APPENDIX II
FRED HARVEY CHEFS WORKED FROM LARGE HANDMADE “COOKBOOKS” that assembled typed-out sheaves of recipes sent from the main office in Kansas City as well as their own swapped handwritten recipes, kept for years and handed down from cook to cook in each Harvey location. The recipes were generally in paragraph form, and included not only basic cooking instructions but also advice on presentation and occasional social commentary. Below are some of my favorite Fred Harvey recipes, many of them previously unpublished and copied directly, with all colloquialisms intact, from three actual “cookbooks”: one recovered from the family of dining car chef Roy Palmer Jr., who cooked on the Chicago to Kansas City train in the 1920s; another recovered from Otis Thomas, the manager of the Harvey House at the Galveston, which closed in the late 1930s; and a third, a cache of a year’s worth of menus and corresponding cooking instructions for the meals served at one Harvey restaurant in 1930, discovered mislabeled in the bowels of an archive. I’ve also included some of the best of the recipes that appeared in the Santa Fe employee magazine from 1910 to 1913, a few from pamphlets the company published, and a couple that Harvey chefs shared with local newspapers. All of them maintain the standard (even the Bull Frogs Provencal). And they start, as most Harvey meals did, with perfect coffee.
HOW TO MAKE COFFEE
It is a violation of our instructions to use less than eight ounces of ground coffee per gallon. Coffee should be ground medium fine, but not so fine as to contain a flour dust. Your water must be boiling hot, and the water urn should show evidence of the boiling by the steam popping off through the top. When you can see the steam coming out under pressure from the top of the water urn, that is a sign that the water is right for making coffee. If you make four gallons of coffee, pour four gallons of water over rapidly, keeping the urn covered between each pouring so as to retain all the heat. Let this four gallons of water percolate over and through the coffee thoroughly and when the entire four gallons of water have run through, then start to pour over again. If everything is right, at the end of the second pouring the coffee should be finished and be up to the standard. If you do not allow all the first pouring to run through before you start the second, you are very apt to spoil the coffee because when drawing off the second pouring, the stream comes out thin and gets cooled between the faucet and the vessel, with the result that the quality of coffee is immediately adversely affected.
BREAKFAST DISHES
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HARVEY GIRL SPECIAL LITTLE THIN ORANGE PANCAKES
Combine one-quarter cup diced orange sections and juice (half an orange), one teaspoon grated orange peel (also from half an orange), one cup pancake mix, and about one cup orange juice. Bake small pancakes on hot griddle, using one tablespoon butter for each pancake. Serve with maple syrup, honey or jelly.
FLANNEL CAKES
Combine one pound flour, one quart water and one small yeast cake. Set to raise and work in three beaten eggs, one ounce melted butter, a pinch of salt and two ounces of maple syrup. Let raise again and cook very thin, flannel-like pancakes on hot griddle iron.
RICE GRIDDLE CAKES
Mix two and one-half cupfuls of flour, two tablespoons of sugar, four teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Work in one-half cupful of cold cooked rice with the tips of the fingers, then add one and one-half cupfuls of milk, one egg well beaten and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Drop mixture by spoonfuls on a hot griddle; by the time the last one is on the first one should be cooked on one side and ready to turn (when it should be puffed, full of bubbles and cooked on edges). Turn and cook the other side. By the time the last one is turned, if the work is done quickly, the first one is ready to remove and serve. Care must be taken if the finished products are to be regular in shape, of the same size and evenly browned. It must be remembered that the center of the griddle is usually the hottest part. A soapstone griddle needs only to be heated. The ordinary griddle or frying pan which is frequently used must be first heated and then rubbed over with the freshly cut part of half a raw turnip.
FRENCH PANCAKES FILLED WITH APRICOT MARMALADE OR COTTAGE CHEESE
Mix well two eggs, one-half cup cream, one tablespoon flour, one teaspoon of sugar, vanilla extract to taste and a pinch of salt, place small amount of dough in a hot buttered skillet and brown on both sides. Fill with marmalade or cottage cheese, roll and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Cottage cheese filling: Four ounces of dry cottage cheese pressed through a sieve and mixed with the yolk of one egg, one tablespoon sugar, a pinch of salt, a little grated lemon and vanilla. Work to a smooth paste and spread over pancakes.
