The American
Family
Cook Book

[This tome offers basic food recipes. Normally, the recipes are the ones we gave up on, and now buy prepackaged by Heinz or by other household words. There are recipes for mayonnaise, tarter sauce, apple sauce, popovers . . .

For the vegetarian point of view the meat, fish and poultry sections are not being reviewed. The bread section is delightful and could be modernized by using your shortening of choice in each recipes. The section on sauces is informative. The cereal chapter rivals any Back-to-the-Earth cookbook from the 1970s. The American Family was not aware that hominy is nutritionally worthless (1970s opinion), but other than that, here are a few wholesome crunchies straight from 1955! With my [comments].]

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General Directions for Cooking Cereals
Use a double boiler. . .lower part 1/3 full of water [set aside] and the water needed for the cereal in the other vessel. When water boils add the. . . cereal slowly so that the water does not stop boiling, and let boil for 10 minutes. Place the pot with cereal into the double boiler and cover and let steam. If the cereal seems too thick, add boiling water. Course grain cereals are improved by soaking overnight in water. They should be cooked in the water in which they have been cooked. [They knew there were vitamins and minerals in there!]

[All amounts, below, are for using ONE CUP of CEREAL]

Oatmeal : 4 cups water ; Steaming time : 3 hours
Rolled Oats : 2 ½ cups water ; Steaming time : 1/2 to 1 hour
Rice (boiled) : 8 cups water ; Steaming time : 25 to 30 minutes
Rice (steamed) : 3 cups water ; Steaming time : 1 hour
Wheat (rolled) : 1 ½ cups water ; Steaming time : 1 hour
Wheat (granular) : 4 cups water ; Steaming time : 1 to 3 hours
Corn Meal : 6 cups water ; Steaming time : 3 to 6 hours
Cracked Wheat : 6 cups water ; Steaming time : 3 to 6 hours

Almost any fruits can be cooked with the above cereals. Fresh, raw fruits should be added at time cereal is put in double boiler. Dried fruits should be soaked several hours before cooking. The water in which they were soaked should be used as the liquid for cereal. They should be cut in small pieces and added to the cereal at start of cooking.

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CEREAL RAREBIT

1 cup milk
¼ cup butter
3 cups any cooked cereal [above]
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
3 cups mild, grated cheese
½ teaspoon pepper
2 well-beaten eggs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Bring milk to a boil. Add butter. Add cereal and beat well. Add cheese, mustard, pepper, and eggs. Heat thoroughly. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and serve, piping hot, on toast. Serves 6.

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[FORENA] RICE

½ cup raw rice
3 ½ tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1/8 teaspoon sage
¼ teaspoon salt

Sauté rice to a light brown in 1 tablespoon butter. Add 1½ cups hot water. Boil until dry. Cover and steam slowly 10 minutes. Put remaining butter, onion, pepper, sage, and salt in another pan and brown lightly. Mix well with rice.

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RICE AND NUT PATTIES
[Here we are again, trying to mimic that perennial burger!]

4 tablespoons chopped onion
½ teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup bread or cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups steamed rice

Put onion, sage, and butter in pan. Heat slowly to soften but not brown onion. Add mild and salt. Bring to a boil. Put crumbs in a dish. Add cooked onion and milk sauce. Let stand 10 minutes. Add walnuts and mix well. Form into patties and brown lightly on both sides in a hot broiler or oven. (425° F.) until browned. Serves 6.

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[Want more recipes?]

RICE AND EGGS

1 chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup boiled rice
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
½ cup thick white sauce [or check out Sauces and Soups by Elliot and Jones]
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Sauté onion in butter until well browned. Add rice, eggs, white sauce, egg yolk, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until very hot. Put in hot dish. Cover with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

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[You ready for eggs?! They have a recipe for scrambled eggs with tomato, but I bet we can guess how to make that! To find out how to keep your chickens clucking, read Dr. Chase's Recipes about that Maine woman, ayuh.]

EGG BALLS

6 hard-cooked egg yolks
1 ½ tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 beaten egg
½ cup dry bread crumbs

Mash all ingredients except crumbs into a smooth paste. Form into little balls. roll in bread crumbs. Sauté in little fat until browned. Serves 6.

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GOLDEN EGGS

6 hard-cooked eggs
1 ½ cups thin white sauce
12 toast points
2 teaspoons chopped parsley

Separate yolks and whites of eggs. Chop whites fine and add to hot sauce. Pour sauce on hot platter and arrange toast around edge. Force yolks through a sieve over the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot. Serves 6.

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EGGS À LA FINLAND

Serve poached eggs on nests of boiled rice, covered with tomato sauce.

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MEXICAN POACHED EGGS

Add 1 ½ tablespoons sliced green olives and 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper to 1 cup hot tomato sauce and pour over 6 slices buttered toast. Put poached eggs on top and garnish with parsley.

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SPAGHETTI OMELET

6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Spaghetti, cooked
Tomato sauce, heated
[parsley]

Beat egg yolks until thick. Add salt and pepper. Fold into egg whites. Fold spaghetti and half of sauce into egg mixture. Put in buttered pan and cook slowly until browned on bottom. Transfer to moderate oven (350° F.) and bake until dry. Fold and remove to hot platter. Top with tomato sauce [and a sprig of parsley].

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ITALIAN STYLE EGGS

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons tomato catchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
6 eggs

Mix all ingredients but eggs in saucepan. Bring to boil. Break and drop in eggs. Cook slowly until set. Serve on buttered toast with sauce. Serves 6.

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[A 'back-to-the-earth' tea recipe from the Beverage section in this 1955 American...]

ICED GINGER TEA

Boil ginger root in water 3 to 5 minutes, according to taste desired. Strain and pour hot over cracked ice or ice cubes.

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[Here's an informative chart -- just the base for the sauces, without the flavor additions, in The American Family.]

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WHITE SAUCE
Proportions for ingredients

Thin consistency . . .1 cup milk, 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp butter . . . Use in heavy milk soups.

Thin-medium consistency . . . 1 cup milk, 1 ½ Tbsp flour, 1 ½ Tbsp butter . . . Use in creamed dishes of starchy vegetables or of cereals; also gravy.

Medium consistency . . . 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp flour, 2 Tbsp butter . . . Use in creamed dishes of succulent vegetables, hard-cooked eggs, diced meat, and fish; also gravy.

Thick consistency . . . 1 cup milk, 3 Tbsp flour, 2-3 Tbsp butter . . . Use for binder for croquettes, meat loaf, and soufflés.

Soften the fat or melt it at a very low temperature, blend thoroughly with the flour, add milk, and heat slowly, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, and boil until the starch is cooked. For Cream Sauce substitute cream for milk.

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