A recipe for cranberry pie from the Alaska Railroad.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup seeded raisins
2 cups cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 two-crust dessert pie pastry
How to do it:
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Add water, raisins and cranberries, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into an unbaked 9 inch pie crust shell with a rim and cover with a lattice top. Bake for 40-50 minutes in a 350 degree oven until crust is brown. Cool before serving.
A recipe for buckwheat cakes from the dining cars of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water, 110 degrees
1/2 ounce dry yeast
4 cups buckwheat flour
1/4 cup molasses
2 ounce melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon water
flour if needed
How to do it:
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Meanwhile, add enough water at room temperature to buckwheat flour to make a soft spongy dough. Add dissolved yeast to dough, stir to mix, cover loosely and let stand overnight. Before using, add molasses, melted butter, salt and milk and beat well. If batter is too thin, sift a little flour over the batter and stir to mix. Let batter rise 10-15 minutes before using. Add baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and mix well into batter.
Pour batter onto hot griddle to form 6 inch pancakes. Cook until the top of each is full of tiny bubbles and bottom is browned. Turn once to brown the other side. Serve with hot maple syrup.
Yield:
24 pancakes
The recipe for French Toast made by Fred Harvey chefs for the Santa Fe Railway.
Ingredients:
2 slices white bread, cut 3/4 inch thick
1/2 cup light cream
2 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
How to do it:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cooking oil in a skillet and heat it. Meanwhile, cut each bread slice diagonally to form four triangles. In a small bowl, combine eggs, cream and salt and beat well. Soak bread thoroughly in the egg/cream mixture.
Fry the soaked bread slices in the hot oil to a golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Left from skillet to clean paper towels and allow to absorb excess cooking oil.
Transfer to baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake 4-6 minutes until the bread slices have puffed up. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Yield:
2 servings
This recipe comes from the dining cars of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad.
Ingredients:
1 lb roast beef, diced fine
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped fine
4 green chilies, parboiled, diced fine
1/2 cup pimentos, diced fine
1 celery stalk, diced fine
1/3 lb Swiss cheese, diced fine
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chili sauce
8 drops Tobasco sauce
How to do it:
Warm both sides of the bread under the boiler before topping. Place diced cooked beef, hard-boiled eggs, green chilies, pimento, celery and Swiss cheese in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice, chili sauce and Tobasco sauce. Mix thoroughly and spread generously on bread slices. Place on baking sheet and put 5 inches under preheated boiler. Toast until topping is lightly browned and bubbly.
Yield:
6 servings
Ingredients:
8 chicken breasts
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine (Chablis)
1/2 cup sweet Marsala
How to do it:
Remove the skin from the chicken breasts. Pound the breasts thin between two pieces of plastic. Dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Allow to rest.
In a large frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil. Sauté only until the onions are translucent, not browned. Remove from the pan and deglaze the pad with the white wine. Pour the white wine over the onions and garlic.
Rinse the pan and reheat it. Add more olive oil and sauté the chicken, a few at a time. Cook them on each side until they begin to brown, then remove them to a warm plate while sautéing the remaining chicken breasts. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and deglaze with the Marsala. Allow the wine to reduce then pour the sauce over the chicken.
Serve immediately.
Note: Do not use the “cooking wines” at the grocery store. They are loaded with sodium as a preservative and you will not be happy with the results.
Yield:
6-8 servings
Ingredients:
1/4 pound diced bacon
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 medium onions, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, cut into 4 pieces
1 medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, cut into 4 pieces
2 Tablespoons butter
16 ounces clam juice
16 ounces water
Black pepper to taste
1/2 Teaspoon thyme leaves
1 1/2 pounds diced Yukon potatoes
3 cans (6 1/2 ounce) minced clams
1 Quart Béchamel Sauce
Parsley for garnish
How to do it:
Place the carrot, garlic, cut celery and quartered onion in a cast iron skillet and brown in a 350 degree oven. When the vegetables begin to brown, place them in a stock pot and cover with the clam juice and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables.
Blanch the bacon in 2 cups of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain the bacon. Sauté the sliced celery and onion in the butter. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid browning. Add the bacon, stock and juice from the canned clams. Reserve the minced clams. Simmer and add pepper and thyme.
Dice the unpeeled potatoes and add to the pan. Simmer until the potatoes are tender.
When the potatoes are just tender, add the drained clams and béchamel sauce. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Yield:
4.5 quarts
Ingredients:
8 Tablespoons unsalted sweet butter
6 Tablespoons flour
1 Quart milk
How to do it:
Melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour. Cook for 6-7 minutes stirring constantly until the roux is a blond color.
Heat the milk in a separate pan until it’s nearly boiling. Add the hot milk one cup at a time to the roux, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from heat and set aside until ready for use.