Showing posts with label beef. Show all posts

7-Layer Casserole (1950s) ★★★


Hooray, a casserole!
Actually, I really love casseroles. They are one of my favourite foods - easy to make, and taste great! This one is also awesome because there are no canned soups (sorry, just not a fan!).


Original Recipe:

7-Layer Casserole

 Talk about your one-dish meals! Here's one with no pre-cooking. Just put in the layers, pop it in the oven, and get set for some real raves from your family!

 Start heating oven to moderate (350F.). Place these ingredients in layers in a 2-qt. baking dish with a tight-fitting lid:

 1. 1 cup rice, uncooked
2. 1 cup canned whole kernel corn, drained
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour 1 8-oz. can HUNT'S TOMATO SAUCE and 1/2 can water over first two layers
4. 1/2 cup each finely chopped onion and green pepper
5. 3/4 lb. uncooked ground beef, seasoned with salt and pepper
6. Pour second can HUNT'S TOMATO SAUCE and 1/4 can water over all
7. Cover meat with 4 strips bacon, cut in half

 Cover dish and bake at 350F. for 1 hour. Uncover and bake about 30 minutes longer. Makes 4 - 6 servings.

 There's just no end to the tempting casseroles you can make with HUNT'S TOMATO SAUCE. It's particularly nice for leftovers. A little of this, a little of that, and HUNT'S TOMATO SAUCE - and a delicious dinner is on your table! Let your imagination be your guide...when Hunt's in the kitchen to help!


The Verdict:

Mr. Man thought this was weird. I thought it was okay. The flavours were nice together and it was ridiculously easy to make. I love a one-dish meal that has carbs, protein, and veggies all together. It's pretty economical. Oh, and I used short grain brown rice because it was what I had on hand and it was cooked to perfection!
However, using uncooked ground beef and bacon made it really greasy. I was quite concerned that there was no grease floating on top - meaning the rice and veggies absorbed all of that. Ewwww....Also, the bacon didn't get any direct heat, so it was all gummy, even though it was cooked through. I really liked the recipe though, so I made some modifications, which are below. I give it 3 stars as is, but it's probably worth 4 if modified.


Modernized Recipe:

(Adapted from 21 Ways to Serve Hamburger, found at Shelf Life Taste Test)

16 ounces TOMATO SAUCE
6 ounces WATER
1 cup RICE, uncooked
1 cup CORN (I used frozen)
1/2 cup ONION, diced
1/2 cup GREEN PEPPER, diced
3/4 pound GROUND BEEF, cooked and drained
4 pieces BACON
SALT, to taste
PEPPER, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a 9x13 pan, layer the rice, corn (salt and pepper to taste), 8 ounces of tomato sauce, 4 ounces of water, onion, green pepper, ground beef (salt and pepper to taste), remainder of tomato sauce and water, and bacon. Cover with aluminium foil.
3. Bake for 1 hour, then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. Turn the oven to broil to crisp the bacon on top, watching carefully not to burn it (alternatively, try pre-cooking the bacon and just crumbling on top).
4. Let cool slightly and serve.
Read More

Pot Roast (1913) ★★★★★

One of the ways I like to make historical recipes is by simply cooking them as part of a meal. We all have to eat, don't we? Mr. Man sometimes objects to me making "weird" things for dinner, but a pot roast is hard to complain about. On top of that, pot roast is still made in pretty much the same way as it was in the past - except now we have electric slow cookers. I could've done this recipe in a big pot on the stove, but I find the slow cooker is better and prevents burning. I guess in that respect I've not made this recipe exactly as called for, but simply by cooking in a modern kitchen I'm not authentic anyway. The point of Kitchen Historic is not to exactly recreate these historical recipes, but to adapt them for modern tastes in a modern kitchen. I think this is still a legitimate method of appreciating the past.
So, without further ado, a pot roast!


Original Recipe:
POT ROAST.—Take a nice piece of the round beef weighing about four pounds, season well with salt and pepper and dust over thoroughly with flour. In a flat bottomed kettle melt a piece of butter the size of an egg, when hot put in the meat, turning until well browned on every side. When roast is brown add a little onion, six cloves, six allspice and enough boiling water to come up half way to the top of the meat. Cook slowly for three hours. When done take out meat, add one tablespoon of flour to a little cold water to thicken gravy.

