Sickroom care and invalid cookery

Banana dessert from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): banana slices with orange juice, topped with whipped cream and berries, from the invalid-cookery chapter.

Beef or veal steak fried in butter and served with parsley butter balls, vegetables and mayonnaise. From Erken's Stor kokebok (1949).

Steamed cauliflower with lemon and browned unsalted butter from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949), from the chapter on invalid cookery.

Cauliflower soup of puréed cauliflower with broth, butter, egg yolk and cream, made for invalids. From Erken's Stor kokebok (1949).

Apples in dressing gowns from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): whole apples filled with marzipan, wrapped in short butter pastry, brushed with egg and baked.

Stuffed tomatoes with rice from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): hollowed tomatoes filled with steamed rice, onion and parsley, for invalid cookery.

Blueberry tea: 30–40 g dried blueberries boiled in 1 liter of water for half an hour, strained, and served hot.

Bread water from Erken's invalid chapter (1914): toasted white bread doused with boiling water, left until cold, strained. A cooling drink for fever.

Erken's eggedram for invalids: one egg yolk beaten pale with 1 tsp confectioners' sugar and let down with a glass of cold, strong coffee. One serving.

Erken's egg drink for invalids (1914): egg yolk and sugar beaten 10 minutes, blended with warm milk, cooled and topped up with seltzer in a glass.

Egg-white water for invalids: beaten egg white, 2.5 dl water, 1 tsp sugar, and strained lemon juice shaken together in a bottle and poured foaming into a glass.

Simple egg cream from Erken (1914) of egg yolks, cream and vanilla, sweetened with crystallose; boiled, stirred cold. For invalids and as jelly sauce.

Blueberry soup for the sick from Erken (1914): blueberry cordial and water brought to a boil, thickened with sago flour and sweetened to taste.

Bread soup for the sick, Erken (1914): grated white bread browned in butter, thinned with bouillon, strained and thickened with egg yolk and cream.

Barley soup for the sick from Erken (1914): whole barley soaked overnight, boiled 1½–2 hours, strained and seasoned with salt and lemon juice.

Fish stock is reduced by half and thickened with egg yolk and whipped cream; flourless fish balls are placed in the soup.

Oat soup I from Erken (1914): rolled oats cooked tender in water, sieved, stirred into boiling milk and seasoned with salt and sugar. Classic invalid food.

Oat soup II from Erken (1914): rolled oats cooked tender in water, sieved, boiled and finished with cream or fruit syrup. Light, milk-free invalid soup.

Light arrowroot soufflé from Erken's chapter on food for the sick (1914): arrowroot, milk, sugar and eggs, flavored with vanilla or lemon, baked hot.

Fruit jelly from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): ¼ litre fruit juice set with 3 g agar-agar and sweetened with honey, a simple jelly without gelatine.

Fruit soufflé for the sick from Erken (1914): fruit cooked tender with sugar, cooled, mixed with stiff egg white and baked in a buttered dish.

Erken's milk jelly for the sick (1914): milk and sugar brought to a boil, gelatin and lemon juice stirred in, then strained into cups to set.

Nut tartlets from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): thin egg pancakes fried in butter and stacked with nut cream of whipped cream and ground nuts.

Rhubarb dessert with custard from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): rhubarb cooked with gelatine and wine, with a small custard of egg yolk and cream.

Arrowroot porridge from Erken (1914): arrowroot flour stirred into cold milk, brought to a boil until thick and salted. A digestible porridge for the sick.

Arrowroot gruel from Erken (1914): arrowroot whisked cold into milk, boiled while whisking, salted. A basic recipe also used for oat and rice flour gruel.

Simple oatmeal gruel from Erken's invalid-cookery chapter: oat flour is whisked cold with milk and brought to a boil while whisking, like arrowroot gruel.

Rice flour gruel for invalids: rice flour whisked cold with milk and brought to a boil while whisking, prepared like arrowroot gruel.

Rice-water porridge for invalid food from Erken (1914): rice cooked in water, fresh fruit added and left to draw until tender. Sugar to taste. One serving.

Sago gruel from Erken (1914): sago rinsed and sprinkled into boiling milk, cooked 15–20 minutes and salted to taste. A basic gruel and sick-food recipe.

Erken's steam-cooked cutlet for invalids (1914): a pounded, lightly salted veal or lamb cutlet steamed 20–30 minutes between two plates in a water bath.

Steam-cooked chicken breast as invalid food from Erken (1914): skinned, pounded lightly, salted and steamed between two plates over boiling water.

Erken's fricassee of boiled hen or rabbit for the sick (1914): the meat set in a pale sauce of butter, flour and broth thickened with egg yolk and lemon.

