From the Back Cover
These pages reveal why The Joy of Cooking has become a legacy of learning and pleasure for generations of users. Irma's sensible, fearless approach to cooking and her reassuring voice offer both novice and experienced cooks everything they need to produce a crackling crust on roasts and bake the perfect cake. All the old classics are here - Chicken a la King, Molded Cranberry Nut Salad, and Charlotte Russe to name a few - but so are dozens of unexpected recipes such as Risotto and Roasted Spanish Onions, dishes that seem right at home on our tables today.
About the Author
Irma Rombauer self-published the first Joy of Cooking in 1931. In 1936, the first commercial edition was published by Bobbs-Merrill. Marion Rombauer Becker, Irma’s daughter, helped revise and update each subsequent edition until 1951. The 1963 edition was the first after Irma’s death and was completely Marion’s. Her son, Ethan Becker, helped Marion revise the 1975 edition, and then oversaw the 1997 and 75th Anniversary editions. Ethan’s son, John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott are the first of the family to be solely responsible for testing, revising, and updating the book since 1975, ensuring the latest edition is given the same love and attention to detail that made this culinary resource an American classic.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
The Joy of Cooking
Cocktails
Most cocktails containing liquor are made today with gin and ingenuity. In brief, take an ample supply of the former and use your imagination. For the benefit of a minority, it is courteous to serve chilled fruit juice in addition to cocktails made with liquor.
GIN COCKTAIL
1/2 cup gin
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
A few drops of bitters
Apricot or other fruit syrup to sweeten and flavor the cocktail as desired. These proportions may be varied.
Serve the cocktail iced, with hot Cream Cheese Canapés -- Page 6, or with some other appetizer -- or prepare 1/4 cup of cocktail for each person, chill it in the refrigerator and pour it over skinned, chilled and slightly sweetened grapefruit sections, in fruit cocktail glasses -- Page 2. Use chilled orange juice over prepared grapefruit for those who do not like liquor in cocktails. Serve the fruit cocktail as the first course of a dinner with, or without, some kind of appetizer.
TOMATO JUICE COCKTAIL
1 can of tomatoes (No. 2 1/2 can)
1/2 cup water
1 slice onion
1 stalk celery
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of parsley
Boil these ingredients for one-half hour. Season them well and strain and chill them.
Note: Good tomato cocktail may be bought bottled or canned.
CLAM JUICE COCKTAIL
Season bottled clam broth with salt, paprika, horseradish, and a few drops of Tobasco Sauce, or a little lemon juice.
CRABMEAT COCKTAIL
6 Servings
1 can crabmeat (6 1/2 oz.) flaked.
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 cup horseradish
1 green pepper, chopped
1 pimento, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped celery may be substituted for the pimento or pepper
OYSTER COCKTAIL
4 Servings
24 small oysters
8 tablespoons Sherry
Salt
Cayenne
Pour seasoned Sherry over the oysters 15 minutes before serving them. If cooking Sherry is used, omit the salt.
OYSTER COCKTAIL WITH CATSUP
Individual Service
7 small oysters
1 tablespoon tomato catsup
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 teaspoon Worcester-shire Sauce
Salt
A few grains of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon grated horse-radish
GRAPEFRUIT IN COCKTAIL GLASSES
Pare chilled grapefruit and skin the sections. Place the sections (intact if you can keep them so) in cocktail glasses. Fifteen minutes before serving the cocktail sprinkle the fruit with powdered sugar. Immediately before serving it, add a tablespoon of Sherry to each glass, or fill it three-fourths full with chilled orange juice.
GRAPEFRUIT COCKTAIL
Chill the fruit, cut it crosswise and loosen the pulp from the peel with a sharp knife. Remove the seeds and cut out the tough fibrous center with a pair of scissors, or a patent cutter. Sprinkle the fruit with sugar and set it aside for 15 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of sweet Sherry to each half just before serving the fruit.
OYSTERS IN GRAPEFRUIT
Prepare grapefruit as for grapefruit cocktail, omitting the sugar. Place several small oysters in each center and season them with lemon, salt, horseradish, Tobasco Sauce, or with Sherry. (Omit the salt if cooking Sherry is used).
SHRIMP IN GRAPEFRUIT
Prepare grapefruit as for grapefruit cocktail, but instead of sprinkling it with sugar, season it with salt and paprika. Fill each center with three or four shrimp that have been moistened with French dressing. Serve the grapefruit garnished with a sprig of parsley.
