Chafing-Dish Meat Balls

December 29, 2022 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Good Housekeeping’s Complete CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK (1967)

About the Recipe

Each year for Christmas, my husband and I host what we call Orphan Christmas. We invite friends who are Jews (like us), who are unable to really travel, or who just have no where else to go to join our holiday gathering and table. We cook a big meal and sit down together to make merry. It’s basically heaven.

This year, I dipped into a new-old cookbook to create these meatballs, and they did not disappoint! They remind me of the Swedish meatballs a friend used to make for various festivities (and maybe for Christmas once or twice). The meatballs themselves are fantastic. It’s a great, easy recipe. I can easily see making a batch of them and then freezing them for a day when I don’t feel like cooking but want good spaghetti and meatballs.

In lieu of canned tomato juice, I opted for some bloody mary mix which I had on hand. I paired that with some original Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, a favorite in our household, to make the sauce. I’ll go ahead and say, use whatever you really enjoy. It’s hard to miss on this one as long as you have the sweet in the barbecue sauce and the savory in the tomato juice.

My husband, Tarik has been making meatballs for years.

About the book

I got this book as part of a set from my secret holiday gifter on my team at LinkedIn! I mentioned that I collect and cook out of vintage cookbooks, and this delightful set arrived on my doorstep. The Good Housekeeping Complete Cookbooks come in a set of 15 books, along with a plastic holder. This book is one of the set. As with so many of these MCM cookbooks, it comes complete with terrible food photos and delightful illustrations. I’m so excited to cook some more out of these books.

About the glassware

This barbed wire pattern divided dish is one of my favorite finds. It was a limited release in 1958 and I found it complete with a lid and in perfect condition. The cradle it’s in didn’t come with it, but is a partner to another divided dish that I have. It was the first pattern released on a divided dish, originally called the Cinderella Divided Serving Dish – delightful!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chuck, ground
1/2 cup finely-sifted dried bread crumbs
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups canned tomato juice
2 T regular all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bottled barbecue sauce
1/4 cup water
1 1-lb. 4 1/2-oz. can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions:

Early on day:
1. In bowl, with 2-tined fork, toss together chuck, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, egg, and milk until well blended. Shape into 1/2- to 3/4-inch balls. Place in shallow pan with shortening; refrigerate.
2. In saucepan combine tomato juice and flour until sooth. Add barbecue sauce and water; blend well.

About 1 hour and 30 minutes before serving:
1. Start heating oven to 350*F.
2. Bake meat balls 30 minutes; now drain off excess fat then pour on tomato sauce; bake 45 minutes longer.
3. To serve, spoon meat balls and sauce into chafing dish or serving dish, with pineapple chunks here and there.

Makes 48 meatballs.

Macaroni with Paprika-Mushroom Sauce

August 7, 2022August 7, 2022 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Recipes by Rakusen’s (195?)

About the Recipe

When a friend brought this (along with 2 other also amazingly vintage Rakusen’s books) back from England for me, I couldn’t wait to give it a go. These recipes are classics, and this one didn’t disappoint.

This comes together almost like an easy macaroni and cheese without the cheese. The sauce is rich and delicious, and pairs delightfully with the mushrooms. That said, both the husband and I agreed that more vegetables and even small bites of meat (I would go chicken or steak) would go well with this, and there’s more than enough sauce to make it happen. All in all, an excellent start to cooking with these little booklets. And hey – this was fully Maxx approved, so you know it’s gotta be good!

What do we think, Maxx?

OMNOMNOM!

About the book

I try to keep these entries short and sweet to let you get to the recipe quickly, but forgive me on this one while I wax poetic a little bit about this book. As I said, it came from a friend who brought them from England for me. Rakusen’s is like the Manischewitz of England. It was founded in Leeds in 1900 and is a top provider of Kosher ingredients throughout the country. It was just so fun to look through these booklets, clearly designed to enjoy Rakusen’s fine line of products throughout the year.

There’s no date on the booklet, but it looks to be about 1950’s/60’s, and online listings of them seem to be in line with that as well. The illustrations and funky fonts lean more toward late ’50’s/early ’60’s, but regardless are everything that just works for these old advertising booklets. As per usual though, I remain grateful that food photography has come a long way since that time period.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 large onion
1/2 lb. mushrooms
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
8 oz. macaroni

Directions:

Melt butter in frying pan. Chop onion and sauté in butter until light brown. Remove onion. Slice mushrooms and sauté in same fat until tender. Add remaining ingredients (including onion), except macaroni. Mix well and heat. Cook macaroni in boiling, salted water until tender. Drain. Place in serving dish and pour sauce over. Serve at once. Serves 6.

Frankfurter Crown Casserole

January 14, 2022 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Easy Ways to Delicious Meals, a Campbell’s Cookbook (1968)

About the Recipe

It’s been awhile since I’ve had an opportunity to crack open a cookbook, so I thought I’d come back with a mid-century bang! I love a recipe that strikes me as so crazy it just might work, and thankfully this one does.

