Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Dining Car Cookbook Read online

  Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

  Dining Car Cookbook

  By E. Gordon Mooneyhan

  Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

  Dining Car Cookbook

  Copyright 2016

  E. Gordon Mooneyhan

  Published by

  Sea Island Publishing

  P.O. Box 2328

  Myrtle Beach, SC 29578-2328

  ISBN-13: 978-1539099123

  ISBN-10: 1539099121

  Cover Photo: The kitchen crew on an Atlantic Coast Line Dining Car poses in their workspace. The typical dining car kitchen measured about seven feet wide and twenty to twenty-five feet long.

  Index

  Forward by Howard Gillespie 1

  Soups, Appetizers, and Cocktails 5

  Fish and Seafoods 21

  Poultry 33

  Meats-Beef, Corned Beef 49

  Meats-Lamb 61

  Meats-Veal 67

  Meats-Pork 73

  Meats-Ham 81

  Vegetables 87

  Salads 99

  Desserts 113

  Fruits 125

  Beverages and Juices 129

  Breakfast Items Eggs, Omelets, etc. 133

  Breads, Muffins, Toast, Griddle Cakes, 1

  French Toast, Fritters, Etc. 141

  Dressings (Salads, Poultry, Meats) 149

  Sauces (Meat, Fish, Chicken, Desserts) 153

  Sandwiches 161

  Miscellaneous 167

  Hitching Post Foods 171

  FORWARD

  Eating a meal is of course part of our existence and we have to have food to survive. Outside of this basic necessity throughout generations, a fabulous meal and experience is often a cherished memory.

  As railroads evolved into the 20th Century the Dining Car became a necessary part of every long haul train in order to maintain the schedules. If you talk to those of earlier generations who traveled by train in the 1920s through 1960s the trip to the dining car was often an experience in opulence and sumptuous satisfaction from a delicious meal served with precision and prepared with passion. There simply isn’t anything like enjoying a great meal in the ambience of a dining car.

  Each individual railroad had its own unique brand for passenger operations and the dining car menus often reflected the regional flavors of the territory through which the trains operated. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad spanned a rich history from the continued evolvement of smaller railroad acquisitions in addition to the double tracked Richmond, Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida main stem feeding a huge market in the sunshine state.

  Like other large railroads the Atlantic Coast Line’s food service was a well-managed consortium from the Superintendent of Dining Cars to the waiters serving the customers. I entered the world too late to have an official meal on an ACL Dining Car but my love of passenger trains growing up led me to my first railroad job in on board service at Amtrak working the Silver Meteor and Silver Star out of the Miami Crew Base to New York. Even in the later Amtrak era I gained tremendous appreciation for what goes into a successful dining experience and had tremendous respect for the efforts the ACL dining car crews put forth for customer satisfaction.

  Outside of the culinary testing, preparing, selection, and menus the meal service took great care in every aspect along the way before it was served on a plate. In tourist season, some ACL passenger trains were huge 18 car behemoths with two dining cars. And I grew to appreciate that it was an exercise in estimation to predict what 400 passengers were going to choose off of a menu.

  The food commissary played a valuable role and in the ACL days there were several throughout their railroad system to replenish needs as appropriate enroute. Stocking a dining car was an act of organized chaos prior to departure. Everyone had assigned tasks and everything had an assigned space. There were stashes of table cloths, cloth napkins, silverware, condiments, flowers for the tables, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner menus all of which had to be put away and ready for use along with setting up for the first call of the meal to be served enroute. Table settings in themselves were a work of art with how all the plates and drinks would fit as was the specially folded napkins.

  Then there was the wood for the wood stoves, the ice for drinks and food elements. Last but not least was the food. There was no such thing as ready mix salad or roasted chicken to heat up. Everything came separate and was prepared on board to order by the gifted talent of Atlantic Coast Line Chefs. This was accomplished in a narrow long kitchen with constant movement of the train. Great care and finesse was instilled as boiling water sloshing in a kettle or peeling potatoes with a sharp knife required constant vigilance while the train operated at speed.