Poultry cutlets or pudding for the sick from Erken (1914): poultry and pork pounded with butter, egg and cream, then steamed in a water bath or fried.

Veal sweetbread as invalid food from Erken (1914): scalded, simmered tender, sliced and warmed in a light sauce with lemon juice. Can also be breaded.

Scraped beef for the sick: 100 g boneless beef is scraped with a knife, formed into two small patties, salted (¼ tsp), and quickly pan-fried. One serving.

Poached fish as invalid food from Erken (1914): fish cooked briefly in salted water and served with a cream sauce of hard-boiled egg yolk, cream and lemon.

Steamed fish as invalid food from Erken (1914): boneless fillets steamed between two buttered plates with salt and lemon juice; served with melted butter.

Fish omelet as invalid food from Erken (1914): a small omelet of egg and cream baked in the oven and filled with a stew of cooked fish and fish stock.

Fried fish for the sick from Erken (1914): skinless, boneless fish salted, breaded in egg and rusk crumbs, fried in butter, with lemon sauce.

Erken's invalid-food recipe (1914) for stewed fish: boiled fish heated in a small sauce of butter, flour, fish stock and milk. One serving, very simple.

Baked egg in a mold from Erken (1914): one egg baked soft in a buttered mold sprinkled with chopped ham in a water bath – a light egg dish for the sick.

Invalid's omelet of one egg with 1 tsp milk and salt, fried in butter over low heat, rolled up and served at once with jam or sugar. Erken 1914.

Small omelet as invalid food from Erken (1914) of eggs, milk and stiff egg white, filled with a simple stew of fish, meat or vegetables.

Small omelet for invalids from Erken (1914): egg, finely chopped ham, milk and butter; the yolk whisked with ham, stiff egg white folded in and fried.

An invalid's omelet of one egg from Erken (1914), filled with a stew of boiled, pressed spinach in a thick sauce of butter, cornstarch and milk.

Classic beef tea from Erken (1914): scraped raw beef steeped 4 hours in a water bath with water and salt, defatted. Do not boil when reheated.

Quick beef tea (meat juice) from Erken (1914): scraped raw beef steeped in cold water with salt, heated just below boiling and strained. Served at once.

Veal bouillon for the sick from Erken (1914): beef and veal breast with bone cooked slowly in water, strained and degreased. Used as a drink or soup base.

Veal bouillon with hen from Erken (1914): finely chopped cooked hen meat poached in hot veal bouillon with salt. Pigeon or sweetbread can be used instead.

A light, flour- and sugar-free lemon omelette from Erken's invalid-cookery chapter (1914), intended as diabetic fare; cooked in a little butter in a pan.

A flour-free thickener from Erken (1914): soaked calf's brain cooked down with butter, packed under melted butter and used to thicken soups and sauces.

Veal chops are gently poached until tender under a lid in boiling cream, and the sauce is cooked down until it browns.

Roast kid (young goat) from Erken (1914): cleaned meat soaked, rubbed with salt and butter, roasted hot and basted with cream; pan juices thickened.

Stuffed herring from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): one herring scraped into a stuffing with anchovies and egg, filled into another and fried in butter.

Fish forcemeat with spinach from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): pike or coley ground with butter, egg white and cream, cooked in a water bath.

Salt cod from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): boiled salt cod simmered with onion, tomatoes and stock, the onion lightly toasted in oil.

Minced-meat cutlets with cauliflower from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): chopped meat with celeriac, cream and egg yolk, shaped and fried in butter.

Browned ham with leek from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): ham slices soaked in milk, browned in butter and served with leek steamed tender in butter.

Erken's mashed potatoes for invalid food: 200 g boiled potatoes are riced fine and stirred with 3 tbsp boiled milk and 1 tsp butter. One serving.

A small creamed spinach for invalid food from Erken (1914): blanched, chopped spinach stirred with butter, flour and milk and boiled. One serving.

Cauliflower with cream and egg sauce from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): boiled cauliflower in a sauce of cream and egg yolk, flavoured with lemon juice.

Small rolls for the sick from Erken (1914) of cream, egg, wheat flour, yeast, butter and sugar; dough risen twice, shaped, egg-brushed and baked.

Egg and tomatoes from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): tomato slices topped with hard-boiled egg, cut side down, covered with freshly made mayonnaise.

Chicken with egg sauce from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): sliced boiled or roast chicken with a sauce of egg yolk, butter and chicken stock. For invalid cookery.

Omelette from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): eggs and water whisked together and fried in butter, with chopped parsley or chives, rolled up in the pan.

Spinach soup from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): spinach and onion briefly boiled in stock, finished with butter, cream and egg yolk. For invalid cookery.