Ham a la King

A pantry supper built on a standard medium white sauce, thinned or thickened only by how closely you follow the flour-to-fat ratio. The whole dish comes together in about twenty minutes.

• ShorteningIn a book of this era "shortening" means any solid fat — lard, vegetable shortening, or butter. Butter is the pleasantest choice here, though it contains water and milk solids and so behaves a little differently in a roux than lard or vegetable shortening.
• The sauce ratio4 tablespoons flour to 2 cups milk is a medium sauce, thick enough to coat the ham without sliding off toast. Cook the flour and fat together two or three minutes before the milk goes in, or the sauce tastes pasty.
• Scalded milkScalding is usually explained as a holdover from the days of unpasteurised milk. It is no longer necessary, but warm milk does blend into a roux with less lumping, so heat it if convenient.
• SaltA teaspoon of salt plus 1 1/4 cups of boiled ham will read as very salty by current tastes. Season the sauce lightly and correct at the end.
• The green pepperThe recipe gives no preparation for it. Seed it, dice it small, and soften it in the fat for a few minutes before adding the flour — added raw at the end it stays crunchy and grassy against the soft sauce.
• Mushrooms and pimientoPimiento here means the jarred sweet red pepper, drained and diced; a roasted red pepper is a close substitute. The mushrooms should be cooked and their liquid driven off first, or they will water down the sauce.
• FinishingAdd the ham and vegetables off the heat and warm them through only. Boiling the ham in the sauce toughens it and dulls the colour of the pimiento.
• YieldAbout four servings on toast, or six over smaller patty shells. It does not hold well — the sauce skins and the ham firms up — so make it just before serving.