It’s deceptively simple to make, and as a new mom who was worried about too much time spent in the kitchen, I was thrilled when it came together much more quickly than expected (about an hour from start to finish, and only because I had to cook the potatoes). I used frozen green beans, which worked just fine. In the future, I’ll probably use the veggie medley instead to give it a little more depth of flavor, or even just throw some fresh veggies in there. This dish would be well served with some broccoli florets or diced mushrooms thrown into the mix. Just sauté them with the onions a little bit to soften them up.

One more thing – cut the salt in half at least. The soup adds plenty of salt on its own, and combined with the frankfurters, it’s a lot.

About the book

I love these mid-century Campbell’s soup cookbooks. I’ve made a few recipes out of them before, and they never disappoint. My favorite part is this combo of full color photos and cute little illustrations. For this dish in particular, I was amused that they snuck in the full color photo of the Frankfurter Crown in the first section of the cookbook. And then (just in case that didn’t sell you), there was an illustration as well. It was truly a no-brainer to pick this particular recipe out of the lot.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 slices bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1/2 t salt
Dash pepper
3 cups sliced cooked potatoes
1 cup cooked cut green beans
1/2 lb. frankfurters, split and cut in half

Directions:

Cook bacon. Remove and crumble. Cook onion in drippings until tender. Stir in soup, water, salt, and pepper; add potatoes and green beans. Pour into 1 1/2-quart casserole. Stand up frankfurters around edge of casserole. Bake at 350*F for 30 minutes. Garnish with bacon.

Blueberry Pancakes #2

May 2, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from the Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking (1959)

About the Recipe

I woke up yesterday with an undeniable craving for blueberry pancakes. After a quick search through the MMMB, I came across this particular recipe. I took a look around for Blueberry Pancakes #1 – and did not find it. SO! Blueberry Pancakes #2, a delightfully over-complicated pancakes recipe it is!

Separating the eggs and beating up the whites plus the slightly high amount of baking powder makes for a wonderfully fluffy pancakes. They were well balanced between sweet, savory, and fruit. I would even make them again with different fruit or sans fruit altogether! Try a little lemon rind for a special twist if you’d like, but otherwise enjoy. And know that the extra 10 minutes or so to make them are definitely going to be worth it. Bonus points to the hubby this time around for helping to fold the egg whites!

I got to pull out my favorite Pyrex Frankenset and enlist the help of the hubby to fold in the egg whites. A wonderful way to kick-off brunch, indeed!

About the Book

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love this cookbook. Not only is it a fantastic resource for any home cook looking for literally any recipe, but the illustrations and photographs are everything you’d look for in a mid-century cookbook. They look both appetizing and disgusting, all at once!

Check out more recipes in the Mary Margaret McBride Collection here!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sifted enriched flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
3 T granulated sugar
3/4 t salt
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
3 T melted shortening
1 cup blueberries
Melted butter
Brown sugar

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat egg yolks with rotary beater; combine with milk and shortening.

Add to dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Stir in blueberries. Then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Bake on hot, greased griddle. Serve with melted butter, and sprinkle with brown sugar. Makes 12 3-inch pancakes.

Yorkshire Burger

February 28, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from 9th Grand National Cook Book (1958)

About the Recipe

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real Yorkshire pudding. When I saw this recipe for the first time, it didn’t actually occur to me that this would be the closest that I’d ever get to making one myself! The texture of the breading around the meatballs is like a British pudding – eggy, buttery, slightly salty. It’s absolutely delightful.

When I put it out on the table, my husband took a giant piece, grabbing 4 meatballs in one go – exactly like the picture above! Mr. Kellogg notes that his high school baseball teammates like to dig into this dish, and after seeing the excitement in my husband’s eyes when it landed on the table, I don’t doubt that they did!

One quick adaption here – we don’t eat ground beef in my house, so I substituted ground turkey. It worked really well, and I would imagine any ground meat would do fine. It was even noted at the table that some salmon or other fish based balls would also be delicious in the eggy pudding.

For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!

About the book

In 1958, the Bake-Off moves across the country from New York to Pennsylvania. If the photos in the book are any indication, it seems the participants had a wonderful time. Indeed, the publishers of this years book seemed to have too much fun to cram into one little volume. The front cover has the customary letter from Ann Pillsbury, and is surrounded by smaller photos of the event itself. With the 10th Anniversary to follow, they dedicate more space than usual (4 whole pages!) to the following year’s event. So exciting!

About the glassware

I just got this beautiful Butterfly Gold lasagna pan a few weeks ago (the day after I made lasagna, of course). It came from the little antiques store that I love in New Paltz, NY. I’d had my eye out for a pan like this one, and I was so excited to see it. While it’s a little shallow for casseroles (other than lasagna) in general, it’s perfect for dishes like the Yorkshire burger, and will be exactly right for bar cookies and the like.

