Side dishes of colorful fresh vegetables and rich sauces that will enhance any meal.
Based on recipes from Godey’s, 1864.
Cooked Spinach
- When carefully washed and picked, place in a saucepan just large enough to hold it, sprinkle it with a little salt, and cover close
- Shake well while on the fire
- When done, beat up the spinach with a piece of butter
- A spoonful of cream improves the flavor
Scalloped Tomatoes
- Take fine, large tomatoes, perfectly ripe
- Scald them to loosen the skins, and then peal them
- Cover the bottom of a deep dish thickly with grated breadcrumbs adding a few bits of fresh butter
- Put in a layer of tomatoes, seasoned slightly with a little salt and cayenne, and some powdered mace or nutmeg
- Cover them with another layer of breadcrumbs and butter
- Add another layer of seasoned tomatoes; and proceed thus till the dish is full, finishing at the top with breadcrumbs
- Set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake it near three hours [325 degrees for one hour or until the breadcrumbs are brown
- Tomatoes require long cooking, otherwise they will have a raw taste, that to most persons is unpleasant.
Stewed Carrots
- Half boil the carrots; then scrape them nicely
- Cut them into thick slices
- Put them into a stew-pan with as much milk as will barely cover them, a very little salt and pepper, and a sprig or two of chopped parsley
- Simmer them till they are perfectly tender, but not broken
- When nearly done, add a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour
- Send them to table hot.
Sauces
Fish Sauce
To about four ounces of melted butter, add three tablespoonfuls of mushroom catchup [substitute by sautéing ½ cup of sliced mushrooms in butter, then add ketchup, stir constantly for about 15 minutes], a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies [anchovy paste is available at most grocery stores], a tablespoonful of white wine vinegar [cooking wine], some cayenne, and a teaspoonful of soy.Oyster Sauce
- The oysters are to be bearded and scalded [include juice from oysters]
- Strain the liquor [remove any white foam scum first], and thicken it with a little flour and butte
- Add lemon juice in small quantity, and a few tablespoonfuls of cream
- Heat the oysters well in this mixture, but do not let them boil; some persons add spices in making oyster sauce, in which case it must be left longer on the fire, simmering gently, but never being allowed to boil.
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