FRUIT COCKTAIL
Use combinations of fresh fruits sliced, sugared and chilled. Flavor them with lime juice, lemon juice, or Sherry.
Seedless grapes, watermelon, green and yellow cantaloupes (cut into balls with a French potato cutter), Queen Ann cherries (stoned and stuffed with filberts) and fresh pineapple make good cocktails. Chilled ginger ale may be poured over the fruit immediately before serving it.
PINEAPPLE COCKTAIL
Peel and dice a fresh pineapple. Make a syrup of 3/4 cup of sugar and I cup of water. Pour this over the fruit and chill it for several hours. Shortly before serving the pineapple sprinkle it with chopped mint leaves.
PINEAPPLE BOATS
(This is a very attractive looking cocktail)
Trim two-thirds from the leafy top of a chilled pineapple and cut the fruit into six or eight lengthwise parts. Cut off the core and place each part so that it will resemble a boat. Pare the skin in one piece, leaving it in place and cut the pulp into five or six downward slices -- retaining the boat shape. Serve each boat on an individual plate with a small mound of powdered sugar and a few large, unhulled strawberries.
HONEYDEW MELON OR CANTALOUPE
Cut the melon in sections. Remove the rind. Serve the peeled sections on lettuce leaves with lime or lemon juice, or with French dressing.
STRAWBERRY COCKTAIL
Place large strawberries (hulled or unhulled) on lettuce leaves and moisten them with French dressing to which a little sugar has been added.
PINEAPPLE AND ORANGE MINT COCKTAIL
1 cup sliced fresh pineapple
3 oranges
1/4 pound After dinner mints
Cut the pineapple into pieces, divide the oranges into sections and remove skins. Crush the mints and combine them with the other ingredients. Chill the fruit for one hour or more. Serve it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
Canapés and Sandwiches
Serve the following canapes and sandwiches very hot:
CREAMED OYSTER CANAPÉS
Follow the recipe for Creamed Oysters on Page 76. Place the pan containing the oysters over hot water. Toast small rounds of bread, butter them lightly and put on each round a creamed oyster sprinkled with chopped parsley.
OYSTER AND BACON CANAPÉS
Place one large oyster, or three small oysters, on a round of lightly buttered toast and cover it with a thin strip of bacon. Place the canapes on a broiler and broil them until the oysters begin to curl.
SHRIMP, OYSTER OR STUFFED OLIVE AND BACON CANAPES
Surround shrimps, oysters or stuffed olives with small strips of bacon and secure them with toothpicks. Broil them quickly.
CRABMEAT CANAPÉS
1 cup crabmeat (6 1/2 ounce can)
1 tablespoon green peppers, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped pimento
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup scalded cream
Salt, pepper, a few grains of cayenne
Grated cheese
Combine the crabmeat, peppers and the pimento. Make a cream sauce of the butter, flour and cream, season it and add it while hot to the above ingredients. Mix them well and place them on pieces of toast. Sprinkle the tops with grated cheese and heat the canapés on a broiler or in a hot oven until the cheese browns.
PASTRY SNAILS
(If the approval of guests is to be taken as a criterion of excellence, this is the prize winning Canapé).
Roll pie crust -- Page 209, until it is very thin. Trim it into an oblong about four inches wide. Spread the surface with a filling and roll the dough like a jelly roll. Chill the rolls, cut them in half inch slices and bake them on a greased pan in a quick oven.
FILLINGS FOR PASTRY SNAILS
1. An equal amount of cream cheese and anchovy paste, or deviled ham.
2. Grated American cheese seasoned with cayenne.
3. Cottage cheese, or cream cheese, seasoned with salt and paprika.
TOASTED CANAPÉS OR SANDWICHES
For canapés, spread one of the four following fillings between trimmed slices of bread -- cut the slices into small attractive shapes or roll them and secure the rolls with toothpicks.
For sandwiches, serve more generous portions.
These canapés may be prepared in advance, if wrapped in a damp cloth, or in waxed paper, until toasted. They must be toasted on both sides immediately before they are served.
TOASTED CREAM CHEESE CANAPÉS
1 cream cheese
1/2 tablespoon or more fish paste
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Spread the filling between thin layers of white bread.
