Period Corporal's Kitchen-Salads and Dressings, May

Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Location
Aledo, IL
Corporal’s Kitchen- Salads and Dressings

Summer is going to begin and our tastes turn to cool, refreshing side dishes to compliment our Main Courses! Despite the history of Salads in Europe, the place where they would “come into their own” was America- and not only as a simple dish of greens and a dressing, or a heavily laden conglomeration, but as a main dish. Salads weren’t written about much until after the Civil War, but very basic, plain and undoubtedly local salads-a handful of greens put together from a family gardens and a dressing-did exist. Early salads were even a part of American Tavern food. Salads could be served as a first course, a side dish, next to the last course, or even as an entire meal!
Below you will find delicious recipes for a variety of salads and dressings! Please prepare these for your culinary enjoyment and impress guests and your families with taste and history!

From “The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual”, By William Kitchiner, 1830.

Boiled Salad
This is best compounded of boiled or baked onions (if Portugal the better), some baked beet-root, cauliflower, or broccoli, and boiled celery and French beans, or any of these articles, with the common salad dressing; added to this, to give it an enticing appearance, and to give some of the crispness and freshness so pleasant in salad, a small quantity of raw endive, or lettuce and chervil, or burnet, strewed on the top: this is by far more wholesome than the raw salad, and is much eaten when put on the table.

Vinegar for Salads
Take of tarragon, savoury, chives, eschalots, three ounces each; a handful of the tops of mint and balm, all dry and pounded; put into a wide-mouthed bottle, with a gallon of best vinegar; cork it close, set it in the sun, and in a fortnight strain off, and squeeze the herbs; let it stand a day to settle, and then strain it through a filtering bag.

Basil Vinegar or Wine
Sweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of August. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with the fresh green leaves of basil (these give much finer and more flavour than the dried), and cover them with vinegar, or wine, and let them steep for ten days: if you wish a very strong essence, strain the liquor, put it on some fresh leaves, and let them steep fourteen days more. Observation: This is a very agreeable addition to sauces, soups, and to the mixture usually made for salads.

From “The Lady's Receipt-Book”, By Eliza Leslie, 1847

Italian Chicken Salad
Make a dressing in the proportion of the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, mashed or pounded fine; a salt-spoon of salt; and the same quantity of mustard, and of cayenne; and a salt-spoon of powdered white sugar; four table-spoonfuls of salad-oil; and two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar will be best.) Simmer this dressing over the fire, but do not let it come to a boil. Stir it all the time.
Take a sufficiency of the white meat of cold fowls, and pull or cut it into flakes. Pile it in the middle of a dish, and pour the salad-dressing over it. Have ready two fine fresh lettuces that have been laid in cold water. Strip off the outside leaves; cut up the best part of the lettuces, and arrange it evenly in a ridge, or circular heap all round the pile of chicken in the centre. On the top of the ridge of lettuce, place the whites of the eggs, cut into rings and laid round so as to form a chain. Of course, a portion of the lettuce is to be helped with the chicken.

From “A New System for Domestic Cookery”, By Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell, 1807


Cucumber Vinegar
Pare and slice fifteen large cucumbers, and put them in a stone jar, with three pints of vinegar, four large onions sliced, two or three shalots, a little garlick, two large spoonfuls of salt, three tea-spoonfuls of pepper, and half a tea-spoonful of Cayenne. After standing four days, give the whole a boil; when cold, strain, and filtre the liquor through paper. Keep in small bottles, to add to sallad, or eat with meat.

From “A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes”, By Charles Elmé Francatelli, 1852

A Plain Salad
Cos lettuce cut up in a bowl or basin, seasoned with chopped green mint and green onions, a spoonful of moist sugar, vinegar, pepper and salt. Mix thoroughly.

A Summer Salad
Rinse and well shake off all moisture from a couple of cos lettuce, cut them up into a bowl or basin, add a few roughly-chopped green onions, half a gill (14 pint or 8 tablespoons) of cream, a table-spoonful of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. Mix all together.
 
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