FRENCH TOAST À LA SANTA FE
Place one-half cup cooking oil in skillet, heat to hot. Meanwhile, cut two slices white bread three-quarters of an inch thick diagonally to form four triangles, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine two eggs, one-half cup light cream, and salt. Beat well. Soak bread thoroughly in egg/cream mixture. Fry soaked bread in one-half cup hot cooking oil to a golden brown on both sides, about two minutes per side. Lift from skillet to clean paper towel and allow to absorb excess cooking oil. Transfer to baking sheet and place in oven. Bake four to six minutes, until bread slices have puffed up. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon and apple sauce, currant jelly, maple syrup, honey or preserves.
OLD VIRGINIA SOUR MILK BISCUITS
Stir into two cupfuls of loppered milk or buttermilk, a day old, one rounded teaspoonful of soda (no more). Whip into this with a few swift strokes one tablespoonful of melted (not hot) butter. Have ready in your mixing bowl one quart of flour twice sifted. Measure after sifting. Make a hole in the middle of this and pour in gradually but quickly the frothing milk, stirring the flour down into it with a wooden spoon. The dough should be very soft. Mix, roll, cut out very rapidly with as little handling as possible, and bake in a quick oven.
HUEVOS RANCHEROS, LA FONDA
Wash one cup pinto beans, cover with one-quarter cup cold water, and let soak overnight. In the morning, heat to boiling, reduce heat and let simmer, covered, until beans are tender—three or four hours. Cool. Add one tablespoon red chili powder, which may be obtained from Mexican grocery store, to the cold water and let soak one hour. Sauté four tablespoons minced onion and one-half to one tablespoon very finely minced green chili pepper in one teaspoon butter very slowly until tender but not browned. Add beans which have been broken up coarsely with a fork and heat through. Add one-quarter to one-half cup hot water if beans are too dry. Transfer heated beans to a well-buttered stirred egg or individual casserole. Make two depressions on top of beans using back of tablespoon, and drop an egg in each depression. Pour two tablespoons soaked red chili powder over the top and dot top of eggs with butter. Bake in a moderate oven (three-hundred-fifty degrees), twenty to twenty-five minutes or until eggs are set sufficiently. (This is one of many Americanized versions of classic Mexican recipes popularized by La Fonda chef Konrad Allgaier.)
SOUPS
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CREAM OF WISCONSIN CHEESE SOUP
Place twelve saltine crackers in oven to warm. In a saucepan heat two cups of beef broth over medium heat. Add three cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese, stirring constantly as it melts. Add remaining quart of beef broth and simmer until smooth. Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, make a roux with three tablespoons butter and three tablespoons all-purpose flour. When smooth, add to first mixture. Continue stirring as you slowly add one cup light cream, one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, and one-quarter teaspoon white pepper. Stir constantly at simmer for fifteen minutes. Serve with toasted crackers. (This was a favorite of Harry Truman’s, originally at St. Louis Union Station and later at Kansas City Union Station.)
ALBONDIGAS SOUP
Cut up four onions and three or four seeded green peppers; put them on the fire in a copper pot with two ounces of lard or butter. (Mexicans do not use butter for cooking.) When onions are done or melted, add two gallons of white bouillon and let boil. Have one pound of mixed beef and veal passed through a meat chopper. Add two eggs, one soupspoonful of marjoram, parsley, one half-cupful of cornmeal and a little salt; mix well. Make some small meat balls about half an inch in diameter; drop them into the broth; let simmer for half an hour. (Mexican cooks will press the meat through their left hands over the simmering soup, using the forefingers of their right hand to give the albondigas the correct shape.) Skim off the fat, season if necessary, and serve. (This classic Mexican dish was re-created by a Harvey chef in Las Vegas, New Mexico—with cultural cooking observations.)
VIENNAISE CHICKEN SOUP WITH HOME MADE NOODLES
Boil one hen, four to five pounds, in one gallon of water with three branches celery, one bay leaf and two tablespoons of salt. When hen is done, strain broth, take four ounces of home made noodles (below) and cook in boiling broth. Before serving, add some finely chopped chives. Noodles:Mix two cups of flour, the yolks of two eggs, one ounce of cold water and a pinch of salt and work through for ten minutes. Cover with a dry cloth, and let rest for twenty minutes. Roll dough very thin, again rest until dry on both sides, cut into two-inch strips, place on top of each other and cut very fine, dry again and cook in boiling broth for five minutes.
CREAM OF ONIONS
Melt three ounces of butter in casserole, add one cup of flour and moisten with one quart chicken broth and one pint milk. Stir with egg whip, season with salt and pepper and add six sliced onions. Cook until tender and rub through fine sieve. Place back on fire again and finish soup with hot cream and sweet butter. Serve with small bread croutons browned in butter.