 The Verdict:
Delicious! I accidentally used oil instead of butter to brown the roast, but it got this beautiful, brown crust so I was happy anyway. It tasted good too - I do enjoy the cloves/allspice with beef. It works well. And this recipe is ridiculously simple. It would be nice with potatoes and carrots added, just so that you don't have to cook vegetables separately. That's pretty much the only change I would make to this. Oh - and 1 tablespoon of flour is a joke - just save yourself the hassle and use cornstarch. It thickens so much better. I had to puree my gravy because the flour made lumps, but that's optional.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Civic League Cook Book)

The original recipe is easy to follow. I lightly fried my onions in the leftover fat before adding them to the crockpot. In a crock pot it will take quite a while - about 8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high, depending on how done you want your meat.
Read More

Rancho Spiced Beef (1939) ★★★★

I found this neat cookbook from 1939, called New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen. The cookbook features all sorts of interesting recipes from across the United States, organized by state/region. It's a really cool read to see the regional specialties. This recipe is from the southwest/west section, which includes the states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Montana.  Unfortunately this makes it impossible to know exactly which state it is from.


Original Recipe:










The Verdict:
It was pretty good. I was so scared of the amount of cayenne and cloves, but surprisingly they weren't overpowering. It was spicy, but not so much that wimpy me couldn't eat it. Actually, it was probably better than eating tacos (Yes, eating tacos is an ordeal for me. For some reason I just cannot handle spicy!). The cloves weren't overpowering either, which was nice. There was a nice crust on the outside from the spices, but the inside of the roast was pretty blah. This could be because I didn't marinate it overnight, though. If you're like me and forget to do things ahead of time, just chop your roast up a bit so that there's more surface area to get a crust. The only other alteration I made was to add the wine with the water, just because Little Y was eating it too and I wanted the alcohol to be a little weaker. Oh, and the 1 tablespoon of flour apparently didn't thicken the sauce (Mr. Man did it for me), so it may require extra. Overall, a nice and somewhat different flavour


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen)

2 1/2 pounds BEEF SHOULDER
1/2 teaspoon GROUND CLOVES
1/2 teaspoon ALLSPICE
1/2 teaspoon CAYENNE
SALT, to taste
PEPPER, to taste
1 clove GARLIC
1 tablespoon BUTTER, melted
1 cup SHERRY or WHITE WINE
1 cup WATER
2 BAY LEAVES
1 teaspoon LEMON JUICE
1 tablespoon FLOUR

1. In a small bowl, mix the cloves, allspice, cayenne, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub it all over the beef.
2. In the same bowl (emptied), mix together the lemon juice and the butter. Pour it over the beef. Let it marinate overnight.
3. In a crockpot, add the water and bay leaves. Add the marinated beef. Cook on high for 3-4 hours and add the wine. Cook for another 1-2 hours, or until the meat is tender and easy to shred. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce.
Read More

Noodle Mixup (1933) ★★★★

For a 1933 recipe, this meal seems quite modern.


Original Recipe:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp. fat
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. canned tomatoes
1 c. water
3 c. cooked egg noodles
1 c. canned kidney beans, well-rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt

 Fry onion in fat until brown; add meat, tomatoes, and water and cook slowly until meat is done, about 25 minutes. Add egg noodles, beans, and seasoning. Heat thoroughly and serve.

The Verdict:
Although this meal was a little plain, it wasn't bad. Mr. Man and I both enjoyed it. It was very meaty though, with a whole pound of beef. A little less might have been nice. It also could have benefited from some garlic fried with the onion and we added cheese on top for some extra flavour. I would probably make this again.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The Farmer's Wife)

The original recipe is easy enough to follow.
Read More

Beef a la Mode (1875) ★★★★★

Perhaps it's a bit early in the year for stews, but regardless, this is a nice, simple recipe for when you're too lazy to do much cooking.


Original Recipe:
2. Beef a la Mode.- Procure about ten pounds' weight of buttock, and cut it into bits of about a quarter of a pound each. Chop a couple of large onions very fine, and put them into a large stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, or fresh and well clarified beef dripping. Whilst this is warming, cover the pieces of beef with flour; put them into the pan, and stir them for ten minutes, adding a little more flour by slow degrees, and taking great care the meat does not burn. Pour in, a little at a time, a gallon of boiling water, then add a couple of drachms of ground allspice, one of black pepper, and a couple of bay leaves. Let all this stew, on a low fire and very gently, for three hours and a quarter; ascertain with a fork if the meat be tender: if so, you may serve it in a tureen or deep dish. A well dressed salad is the proper accompaniment of Boeuf a la Mode.

