St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon, 1911.

A Happy St. Paddy’s Day to one and all! It may be a little late in the day to start thinking about what you will have for lunch, but the menu I have for you could just as easily be used for dinner tonight – or put aside for next year. If you already have dinner planned, you may, of course, simply read it for fun.

The source of the menu is Catering for special occasions, with menus & recipes, by Fannie Merritt Farmer (Philadelphia, 1911) – and to make the day even better, recipes for every single dish are included, so it is a rather lengthy post. There are several alternatives for the day, but I chose this one because I love the concept of Shamrock Canapes - and the green-and-gold ice-cream dessert is a nice idea too.

MENU No. II.

The name that dwells on every tongue

No minstrel needs.

Shamrock Canapes

Spinach Soup               Imperial Sticks

Fillets of Halibut, Loomis                    Cole Slaw

Kernels of Pork                       Savory Potatoes

Stuffed Onions

Malaga Salad

Pistachio Ice Cream, Peach Sauce                    Condés

SHAMROCK CANAPES

Force cream cake mixture through a pastry bag and tube in small groups of threes, which when baked make shamrock forms. Split and fill with the following mixture: Pound six sardines, freed from skin and bones, and add one and one-half tablespoons butter worked until creamy, and two tablespoons Anchovy paste. Season with salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.

Arrange for service on small individual plates covered with lace paper doilies and garnish with watercress.

SPINACH SOUP

4 cups chicken stock,              ¼ cup butter

2 quarts spinach                       ⅓ cup flour

3 cups boiling water                 Salt

2 cups milk                              Pepper                        

Paprika

Wash, pick over, and cook spinach thirty minutes in boiling water to which have been added one-fourth teaspoon powdered sugar and one-eighth teaspoon of soda; drain, chop, and rub through sieve; add stock, heat to boiling-point, bind with butter and flour cooked together, add milk, and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.

IMPERIAL STICKS

Cut stale bread in one-third-inch slices, remove crusts, butter sparingly, and cut in one-third inch strips. Place in pan and bake in a moderate oven until delicately browned.

Cut stale bread in slices, shape with circular cutters, making rings. Spread rings sparingly with butter and brown in oven. Slip three imperial sticks through each ring.

FILLETS OF HALIBUT, LOOMIS

2 ¾ lb. slices halibut                2 cloves

1 onion, sliced                         ½ cup white wine

8 slices carrot                           cold water

2 sprigs parsley                                    salt

1 sprig thyme                           pepper

Bit bat leaf                               vinegar

Wipe fish, cut into eight fillets, and arrange in pan. Lay vegetables over fish, pour over wine, and add water to cover fish; then sprinkle with salt and pepper and add vinegar. Cover and let stand two hours. Put on range, bring to boiling-point, and let boil until fish is soft. Remove to hot platter, pour over Loomis Sauce, sprinkle with two tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, dot over with one tablespoon butter, and bake until delicately browned.

LOOMIS

2 tablespoons butter                 ⅓ cup fish liquor

3 tablespoons flour                  2 tablespoons grated mild cheese

½ cup milk                               yolk 1 egg

Salt and cayenne

Melt butter, add flour, and stir until well blended; then pour on gradually while stirring constantly milk and fish stock. Bring to the boiling-point, add cheese and egg yolk slightly beaten, and season with salt and cayenne.

To obtain fish liquor, cover bones, skin, and trimmings of fish with cold water. Cover and let stand one-half hour. Bring to boiling-point and let simmer until liquor is reduced to one-third cup.

COLE SLAW

Select a small, heavy cabbage, take off outside leaves, and cut in quarters; with a sharp knife slice very thinly. Soak in cold water until crisp, drain, dry between towels, and mix with Cream Dressing.

CREAM DRESSING

½ tablespoon salt                     1 egg, slightly beaten

½ tablespoon mustard              2 ½ tablespoons melted butter

¾ tablespoons sugar                 ¾ cup cream

¼ cup vinegar 

Mix ingredients in order given, adding vinegar very slowly. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, strain, and cool.

KERNELS OF PORK

Cut lean meat from a spare rib of pork; then cut in three-fourth-inch slices and cook in a hissing hot iron frying pan which has been rubbed over with fat pork.

Arrange in a row lengthwise of a hot platter, and on sides of platter pile Savory Potatoes and garnish with parsley.

SAVORY POTATOES

To two cups hot riced potatoes add three tablespoons butter, one teaspoon salt, and hot cream or rich milk to moisten. Beat until very creamy, reheat, and add one tablespoon chopped water-cress and one and one-half teaspoons chopped fresh mint.

STUFFED ONIONS

Peel six large Bermuda onions and remove a part of inside. Cover with boiling water and cook five minutes; drain and stuff. Place in a baking dish on six thin slices fat salt pork, pour over one cup brown stock and bake in a moderate oven until onions are soft. Remove to hot plates on circular pieces of sauted bread. Strain liquor remaining in pan, remove fat, and add one teaspoon beef extract and one-half tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper and pour over onions.

For the stuffing, cook one tablespoon butter with one tablespoon finely chopped onion three minutes. Add one-half cup soft bread crumbs, one-half cup finely chopped raw veal, and two tablespoons finely hopped salt pork. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and a few grains pepper; then add one egg slightly beaten.

MALAGA SALAD

Mix one-half cup shredded pineapple, one-half cup celery cut in small pieces, and one-half cup Brazil nuts (from which skins have been removed) cut in small pieces.

Mix with Mayonnaise dressing, arrange in nests of lettuce leaves for individual service, and on top of each put five Malaga grapes, skinned, seeded, and marinated with a French dressing.

PISTACHIO ICE CREAM, PEACH SAUCE

4 cups lukewarm milk             1 tablespoon cold water

1 cup heavy cream                  1 tablespoon vanilla

1¼ cups sugar                          1 teaspoon almond extract

⅛ teaspoon salt                                    Green coloring

1½ Junket tablets                     1 can peaches

Mix first four ingredients and add junket tablets dissolved in cold water. Turn into a pudding-dish and let stand until set. Add flavoring and coloring. Freeze and mold. Remove from mold and serve with peach sauce.

Turn peaches into a saucepan, add one-third cup sugar, and cook slowly until syrup is thick.

Cool and cut fruit in small pieces.

CONDÉS

Whites 2 eggs                           2 oz. almonds, blanched and finely chopped.

¾ cup powdered sugar                       

Beat whites of eggs until stiff and add sugar gradually, while beating constantly; then add almonds. Roll paste, and cut in strips three and one-half inches long by one and one-half inches wide. Spread with mixture; avoid having it come close to edge. Dust with powdered sugar and bake fifteen minutes in moderate oven.