CHICKEN
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FRIED CHICKEN CASTAÑEDA
Fry an onion, chopped very fine, in butter, add flour, mix and pour in one quart chicken broth and one-half pint cream. Stir and let come to a boil. Let it cook about ten minutes. Add two egg yolks and parsley, and remove from the fire. This sauce must be quite thick. Dip thin slices of one three-pound hen in the sauce so that it adheres to both sides. Lay them in a pan sprinkled with bread crumbs and also sprinkle the chicken with bread crumbs. When cold, dip them in beaten egg and crumbs and fry in deep hot grease. Serve with tomato sauce and French peas as garnish. If handled properly, one three-pound hen will make ten to twelve fair-sized orders.
CHICKEN MACIEL
Preheat oven to broil (or four hundred degrees, if casserole is glass). Dice one pound cooked chicken breast meat into one-inch squares. In large skillet over medium heat, melt one-quarter pound butter and stir in two teaspoons curry powder and one-quarter cup sherry wine. Add chicken to this mixture and sauté five minutes. Meanwhile, cook two cups boiled rice. Using a two-quart saucepan, heat one quart cream sauce. Carefully blend chicken and cooked rice into hot cream sauce. Stir carefully until well mixed. Place in casserole, top with three-quarters cup grated Swiss cheese, and place under broiler until browned, about four minutes, or bake in glass dish at four-hundred degrees until browned and bubbly, about ten minutes. (This was the signature dish of the Kansas City Union Station dining room, named for its longtime manager Joe Maciel.)
CHICKEN LUCRECIO
Unjoint and quarter a six pound hen chicken. Salt and roll in a mixture of two tablespoons chili powder and six tablespoons flour. Roast chicken to a nice brown. Add more of the chili powder–flour mixture and sprinkle with finely chopped garlic and a teaspoon of Camino seed. Add two quarts of water or stock and place in moderate oven for three and one-half hours. When done, remove gravy and stir in one-quarter pound melted butter. Pour gravy over chicken and sprinkle with toasted almonds. (This is another La Fonda favorite from Chef Allgaier, which went nationwide on the Associated Press wire, offered as a treat for “housewives looking for a meal to warm Fall-chilled throats as well as the cockles of the heart.”)
BEEF
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BEEF RISSOLES WITH MASHED POTATOES
Boil two pounds of lean beef, seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix meat with one chopped green pepper, one small chopped onion, a cup of boiled rice, one-half ounce of summer savory, and season with nutmeg and grated lemon peel. Grind this all together in your hash machine. Then form in balls about the size of small hen eggs, bread and fry. If necessary to have more moisture, add a little beef stock. Serve with a mound of mashed potatoes in the center of the dish, a rissole at each end and side, with some thickened roast beef gravy poured around. Mashed potatoes: Peel and chop five potatoes and place in pot of salted water. Boil until tender, drain liquid and mash. Add butter and small amount of canned milk and whip. Stir in desired amount of salt and pepper. Garnish potatoes with parsley. This dish may also be served with kidney beans, green peas, French string beans or mixed vegetables. If the above is compounded according to directions it makes a very nice dish and gives you another outlet for that part of your beef which you cannot serve as steaks or roast. We have tried this at several houses with good results.
BEEF TENDERLOIN STROGANOFF
Sauté two pounds of beef tenderloin tips, cut into two-inch pieces with one onion, finely chopped over a fast fire, but not too brown. Sauté one-half pound mushrooms, cut in thick slices, separately, adding one-half clove garlic, mashed with salt, at the last minute. Now put all ingredients together, adding one cup sour cream and one cup white wine, let simmer for five minutes, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne, and serve.
PLANTATION BEEF STEW ON HOT BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
Place one and one-half pounds beef, cut into one and one-half-inch cubes, and one quart of hot water in saucepan, and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for one and a half hours. Add one cup of diced potatoes, cover, and continue cooking thirty to sixty minutes, until the potatoes are mushy. Add another cup of diced potatoes, one-half cup diced onions, six chopped green onions, one-quarter teaspoon black pepper, one clove garlic, minced, and seasonings. Cook until vegetables are tender, about twenty minutes. When ready, split a hot buttermilk biscuit and ladle stew over bottom half. Replace top and add more stew to suit. You can substitute chicken, veal, pork, or ham for beef to make this stew. (This pre–Civil War recipe from a Harvey chef’s grandmother was upgraded by using prime beef.)