  In addition to the culinary excellence were the waiters. Taking orders, serving drinks, serving food, taking empty dishes back, and carrying serving trays while circumnavigating around other waiters and passengers coming, going, and passing through was an art form. The waiters used exquisite balancing in the legs and wrists to keep food and drink items from spilling. A meal could be enjoyed at any speed from dwelling at a station to 90 mph or more depending on the time period. The waiters were very experienced and even if bumped could usually maintain tray balance which is incredible considering train speed of the era.

  I recall reflecting at times while eating my dinner break meal as we swept north along ex-Atlantic Coast Line rails through Georgia on Amtrak’s Silver Meteor at 79mph of what it must have been like in 1957. The ACL Timetable that year allowed passenger trains a maximum authorized speed of 100 mph north of Jacksonville, Florida on the double track all the way to Richmond, Virginia. Only a handful of railroads in this era could ever boast they were the originators of truly fast food.

  The Atlantic Coast Line’s corporate life ended with the merger into then rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad on July 1, 1967 forming the Seaboard Coast Line. This book of recipes from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad celebrates the great pride and cuisine of one of the great railroads of our time. It is a salute to the hard work and professionalism of the Dining Car Department of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in carrying a delicious part of our history.

  I’m sure you’ll enjoy creating these culinary delights. Each recipe page was savored by hundreds of rail travelers a day in the era of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Dinner is served!

  Thanks For Using Coast Line!

  Howard Gillespie

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  SOUPS, APPETIZERS, AND COCKTAILS

  CONSOMME, ALEXANDRIA

  Boil in salted water until done 3 carrots, 3 white turnips, and 3 outside stalks of celery cut in small dice. Add with one cupful of boiled white meat of turkey or chicken, cut in small dice, to 4 quarts of consommé.

  CONSOMME, BRUMOISE

  Boil in salted water until done 3 carrots, 3 white turnips, and 3 outside stalks of celery cut in small dice. When ready to serve, add a tablespoon of vegetables to each cup of consommé.

  CONSOMME, CREOLE

  Peel and cut in small squares two raw tomatoes and add to a quart of boiling consommé. Also add one cup of boiled rice. Season with a little pepper.

  CONSOMME, JULIENNE

  Cut carrots, turnips, and outside stalks of celery in julienne and cook until tender in salted water. Before serving a cup of consommé, add one teaspoon of these mixed vegetables to cup.

  CONSOMME MAGADOR

  Wash a stalk of celery and cut in small dice. Boil in salted water until soft. Then add to three pints of boiling consommé, and season well with salt and pepper, and serve with chopped parsley.

  CONSOMME, PRINCESS

  Add diced cooked chicken and peas t
o each cup of consommé before cooking.

  CONSOMME, PRINTAMIERE

  Consommé with an assortment of spring vegetables, cut in small dice and prepared as for Consommé Julienne.

  CONSOMME SERVICE, HOT OR JELLIED

  HOT-To be served in a bouillon cup underlined with tea plate, bouillon spoon for service, to be brought in at time of service and placed on side of plate. Crackers on tea plate underlined with doily.

  JELLIED-Fill cold bouillon cup 2/3 full, underlined with tea plate with a section of lemon, bouillon spoon for service, to be brought in at time of service and placed on side of plate. Crackers on tea plate underlined with doily.

  CLAM CHOWDER, MAINE STYLE

  This is a concentrated clam chowder that comes in 51-ounce cans, making a little over 3 quarts of soup. Empty contents of one can into pan. Fill can with milk and add to chowder. Now add 3 tablespoons butter. Heat on range until piping hot but do not boil.

