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Bean Loaf
1 can beans 1 cup mashed potatoes 1 egg, well beaten 1 onion, minced salt and pepper cracker crumbs Mash beans, and rub through a sieve, add potatoes, well beaten egg, and onion. Season to taste. Form into a loaf, dust with cracker crumbs, and bake until nicely browned. Slice, and serve either hot or cold, with salad dressing. Serves 6.
A plain vegetarian loaf of the sort that filled meatless menus in the first half of the twentieth century. The original assumes you know what size can, how hot an oven and how long, so those are the gaps worth filling.
- The can of beansCans of the period ranged roughly from 11 to 20 oz; something around 16 oz is a reasonable reading. The recipe does not say whether plain or baked beans in tomato sauce are meant, and either works; if using plain canned beans, drain them and expect to season more aggressively.
- Oven and timeNo temperature or time is given. 350F for 35 to 45 minutes will brown the crumbs and set the loaf through. Bake it free-form on a greased sheet as written, or press it into a loaf pan if you want cleaner slices.
- Sieving the beansSieving removes the skins and gives a smoother paste, which helps the loaf slice cleanly; the egg and potato are what actually bind it. A food mill or a few pulses in a processor does the same job as the sieve.
- Moisture is the hingeCanned beans in sauce plus potato can make a wet mixture that slumps in the oven. The mixture should hold a shape when patted; work in cracker crumbs a spoonful at a time until it does, rather than relying on the dusting alone.
- The onionRaw minced onion will still be sharp and slightly crunchy after this short bake. Softening it in a little butter or oil first gives a much better flavour and a more even texture.
- Cracker crumbsThese would usually be crushed soda or common crackers, drier and saltier than modern breadcrumbs. Unsalted crackers or panko both substitute; adjust salt accordingly.
- ServingSix servings as a main course is optimistic unless you have side dishes; it stretches better as a lunch dish. The 'salad dressing' called for was most likely a boiled or mayonnaise-style dressing, which suits the cold slices well.
Vegetarian "loaves" built on beans, nuts, lentils or rice were a fixture of American cookery from the 1890s onward, promoted first by health reformers and Seventh-day Adventist kitchens and then adopted into mainstream household books as an economy dish. The reliance on a can of beans and mashed potato marks this as the thriftier end of the tradition — the nut loaves of the health-food press were considerably more elaborate — and the instruction to serve it cold with dressing suggests it was expected to reappear at the next meal.