HUNGARIAN BEEF GOULASH WITH POTATO DUMPLINGS
Sauté one and one-half pounds of chopped onions to a golden brown, add paprika and one clove of garlic, mashed with salt to a puree, mix well and add one and one-half pounds of lean beef, cut in two-inch pieces. Cook for one and one-half hours, stirring frequently to prevent meat from sticking to sauce pan and adding once or twice a half cup of water; season with salt to taste. Dumplings: Mix two pounds of grated potatoes, three tablespoons of flour, one teaspoon of corn starch and a pinch of nutmeg and salt, add the yolks of two eggs, form into dumplings the size of a golf ball, roll in flour and drop into boiling hot salt water. Cook slowly for ten minutes (do not cover pot). Before serving, roll dumplings in buttered browned bread crumbs.
CHOPPED BEEF STEAK MARCIA
Pass one pound trimmed beef through meat chopper. Add, finely minced onions sautéed in butter, chopped parsley; season with salt and pepper; mix with one egg, and form into round steaks. Fry slowly in butter until medium done and dish up on platter. Place fried egg on top, and garnish with fried zucchini.
SEAFOOD
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ANGELS ON HORSEBACK
Dry large oysters with towel, season with salt and cayenne pepper. Wrap in parboiled strips of bacon and tie with toothpick. Dip in flour, eggwash, and fresh breadcrumbs. Place on skewers, and fry in hot lard a golden brown. Serve on toast, and garnish with quarter lemons and parsley.
MOUNTAIN TROUT AU BLEU
Clean a fresh-killed trout, ten inches or more, removing entrails but leaving on head and tail. Be careful not to remove the slime covering the fish, as it is important to the flavor. Place trout in fish pan and set aside. Prepare court bouillon by bringing two cups of fish stock to a boil and adding one sliced onion, one bay leaf, three whole cloves, two tablespoons of vinegar and the juice of half a lemon. Stir, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Strain before using. Pour bouillon over trout to cover. Return pan to burner, reduce heat to slow boil and cook for ten to twelve minutes. Remove trout from pan and serve with drawn butter and horseradish cream, made by mixing one-half cup of heavy cream, one teaspoon of sugar, two drops of white vinegar and one teaspoon freshly grated horseradish. (This dish was served opening night at the Montezuma, and later adapted by a Fred Harvey dining car chef.)
MACARONI AND OYSTERS
Cook macaroni in salted water, without breaking it, till it is soft. Butter a covered mold or small pail quite thickly, and, beginning in the center of the bottom, coil the macaroni around. As it begins to rise on the sides put a layer of oysters, only half cooked, mixed with a thick cream sauce, and then add more macaroni, and so on until the mold is full. Put on the cover and cook in a kettle of boiling water for half an hour. Turn out on a hot platter and surround with cheese balls made by adding melted butter and chopped parsley to grated American cheese and molding into shape. Pass a bowl of cream sauce with this. (This recipe from Harvey Girl B. P. O’Dowd of Kansas City was published in a private Harvey Girl cookbook.)
FINNAN HADDIE DEARBORN
Simmer one pound finnan haddie (smoked haddock) in one and one-half cups milk for ten minutes. Place in two individual shallow casseroles or shirred egg dishes. Arrange potato slices, made from two medium potatoes, at one end of casserole. Brush potatoes with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt. Pour one cup cream over fish and potatoes, sprinkle with paprika. Bake in moderate oven (three-hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit) for fifteen minutes. Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Cover casserole to retain the wonderful aroma, and serve immediately, hot and bubbly. (This was one of the earliest dishes on the menu at Dearborn Station in Chicago.)
CRABMEAT AND SHRIMPS IN RAMEKINS
Simmer three diced fresh mushrooms in butter with one cup cleaned fresh shrimps. Add one cup cream sauce and one-half cup pure cream, season with salt, cayenne pepper and sherry wine. Let cook for a few minutes, adding one-half cup picked fresh crabmeat. Fill into buttered ramekins, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Dot with small piece of butter, and brown in oven.
BAKED HALIBUT WITH LOBSTER SAUCE
Preheat oven to four hundred degrees. Cut two pounds halibut steaks in eight ounce portions. Season with salt, pepper, one ounce bread crumbs, one-half cup soft sweet butter and one-half cup of white wine. Bake in baking dish for twenty minutes and put aside. Cover with aluminum foil to keep moist. For the sauce, melt one-half cup lobster butter (below) and one tablespoon sautéed shallot, one-quarter pound fresh sliced mushrooms, and eight ounces lobster meat for two minutes. Add one-half cup of white wine and reduce by half. Add one cup whipping cream and brandy reduced for five minutes, finish the sauce off the heat by stirring the sweet butter to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Reheat gently over slow heat till simmer. Pour over baked fish and serve immediately. Lobster butter: Place one and one-half cups dry white wine, one-half cup cognac, Kosher salt, one tablespoon freshly crushed black peppercorns, and two pounds lightly salted butter in saucepan. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve pushing down on four and one half pounds crushed lobster heads to extract all the juices. Chill in the refrigerator. When the mixture is cold lift off the butter. Wrap it securely in plastic and keep in the refrigerator or freeze. Makes about one pound.