  FRESH CLAM CHOWDER

  30 clams

  1½ cups diced celery

  1½ gallons mild fish stock

  1½ cups finely diced onions

  ½ lb diced salt pork

  5 cups diced raw potatoes

  ¼ oz butter

  Leaf thyme

  Powdered sage

  3 cups canned tomatoes, chopped coarsely

  Fry pork in soup pot until crisp, then remove pork. Cook onions and celery in the pork fat until tender. Add butter and make a light roux. Cook for at least 10 minutes. Boil the clams in a separate pot for 20 minutes with just enough water to cover, then strain and save the juice. Chop the clams coarsely. Add the chopped tomatoes, the strained clam juice, the fish stock, and the raw diced potatoes to the roux. Season with one teaspoon of leaf thyme and a pinch of sage, and cook until the potatoes are tender. Finish the soup by adding the clams and simmer for a few minutes. Add freshly chopped parsley before serving.

  CHICKEN GUMBO SOUP—Instructions for 2 gallons (40 portions)

  2 kitchenspoons melted butter [1 Kitchenspoon = 4 Tablespoons]

  ¾ cup lean ham cut in ¼ inch dice

  1 onion, chopped fine

  3 green peppers, cut in ¼ inch dice

  1 cup rice, boiled in salt water

  2 gallons of chicken stock

  ½ gallon canned tomatoes, finely chopped

  1 cup celery cut in ¼ inch dice

  2 cans okra, cut in slices

  Sauté ham, onions, celery, and peppers together in a little butter until the onions are soft. Add the stock and tomatoes and cook until the vegetables are well done. When soup is finished, add one cupful of diced chicken (cut in ¼ inch dice). Lastly add the okra and let come to a boil once more. Season with salt and pepper. When serving, place a teaspoon of cooked rice in each cup.

  CHICKEN MULLIGATAWNY SOUP

  1 diced onion

  1 cup raw rice

  1 gallon chicken stock

  2 cups peeled diced apples

  1 diced green pepper

  1 tablespoon curry powder

  1 cup cooked diced chicken

  Pinch cayenne pepper

  ½ cup flour

  1 tablespoon lemon juice

  Braise onions, green pepper, and rice in chicken grease or butter until onions are tender. Stir frequently to avoid browning the rice. Add curry powder and stir. Add flour and make roux, stirring for 10 minutes. Pour in boiling chicken stock and whip until smooth. Add cayenne pepper, salt and diced chicken. Simmer until the rice is done. Finish by adding the apples and juice of one lemon. Simmer until the apples are tender.

  CHICKEN BROTH WITH NOODLES

  Clear chicken broth with noodles added. Season to taste. Use fresh broth from chickens as far as possible, then use Le Gout chicken base.

  ONION SOUP, CROUTONS

  Use Le Gout onion soup. Just before serving place several croutons in each cup of soup. See recipe for Parmesan Cheese Croutons.

  NAVY BEAN SOUP

  3 lbs Navy beans

  1 carrot

  1 lb salt pork

  1 pint tomatoes, finely chopped

  2 medium onions

  1 small stalk celery

  1 cup flour

  2 gallons rich stock

  2 raw potatoes, cut in ½ inch cubes

  Wash and sort beans. Add salt pork and raw ham bone, carrot, celery, and one onion. Cover with water and cook until beans are tender. Remove salt pork and ham bone, and 1 quart of beans for use as garnish. Pass remaining beans through Chinese strainer and add the stock. Cut salt pork into ½ inch squares and braise in pot until crisp, then add ½ cup finely sliced onion. Simmer until tender. Add flour and make a roux, cooking for about 10 minutes. Add the pureed beans and stock and stir until smooth. Potato cubes and the finely chopped canned tomatoes should now be added to the soup. Season with salt and white pepper and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add the quart of whole cooked beans previously reserved for garnish.

  SCOTCH BROTH WITH BARLEY

  1 kitchenspoon of shortening (1 kitchenspoon = 4 tablespoons)

  2 cups onions, cut in ¼ inch dice

  1 cup turnips, cut in ¼ inch dice

  2 cups carrots, cut in ¼ inch dice

  1 kitchenspoon flour

  1 cup celery, cut in ¼ inch dice

  1 cup cooked lean lamb, cut in small dice

  1 gallon lamb broth, seasoned

  ½ cup barley, well washed

  1 kitchenspoon chopped, well washed parsley

  Preparation: Place the fat in a saucepan and melt. Add the vegetables and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the flour and make a roux, cook for 5 minutes. Add lamb broth and barley and cook slowly until barley and vegetables are done. Lastly add the meat and parsley and season to taste.

