Lost Recipes: Century-old seafood in ramekin dishes from author Jeannette Young Norton

A little over 100 years ago, author Jeannette Young Norton was the Martha Stewart of her era — offering housewives home and kitchen advice to readers across the nation.

From 1919 to 1920, Norton had a society page column in the Montgomery Advertiser called “Home-Making Helps.” It focused on things like children caring for pets, getting the family to help with fall cleaning,  women’s fashion, and home décor.

From 1922 through 1924, Norton returned to the Advertiser's pages, this time in a syndicated column focused on recipes called “The Home Kitchen.” Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look back on some of Norton’s amazing cooking advice that's been sitting in limbo for a century.

More: Lost Recipes: George Washington Carver's 1918 tips for using wild vegetables

Today, there’s little info that remains about Norton. Not even a photo that I could find. Outside of her newspaper columns, the only other glimpses into her are from a couple of books in 1917. One was "Mrs. Norton's Cookbook: Selecting, Cooking, and Serving for the Home Table." The other was when she and Charles J. Murphy co-wrote a cookbook geared specifically at families just trying to get by in the midst of food shortages of World War 1. It’s got probably the longest title I’ve ever seen on a book: “American Indian Corn, Maize: A Cheap, Wholesome, and Nutritious Food, 150 Ways To Prepare And Cook It.” If you’d like to check them out, they're still available today on Amazon.

This week, we’re starting with her seafood recipes — ramekin style:

Fish Turbot in Ramekins

For this recipe you’ll broil and flake two pounds of codfish or whitefish. To it, you’ll add three quarters of a cup of crumbs, a large grated or chopped onion, pepper, salt, two teaspoons of sugar, two beaten eggs , a half cup of soft butter and a half cup of cream.

“Fill well buttered ramekins with the mixture,” wrote Norton. In case you’re unfamiliar, ramekins are small ceramic baking dishes. They’re often used with souffles, quiche and desserts.

“Do not pack the mixture in, but handle it lightly and add a tablespoon of cream to each ramekin,” Norton wrote.

Bake it to a delicate brown, probably at about 400 (back then they seldom gave exact temperatures for baking), for 10 to 12 minutes.

Scallops in Ramekins

Don’t put those ramekins away just yet. You’ll need them for this scallops dish.

Drain a quart of small scallops carefully, and put them in a bowl. Add the juice of an onion, pepper, salt, a teaspoon of sugar, a cup of dry crumbs, a quarter cup of soft butter, a beaten egg, and a “gill” of cream — a quarter of a pint for those unfamiliar with a gill. Mix it well and lightly fill buttered ramekins with the mixture. Dust the tops with grated cheese and a little red pepper. Bake until it’s a golden brown.

Crabmeat au Gratin

“To one pound of carefully prepared crabmeat add pepper, salt, juice of a small onion, a quarter-cupful of grated chese and enough rich cream sauce to soften the mixture,” Norton wrote.

As you can see, she was found of ramekins. Fill the little baking dishes with the crabmeat mixture, dust with a few crumbs and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

More: Lost Recipes: White cornmeal was king for these goodies from 1894

Lobster Bake

You guessed it. You need ramekins — or rather might need them. It you do a lot of these recipes, it might pay to buy a few extra sets of ramekins. Just make sure they're oven safe.

“Take the meat from a large boiled lobster and cut it up fine,” Norton wrote. “Clean the body and tail shells well, then butter them inside and out. Add to the meat one beaten egg, a quarter cupful of soft butter and the same amount of heavy cream. Dust with pepper, salt, a teaspoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of onion juice, and chopped parsley, and a half cupful of fine crumbs. Mix well, and fill the shells. Dust the top with a little American cheese.”

Put the stuffed lobster shells onto a small baking pan, with a little water on the bottom. Bake them until they’re a delicate brown on top. Serve them garnished with parsley and lemon quarters.

So where do the ramekins come in, you ask? Well, for this recipe you can use canned lobster meat, instead of fresh, if you like. Take the same mixture, put them in well-buttered ramekins, and bake until golden brown.

“One advantage in this class of fish cookery is that the canned products of the best grade may be used in the making of the dishes, as well as fresh fish. The usual warning to remove all fish products from the can upon opening is given as a reminder,” Norton wrote.

We'll be back next week with more of Norton's recipes.

IF YOU TRY IT

If you decide to try one of these lost recipes please send us a photo and a note on how it went. Send it in an email titled "Lost Recipes" to Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Lost Recipes: Author Jeannette Young Norton's ramekin seafood dishes