BAKED CODFISH
One pint of finely shredded codfish; one pint of mashed potatoes; two tablespoonsful of butter; two-thirds of a cupful of cream; three eggs beaten separately, the whites to be added the last thing before baking. Beat the whole mixture hard and long, then bake in a buttered pudding dish. Pour out on a platter and then pour over it the sauce, made as follows: three tablespoonfuls of butter, creamed with one of flour, added to one and one-half cupfuls of boiling water; cook until smooth. Add half a teaspoonful of salt, three shakes of white pepper and two hard-cooked eggs chopped fine.
CODFISH BALLS
One pint of minced cooked codfish; one pair of calves’ brains, chopped fine, one cupful of mashed potatoes, one egg and salt and pepper to taste. Cook the brains in water containing a tablespoonful of lemon juice. When tender, drain, blanch and drain again. Chop fine and mix with the codfish, potatoes, eggs and seasoning. Form into small balls, flour lightly, dip in beaten egg and roll in cracker crumbs. Fry in deep fat and serve hot. (These two cod recipes are “lenten delicacies” from the Santa Fe employee magazine.)
SAUTÉED SHRIMP & SCALLOPS
Heat four tablespoons butter in heavy skillet, add one pound of medium shrimp, shelled and deveined, and sauté for three to five minutes or until pink and cooked. With a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp to a dish. Keep warm. Add one pound of bay scallops and four tablespoons of butter to the same skillet. Sauté the scallops for several minutes until cooked. Remove with slotted spoon and add to the shrimp. Over high heat, reduce the skillet cooking juice, then stir in two tablespoons brandy, one tablespoon of tarragon puree (below), two cups of fish veloute (below) and one-half cup heavy cream. Cook over high heat, swirling in the pan, for thirty seconds, lower the heat and stir in the accumulated juices from the shrimp and scallops, fold in the scallops and shrimp. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then reheat gently. Serve with steamed rice. Tarragon puree: Heat four tablespoons butter in a skillet, add one cup of fresh tarragon leaves and stir to coat well. Cover the pan and let the tarragon cook gently for thirty minutes. Pour the mixture into a food processor or through a sieve. Fish veloute: Melt four tablespoons lightly salted butter in a saucepan and stir in one-quarter cup of all-purpose flour. Gradually stir in two and two-thirds cups of fish stock and stir until sauce is smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for twenty minutes, whisking often.
FILLET OF FLOUNDER GLORIA
Remove fillets from fish and flatten with cleaver. Spread finely chopped, well seasoned spinach, mix with minced shallots and bind with egg. Roll fish fillets and place in buttered pan. Season, poach in lemon juice and Bercy wine for about ten to twelve minutes. Remove and dish up on platter with fancy border of Duchesse potatoes. Garnish each fillet with cooked cup mushrooms filled with diced fresh shrimp. Reduce essence in pan, add one cup of well-prepared Newberg sauce, seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper. Pour sauce over fish, glaze quickly under gas flame and garnish with thread of tomato sauce.
DEVILED LOBSTER
Take the meat from the claws of the lobster and pull out all the creamy part from the head and chop it up perfectly fine; mix with it a dust of paprika, a dessert-spoonful of chopped chutney, an ounce and a half of warm butter and one peeled raw tomato chopped fine. Put all these together in a stew-pan and stir over the fire till the mixture boils; then add a tablespoonful of mixed English mustard and the same of French mustard. Stir all together, turn out onto little square pieces of hot buttered toast and serve with a little sprinkling of chopped parsley and lobster coral or paprika. This should be served very hot. The body of the lobster can be used up in the same way or kept for a mayonnaise or other dish.
BULL FROGS SAUTÉ PROVENCAL
Remove skin, dismember bull frog, cut into desired pieces, season with salt and pepper, dip in flour and sauté in butter and one crushed garlic kernel, a few minced shallots, one chopped onion and three sliced fresh mushrooms. Add a few fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced. Let simmer until frog legs are tender, season with salt and pepper and finish sauce with chopped parsley and olives. Serve in chafing dish.
