Going Meatless--sorta

More from Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them, by C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss, 1918, this time on the subject of meat.

“As a nation we eat and waste 80 per cent. more meat than we require to maintain health. This statement, recently issued by the United States Food Administration, is appalling when we consider that there is a greater demand for meat in the world to-day than ever before, coupled with a greatly decreased production. The increase in the demand for meat and animal products is due to the stress of the war. Millions of men are on the fighting line doing hard physical labor, and require a larger food allowance than when they were civilians. To meet the demand for meat and to save their grains, our Allies have been compelled to kill upward of thirty-three million head of their stock animals, and they have thus stifled their animal production. This was burning the candle at both ends, and they now face increased demand handicapped by decreased production. America must fill the breach.”

“Although most persons believe that protein can only be obtained from meat, it is found in many other foods, such as milk, skim milk, cheese, cottage cheese, poultry, eggs, fish, dried peas, beans, cow peas, lentils and nuts. […]It is our manifest duty to learn how to make the best use of these foods in order to save beef, pork and mutton, to be shipped across the sea. This means that the housekeeper has before her the task of training the family palate to accept new food preparations. Training the family palate is not easy, because bodies that have grown accustomed to certain food combinations find it difficult to get along without them, and rebel at a change. If these habits of diet are suddenly disturbed we may upset digestion, as well as create a feeling of dissatisfaction which is equally harmful to physical well-being. The wise housekeeper will therefore make her changes gradually.”

“So the housekeeper who goes to her task of training the family palate to accept meat substitutes and meat economy dishes, who revolutionizes her methods of cooking so as to utilize even "the pig's squeak," will be doing her bit toward making the world safe for democracy.”

There is a flaw in this argument that I am contrary enough to point out: if these other sources of protein are so wonderful, why would we not conserve THEM to be sent overseas to the Allies? I mean wouldn’t it be easier to ship a sack of lentils than a side of beef? Especially in 1918 when preservation and transportation would have been so much trickier. But I’ll cease playing devil’s advocate and post some of the recipes, which really, are not a bad thing to try for both nutrition and economy’s sake.

MOCK DUCK

1 flank steak

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon onion juice

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 pint boiling water

1/3 cup of whole wheat flour

Reserve the water and the flour. Mix other ingredients. Spread on steak. Roll the steak and tie. Roll in the flour. Brown in two tablespoons of fat. Add the water--cover and cook until tender.

Wait, a minute, we’re eating steak in order to conserve DUCK for the Allies? Actually, hand me that steak, those Europeans can have all the duck they want.

BATTLE PUDDING

BATTER

1 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

4 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING

2 cups coarsely chopped cold cooked meat

1 tablespoon drippings

1 medium-sized potato

1 cup stock or hot water

salt and pepper

1 small onion

Any cold meat may be used for this. Cut it into inch pieces. Slice the onion and potato and fry in drippings until onion is slightly browned. Add the meat and stock, or hot water, or dissolve in hot water any left-over meat gravy. Cook all together until potato is soft, but not crumbled; season with the pepper and salt. Thicken with a tablespoon of flour and turn into a pudding dish.Make a batter by sifting together flour, baking-powder and salt; stir in the egg and milk, mixed with the water. Beat hard until free from lumps, then pour over meat and vegetables in the pudding and bake until brown.

MEAT SHORTCAKE

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons shortening

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups chopped, cooked meat

1 teaspoon onion juice

1/2 cup gravy or soup stock

Salt and pepper

3/4 cup milk and water

Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in shortening, and mix to dough with milk and water. Roll out to quarter of an inch thickness, bake in layer cake tins. Put together with the chopped meat mixed with the onion and seasoning, and heated hot with the gravy or stock. If stock is used, thicken with a tablespoon of flour mixed with one of butter, or butter substitute. Serve as soon as put together. Cold cooked fish heated in cream sauce may be used for a filling instead of the meat.

