Tag: Casserole

Dixie Crab Bake

Dixie Crab Bake

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Dinner-in-a-Dish Cookbook (1965)

About the Recipe

The other day, my local grocery store had fancy canned crab on sale. The kind of canned crab that you get in the fish section, not the canned section. My original plan was to make crab cakes, one of my son’s favorite dinners. But then, I was paging through this lovely cookbook and, well – sometimes the recipes guide the ingredients, and sometimes the ingredients guide the recipe.

This recipe creates a creamy and delicious casserole version of a crab cake. It’s a little mid-century nonsense (you can’t ignore the chopped hard-boiled egg). It’s a little heavy on the cholesterol clogging (so creamy). Wow, was it delicious.

A few quick notes on this one:

  • Use high quality crab meat. Do it. Stretch the budget a little and get the good stuff. Or don’t! I’m actually a big fan of canned crab, especially out of season.
  • I only used about half the bread crumb topping, and it was still way too much. Next time, I’ll probably use crushed Ritz crackers tossed in butter instead of a plain crumb.
  • The canned carrots were surprisingly good. You could definitely steam your own and they would work just fine. Either way, they need to be cooked before they get folded in.
  • You’re making a roux for this dish so please (PLEASE!), set your mise-en-place. This dish comes together quickly and having everything close at hand and ready to go is so important.

Bonus tip in my video here:

About the book

I love this cookbook so much. A friend of mine recently gave me a few boxes full of old books that she was cleaning out. A copy of this one was near the top of one of the boxes. I handed it back to her and said, “Keep this. It’s a great one.” The recipes are always good. The illustrations are just wonderful.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 T flour
1 cup light cream
1 t prepared mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t mace
1 T lemon juice
1 can (1 lb.) sliced carrots, drained
2 cans (7.5 oz. each) crabmeat, drained and cartilage removed
2 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped
2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 T butter, melted
Lemon wedges

Directions:

Heat oven to 350*F. Melt butter in heavy saucepan; stir in flour. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat.

Stir in cream; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 min.

Gently fold in seasonings, carrots, crabmeat, and eggs. Pour mixture into 1 1/2-qt. casserole. Toss breadcrumbs with butter; sprinkle over top.

Bake uncovered 45 min., or until bubbly. Serve with lemon wedges. 4 to 6 servings.

Frankfurter-Corn Bread Shortcake

Frankfurter-Corn Bread Shortcake

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Pyrex Prize Recipes (1953)

About the Recipe

Okay friends, it’s time for some good, old-fashioned mid-century nonsense! I’ve actually made this recipe a few times, including once for my mother-in-law. I hate to say it, but it’s actually really really good.

That said, I’ve modernized it over the past couple of years of making it. Here’s how:

  • I use fresh veggies instead of the canned tomatoes. I like using the colorful cherry tomato medley, but any fresh tomato will give you better flavor than the canned version.
  • The husband doesn’t like celery, so I substituted broccoli in. Honestly, use the vegetables you like. Make sure you have the onion, but otherwise – have fun!
  • I like to add 2 T of sugar to the cornbread mix when I make it myself. The sweet and savory combination is really nice.
  • There is so much salt in this dish. Please feel free to cut it down. Your body will thank you.

Cooking with hot dogs is weird. But folks did it for a reason! And this recipe is a good one if you’re feeling a bit brave. Enjoy!

About the book

I had forgotten how lovely this little cookbook is. For each recipe, there’s a recommendation or photo of what Pyrex to use. The photos are, well honestly they’re awful. But I kind of love them. And this dedication is everything for those of us who like to cook vintage dishes in vintage dishes.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup fat
2 1/2 cups tomatoes (#2 can)
8 frankfurters
1/2 t salt

PACKAGED TOPPING:
1 package corn muffin mix (11 3/4 oz.) or

HOMEMADE TOPPING:
3/4 cup flour
3 t double-acting baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 cup corn meal
2 T shortening
1 egg, well beaten
2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Brown celery, onion, and green pepper (or veggies of your choice) in fat in a PYREX Flameware Saucepan. Remove the saucepan from heat; add tomatoes, frankfurters cut into eighths, and 1/2 t salt. Pour into greased PYREX bowl.

Packaged Topping. If you use corn muffin mix, prepare according to directions on the package.

Homemade Topping.  Sift together flour, baking powder, and 1 t salt. Stir in corn meal. Cut shortening into flour mixture until well blended. Add well-beaten egg and milk, and mix until dry ingredients are moistened. 

Pour corn meal batter on top of tomato-frankfurter mixture in the PYREX bowl. This topping may be garnished with additional small slices of frankfurters. 

Bake uncovered about 35 minutes in a moderate (375*F) oven. 

6-8 servings. PYREX 2 1/2-quart bowl

Potato Pan-Burger

Potato Pan-Burger

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 5 Comments

A Recipe from Pillsbury’s 13th Grand National Bake-Off Cookbook (1962)

About the Recipe

I have never in my life bought potato flakes – until this recipe came along. And I’ll admit, I’m kind of blown away by them. One minute you have these weird flakes in a box… BAM! Mashed potatoes. Life changing.

This is a great recipe, especially for a crowd. It’s like a busy person’s shepherd’s pie. I can see this being a kid-pleaser for sure with all of the meat and butter and potato-y goodness. It was super simple to make. The thing that took the longest was adding the potatoes a tablespoon at a time, but worth the effort to get something that kind of looked like a bun when it was spooned up.

My only adjustment to this is to maybe play with the spices a little bit, or have some common condiments on hand for a “make-your-own pan-burger” buffet.

For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!

About the book

The recipes seem to be getting better and better as we come up into the ’60’s. We’re still using butter and full fat milk, and the time saving substitutions haven’t moved too far into processed food yet. My favorite thing on this one is the absolutely gorgeous full color photos of the grand prize winners.

Really just stunning. And the little illustrations to go along with them are to die for. I can tell already that this is one I’ll come back to over and over again.

About the glassware

My husband found this Pyrex Snowflake Casserole dish at a flea market, where it had come straight from an estate sale. It was an absolute steal when I got it, barely used, in perfect condition. I have the lid that goes along with it, which I’ll make sure to feature in the future. It’s my husband’s favorite color (which I’m sure is why he grabbed it) and it’s such a great size for all of these big family-sized dishes.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c flour
1 T catsup
3/4 c beef broth
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c sour cream

Potato Puff Topping:
1 1/2 c water
1/4 c butter
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 c milk
2 c potato flakes
2 eggs
1 c flour
2 t baking powder

Directions:

Brown ground beef and onion in large skillet, stirring occasionally. Drain. Blend in flour and catsup. Add beef broth, salt, and pepper. Cook until thick, stirring constantly.

Stir in cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Reheat, and if your skillet measures less than 2 1/2 quarts, transfer filling to a 2 1/2 quart casserole or two 1 1/2 quart casseroles.

Make the potato puff topping. Drop the topping by rounded teaspoonfuls to cover the filling. Bake at 425* for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Potato Puff Topping:
Heat water, butter, and salt to boiling in saucepan. Remove from heat. Add milk. Stir in potato flakes. When flakes are soft and moist, whip lightly with fork.

Add 2 unbeaten eggs, beating well after each. Stir in flour and baking powder. Beat well.