rails
to
trails
◆
spring/summer.13
18
These simple yet striking recipes
are your ticket to fine dining,
railroad style.
Pennsylvania Railroad
Deviled Roast Beef
With Mustard Sauce
Makes a single serving
Roast Beef
1/4-
inch slice cooked roast beef
salt and pepper to taste
1/2
tbsp. butter
1/2
tbsp. English mustard
(
Colman’s is the most common brand)
soft white bread crumbs to cover
Season one side of roast beef with salt and
pepper. Sprinkle lightly with melted butter,
then spread with English mustard. Sprinkle
lightly with bread crumbs. Broil 5 inches
from heat source until warmed through and
lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Serve in a
pool of mustard sauce on a dinner plate, and
garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley.
Mustard Sauce
1
small onion, chopped
1/8
tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1
tbsp. white vinegar
1/3
cup brown gravy
1
tbsp. English mustard
1/4
tsp. seasoning salt
1/2
tbsp. butter
1/4
tsp. parsley, chopped
Place onion, black pepper and vinegar in
saucepan. Cook over medium heat until
vinegar evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add
gravy, mustard and seasoning salt. Simmer
15
minutes. Strain and add butter and
chopped parsley. Return to saucepan and
heat until butter is melted. The key to this
sauce is that it be very well seasoned.
NOTE:
This recipe can be prepared using
slices of premium-quality roast beef from
the deli. In fact, as with many railroad
recipes, all the ingredients can be purchased
at your local grocery.
sit down to enjoy a
chilled melon mint
cocktail: five ingre-
dients prepared in
quantity in 15 min-
utes. Menus show the
next course could be
a thick, rich chicken
soup Roquefort:
seven ingredients,
45
minutes. Like all
railroad soups, it is
a cream, not clear,
soup, so it is less
likely to slosh out of the bowl.
Like many other lines, the
Pennsylvania Railroad developed and
served its own signature salad dressing.
The dinner entrée might be deviled roast
beef with mustard sauce (see sidebar for
recipe), served with a seasoned baked
potato Pennsylvania and corn and green
pepper sauté. To complete the meal—
Pennepicure Pie, a rich raisin custard pie
topped with meringue.
Chef’s Cuisine
Idaho’s scenic 15-mile Route of the
Hiawatha rail-trail follows a 15-mile
section of the Chicago, Milwaukee,
St. Paul and Pacific Railroad corridor,
another popular dining car route. Known
as The Milwaukee Road, it was the last of
the major Chicago to Seattle transconti-
nental railroads.
In 1928, to set its menus apart from
those of its better-known rivals, the Great
Northern and the Northern Pacific, The
Milwaukee Road hired chef and restau-
rateur George Rector to provide “the
finishing touch to fine service.” Rector
was world famous, touring internation-
ally to demonstrate his cooking prowess,
penning numerous cookbooks and writ-
ing a weekly column for
The Saturday
Evening Post
.
For The Milwaukee Road,
he became “the master hand to direct
cuisine,” creating such mouthwatering
menu items as Crabmeat Olympia
Hiawatha, Scalloped Brussels Sprouts and
Scrambled Codfish Rector. He instructed
others in the correct preparation of
his dining car menu
offerings and traveled
extensively to oversee
the company’s cooks.
It was, incidentally, a
Milwaukee Road din-
ing car superintendent
who invented the ring
around the inner rim of
his railroad’s coffee cups
to keep hot beverages
from spilling over.
Otherr ailroads
hired elite chefs as well.
Notable among them were Paul Reiss of
the Southern Pacific and Fred Harvey of
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.
“
House” Specialties
As well as being the country’s longest
rail-trail under a single administration,
Missouri’s 238-mile Katy Trail is also a
standout in the world of railroad dining.
Katy Kornettes, special cornbread nug-
gets, could be had only on such Missouri-
Dinner Is
Served
ERNEST YEAGLEY
c
On the Menu:
Railroads paid close attention
to menu planning for children, the next
generation of passengers. Children’s menus
were entertaining and informative; young
diners also received coloring books and
crayons, playing cards, or perhaps milk and a
cookie. This illustration comes from a Great
Northern Railway booklet about train rides.
CRAIG AND MARTY NEROS