NUT AND CHEESE CROQUETTES

2 cups stale breadcrumbs

1 cup milk

1 yolk of egg

1 cup chopped nuts

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup grated cheese

Shape and roll in dried breadcrumbs. Bake 20 minutes.

BOSTON ROAST

1 teaspoon onion juice

1 cup grated cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup beans (kidney)

About 1 cup breadcrumbs

Soak and cook beans. Mix all ingredients into loaf. Baste with fat and water. Bake 30 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce.

MEATLESS SAUSAGE

1 cup soaked and cooked dried peas, beans, lentils or lima beans 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs

1/4 cup fat

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sage

Mix and shape as sausage. Roll in flour and fry in dripping.

Foods That Will Win The War

Poor blog, you have languished, neglected, through the stomach flu pandemic that has made such an all-inclusive assault on my family. It has been a complete rout with the bodies of the fallen hanging over toilets all across town. This bug has vanquished even the mighty saltine and 7-up panacea handed down by our foremothers.  Heck, I couldn’t manage plain tea without another run for the bathroom. There’s only one place to turn to for any comfort and that is: Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them, by C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss, 1918.While it wasn’t written with invalids in mind, who would not find their resolve strengthened by this stirring argument:

“Food will win the war, and the nation whose food resources are best conserved will be the victor. This is the truth that our government is trying to drive home to every man, woman and child in America. We have always been happy in the fact that ours was the richest nation in the world, possessing unlimited supplies of food, fuel, energy and ability; but rich as these resources are they will not meet the present food shortage unless every family and every individual enthusiastically co-operates in the national saving campaign as outlined by the United States Food Administration.”

“A little bit of saving in food means a tremendous aggregate total, when 100,000,000 people are doing the saving. One wheatless meal a day would not mean hardship; there are always corn and other products to be used. Yet one wheatless meal a day in every family would mean a saving of 90,000,000 bushels of wheat, which totals 5,400,000,000 lbs. Two meatless days a week would mean a saving of 2,200,000 lbs. of meat per annum. One teaspoonful of sugar per person saved each day would insure a supply ample to take care of our soldiers and our Allies. These quantities mean but a small individual sacrifice, but when multiplied by our vast population they will immeasurably aid and encourage the men who are giving their lives to the noble cause of humanity on which our nation has embarked.”

So really, in a way, spending a day or two unable to eat is a noble thing. Think how much wheat, meat, sugar, and fat was saved, especially at this time of year! Those are the 4 foods this recipe book focuses on; let’s start with wheat and I’ll cover the others in later posts.

WHEAT

Baking your own bread is apparently, unpatriotic, at least if you’re a poor baker.

“Another source of waste of which few of us take account is home-made bread. Sixty per cent. of the bread used in America is made in the home. When one stops to consider how much home-made bread is poorly made, and represents a large waste of flour, yeast and fuel, this housewifely energy is not so commendable. The bread flour used in the home is also in the main wheat flour, and all waste of wheat at the present time increases the shortage of this most necessary food. Fuel, too, is a serious national problem, and all coal used in either range, gas, or electric oven for the baking of poor bread is an actual national loss. There must be no waste in poor baking or from poor care after the bread is made, or from the waste of a crust or crumb. Waste in your kitchen means starvation in some other kitchen across the sea.”

However, quick breads, though possibly hazardous to your health, are strongly encouraged, and cornmeal shines like a star on the flagpole.

“Even with all possible care to prevent waste, yeast breads will not conserve our wheat supply so well as quick breads, because all yeast breads need a larger percentage of wheat. The home baker can better serve her country by introducing into her menus numerous quick breads that can be made from cornmeal, rye, corn and rye, hominy, and buckwheat. Griddle cakes and waffles can also be made from lentils, soy beans, potatoes, rice and peas.”

CORNMEAL RAGGED ROBINS

1-1/2 cups cornmeal

1 cup bread flour

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/3 cups milk

2-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

4 tablespoons fat

1-1/4 teaspoons soda

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in the fat. Add liquid and drop by spoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake in hot

oven 12 to 15 minutes. These may be rolled and cut same as baking powder biscuits.

