Jellied Salad Anyone?
August 12, 2016
This little gem comes from a 1968 gem of a cookbook called “Cooking for Company” from the editors of Farm Journal.
It’s such a retro recipe that I couldn’t resist it; I can’t remember the last time I actually saw anything that even remotely resembled this.
Categorised in: Vintage Books and Magazines
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Ugh. When I was a child, I was given a serving of what I was told was cherry-flavored jello with pieces of cherries. Loving cherries, I took a big bite, only to find that the fruit treat I was expecting was actually some kind of disgusting red jello with beets in it. It took me decades to learn to eat beets after that.
It reminds of the recipe for a Mint Juleip. You muddle some powdered sugar with fresh mint, add ice and a shot of good Kentucky Bourbon. Give each glass a good stir.
Then toss it all out and drink the Bourbon straight, no ice needed.
Ruth, for me having grown up in Middle Tennessee, jellied dishes were considered a delicacy for dinner or supper, especially during atrociously hot and humid summers. (And we’re not talking about those potluck green Jello salads, though in experienced hands with keen palates that genre might deserve a comeback and revision.) How refreshing a proper salade en gelée can be in hot weather for otherwise hot weather-worn, jaded appetites! In my family we shared a beautiful and tasty tomato aspic back in the day, and occasionally a cold braised beef tongue sliced and suspended in the gelatin from a calf’s foot.
I’m all in for gel preps in the hot and humid summer, let’s explore more! In re texture quibbles, I also grew up loving the slimy properties of boiled okra, but that’s for another post.
When I was a kid in the mid fifties, we gave a wedding shower for my cousin. No aspic, but instead Mom & I made the layers of white bread one filling of tuna fish and the other with deviled egg. We made 2 loaves covering one with green cream cheese & the other with pink cream cheese (the bridesmaids colors). I thought it was so beautiful & delicious at the time and so did my cousin. I was so proud at the time. Absolutely disgusting.
I remember recipes similar to this. Never made a vegetable jello salad. But, this would be great with substitutions and eliminations. Mandarin Oranges instead of carrots. Coconut instead of cabbage. Whole strawberries and strawberry juice instead of beets. Throw away the Horse-radish and dressing and top it with whipped cream. You wouldn’t recognize it. lol