Cookbook #46: Spices of the World Cookbook by McCormick. Mary Collins, Home Economics Director of McCormick. Produced for McCormick by Penguin Books, first published 1969, my copy is reprinted 1972.
The Spices of the World Cookbook was one of my favorites for years. My copy is old and tattered and many of the pages are falling out. But I only marked one recipe and there are few food stains on it, so I probably used it mostly as a reference or for ideas. Since it is produced by the spice company, McCormick, the recipes are all nicely seasoned. It’s an interesting cookbook to have around, but it is not a current favorite of mine.
The recipe I used a lot – and will use again – is the one for pickle relish. I so enjoyed making dill pickles a few weeks ago that I’d like to make relish too.
For this blog, I chose a recipe for Waldorf Salad. I remember these from childhood, but I’m not sure I have ever made one myself. I originally planned this to accompany focaccia sandwiches prepared in my Foreman’s grill. But the weather had another plan. It rained, and rained. Lyons, Colorado flooded, and we lost power, so no grill pan sandwiches.
In spite of our power outage and then the flooding and destruction of the roads to anywhere from where we live, I forged ahead with the Waldorf Salad. Luckily the batteries in my camera were charged, and the salad was a simple preparation requiring only a knife, no power equipment!
Here is the original recipe, scanned in from the book:
I made a half recipe and it lasted us for a couple days. It stored fine in the refrigerator.
- 1 1/2 cups diced apples
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
- 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- dash of mace
- dash of cardamom
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (I used low-fat mayonnaise)
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
Comments
This was good. What really made it spring to life was the cardamom. I did not have ground cardamom, but I did have cardamom seeds, so I grated a little of one seed into the salad. My mace was ancient; fresh mace would probably have made it even better.
I will definitely make this salad again. It’s a nice salad to accompany sandwiches, and is also a good treat at any time.