TAMALE PIE

2 cups cornmeal

5 cups water (boiling)

2 tablespoons fat

1 teaspoon salt

1 onion

2 cups tomatoes

2 cups cooked or raw meat cut in small pieces

1/4 cup green peppers

To the cornmeal and 1 teaspoon salt, add boiling water. Cook one-half hour. Brown onion in fat, add meat. Add salt, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, the tomatoes and green peppers. Grease baking dish, put in layer of cornmeal mush, add seasoned meat, and cover with mush. Bake one-half hour.

OATMEAL NUT BREAD

1 cake compressed yeast

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar or 2 tablespoons corn syrup

2 tablespoons fat

4 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Pour two cups of boiling water over oatmeal, cover and let stand until lukewarm. Dissolve yeast and sugar in one-half cup lukewarm water, add shortening and add this to the oatmeal and water. Add one cup of flour, or enough to make an ordinary sponge. Beat well. Cover and set aside in a moderately warm place to rise for one hour. Add enough flour to make a dough--about three cups, add nuts and the salt. Knead well. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise in a moderately warm place until double in bulk--about one and one-half hour. Mould into loaves, fill well-greased pans half full, cover and let rise again one hour. Bake forty-five minutes in a moderate oven.

WAR BREAD

2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons fat

6 cups rye flour

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cake yeast

To the boiling water, add the sugar, fat and salt. When lukewarm, add the yeast which has been dissolved in the lukewarm water. Add the rye and whole wheat flour. Cover and let rise until twice its bulk, shape into loaves; let rise until double and bake about 40 minutes, in a moderately hot oven.

SPLIT PEA PANCAKES

2 cups split peas

2 egg whites

1/3 cup flour

1 cup milk

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons pork drippings

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoonful baking powder

Soak peas over night, cook, and when tender, put through a food chopper and mix the ingredients. Bake on hot greased griddle.

BREAD GRIDDLE CAKES

2 cups sour milk

2 cups bread

Let stand until soft

Put through colander. For each one pint use:

1 egg

1 teaspoon soda

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup flour

1 egg beaten

Mix well; bake at once on hot greased griddle.

Moby Mouse

I paid no attention when my cat, Lace, suddenly darted off my lap. Cats have a habit of realizing they are late for an appointment and darting away. But when I saw her staring intently under the oven, I realized she had a mouse in her sights. My hopes soared as I dropped to my knees beside her to peer under, maybe it was that little albino bastard.

Last April I bought a mouse to feed my daughter’s snake, only he went on hunger strike. I quickly tired of dropping this mouse into the tank every few days and then getting bitten—by the mouse, not the snake—taking it back out to the food ‘holding tank’. It was quick, clever, aggressive, wild—the mouse, not the snake—and while I don’t usually take any pleasure in feeding the snake, I was making a definite exception in this case. Only the snake still wasn’t eating, and I was getting worried; two months passed. Thinking the snake may have developed a similar aversion to this particular rodent, I reluctantly got him a young rat. Gone like a shot.

Okay, now he was eating again. I waited, continuing to feed him rats, while caring for the nasty white mouse, hoping to slip him in between rats, hoping the snake would strike before noticing. It never worked. I had had the mouse for at least 4 months now. And then he escaped. Quick as a wink when I was changing his cage. The next night my daughter caught him, but he escaped again.

No problem. My back porch, and quite often my living room, is littered with the remains of Lace’s favorite pastime. I’ve never had a cat that hunts as assiduously. Rabbits, mice, birds, shrews, you name it. Hear a squirrel cussing a blue streak? You can bet that Lace is on the roof with evil intent. My daughter reported frequent sightings of the white mouse in her room; Lace spent her nights prowling in there. But the mouse survived. Over the next few months, I could hear it at night, gnawing, taunting me. Every time I thought Lace must have got it at last, it made a foray into someone’s bedroom.