 The Verdict:
Er, well, I didn't want to buy 10 pounds of meat, so I used more like 2 pounds, but I also forgot to reduce the amount of butter haha. Oops. Anyway, it all worked out because this tasted great! Mr. Man even said, and I quote, "This is so good, I'm about to fight you for your portion." It did need salt, however, and I think some carrots or other vegetables in the stew would have been nice, but then again we didn't have any salad with this because I didn't have the ingredients. We ate ours over rice, by the way, which probably isn't authentic, but it was yummy. I'm posting the recipe with the amounts as written, so if you make this, you'll probably want to divide the recipe in half or quarters.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Things a Lady Would Like to Know)

10 pounds BEEF ROUND
2 ONIONS, chopped
1/2 cup BUTTER or BEEF DRIPPINGS (bacon grease might be tasty!)
FLOUR
16 cups BOILING WATER
2 - 3 teaspoons ALLSPICE
1 teaspoon PEPPER
2 - 3 BAY LEAVES

1. Cut the beef into 4 ounce portions. Lightly coat each piece in flour.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot and lightly fry the onions. Add the floured beef and cook on medium-high, browning both sides of the beef.
3. When the meat is browned, add a little flour to thicken the butter and pour in the boiling water, a little at a time. Mix well.
4. Add the allspice, pepper, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Let it all simmer for 3 hours and 15 minutes, or until it is easily shredded with a fork. Stir occassionally, especially near the end when the sauce is cooking down. Serve it in a deep dish, accompanied with salad.
Read More

Chuck Wagon Beans (1948) ★★★

Cookbooks aren't the only sources for historical recipes - old advertisements are goldmines, too! There are tons of these sorts of images around the web, especially on Flickr. It's interesting to see what sorts of things companies came up with to advertise their product.

Original Recipe:
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or shortening
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 clove garlic (optional)
2 cans Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups cooked or canned white or kidney beans (1 lb. 4-oz can)
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder

 Melt shortening. Add onion, garlic, and meat. Cook until meat is lightly browned. Add Hunt's Tomato Sauce, beans, water and seasonings. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Makes 4 servings.

The Verdict:
Unfortunately this was bland. So very bland. I used shortening instead of bacon fat, but I imagine that would have been quite tasty. I think I also may have added too much tomato sauce (like what the heck does "2 cans" equal anyway?!) and too much beef, comparing my finished product to the illustration. Also, I don't know what the difference between this and chili is. Because I would call this chili. Anyway, we added a bunch of spices and it was quite tasty. Without all the spice was great for Little Y, though. I gave it three stars because I would make this again, but it needs spicing up.


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Life, July 26, 1948)


2 tablespoons BACON DRIPPINGS or SHORTENING (this isn't really necessary unless you use extra lean beef)
1/2 cup ONION, chopped
1/2 clove GARLIC
2 cans HUNT'S TOMATO SAUCE
1 pound GROUND BEEF
2 cups (20 ounces) COOKED OR CANNED WHITE OR KIDNEY BEANS
1/4 cup WATER
3/4 teaspoon SALT
2 teaspoons CHILLI POWDER (+ extra spices for flavour)

1. In a large pot, melt the shortening. Add the onion, garlic, and meat and cook until the meat is browned. Pour off the extra fat if desired.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. If desired add extra spices to taste such as salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, oregano, and cayenne.
3. Simmer over low heat for about 35 minutes, or until thickened. Stir often, because this will stick to the bottom very quickly!
Read More

Picnic Lunch (c. 1905) ★★★★





Summer is the perfect time for picnics, so I thought I would share this bill of fare for a picnic lunch from a circa 1905 California cookbook. I also decided to include some lemonade with our picnic. It isn't listed in this menu, but it was included in another picnic menu from the same cookbook. Also, I didn't make the salad dressing because I just used mayonnaise.
Overall, it seems like picnic food hasn't changed much over the years!












Original Recipes: 
The Verdict:
Veal Loaf: It was good, but I overdid the celery salt just a bit. It's very strong stuff, so you only need a pinch. Other than that it was yummy.

Cheese Sandwiches: Well...it's just mustard and cheese in bread, so....yeah, it was good.

Olive Sandwiches: Mr. Man really liked these, but our olives had apparently gone off, so he threw it out. He said otherwise the sandwich would have been delicious.

Potato Salad: Mr. Man LOVED this. But he loves anything with cayenne, so I wasn't surprised. He practically licked the bowl clean.