VEGETABLES
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HARVEY COLE SLAW
In a large bowl, combine one medium head cabbage, shredded, and one small onion, finely minced. Spread one-third cup granulated sugar over it, toss with fork. Next, bring to boil one teaspoon sugar, one and one-half teaspoon salt, one-half teaspoon dry mustard, one-half teaspoon celery seed, one-half cup salad oil, one-half cup apple cider vinegar. Pour over cabbage, toss thoroughly and refrigerate for at least four hours. Serves five to six, lasts beautifully.
GERMAN POTATO SALAD
Boil twelve potatoes. While hot, cut into thin slices, cover with finely sliced onions and add one teaspoon of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper. Mix the yolk of one egg with three tablespoons of olive oil and four tablespoons of vinegar. Pour the well-mixed dressing over the potatoes, then pour a half-cup of boiling water or broth over the whole mixture and stir well. Sprinkle with chopped parsley; cover and let stand a few hours. This salad will never be dry.
POTATO SOUFFLÉ
Boil four good-sized mealy potatoes; pass them through a sieve. Scald in a saucepan half a teacupful of sweet milk and a tablespoonful of butter; add to the potatoes with a little salt and pepper and beat to a cream. Add, one at a time, the yolks of four eggs, beating thoroughly; put a small pinch of salt into the whites and beat them to a stiff froth, then add them to the mixture, beating as little as possible. Have ready a well-buttered baking dish, large enough to permit the soufflé to rise without running over; bake twenty minutes in a brisk oven, serve at once in the same dish in which baked.
CAULIFLOWER GREENS RESTELLI
Sauté two tablespoons chopped onion and three strips of bacon, diced, in two teaspoons of olive oil until tender but not brown. Add one-half cup chopped tomatoes, one-half cup tomato puree and one-half clove garlic, minced. Simmer until amount is reduced by half, about twenty minutes. Wash one cauliflower (one and one-quarter pound), including the good leaves and stems; chop fine. Cook five minutes in boiling salted water and drain. Add to tomato sauce and serve. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over each serving if desired. (This was created by a sous chef at St. Louis Union Station for the droves of new immigrants passing through.)
MRS. FORD HARVEY’S BAKED EGG PLANT
Egg Plant is very popular in the south and Mrs. Ford Harvey thinks it is finer when baked than cooked in any other way. Her method is to take one medium sized egg plant, cut it in halves, remove the pulp and mix with it one cup bread crumbs, one-fourth cup stock or cream, one-half cup chopped mushrooms (canned). Season with butter, pepper, salt. Fill the two halves with the mixture and sprinkle bread crumbs over the top, with a little butter. Bake twenty minutes and serve with hot tomato sauce. (Judy shared this recipe with the Kansas City Star, for a dish she may very well have brought to serve at her Tip Top Cafeteria.)
BELL PEPPER, FORD HARVEY STYLE
Remove the skin from six bell peppers (enough to make twelve orders) by dipping them into hot grease. Peel three or four eggplants and cut and dice a quarter of an inch thick. Cut the peppers in two lengthwise, remove the fleshy part adhering to the seeds, chop it and add to the eggplant. Cut two or three onions and one green pepper fine; put on the fire with three ounces of olive oil or butter and let cook for ten minutes. Add a handful of fresh bread crumbs, one crushed clove of garlic, eggplant, and a little salt, and stir frequently until done. Add one tablespoon flour, mix well; pour in one-half pint milk; let come to a boil and keep stirring. Add two whole eggs and a little chopped parsley. Mix well, season if necessary, and remove from the fire. Stuff the bell peppers with this mixture. Sprinkle with grated cheese; put a small lump of butter on each one, and leave them in a hot oven long enough to produce a nice golden brown color. (This was known as a favorite dish of Ford’s.)
GUACAMOLE MONTEREY
Mash one avocado, add one tomato, chopped fine, one-half cup cottage or cream cheese, two tablespoons chopped green onions, one tablespoon lemon juice, one-half tablespoon chopped chives, one-half tablespoon salt, dash of pepper, dash of Worcestershire. Mix thoroughly and chill. Serve on lettuce with peeled, chilled tomato wedge or use as dunk mixture.