Then a few weeks ago, it strolled across the living room floor while we were watching a movie. I pulled a muscle jumping up, yelling incoherently. It went behind the computer desk. We played hide and seek the rest of the evening until I was a foot away from it, ready to slam an empty cottage cheese container over it, just an inch closer…just an inch closer…then Lace came up to me and did the figure 8 thing around my leg, oblivious, as the mouse disappeared from sight.  Damn! The thing that irritated me the most was that I could see it was starting to suffer from old age.

So here I was sprawled on my kitchen floor, next to my cat, mumbling about “that little white fucker”. I pulled the drawer out there it was, sitting among my baking pans. Then it was gone, I pulled the pans out. The drawer was empty. I pulled the drawer completely out. Lace was quivering with hunting fever. I stuffed her under the oven, screeching, “get it, get it, get it” like a mad woman. Nobody tells Lace what to do, but in this case, she was willing to overlook it, close as we both knew she was to the kill.

The clock ticked. Lace stuck her head out, confused. I shoved her back under. She stuck her head out. And then she locked on target. Behind me. I turned and saw a white nose and whiskers between the cups of a muffin tin that was sitting on a cookie sheet. The mouse was sandwiched between. Not squished between but running freely along the underside of the muffin tin, in and out of the spaces between the cups. Lace was quickly on one side and I was on the other as the nose peeked out here, then there, in a homemade whack-a-mole game I was simply NOT going to lose this time.

I called my daughter to get a plastic grocery bag and scooped the whole thing into the bag, shook the tins and caught my great white nemesis. Its hair was thinning, and it even seemed to have a little palsy. I ran with it up the stairs and bunged it into the snake cage, cackling and doing a victory dance. The snake was hungry.

Lace hasn't spoken to me since.

If I need to legitimize telling this story in a food blog: it is about food and it does take place in a kitchen. If you want more, consider it introduction to this recipe for rodents in the Lincoln Heritage Trail Cookbook by Marian French, 1971.

Rabbit and Squirrel

Soak overnight in salted water or 1 part vinegar to 1 part water. Stew or fry in the same manner as chicken.

That's it, that's all it says.It's followed by a recipe for Chicken and Dumplings that I assume you could use with your squirrel.

Stewed Chicken and Dumplings

Use a 5 or 6 pound chicken (or big ass squirrel) (whole or cut into parts), cover with water and boil slowly in covered pot until tender. Add salt, pepper, butter as seasoning. Remove chicken to platter, drop dumpling dough (or baked biscuits) into liquid, cover and cook ten minutes, serve hot.

Yeah, all kinds of wrong with that recipe. No where in the book does it give a recipe for dumplings. Now I know in the south a dumpling is a wide egg noodle and in the north its a biscuit, and there is a recipe for noodles but it isn't tagged as a 'dumpling'. There's no recipe for biscuits in here. Not to mention that biscuit dumplings aren't baked first and then dropped in the water, they are dropped in raw and steamed to cook them. Nor does this recipe mention thickening the liquid in any way, or that the chicken be returned to the pot. Or maybe the dumplings and liquid are supposed to be poured over the chicken afterwards? Meh, I doubt this author ever made chicken and dumplings. Or squirrel.

Cookie Casserole

I’ve got the blues. I’ve got the blues cuz I don’t have the blues anymore; my favorite, and really, only blues club anywhere around here, went out of business this weekend. I’ve been moping around all this gloomy weekend like my best friend passed away. I suppose I could drown my sorrows in booze, but that’s not my style, or chocolate, which is more my style, actually ice cream cures most ills. But what really sounds good is comfort food: mashed potatoes and gravy or a deep gooey casserole. If I had the umph to leave the computer and go make some. Comfort food works best when someone else is doing the comforting.

Oh well, good enough reason to pull out the Culinary Institutes’ Casserole Cook Book, 1954 and see if I can find some motivation in it.

Good golly. The first recipe in the book is for steak and kidney pie. My great grandmother came from Liverpool. She was a World War I bride and she left a legacy of steak and kidney pie as the ultimate treat at family gatherings—at least through my mother’s generation. There’s a tiny British food store in town and I’ve sometimes picked up some frozen individual serving ones for my mom for Christmas. By my generation, however, the expat fervor was running weak.