Wafers: At first I thought these were super weird and didn't really like them, but the more I ate the better they tasted. They cooked up with domes in the centers and were really spongy like mini pancakes. I am assuming you are supposed to eat these with jam, since the menu says to bring along some jelly. They taste very buttery and are alright on their own, but really delicious with jam.

Overall, a lovely picnic and all the recipes were edible!










Modernized Recipes:
(Adapted from The Times Cook Book, No. 2 )

Veal Loaf
1 1/2 pounds GROUND VEAL or BEEF
1/4 pound BUTTER, softened
1/4 cup CRACKERS, crushed, or BREAD CRUMBS
1/4 cup MILK
1 EGG
SALT
PEPPER
SAGE
THYME
CELERY SALT
BUTTER

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together ground veal (or beef; I used ground beef), butter, crackers/bread crumbs, milk, egg, and spices to taste.
3. Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape and place in the middle of the lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake the loaf for about 1 hour, basting occasionally with some butter which has been melted with a little water.

Cheese Sandwiches
BREAD
BUTTER, softened
SWISS CHEESE
MUSTARD

1. Butter slices of bread. Fill sandwiches with cheese and mustard.





Olive Sandwiches
BREAD
LETTUCE
OLIVES
MAYONNAISE or SALAD DRESSING

1. Dice olives and mix them with enough mayonnaise to spread on the number of sandwiches you want. I think I used about 5 olives and 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise for 1 sandwich.
2. Spread the mixture on crisp lettuce leaves and place between two slices of bread.

Potato Salad
12 medium POTATOES
3 tablespoons PARSLEY, minced
3 tablespoons CELERY, minced
2 tablespoons ONION, minced
SALT
CAYENNE PEPPER
3 HARD BOILED EGGS, diced
1/2 pint MAYONNAISE or SALAD DRESSING

1. Peel and dice 12 medium potatoes. Boil until tender.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.

Salad Dressing
2 EGG YOLKS
1 tablespoon BUTTER, softened
4 tablespoons VINEGAR
1 teaspoon SALT
1 teaspoon SUGAR
1 teaspoon MUSTARD
1/2 cup CREAM

1. In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks and the butter. Mix in the vinegar, salt, sugar, and mustard. 
2. Put boiling water in a larger bowl or pot and float the smaller bowl with the dressing in the boiling water. Whisk until it thickens.
3. When the dressing has thickened, take it off the heat and let it cool. Mix in the cream.

Wafers
1 cup UNSALTED BUTTER, softened
1 cup SUGAR
2/3 cup BUTTERMILK
1 teaspoon BAKING SODA
2 EGGS
1/2 teaspoon SALT
FLOUR
JAM, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until combined. Mix in the buttermilk, baking soda, eggs, and salt.
3. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. I think I used 2 cups, or maybe less.
4. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 7 - 10 minutes, or until firm and golden around the edges. Serve with jam if desired.
Read More

Curried Beef (c.1859) ★

I'm going to start out this post by apologizing about the lack of photo. This meal got tossed, so I didn't take one. I am not a fan of beer, but I thought that it might be okay in this recipe. I don't know if it was the brand or what, but the smell of this cooking made me feel sick. In the end it wasn't as bad as it smelled, but still not great.

CURRIED BEEF (Cold Meat Cookery).

620. INGREDIENTS.—A few slices of tolerably lean cold roast or boiled beef, 3 oz. of butter, 2 onions, 1 wineglassful of beer, 1 dessertspoonful of curry powder.

Mode.—Cut up the beef into pieces about 1 inch square, put the butter into a stewpan with the onions sliced, and fry them of a lightly-brown colour. Add all the other ingredients, and stir gently over a brisk fire for about 10 minutes. Should this be thought too dry, more beer, or a spoonful or two of gravy or water, may be added; but a good curry should not be very thin. Place it in a deep dish, with an edging of dry boiled rice, in the same manner as for other curries.

Time.—10 minutes. Average cost, exclusive of the meat, 4d.

Seasonable in winter.

The Verdict:
If you like beer, this would probably taste okay. I found that despite adding nearly a tablespoon of curry powder, it was not very curry tasting. The meat had a bit of a beer aftertaste, but it was not as strong as I thought it would be.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton)

2lb POT ROAST, cooked and cubed
2 ONIONS
3 ounces BUTTER
1 cup BEER
1 tablespoon CURRY POWDER
SALT and PEPPER, to taste

1. In a pot, melt the butter and add the onions, cooking at medium-high heat until browned.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook ~10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced somewhat.
3. Add more beer or water if needed to thin out the sauce and serve with rice.
Read More
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)