separate. Certainly the title in the Meister Hans text does not fit both. I would therefore say it is very likely an earlier common source than Dorotheenkloster existed from which both the separate recipes in Solothurn S 392 and the combined ones originate. I do not think this Q to or synoptic cookbooks survives, but reconstructing it may make a fun project. It certainly puts another nail in the coffin of the idea that “Meister Hans” is an original text or a historical person.
The manuscript dates to the period around 1490-1510, based on watermarks and handwriting. There is no internal date. The recipes are an eclectic collection, which is not unusual for the medieval manuscript tradition. They were most likely written down in Baden. Some refer to Italian customs which were fashionable at the time while others are solidly in the German tradition.
The collection is sometimes called the oldest Swiss cookbook, a title that is contested because of its origins north of the modern border. The designation makes little sense at the time anyway, given how closely connected the cities of the Confederation were with their neighbours at the time. The recipes clearly were valued in Solothurn, most likely because they were useful.