All it takes is to smell that stuff cooking…I remember scooping more than my fair share of biscuits off the top and slathering them with butter to smother the taste of the filling, then cautiously picking thru the rest of my portion with a magnifying glass to remove all kidney particles from my plate before eating it. I still have ongoing issues with eating anything that has to have the pee boiled out of it first. But for you brave souls, or maybe my mother, should I be in a particularly dutiful mood someday, here’s the recipe. It uses pie crust on top instead of biscuits and it doesn’t involve any pre-boiling of urine so try at your own risk.

Beef and Kidney Pie

Set out a 2 qt top-of-range casserole having a tight fitting cover. Remove membranes and split horizontally through the center of 1 beef kidney. Remove cores and tubes. Rinse clean in cold water. Cut into 1 inch cubes. Put into a bowl and pour in ½ c French dressing. Turn each piece of kidney to coat well. Cover bowl and let kidney marinate at least 1 hour. Turn pieces occasionally; drain.

Wipe 1 lb. beef for stewing (chuck, brisket, or rump); cut into 1 inch pieces.

Coat kidney and beef with mixture of:

2/3 c flour

1 ½ t salt

1 t MSG

¼ t paprika

¼ t pepper

Heat in casserole over medium heat: 3 T bacon drippings. Add meat and ¼ c chopped onion. Brown meat, stirring occasionally.

Combine and pour slowly into casserole:

2 ½ cups condensed tomato soup (2 cans)

1 cup hot water (or more if needed to cover meat)

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

¼ t basil

Cover tightly; simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours or until meat is tender.

Heat and cook in a saucepan 5 minutes:

3 T butter

1 cup mushrooms

Remove bay leaf and add mushrooms to casserole.

If necessary to thicken liquid, shake ¾ c water and 6 T flour in a jar until well blended and slowly pour as much as needed into casserole, stirring constantly, to reach desired consistently. Bring to a boil. Cook 2-3 minutes longer.

Make pie crust and arrange rolled out pastry on top of casserole. Press edges to seal and flute. Make slits in top top vent and bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes or till brown.

For some reason, I still don’t feel comforted. But I do remember sitting on a play ground in Riyadh while my siblings played and my mother talked to a British lady about recipes. When they got to beef and kidney pie, the other lady was horrified at my mother’s description of how she made it. It took a little for them to realize that the American-to-British translation meant she was picturing a thick stew with cookies floating on it.

Bacon fat

I’ve got the following marinating, continuing the French-Italian cook-off from the Culinary Art Institute’s 1954 cook books for each cuisine. It calls for frying up bacon and reserving the fat to brown the meat in. I imagine some would balk at this, but it didn’t used to be unusual. When I was young, everyone had a fat can in the fridge, or by the stove, to pour the drippings into. Often it was a recycled coffee can.

I don’t actually remember my mom using this reserved fat to cook. I think it was more of a system to keep from pouring the fat down the sink and stopping up the drains. When the can was full, it could easily be tossed and a new one begun. Maybe it’s just the folks I hand around with, but I don’t think people do this much anymore. I haven’t seen the kind of “official” grease jar with a  strainer in years. And folks certainly don’t think of this fat as semi-liquid gold for cooking with. It’s not a matter of misplaced WW II frugality; a couple tablespoons for your cornbread works wonders. Fry up some cabbage in it, or green beans. It doesn’t take a lot. Nor do you have to eat a lot. Moderation in all things, including moderation. It won’t kill you, I promise.

Perhaps thanks to the rise of foodie culture,  Emeril Lagasse’s catch phrase, “Pork fat rules”, and the recession, the grease jar will make a comeback.

Daube de Boeuf à la Provençale (Marinated Beef, Provençal Style)

Set out a large, heavy skillet having a tight fitting cover.

Cut into 2 ½ lbs beef, round or chuck, into 2 inch pieces.

