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Peanut Butter Macaroni
2 cups elbow macaroni 2 cups milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons peanut butter Boil macaroni in boiling salted water till tender. Drain and put in casserole. Scald the milk, add salt and peanut butter, boil till it thickens slightly. Pour over macaroni and bake in moderate 400dg. Oven 15 minutes.
A Depression-era meatless supper: boiled macaroni under a thin peanut sauce, browned briefly in the oven. It comes together in about half an hour and needs only two decisions made well.
- The temperature is self-contradictoryThe temperature reading is uneasy -- "moderate" in books of this period is usually given as somewhere around 350-375F, while 400F is more often classed as moderately hot to hot. Since the dish is fully cooked before it goes in and only needs 15 minutes to set and colour, anywhere in that range will do for the short bake.
- Casserole means the baking dishHere the macaroni is put in a casserole and then baked, so this is a shallow ovenproof dish rather than a stovetop pan. A 1 1/2-quart dish suits this quantity.
- Undercook the macaroniIt cooks again in the oven in liquid. Pull it a minute or two short of tender or the finished dish will be soft throughout.
- The sauce will barely thickenThere is no flour or egg, so "boil till it thickens slightly" means only the slight body peanut butter gives scalded milk. Whisk the peanut butter into the hot milk off the heat until smooth, then return it to a bare simmer; hard boiling will make it grainy and may catch on the bottom.
- Choice of peanut butterModern stabilised peanut butter usually contains added sugar and hydrogenated oil and gives a sweeter, glossier sauce than a less processed one; stabilised brands were already on the market by the 1920s, so the original cook may have used either. Natural peanut butter, stirred well before measuring, needs a little more whisking to combine.
- Season harder than writtenHalf a teaspoon of salt in two cups of milk is thin seasoning for two cups of pasta. Taste the sauce before it goes over the macaroni; a grind of pepper and a pinch of cayenne or paprika does a lot for it.
- BrowningWith no cheese or crumbs there is nothing to form a crust. A handful of buttered breadcrumbs on top before baking gives the contrast the recipe otherwise lacks.
- YieldFour modest servings as a main dish, six as a side. Serve straight from the dish; it stiffens quickly as it cools.