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Lentil Cakes
1 cup lentils 2 tablespoons melted shortening 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 egg yolks, beaten 1/2 cup chopped nuts Wash lentils in several waters and soak over night. Boil until soft but not broken. Drain and add melted shortening, sugar, salt, egg yolks and nuts. Shape in round cakes, lay on greased pans and bake in hot oven 15 minutes. Sprinkle nuts on top. Serves 6.
A simple meatless patty from the era when lentils were the standard Lenten and Friday protein. The whole dish hinges on the moisture of the cooked lentils.
- Hot oven"Hot oven" in books of this period is generally taken as roughly 400-450F. Fifteen minutes at that heat sets the exterior and the egg-yolk binder; the lentils themselves are already cooked, so you are largely firming and browning.
- Boil until soft but not brokenThis is the instruction that decides whether the cakes hold together. Soaked lentils go from firm to collapsed quickly, often in 15-20 minutes; drain them the moment they yield to a fork and let them steam dry in the colander so the mixture is not wet.
- Soaking is optional nowModern lentils generally need less picking over than older stock, and an overnight soak is not essential; one to two hours will do, though the longer soak may help the cakes bind.
- ShorteningShortening here means any solid fat -- lard, vegetable shortening, or butter. Two tablespoons is the only added fat (the nuts and yolks bring more), so use something with flavour.
- BindingTwo egg yolks and no crumb is a thin binder. Mash a portion of the lentils against the side of the bowl to release starch, and chill the shaped cakes for 20 minutes before baking if they feel slack.
- NutsThe recipe does not specify a kind; walnuts or pecans suit the sweet-salt balance. Chop them fine, since coarse pieces act as fault lines in a cake this loosely bound.
- The sugarOne tablespoon in six servings is a seasoning, not a sweetener -- it reads as a rounding of the lentils' earthiness. It also encourages browning in the short bake.
- Yield and servingThe recipe says it serves six but gives no cake count or size. Serve with a tomato sauce, gravy, or a mustard cream.
Lentil cakes belong to a genre of "meat substitute" dishes that filled the meatless-menu chapters of American cookbooks from the 1890s through the Depression -- driven variously by Lenten observance, wartime meat conservation, the vegetarian teaching of the health-reform movement, and simple economy. Nuts and eggs were common devices for making a legume patty taste rich enough to hold the centre of a plate, and the pattern recurs under a number of names: nut loaf, bean roast, savoury cutlets. The touch of sugar is characteristic of American household treatments of the lentil, where Middle Eastern and Indian cooking would more often reach for cumin, garlic or sour fruit.