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Tomatoes, Corn and Cheese
pound cottage cheese 1 can sweet corn 1 pint canned tomatoes 1 tablespoon cracker crumbs 1 tablespoon butter Fresh corn and tomatoes can be used also. Put a layer of corn in a buttered baking dish, layer of tomatoes, a layer of cheese, and repeat. Sprinkle cracker crumbs over top, dot with butter, and bake for one-half hour at a temperature of 375°F.
A simple layered vegetable bake from the era when canned corn and tomatoes were pantry staples. The quantities are loose, and the dish rewards attention to moisture more than anything else.
- Cheese quantityThe ingredient line for the cottage cheese has lost its fraction, so the intended amount is not recoverable from the text. Half a pound (about a cup) suits the volume of corn and tomatoes given; a full pound makes a much heavier, wetter bake.
- Drain the tomatoesA pint of canned tomatoes carries a great deal of liquid, and cottage cheese sheds more as it heats. Drain the tomatoes well and break them up before layering, or the finished dish will be soupy.
- Can sizesCanned corn of this period was often packed in a No. 2 can, nearer 20 ounces than the roughly 15-ounce can standard today, though pack sizes varied. Expect drained kernels to weigh appreciably less than the labelled net weight; substitute about 1½ to 2 cups of kernels.
- Cottage cheese then and nowCottage cheese of this period, whether home-made or bought, was generally drier and more crumbly than today's creamed tubs. Small-curd, well-drained cheese comes closest; press out excess whey in a sieve.
- Cracker crumbsThe recipe specifies only "cracker crumbs"; plain soda crackers crushed fine are a likely reading. One tablespoon barely covers the surface — two or three gives a proper crust, and tossing them with the melted butter rather than dotting it on browns them more evenly.
- BakingThirty minutes at 375F is enough to heat through and brown the crumbs if the ingredients go in warm or at room temperature. Straight from the refrigerator, allow 40 to 45 minutes and look for bubbling at the edges.
- Fresh vegetablesIf using fresh corn as the recipe permits, cut it raw from about three ears; it will cook through in the half hour. Fresh tomatoes should be peeled, seeded and drained, since they release far more water than canned.
- YieldEnough for four as a side dish in a shallow 1½-quart baking dish, or two as a light supper.
This is a thrift dish of the American canned-goods age: corn, tomatoes and fresh cheese, layered and browned, giving a meatless main or a substantial vegetable course at almost no cost. Corn and tomatoes had been paired in North American cooking long before canning, and stewed corn-and-tomato dishes are common across the South and Midwest. What marks this version as early twentieth century is the confident use of a "can" as a unit of measure and the specified oven temperature in degrees — consistent with the spread of thermostat-equipped gas and electric ranges that were replacing guesswork about "moderate" ovens.