This copy of the Girl's Own Annual has lost its frontispiece with copyright information. It refers to Queen Mary and has lots of helpful information for "The War", so it appears to have been published during World War One. I haven't been able to find anything that refers to a year in its pages, so the best guess I have is that this recipe dates from the 1914-1918 period.
This recipe comes from an article labelled "Meatless Menus for Lunch or Dinner for Five or Six Persons". There's three menus of about five dishes each on this page. I was curious because it's basically macaroni and cheese minus the cheese, an d using nut butter instead of regular butter for the roux.
According to the Internet, peanut butter was used during World War One as an alternative to fats and protein that were being rationed. In this recipe, I'm not sure if the peanut butter is substituting for the butter or cheese or both in a mac and cheese casserole.
I decided to make this pretty much as is, except to increase quantities to turn it into a casserole for meals this week. Since the weight of macaroni came out to 1/4 of a package of macaroni in the cupboard, I multiplied everything by 4 to make use of the whole box and make a decent amount for meals.
I wasn't sure how this would turn out, so I wasn't sure how to flavour it beyond the recommended salt. So I didn't do anything, figuring we could add chili pepper flakes at serving if needed.
The nut butter I have in the house is all natural crunchy, and the breadcrumbs I keep on hand are Panko. I'm not sure if either of these are authentic to the period - I'm guessing not for England - but it's what I have so I went with it.
I sliced the tomatoes, and mixed them in a casserole dish with whole wheat macaroni. I made the roux of the peanut butter and flour, poured in some 2% milk, and cooked until thickened. I poured it into the casserole dish, pondered cooking temperature and time possibilities. I decided to go with my standard 350F for 45-50 minutes that usually works well for casseroles.
This dish has a definite hint of peanut taste, and not much else. It's edible but very very bland. And there's not much colour. It's incredibly pale, considering it has 2 pounds of tomatoes. I expected them to break down into the sauce more, and wasn't prepared for the colour.
What would I do next time? I'd add onions, use smooth peanut butter (to get a more even and thorough peanut taste), use a fuller fat milk (for flavour and mouthfeel), and some hot paprika to give it more kick. I think adding green peppers or other vegetables in addition to the tomatoes wouldn't hurt either. Some butter or oil drizzled over the breadcrumbs would add some colour, too.
It's a good base recipe, and I do think I will make it again. I'll just be adding a lot more flavour to it next time.
Tomatoes and Macaroni
Break 3 ounces of macaroni into half-inch lengths and boil in salted water till tender; drain off the water. Melt 1 ounce of nut butter in a saucepan. stir in half an ounce of flour and half a pint of milk, boil three minutes, adding salt to taste. Arrange half a pound of tomatoes, which have been cut in slices, in a pie-dish with the macaroni, pour the sauce over, and sprinkle some breadcrumbs on top. Bake about twenty minutes, and serve in same dish.
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