Put into deep bowl with:

1 ½ cups thinly sliced onions

1 cup red wine

4 small carrots, sliced

¼ t thyme

2 cloves garlic, cut in halves

6 peppercorns

3 whole cloves

1 sprig parsley

Marinate 2 to 3 hours, turning the pieces from time to time in the marinade. Remove beef from marinade and set aside to drain thoroughly.

Cook 8 slices bacon, diced in the skillet, turning frequently. Pour off and set aside fat. When bacon is evenly crisp and browned, set aside.

Return to skillet and heat over medium heat:

¼ c bacon drippings

1 T olive oil

1 T lard

Brown meat on all sides in the hot fats. Add the carrots and onions from the marinade, the bacon pieces and 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped. Heat the marinade, strain, and pour oven the meat. Add 1 cup red wine. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until meat is tender. Serve meat and sauce over cooked macaroni.

Despite how good this sounded, I'd only give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. I have a recipe for Corsican beef that's very similar and I guess I expected it to taste like that. That has mushrooms, which I don't usually even like, but had a much deeper richer flavor. 


So I've decided: Italy wins! Sorry France.

Polenta, Pane, and Perfection

Here's my competing bread recipes. First from Italy, the basic pane, which I made for dinner tonight, followed by the French entry: brioche, which doesn't look too hard but I would have had to start it yesterday and I didn't think about it then.

Pane (Italian Bread)

Soften 1 pkg active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile put 1 3/4 cups warm water and 1 T salt in a large bowl.
Blend in 3 cups flour. Stir softened yeast and add to flour-water mixture, mixing well.
Measure 2-2 1/2 cups flour. Add half to the yeast mixture and beat until very smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn mixture onto a lightly floured surface. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes. Knead.

Select a deep bowl just large enough to allow dough to double. Shape dough into a ball and place in greased bowl. Turn dough to bring greased surface to the top. Cover bowl with wzxed paper and towel and let stand in a warm place until doubled, (1 1/2-2 hours).
Punch down. Knead on a lightly floured surface 2 minutes. Divide into 2 balls. Let stand covered 10 minutes.

Roll each ball into a  14x8 inch rectangle. Roll up tightly in a long slender loaf, pinch ends to seal.
Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheet. Cover loosely with a towel ans set aside until doubled. Bake at 450 10 minutes, reduce temerature to 350 and bake 1 hour or until golden brown. To increase crustiness, place a flat pan on bottom of oven and fill with boiling water at beginning of baking period.

This turned out to be one of the best yeast breads I've ever made. The crust was wonderfully crunchy. Definitely a keeper. Definitely. Can you say bread overdose?


Petites Brioches

Soften 1 pkg active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Scald 1/4 cup milk.
Meanwhile put into a large bowl:
3/4 cup soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
Pour scalded milk over and allow to stand until lukewarm.
Mix in 1/2 cup flour thoroughly. Stir softened yeast and add, mixing well.
Beat 1 1/2 cups flour.
Add 3 eggs and 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add about 2 cups flour, beating in, to form soft dough. Beat thoroughly at least 5 minutes. Turn into a deep buttered bowl just large enough to allow dough to double. Brush top surface with melted butter. Cover with waxed paper and a towel. Set aside in a warm place to rise. When doubled, punch down, butter surface, and let rise again. Set in refrigerator 12 hours or overnight. Punch down occasionally as it rises.
Remove from fridge, place dough on lightly floured surface. Shape two thirds into 2 inch balls. Place in buttered muffin pan wells. Form an equal number of small balls from remaining dough. Gently roll into cone shape. Make an impression in center of larger balls, insert tips of cones. These form the "hats". Cover loosely with towel and set aside in warm place until doubled.
Brush lightly with mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 T milk. Bake 425 for 15-20 minutes.