TOASTED MUSHROOM CANAPÉS
Spread sautéd and creamed mushrooms, well minced and seasoned between thin layers of bread. See Page 123 for preparing mushrooms.
TOASTED ROQUEFORT CHEESE CANAPÉS
1 cream cheese
3 tablespoons, or more, Roquefort cheese
1/4 cup walnut or pecan meats, chopped Seasoning
Spread the filling between thin layers of white bread.
TOASTED LIVER SAUSAGE CANAPÉS
Thin Braunschweiger sausage with canned tomato soup and a little cream until it is a good consistency to spread. Spread it between layers of dark, or light bread.
TOASTED CHEESE ROLLS
2 cups soft sharp cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
A few grains of cayenne
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
3 tablespoons cream
Stir these ingredients into a smooth paste. Remove the crusts from a loaf of bread and cut it into lengthwise 1/4 inch slices. Butter the slices lightly and spread them with the cheese mixture. Roll them lengthwise like a jelly roll. Wrap them firmly in a damp cloth and chill them for several hours. Cut the rolls into thin slices and toast them on both sides.
HOT TOMATO CANAPÉS WITH CHEESE
Place slices of tomatoes on rounds of buttered toast. Season them with salt, paprika and a little mustard. Cover them with grated cheese and place the canapés in a pan in a moderate oven -- 375° -- until the cheese is melted.
GRILLED TOMATOES AND MAYONNAISE
Tomatoes
Bread crumbs
Salt, pepper
Mayonnaise
Combine bread crumbs with mayonnaise, making a rather thick paste. Cut tomatoes in halves, season them and cover them with the paste. Place them in a buttered pan and broil them for ten minutes in a quick oven.
TOMATO CANAPÉS WITH BACON
Place thick slices of tomato on rounds of buttered toast. Season them and cover them with thin slices of bacon. Broil the canapés under a broiler until the bacon is crisp.
PEANUT BUTTER AND BACON CANAPÉS
Toast rounds of bread on one side. Spread the untoasted sides with peanut butter, cover them with very thin strips of bacon and broil them under a quick flame until the bacon is crisp.
LINK SAUSAGES IN PASTRY
Roll link sausages in small squares of pastry dough. Bake them in a hot oven.
CRAB CANAPÉS
Toast large rounds of bread on one side. Combine crabmeat with mayonnaise and place it on the untoasted side of the bread. Cover each canapé with a heavy coating of grated cheese. Place the canapés under a broiler until the cheese is melted.
CLUB SANDWICH
A club sandwich consists of 3 slices of bread toasted on both sides, spread with the following ingredients:
Slice I. is covered with a lettuce leaf
3 slices of crisp bacon
Slices of tomato
1 tablespoon mayonnaise and Slice II.
Slice II. is covered with a lettuce leaf
Slices of cold chicken
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Slice III. is placed on top of Slice II.
Serve the following Canapés sad Sandwiches cold:
PRETZEL AND CHEESE CANAPÉS
Use small crisp pretzels. Place soft, well seasoned cheese in the hollows and press the pretzels into rolled pretzel crumbs. Chill them until ready to serve them.
SWEDISH WAFERS
Steam Swedish Wafers in a double boiler. When they are pliable, roll them into cornucopias. When they are stiff, fill them with a cheese or sandwich filling.
STUFFED PECANS
Spread large pecan meats with Roquefort cheese that has been moistened with a few drops of lemon juice or cream. Press two halves together.
POTATO CHIPS AND CHEESE
Spread crisp potato chips with cream cheese or Roquefort cheese to which a dash of Worcestershire Sauce has been added, or spread the chips with cream cheese combined with fish paste.
FILLED CELERY
Combine: 1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Roquefort cheese
1 package cream cheese and season this with salt.
Fill dwarf celery ribs and sprinkle them with paprika.
RIPE OLIVES, GARLIC AND PARSLEY
Rub a bowl with a clove of garlic. Put a small amount of olive oil in the bowl and toss the olives about in it until they are well covered with oil. Put the olives on ice until chilled, dust them with chopped parsley and serve them at once.
CHEESE CRACKERS AND FISH PASTE CANAPÉS
(A quick canapé)
Place a small dab of butter in the center of a crisp cheese cracker and next to it, or over it, a small dab of anchovy or sardelle paste.