  CLEAR GREEN TURTLE SOUP, SHERRY

  4 quarts consommé

  Turtle meat—use all liquid and meat from 16 oz jar

  3 oz sherry—USE BAR SHERRY ONLY

  Preparation: Put consommé in large saucepan on fire and let come to a boil. Open jar of turtle meat and pour into small saucepan and heat. When hot, add all liquid from the jar of turtle meat to the consommé and let boil for 15 minutes. Cut up the turtle meat into ½ inch dice and put in clean quart jar. Strain over about 1 cup of the boiling consommé, then set aside to be used as directed for service. Add 3 ounces of the sherry to the boiling consommé and take from fire immediately. Soup must never boil after addition of wine. Strain soup very carefully through double thickness of clean cloth, wrung out in cold water. For each cup of soup add 6 pieces of turtle meat.

  BISQUE OF OYSTER

  1 quart oysters and 1 quart cream make 1 gallon of soup. Blanch oysters, skin, drain, and chop very fine. Strain juice. Slice onions and celery very fine and braise in butter. Sprinkle with flour, stir, and cover with oyster juice and some chicken stock. Let boil slowly for 40 minutes and strain. Add oysters and finish with cream. Salt and season to taste.

  VEGETABLE SOUP

  If there is not sufficient beef on car for stock, order beef bones from Washington or Jacksonville.

  5½ cups canned tomatoes

  1½ cups diced onions

  1 cup diced raw carrots

  1 cup diced raw celery

  2 raw potatoes (whole)

  ½ cup peas

  ½ cup green beans

  4 oz butter

  1½ gallons stock

  Wash and drain vegetables, except potatoes, and season. Sauté slowly for 20 minutes in butter, stirring frequently. Add canned tomatoes and stock. Drop 2 raw, whole, peeled potatoes in soup to absorb the acid from the tomatoes. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Skim. Season, remove potatoes and let stand ½ hour before serving.

  CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP

  Use trimmings and heavy stalks of fresh asparagus well washed and cut up. Save spears for table service.

  CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP

  1 gallon chicken or turkey stock

  2 medium onions

  6 ounces butter or shortening

  5 stalks brocc
oli

  8 outside celery stalks

  2 cups flour

  2 quarts milk (skim)

  ¼ teaspoon mace

  Slice onions and celery and chop broccoli heads, stems, and leaves into small pieces, saving about two heads of chopped broccoli for garnish. Braise in butter or shortening until tender. Do not brown vegetables when cooking. When tender, add flour, making a roux. Stir with wire whip and cook for ten minutes. Add hot chicken or turkey stock and milk, stirring as milk and stock are added. Simmer for thirty minutes and season to taste. Let come to boiling point and remove from fire and strain. Add the two heads of sautéed broccoli which you saved for garnish. Dot top with butter.

  CREAM OF CELERY SOUP

  2 medium onions

  6 ounces butter or shortening

  1 gallon chicken stock

  4 whole bunches of celery

  2 cups flour

  2 quarts milk

  ¼ teaspoon mace

  Slice onions and three whole bunches celery and braise in butter or shortening until tender. Do not brown or burn. When tender, remove onions and celery and reserve. Add flour to remaining grease, making a roux. Stir with wire whip and cook for ten minutes. Then add hot chicken broth and milk, stirring as milk and stock are added. Return vegetables to soup. Simmer for thirty minutes and season to taste. Let come to boiling point and remove from fire and strain. Dice remaining whole bunches of celery in very fine pieces and braise in butter until tender. Do not brown. Use for garnish by adding after soup has been strained. Dot top with butter. Serve croutons in each cup of soup.