Since we need something appropriate to mop up with the bread, I flipped thru the book for something to go with and found this recipe. I'm not huge on mushrooms and didn't have any on hand, so I subbed some celery, onion, and red pepper, and added some garlic, pepper, and oregano. I've never made homemade polenta, nor have I ever had any besides those tubes you buy at the store and slice, so I have no idea if this turned out "right." But it did turn out so tasty as a base for this sauce that I have a completely different opinion of polenta now. And a belly so stuffed I need a nap. Four thumbs up for tonight's dinner--France, you have a big challenge ahead of you to match this.

Polenta con Salsiccia
Set out a large, heavy sauce pan.
Prepare 1 lb. Italian sausage. (Cut casing, remove, and crumble sausage with a fork)
Clean and slice 1 lb mushrooms.
Heat 2 T olive oil in skillet and add mushrooms and sausage. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until mushrooms and sausage are lightly browned. Slowly stir in 2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, 1 t salt, 1/4 t pepper. Simmer 30 minutes. Meanwhile make polenta.

Polenta
Bring 3 cups water and 1 1/2 t salt to a boil in a saucepan.
Gradually stir in a mixture of 1 cup yellow corn meal and 1 cup cold water.
Boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cover, lower heat, and cook slowly 10 minutes or longer. Transfer to a warm platter and top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan or romano cheese.

Shrimp WTC

Some people see WTC and think World Trade Center. 

I see it and think Worth The Calories, which is kinda how I rank food. Worth the Calories or Not Worth the Calories. Last Friday I went out on an actual date which was a lovely treat, however I made the mistake of not choosing my usual item off the restaurant menu. Isn’t that choice always followed by regret?

In the spirit of adventure, I branched out and tried the Shrimp Diablo, a spicy combination of grilled veggies and shrimp in a tomato-based sauce on angel hair pasta. Or so it said. I can’t say they lied, because there were strips of pepper and zucchini with black marks indicative of some exposure to flame or at least high heat. There were five pieces of shrimp on top of it, and there were tomatoes for sure. I don’t think I’d call it a sauce because that implies doing something to it. This seemed to be a can of diced tomatoes, warmed a little in a microwave and dumped over the top. I’ll even admit to some heat: there was a good amount of cayenne sprinkled around. “Good” in that it made the plate pretty, and that it warmed your mouth plenty without causing searing pain. And yet…and yet this dish had no depth of flavor. The chef managed to achieve spicy and bland at the same time. Perhaps I should applaud that as an achievement itself but I won’t. Sure, I was hungry and I ate it, but ultimately it was Shrimp Placido and NWTC.

The solution? More calories of course! Chocolate cheesecake that was like dense fudge. Thank goodness we split it or I would have needed a trip to the emergency room for insulin, but I would have been happy all the way. Next time I want to be adventurous, I should try something original, like these ideas from Lea and Perrins.

Tempura Shrimp with Hot Sauce

2 lbs jumbo shrimp

Flour

2 eggs, well beaten

¾ c water

Deep fat

Shell shrimp but don’t remove the tails. Slit them down the back. Open out the shrimp and flatten them. Remove the veins. Dip the shrimp in flour. Combine 1 cup flour, eggs, sauce,and water. Beat til smooth. Dip flour-coated shrimp into the batter. Fry in deep fat at 370° for 3-4 minutes until shrimp are firm and crisp. Dip into cocktail sauce and serve with lima bean salad and thinly sliced white radishes.

Hot Cocktail Sauce

1 c chili sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 T horseradish

Combine and chill.

Or maybe:

Scampi with Caper Sauce

1 lb shrimp

¼ c olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T parsley

¼ t oregano

Shell raw shrimp, slit down the back, remove vein, and wash. Drain well. Heat olive oil. Add shrimp and remaining ingredients. Saute over a high flame, stirring constantly until shrimp are golden brown and curled. Serve hot with caper sauce, lemon slices, bread sticks, potato salad, and grilled tomatoes.

