It’s a Man’s World - A Taste of History

A Taste of History

We recently stumbled upon a treasure called The Stag Cookbook. Written by C. Mac Sheridanand published in 1922, this book touts itself as “a man’s cookbook for men.” Inside its pages are recipes and anecdotes shared by influential men of the era. Some of the entries are humorous, others are culinary madness. We chose some of these recipes to share by men whose names you’ll recognize and a few simply for the way they were written. If you’re brave, you might want to try to recreate a few.

Houdini

Yes, THAT Houdini. The legendary magician supplied two recipes in the cookbook. We bet guests made those deviled eggs disappear!

Scalloped Mushrooms

Choose for this purpose fine firm ones. Pick, wash, wipe, and peel—then lay them in a deep pudding dish well buttered. Season them with pepper and salt, and add a little onion. Sprinkle each layer with rolled bread crumbs, dot with small pieces of butter and proceed in this way until dish is full, having the top layer of bread crumbs. Bake in a moderate oven.

Deviled Eggs

Boil the eggs hard. Remove shells and cut eggs in half, slicing a bit off the ends to make them stand upright. Extract yolks and rub them to a smooth paste with melted butter, cayenne pepper, a touch of mustard and a dash of vinegar. Fill the hollowed whites with this and send to table upon a bed of chopped lettuce or water cress, seasoned with pepper, salt, vinegar and a little sugar.

Charlie Chaplin

As the cookbook editor noted, the dish shared by the film star was a popular one of the time. He didn’t share the recipe for the pastry crust used in the pie, but it’s fun to think of him dusted with a

bit of flour, rolling out dough.

Steak and Kidney Pie

This is how I do it:

Get 2 pounds lean steak1 beef kidney1 small onion

Cut the steak and kidney into two inch pieces. Flour them. Add pepper and salt to taste. Line a deep pie dish with rich pie crust after having buttered dish. Put inverted egg cup in center. Fill with meat and finely chopped onion. Add water almost to top of dish. Roll pastry half inch thick and cover all. Make several small holes in pastry to permit steam to escape. Bake three hours in moderate oven. Eat.

Cookbook Editor’s Note – Steak and kidney pie is a favorite with many beside the great film comedian. Interesting variations of Mr. Chaplin’s recipe are: Lamb kidney instead of beef kidney.  Top crust only. Fry the meat chunks before putting them into the pie.

Chick Evans 

If you don’t recognize the name, Chick was one of the most accomplished American amateur golfers of his time. In 1916, he became the first golfer to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open in the same year, a feat that only Bobby Jones has matched.

Cream of Tomato Soup

I have a fondness for tomato soup and steak without grizzles. Since almost any one can broil a steak I’ll pass that up and tell you how to play cream of tomato right around the kitchen course in par.

You can take ripe tomatoes, cut them up, stew them and put them through a strainer. You can add a bit of soup stock and seasoning and all that, but the easy way is to take some of Mr. Campbell’s tomato soup and add milk instead of water—only use more soup, per person, than the can label calls for.

Don’t boil it—but when the soup is good and hot give it a bit of informal seasoning and then stir in a lot of stiff whipped cream. Keep back enough of the whipped cream to put a big spoonful of it in the center of each plate.

Use the can opener at the first tee and with luck you’ll be on the dinner table in an easy three. Play out of the soup plate with a good sized spoon for a par four—and there you are!

You’ll be able to whip the cream without detailed directions. The important thing is choosing the right egg beater or cream whipper or whatever you use. The next important thing in whipping cream is stance. You’ll gradually acquire that, after you’ve spattered the front of your vest a time or two, and hooked a few long ones to the wall paper. I believe that there are some safety devices for whipping cream, but they take all the sport and excitement out of the thing.

Walt Louderback

The recipe shared by this American artist exudes the same character as his paintings: alive with a poetic sense of adventure and romanticism.

Corn Chowder

I believe my favorite recipe is Corn Chowder.

The appetite for this dish must be approached from the windy side of a promontory in early spring with a sixty pound pack between the shoulder blades, aforementioned pack to contain for a couple of congenial souls a pound of bacon, a pound of dry onions, two cans of corn and one large tin of condensed milk.

Cut the bacon up into small half inch squares and start it frying. Simultaneously slice the onions and give them the heat. If, after the aroma from these two begins to permeate the air, you feel like risking their falling into the fire, start boiling the corn and milk. Before the onions are too thoroughly cooked stir them into the bacon, at which time the battle for the supremacy of the appetizing odors is occupying most of your attention.

Now throw the bacon and onions into the corn pot and wait as long as you are able so that the ingredients become thoroughly familiar with one another.

Write me as soon as you get home if you don’t remember that day until you are an old man.

To make this sound extremely professional I suppose I should add, “Season to taste,” but do not mind if a few ashes get mixed in by mistake.

George F. Worts

This prolific author of pulp stories and series, wrote adventure titles and mysteries, with some of his works being turned to film. Born in Ohio, he worked as a ship’s hand on the Great Lakes as a teen and later served as a Marconi operator on the Pacific and Great Lakes, but his description of Southerners and this dish sounds spot on.

Sweet Potato Pone

There are two sure ways of identifying a true southerner. One of them is to play “Dixie.” Unlike your northerner, or counterfeit southerner who springs to his feet and looks exalted and proud when the band strikes up that swinging anthem, your true, or southern southerner rarely springs. Generally he just sets and waggles one boot, and looks happy or sentimental, according to his nature. That is one way of detecting your true southerner. The second and surer way is to announce in a tremulous voice: “Gemmen, dat potato pone am done set.”

The sweet potato pone is strictly a southern dish. It is served south of the Mason and Dixon line hot and smoking. You don’t need much experience as a cook, although the old rule which also places “perfect” after “practice” of course holds good. Your ninth potato pone will be better than your third. Here is the how:

Grind up raw sweet potatoes in a meat chopper until you have one quart. Mix the grindings thoroughly in a bowl with molasses—enough molasses so the mass is soft and sticky, or spongy. Mix in a heaping tablespoon of lard. Add a teaspoon of allspice.

Put the mixture in a cake tine and place in a slow over. Stir constantly until a rich brown hue is attained, then smooth over with a knife or spoon and allow to bake slowly until a mellow brown crust is formed. 

Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, cut in slices and serve. General Robert E. Lee would walk ten miles for a slice of it.