Rice Croquettes with Cream Beef Sauce, Buttered and Spiced Beets, Orange Shortcake

Brought to you by Runkel's All-Purpose Cocoa!

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And, of course, by Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book: Numerous New Recipes Based on Present Economic Conditions by Mrs. Mary A. Wilson (Mrs. Wilson's Cooking School, Philadelphia); Formerly Queen Victoria's Cuisiniere and Instructor Domestic Science, University of Virginia Summer School, Charlotteville, Virginia; Instructor of Cooking for the U.S. Navy; Third Printing [1920]

SUPPER
Rice Croquettes with Cream Beef Sauce
Cole Slaw [replaced with Buttered and Spiced Beets]
Orange Shortcake
Tea

RICE CROQUETTES WITH CREAM BEEF

Mould well-seasoned cooked rice into croquettes; then dip and flour and brown in hot fat. Make a cream sauce as follows: Place in a saucepan

Two cups of milk,
One-half cup of flour.

Stir to dissolve the flour and then bring to a boil and cook slowly for five minutes. Add one-half pound of dried beef, prepared as for breakfast, and serve with the croquettes.

BUTTERED AND SPICED BEETS

Cook the beets until tender and then drain and cut into slices. Now place in a small saucepan

One tablespoon of butter,
Two tablespoons of vinegar,
Two tablespoons of hot water,
One teaspoon of salt,
One teaspoon of paprika,
One-eighth teaspoon of mustard,
Tiny pinch of cloves.

When boiling hot, pour over the sliced beets.

ORANGE SHORT CAKE

Place in a mixing bowl

One cup of flour,
One-half teaspoon of salt,
Two teaspoons of baking powder,
Five tablespoons of sugar,
One-half cup of water.

Beat to a stiff dough and then spread on a well-greased and floured layer-cake pan, making the dough higher at the sides than in the middle of the pan. Cover with sliced oranges, cut into small pieces with a sharp knife. Now place in a bowl:

Six tablespoons of brown sugar,
Two tablespoons of flour,
One-half teaspoon of nutmeg.

Mix well and then spread on the shortcake and bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes. Much of the actual preparation of the menu can be prepared on Saturday.

Use yolk of one egg for making dressing for coleslaw. For orange cake use

White of one egg,
One-half glass of jelly.

Place in a bowl and beat until mixture holds its shape. Pile on orange shortcake.

Verdict:

Rice Croquettes with Cream Beef Sauce: Oh my gosh, so salty! As salty as a sailor of suspicious character. Even Husband (who went through a period of his life where he believed that you should eat as much salt as you can choke down because it will help you "absorb water"*, and thus ate his food sheathed with what closely resembled the Bonneville Salt Flats) declared it too salty for consumption. I even rinsed the beef with warm water, as directed on the bottle!

Rice is also really hard to make into croquettes. Probably because I used long-grain white rice, but I don't think Mrs. Wilson had access to sticky rice. The experience was much like herding cats. I recommend this dried beef recipe instead. Oh, and "well-seasoned" means "with salt and pepper", so don't get cheeky and start adding herbs and whatnot, you sassy thing.

Buttered and Spiced Beets: These remind me of Harvard beets, or very lightly pickled beets. Tasty. I can recommend, especially if you just microwave the sauce.

Orange Shortcake: Husband and I had differing opinions. I think it is tasty times. I should have sliced the oranges more thinly, the bites with paper-thin orange slices were nicer. Both easy and festive. Leaving the rind on made it sort of marmaladey, and the brown sugar mixture on top combined with the juice from the orange to make a delightful crusty brown sugary crust of crusty sugar. Husband didn't like the moisture from the oranges that soaked into the cake below, and also felt there was way too much sugar on top.

You will notice that although the recipe calls for whipping an egg white and mixing it with jelly for piling on top, I did not do so. This is mostly because I am a wimp about raw eggs, unless concealed in cookie dough or cornbread batter. Raw eggs really are pretty safe though, unless you are a very small child, pregnant, elderly, or have immune problems. So if you are not one of those things, try it out why not.


*Lesson: Do not trust the medical advice of drill sergeants.