STUFFED ONIONS
Parboil in salt water for twenty minutes some large white onions; drain and let cool. Take out the inner parts of the onions with a tablespoon or large vegetable scoop. Add to these two handfuls of bread crumbs and two of mushrooms. Chop the whole fine, put it in a saucepan with a ladleful of drawn butter and tomatoes chopped fine, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well. Stuff the onions, then put them in a flat saucepan and sprinkle with bread crumbs and a little butter. Bake for about half an hour until a light brown color. (This was a favorite recipe of Chef Geyer, who cooked for the Coyote Special.)
RISOTTO PIEMONTAISE
Sauté one small onion, chopped fine, in butter to a golden brown. Add one cup uncooked rice and continue heating until rice is browned lightly, about ten minutes, stirring constantly. Add about one-half teaspoon salt, and two-and-a-half cups of boiling chicken broth, cover, reduce heat to low and cook slowly for eighteen to twenty minutes or until rice is tender and excess liquid has evaporated. Serve hot, topped or mixed with grated Parmesan cheese. (This is an Americanized version of the classic Italian dish from chefs at Los Angeles Union Station—and perhaps a precursor of Rice-A-Roni.)
CHILI SAUCE
Take ten ounces of dry red chili, free from seeds and veins. Set in the oven for five minutes to make them crisp, being careful not to burn them. Soak in plenty of water for two hours, drain and put them on the stove, with one sliced onion, one clove crushed garlic, two ounces of sugar, a little salt and one quart of water. Let boil fifteen minutes. Dissolve about a tablespoonful of cornstarch in a little water, add it to the boiling chili and strain until every particle of pulp is forced out of the chili. Mix well and season to taste. The foregoing is a Mexican dish, but the average American prefers a somewhat milder sauce, which can be produced by one quart or more of tomatoes instead of water.
DESSERT
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BAKED APPLE
If the skin is thin and of a deep red color it is not necessary to pare the apple, but the core at all times should be carefully removed, especially every bit of the lining of the seed cells. The apples should be baked in granite or earthen vessels—never in tin, as tin gives them an unpleasant flavor and dingy color. Fill the core cavities with sugar, heaped or scant according to the tartness of the apples; add also a few grains of salt and sufficient water to half cover the apples. Bake in a quick oven and baste frequently.
HOT STRAWBERRY SUNDAE
Marinate one pint of strawberries, cut in half, in four tablespoons Jamaican rum for one hour. Bring three-quarters of a cup of strained honey, four tablespoons of lemon juice and the rind of one orange, cut into strips to boil; remove orange rind and combine flavored honey with strawberries. Serve over vanilla ice cream immediately. (Inspired by a sundae that a Harvey restaurant manager had at the Chicago world’s fair—which combined hot maple syrup and strawberries—this became the favorite dessert at Kansas City Union Station.)
ECONOMICAL LAYER CAKE
Put into the mixing bowl one cupful of flour, one cupful of sugar, a pinch of salt, one level teaspoonful of baking powder. Mix well together, dry. Melt in the measuring cup a piece of butter the size of an English walnut; break into this an egg (without beating) and fill the cup with milk. Pour into the mixing bowl and beat all together rapidly for a minute. Flavor to suit taste and bake in a hot oven. With one-quarter the amount of sugar it makes fine muffins or gems, can be used for steam batter pudding, or cottage pudding, and, with the addition of nuts, raisins and spice, makes delicious “hermits.” (This penny-wise recipe came from “an experienced and economical housewife” whose husband was “in the Harvey Service.”)
PLUM PUDDING WITH BRANDY SAUCE
Mix one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, one pound of chopped suet, one pound of grated bread, one-half pound of flour, one-half pound of “C” sugar, one ounce of candied citron, one ounce of candied lemon peel, one ounce of blanched almonds, chopped fine, three grated nutmegs, five eggs, a little salt, and the rind and juice of one lemon. Mix with sweet cream until a spoon will stand up in the middle. Boil five or six hours. Add two wine glasses of brandy, if desired, and serve with brandy sauce. (This dish was served on the inaugural run of the Fred Harvey–George Pullman dining car.)
BUTTERSCOTCH PIE CHANTILLY
Boil one pound of sugar with a little water until brown and add four ounces sweet butter. In the meantime heat two quarts of milk in double boiler, add caramelized sugar and bind with fifteen egg yolks combined with four ounces corn starch. Whisk with egg whip and make a smooth cream. Fill into baked pie crusts and let cool. Garnish with vanilla flavored, sweetened whipped cream, using pastry bag with star tube.
NEW ENGLAND PUMPKIN PUDDING
Mix one pint cream, six ounces melted butter, ten eggs and one-half pound sugar together. Add three pounds pumpkin pulp, one-half teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Fill in buttered pudding mold, place in bain-marie and bake in oven for about thirty to forty minutes. Unmold and serve with lemon sauce.