TOMATO AND SHRIMP CANAPÉS
Place a slice of tomato on a round of toast and put one or two marinated shrimp in the center. Cover the shrimp with a dab of mayonnaise.
TOMATO CANAPÉS WITH CAVIAR AND SHRIMP
Cut thick slices of tomato. Cover them with a mixture of caviar and the yolks of hard cooked eggs, chopped, seasoned with lemon juice. Garnish the slices with the whites of hard cooked eggs chopped, and serve them with a fresh shrimp in the center of each canapé.
CAVIAR CANAPÉS
Sauté rounds of thin toast in butter, add finely chopped onion to caviar, spread it on the toast and garnish the edges of the canapés with the yolks of hard cooked eggs that have been put through a ricer. Serve the canapés with thin slices of lemon.
PICKLE CANAPÉS
Remove the crusts from a loaf of bread and cut it into lengthwise 1/4 inch slices. Spread the slices with a paste made of Roquefort or cream cheese, thinned with cream, colored pink with paprika. Roll each slice around a jumbo pickle. Wrap the rolls in waxed paper. Chill them well and when ready to serve them cut them into 1/4 inch slices.
ROLLED TONGUE OR CHIPPED BEEF CANAPÉS
Moisten soft cream cheese with cream, season it with Worcestershire Sauce, finely chopped onion and paprika. Spread the cheese on very thin slices of smoked, boiled tongue, or on chipped beef (put up in glass) and roll the canapés.
ROLLED ASPARAGUS CANAPÉS OR SANDWICHES
Spread thin slices of bread, from which the crusts have been cut, with a little butter and mayonnaise and sprinkle them lightly with chives. Place an asparagus tip at one end and roll the bread about it, or place well drained asparagus tips in French dressing for half an hour, drain them and use them as directed, omitting the mayonnaise. Wrap the rolls in waxed paper until ready to serve them.
CUCUMBER SANDWICHES
Chill cucumbers well, pare and slice them. Season them and place them between layers of bread spread with butter and mayonnaise. Serve them at once.
TOMATO SANDWICHES
Peel and cut tomatoes into thick slices. Sprinkle them with salt and place them between layers of bread spread with butter and mayonnaise. Chopped fried bacon may be added.
PECAN SANDWICHES
Spread chopped pecans, moistened with mayonnaise, on thin slices of white bread and cover them with slices on which washed nasturtium leaves or nasturtium blossoms have been placed.
MOCK CHICKEN SANDWICHES
Place the contents of a can of Tuna fish in a strainer and pour 2 cups of boiling water over it. Drain the fish well and chill it. Combine it with well seasoned mayonnaise and spread the mixture between layers of bread on which lettuce leaves have been placed.
RIPE OLIVE SANDWICH FILLING
1/2 cup ripe olives, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 cream cheese
Combine these ingredients and moisten them with French dressing seasoned with onion or garlic.
TUNA FISH, SALMON, OR CRABMEAT SANDWICH FILLING
1/2 cup Tuna fish, flaked
1 hard cooked egg, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 tablespoons pimento, chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickles, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Combine the ingredients lightly, using a fork.
STUFFED OLIVE SANDWICH FILLING
1 cream cheese
Enough cream to make it the right consistency to spread
1/4 cup stuffed olives, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Garnish the sandwiches with stuffed olives.
ALMOND SANDWICH FILLING
1 cream cheese
Enough cream to make it the right consistency to spread
1/2 cup shredded salted almonds
Paprika
Garnish the sandwiches with salted almonds.
ALMOND AND EGG FILLING
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and finely chopped
Salt, paprika
4 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped
Enough butter, mayonnaise or French dressing to make the filling a good consistency to spread.
EGG SANDWICHES
Season hard cooked, chopped eggs and make them into a paste with a little cream and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce Add fried, chopped bacon and spread the filling between thin layers of bread.
PINEAPPLE SANDWICHES (Open)
Cut rounds of bread and spread them with cream cheese. Cover each piece with a thin slice of pineapple and garnish it with a maraschino cherry.
HAM SANDWICH SPREAD
1/2 pound of ham
1 large sour pickle or 2 small ones
4 eggs, cooked hard
Grind these ingredients and season them with salt, pepper and mustard, moisten them with vinegar until they are a good consistency to spread.
Copyright © 1931 by Simon & Schuster Inc.