Caper Sauce

½ c mayonnaise

1 T lemon juice

2 t Worcestershire sauce

2 T drained capers

Combine all and chill

Chicken a la Cheese Pie

Dinner is brought to you by Pillsbury's 8th Grand National Baking Contest hosted by Art Linkletter: 95 women, one man, and four teenage boys gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York. I'll bet that was unbelievably exciting for a farm girl from Iowa with her recipe in hand.

Chicken a la Cheese Pie
Sift together: 1 c flour, 1/2 t salt.
Cut in 1/3 c shortening until particles are the size of small peas

Beat 1 egg slightly. Combine 1 T of egg with 2 T water, sprinkle over flour mixture while tossing and stirring lightly with a fork. Add liquid to driest particles, pushing lumps to the side until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Form into a ball, flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness. Smooth dough at edges. Roll out on floured surface to a circle 1 1/2 inches larger than inverted 9 inch pie pan. Fit loosely into pan. Fold edge over to form standing rim; flute. Prick generously with fork. Bake in hot oven (425) 8 minutes, until very lightly browned.

Saute in large skillet until tender:
1/2 c chopped onion
 2 T green pepper
in 1/4 c chicken fat or butter

Stir in:
2 T flour
1/2 c chicken broth
Cook until thickened.

Add:
3 c diced cooked chicken
3/4 c cooked carrots
1/2 t MSG
remaining egg

Turn into partially baked pie shell. Top with 8 slices American cheese. Bake in moderately hot oven (400) 20-25 minutes until cheese melts and turns light golden brown.

This recipe was the Bride Second Place Prize Winner by Mrs. Herman D. Baldner, jr., Dallas Center, IA. Here she is. I think she looks darling and so young! I love her smile and her hat.

I had to check and found quite a bit about Lorna on the internet. She was the recently the recipient of a Century Farm certificate at the Iowa State Fair, where she also took first place for her memory quilt, so it would appear that farming is still very close to her heart. Lorna remarried 15 years ago; unfortunately, her husband John Grow passed away this summer. Best to you Lorna, and thanks for the pie!

Wasn't a crumb left.

Homestyle Perfume

Apparently, onions are one of the top 5 foods that make up the Saudi diet. That may be why I regard onions as a vegetable rather than a seasoning, as I think many Americans see them. I see ingredient lists with 2T of onion or some such and I just laugh. My friend, Annie, told me her gramma’s tip: when you have a house full of people and are suddenly in the position of needing to whip up a meal at short notice, that the first thing you do is chop an onion and start it carmelizing. The scent relaxes people, it tells them you’re on top of things and they sit back in anticipation. Now you have some time to figure out what the hell you’re gonna do, and besides everything begins with onions. Wise woman.

When I was in college, I had a friend from Palestine, Samer, and one day, I was having a bunch of people over, so Samer came by early and we made kufta together for them. It was a lovely afternoon, chopping onion, and parsley and mushing it with our hands onto bamboo skewers. I can't help but think of the gentle rapport and pleasure of cooking togther when I think of him. He often used to greet me by burying his nose in the crook of my shoulder and hair and taking a deep breath. Even then I did a lot of cooking, and as he said, “A woman should smell like onions.” It was meant as a compliment and I took it as such, especially since I frequently did.

Making kufta from a recipe would be unusual for me, but for the novice middle-eastern cook, here’s a version from Good Eating the Arabic Way, a book complied by Laraine Kousaie Mahshie for the Anthiochian Women of St. Elias Orthodox Church and the ladies of the Arabic speaking community in Syracuse, NY.

Kefta
1 lb. lean ground lamb or ground beef
1/2 c parsley, finely chopped
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t cinnamon
1/4 c onion, minced
1 tsp salt
dash allspice

Mix above ingredients well. Form in individual cylindrical shapes around a skewer. Broil in oven or over charcoal. Serve in arabic bread with yogurt as a sauce.

Variations:
Add 2 T burghal (crushed wheat) softened in water for 10 minutes. Drain completely and squeeze before adding.
Mix all ingredients in a meat grinder.
Sprinkle with lemon juice and garnish with parsley.
Mold in round patties and fry in skillet in butter over medium high heat.