More gelatin this week! This recipe is another gem from our Gelatin Contest which was submitted by Mary G. I was very excited when I saw this recipe come in, because not only is it strange-sounding, but it also contains American cheese, Tom’s least favorite food in the whole world!
Mary G writes:
Hi Ruth!
I saw your contest on your blog and immediately set to my pile of lovely vintage cookbooks to find you a great one!
This comes from Marye Dahnke’s Salad Book (1954), which has a whole chapter on molded salads – which she describes as follows: "When ‘company’s coming for dinner,’ a shimmering mold is the salad to serve. It’s a way of entertaining graciously well within the average family’s budget." How right I hope she is!
Enjoy! 🙂
Mary
Well, while this mold was slightly disappointing in the shimmer department, it totally impressed me in other ways.
I got to add curry powder, mustard AND Tabasco to the base. Which is unusual.
I also got to add a ton of shredded American cheese. Which was also unique.
Unfortunately, my individual molds already had another contest entry gelling in them, so I had to use a ring mold.
But I still think it ended up quite fetching. Another great surprise was how the American cheese MELTED in the mold and ended up looking like leeches hanging out on the side.
Leech-cheese!
Not that leech-cheese ever stopped Tom.
“Oh man.”
“Bad, huh?”
“It’s edible. But it needs something else.”
“It’s supposed to be served with lettuce and French dressing.”
“That is NOT what it needs.”
The Verdict: Edible
From the Tasting Notes:
Not terrible. Edible, just really strange. The cheese in the mold went all melty and weird, which made for an unpleasant texture overall. The color ended up a faint green, which was also unappetizing. Generally bland with an American cheese aftertaste. Not horrible, but it ain’t good.
I wonder if a different cheese… perhaps goat? I love your site and I am trying to figure out a program for my library from it.
Horseradish. I would’ve added horseradish.
Horseradish makes everything better!!
A different cheese probably would be better!
Feel free to email me about the library program! I would love to hear about it. 🙂
Did you scald the milk? I was wondering if that might have helped soften / melt the cheese so that it would incorporate more fully into the mix. I’m not sure it would have improved the taste, though. Perhaps really sharp cheddar?
Wow. That is way weird.
“Leech Cheese” 🙂
Nope, didn’t scald the milk. And I bet sharp cheddar would make it taste better!
I know, right?
Hee hee!
This seems like something that would be great using american cheese with a second. I love artichokes with gorgonzola, or maybe sharp cheddar as already suggested…… But did you try eating it with crackers, instead? Looks to me like something that would be good with all the pieces piled onto a cracker.