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Jellied Ham Loaf or Ring
3 tablespoons gelatine 1 cup cold water 2 cups hot water 3 bouillon cubes 2 tablespoons carrots, cut in cubes 2 tablespoons onion 1 cup celery, cut in small pieces 2 tablespoons vinegar 2 cups boiled ham, diced 1/4 cup pimiento, diced 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped Soak the gelatine in cold water five minutes. Pour hot water over bouillon cubes, adding carrots, onion and celery, and boil for 10 minutes. Strain over the gelatine and stir until gelatine is dissolved; add vinegar and set aside to cool. When it begins to stiffen, add meat, pimiento and parsley. Pour into wet mold and set aside to harden. If made in a ring mold, fill center of mold with an egg salad, or one made of beets, green peas and celery. Serves 6 to 8.
A molded ham salad from the era when a luncheon centerpiece was expected to stand up unsupported on a plate. The measurements translate directly; only the gelatine strength really needs a decision from you.
- Gelatine quantityThree tablespoons of powdered gelatine works out to something like three to four 1/4-oz envelopes, on the order of 25-30 g, set into 3 cups of liquid. That is a stiff, sliceable set built to survive a warm room on a buffet table; for a jelly you eat with a fork rather than carve, 2 tablespoons is enough.
- Bloom then dissolveFive minutes in cold water is the minimum; ten does no harm and guarantees no dry granules. The strained stock must be hot when it hits the gelatine, but never boiled afterward, or the set weakens.
- Bouillon cubesThree cubes to 2 cups of water is strong by current standards, and boiled ham adds more salt. Use two cubes, or unsalted stock, and taste the liquid before you add the vinegar.
- The vegetables are flavoring onlyCarrot, onion and celery are simmered for the broth and then strained out. If you want them in the loaf, cook a second batch briefly and fold it in with the ham, or the texture will be all meat.
- Timing the addition of solids"When it begins to stiffen" means the consistency of raw egg white -- chill about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ham and pimiento sooner and everything sinks to the bottom; later and the jelly sets in lumps around the pieces.
- Wet moldRinsing the mold in cold water and pouring it out without drying gives a thin film that lets the loaf release. Reckon on about 5 1/2 cups of mixture once the ham and pimiento go in, so use a 6-cup loaf pan or ring mold.
- Chilling and unmoldingAllow at least four hours, better overnight. To turn it out, dip the mold in warm water for ten seconds, then invert onto a chilled plate.
- YieldSix to eight as a luncheon course, as stated -- less if it is the only substantial dish. Keep refrigerated and eat within two days; the diced ham, not the jelly, sets the limit.
Molded meat and vegetable jellies were a staple of American ladies' luncheon cookery from roughly the 1910s through the 1940s, and the bridge party was a natural setting for them: the whole dish is made the day before, needs no carving, and can be cut into neat portions between hands of cards. Granulated gelatine sold ready-measured, which came onto the American market commercially in the late nineteenth century, is what made this practical at home -- earlier cooks relied on sheet gelatine and isinglass or extracted their own from calves' feet, and a clear savory jelly was a mark of a skilled kitchen. The ring mold filled with a second salad is a period signature, giving a hostess two dishes in one presentation.