OATMEAL COOKIES
Two cupfuls granulated sugar; one and one-third cupfuls butter, four eggs: Stir these until light and creamy. With four cupfuls of sifted pastry flour, mix one and one-third teaspoonfuls soda, two teaspoonfuls cinnamon. Stir into butter, sugar and egg; then add four cupfuls of rolled oats (not cooked), two cupfuls shredded raisins and two cupfuls chopped nuts. Mix well; drop into tins and bake in a slow oven.
RICH RAISIN CUP CAKES
Put together and boil for a few minutes—two cupfuls of seeded raisins and two cupfuls of water, one and one-half cups of sugar and two teaspoonfuls of shortening, allow to cool then add one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one-half teaspoonful of nutmeg, one quarter teaspoonful of cloves, one teaspoonful of soda, one-half teaspoonful of baking powder, one cup of chopped nuts and one cupful of flour. Drop the mixture into cup cake pans one tablespoonful to each tin. This makes two dozen cup cakes or one large loaf cake if desired.
BRANDY FLIP PIE
In a small bowl, pour one tablespoon unflavored gelatin over cold water and let stand five minutes to soften. In double boiler over slow-boiling water, combine four egg yolks, lightly beaten, one-half cup sugar, and scalded milk. Cook until mixture coats spoon, then remove from heat. Add softened gelatin and stir until dissolved. Chill in refrigerator until mixture is slightly thickened. Meanwhile, beat egg whites stiff with one tablespoon sugar, nutmeg, and brandy. In a large mixing bowl, gently fold egg-white mixture into chilled mixture and pour into cooled, baked pie shell. Return to refrigerator and chill until firm. Before serving, top with one pint whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls. Shave chocolate curls from one pint slightly warmed bitter or semi-sweet chocolate, using the blade of a potato peeler.
FRENCH APPLE PIE WITH NUTMEG SAUCE
Pare and slice eight cups tart apples and place in the saucepan with one-half cup water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about five minutes. Add one-half cup sugar, mixing gently to avoid damaging apples. Using slotted spoon, arrange apples in pie tin lined with pastry. In a small bowl, stir to mix one cup graham cracker crumbs, one-half cup flour, and one-half cup sugar. Add one-third cup butter and a few drops vanilla and stir thoroughly with a fork until mixture has a coarse, crumbly texture. Sprinkle the graham cracker topping evenly over apples. Place in oven preheated to four-hundred-fifty degrees for ten minutes, then reduce temperature to three-fifty degrees and bake for thirty minutes, or until pastry turns light brown. Nutmeg sauce: In small saucepan, beat one egg yolk, one-half cup sugar, and one cup milk together well. Heat to just boiling and remove from heat immediately. Add one teaspoon nutmeg and stir thoroughly. (This classic eating house comfort-food dish was tarted up by the head Fred Harvey baker at Los Angeles Union Station.)
LA FONDA PUDDING
Beat three egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored; gradually add one cup sugar, beating constantly. Fold in one cup finely crushed graham crackers, one-half cup chopped nuts, one teaspoon baking powder, one-eighth teaspoon salt, and one-half teaspoon vanilla. Fold in three egg whites, stiffly beaten. Bake in a buttered eight-by-eight-by-two-inch pan in moderate oven (three-hundred-fifty degrees) for forty-five minutes. Cool in pan for ten minutes. Remove from pan. Cut in squares and serve topped with whipped cream and extra chopped walnuts if desired.
ALMOND SOUFFLÉ PUDDING
Boil one quart milk and four ounces butter, add four ounces flour and stir on fire until dry. Remove and add ten egg yolks, one by one, beating with wooden spoon and mix in four ounces finely chopped or ground almonds. Whip ten egg whites real stiff, add sugar and combine with rest of ingredients. Fill in buttered pudding molds and bake in bain-marie for about twenty-five to thirty minutes. Serve with Sabayon or vanilla sauce. Vanilla sauce: Melt three-quarters cup butter; blend three tablespoons cornstarch and one and a half cups sugar. Add three cups boiling water, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened. Add three teaspoons vanilla just before serving.
CHOCOLATE PUFFS
Boil together one cupful of flour, one cupful of water and half a cupful of butter. Remove from fire and beat in an ounce of melted chocolate and (one at a time) three eggs. Bake in a gem pan, and when done cut off the top and put into each cake a teaspoonful of strawberry preserves. Cover with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored.