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Asparagus Loaf
Crisco thoroughly a charlotte russe mold, 1/4 size, and line it with cooked tips of asparagus well drained. Cook together 2 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons Crisco, 1 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper, add gradually 1 cup of cream and boil 5 minutes. Remove from fire, add 1 cup cooked asparagus tips and 4 eggs thoroughly beaten. Turn mixture into mold, set in pan of hot water and cook in a moderate oven about 30 minutes or until center is firm. Turn loaf on hot dish, arrange about it, little oblong pieces of bread that have been dipped in beaten eggs and milk and browned. Pour sauce around it and serve at once.
A savory asparagus custard baked in a water bath and turned out whole — essentially a crustless quiche with structure. It behaves like any egg custard, which means the water bath and the oven temperature do most of the work.
- "Crisco" as a verbThe book was published to sell Crisco, so the word stands in for both greasing and shortening. Any neutral solid fat or butter works; the mold needs a thorough film or the loaf will not release.
- The moldA charlotte russe mold is a plain, slightly tapered cylinder. What "1/4 size" meant is unclear today; build it in a mold or souffle dish of roughly 1 to 1.5 quarts, deep rather than wide, so it stands when unmolded.
- A moderate ovenConventionally around 350 to 375F. Higher and the eggs curdle and weep at the edges before the center sets.
- The hinge: the water bathThe pan of hot water is not optional. It holds the custard near the boiling point of water and no higher, which is the difference between a sliceable loaf and scrambled eggs in a puddle of cream.
- Boil 5 minutesThe flour-and-fat roux with cream is a thick bechamel; five minutes of gentle simmering cooks out the raw flour taste. Whisk continuously and keep the heat low, since cream scorches faster than milk.
- Temper the eggsThe instruction to remove from the fire before adding the beaten eggs matters. Let the sauce drop below a simmer, then beat the eggs in quickly, or they will set in threads before the loaf reaches the oven.
- DonenessThirty minutes is a starting point for a small mold; a larger one may take 45 to 50. The center should be firm to a light press and a knife inserted an inch from the center should come out clean. Let it stand 5 to 10 minutes before turning out.
- The sauceNone is specified, as the book assumes the cook knows. A hollandaise or a thin cream sauce with lemon is in keeping; drained asparagus cooking liquid can go into the latter.
- YieldRoughly four servings as a light main course, six as a first course; the recipe gives no yield.
A Calendar of Dinners was written by Marion Harris Neil and issued by Procter & Gamble in the mid-1910s to promote Crisco, the hydrogenated cottonseed shortening the company had introduced in 1911 — which is why the brand name appears as an ingredient, a verb, and a substitute for butter throughout. The dish itself belongs to an older tradition: the molded, water-bathed vegetable custard, unmolded whole and ringed with garnish, was a fixture of genteel American and English cookery from the late nineteenth century, when asparagus was a spring luxury worth presenting as a centerpiece rather than a side. The fried bread points around the base are the same croutes that had long accompanied timbales and mousses, doing double duty as garnish and as something to catch the sauce.