The gravy dish was a birthday present from my husband. Spring Blossom is my favorite, and I honestly just love every excuse to bring it out of hiding.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 package dry onion soup
2 T chopped parsley
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t poultry seasoning
5 egg
1 T water
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 t double-acting baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 T melted butter

Beef Gravy:
1/4 cup Crisco or butter
3 T flour
1 T beef extract
2 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Combine in a mixing bowl the ground beef, chili sauce, dry onion soup, parsley, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Blend 1 of the eggs and the water. Add to meat mixture; mix well. Form into 24 small meat balls. Place in well greased 12×8-inch baking dish.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat 4 eggs until foamy. Add milk and melted butter; mix well. Add dry ingredients all at once to egg mixture. Beat with rotary beater (or low speed on mixer) only until smooth and well blended.

Pour over meat balls.

Bake in moderate oven (350*F) 50-60 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with Gravy.

Beef Gravy:
Melt butter or Crisco in saucepan. Blend in flour and beef extract. Add milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy is smooth and thickened.

Fish Soufflé

January 23, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 2 Comments

A Recipe from Westinghouse automatic Electric Range Book (195?)

About the Recipe

I’m so excited for this post – we have a guest chef in the house! My husband, Michael picked out this recipe to spear head for our supper this week… and promptly started to freak out. The word “soufflé” while exciting at first, started to pop images of beautifully risen desserts falling into miserable sunken heaps after coming out of the oven, and he just didn’t want to let me down. Thankfully, we’re a great team and he perservered:

He’s just the cutest, and I’m so lucky to have a partner who supports my hobbies and cooking the way he does.

At any rate – back to the recipe – we used canned salmon for our fish flakes, although any good flaked fish would do in this case. The recipe is a touch salty, but other than that the flavor is fantastic. And, as with most things, much easier to execute than we expected.

About the Book

Westinghouse started publishing spiral bound booklets to promote the use of their new electric ranges in the 1940’s. I believe my copy is from the 1950’s, and it’s super well loved. The cover is falling apart. There are notes and pieces of paper shoved between the pages. Per the note at the top of the Index – “Favorite dishes are checked.”

This came from the giant box from my cousins, and I know it’s going to be one that gets good use in my kitchen in the future.

About the Glassware

The dish is a Friendship casserole that we picked up at our little flea market in High Falls, NY. My mother-in-law spotted it when she was visiting (pre-pandemic) and bought it for me. It was only fitting that this one take center stage when Michael picked the dish. It’s one of my favorites!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 T butter
2 T flour
1/4 t pepper
1 t salt
1 T minced parsley
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large can fish flakes
1 t grated onion
3 eggs, separated

Directions:

Make a white sauce of the fat, flour, pepper, and salt. Add to this the onions, parsley, and fish flakes, the latter picked apart with a fork. Beat egg yolks until light, then add to this mixture. Fold in stiffly-beaten egg whites. Pile in buttered casserole.

Temperature: 350*-375*F; baking time 45-60 minutes

Herb Sour Cream Bread

January 10, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Fleischmann’s Bake-it-easy Yeast Book (1972)

About the Recipe

I love a good no-knead bread! The flavor on this bread is so delightful. It’s slightly sweet and there are just enough herbs to give it a little kick. I used fresh marjoram and thyme and dried oregano.

Full disclosure – I forgot the margarine. I put the dough in the oven for the first rise and saw it sitting on my countertop. But I baked it anyway, and it’s just as yummy. What that means though from a chemistry perspective is that it’s a little dense and a little chewy, and definitely not as crumbly as you’d want a bread to be. But the flavor is there and the flavor is great!

The recipe itself was so easy and fairly fast for a yeast bread. I can definitely see this going into rotation in my kitchen. I’m definitely going to make it again to go with a nice chowder or some chili this winter as a bread bowl. YUM!

About the Book

This is the second time I’ve baked from this delightful booklet that came from the Bonnie Slotnick grab bag, and she was so on point sending this my way. It has all of my favorite things – advertising, photographs, tried and true recipes designed to get you buying more! Whoever who put it together really took some time and put some love into the full color photos. They almost seam to echo the yeast packets, just inviting you to come try them out.

About the Glassware

This lovely little Spring Blossom one-quarter came from my mom. She gifted me the set of three casserole dishes when I went for a visit a few years ago. I saw them poking out of the back of the cabinet and just fell in love. I can remember sitting down for dinner growing up, and the smallest of these had green beans and almonds heated in the microwave just to make sure we had something green with our meal. I think of my mom every time I use them.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (105*F – 115*F)
2 packages Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast
1 cup warm dairy sour cream
6 T softened margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t marjoram leaves
1/2 t oregano leaves
1/2 t thyme leaves
2 eggs (at room temperature)
3 3/4 – 4 3/4 cups unsifted flour

Directions:

Measure warm water into large warm bowl. Sprinkle in Fleischmann’s Yeast; stir until dissolved.

Add sour cream, margarine, sugar, salt, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and eggs. Beat in 3 cups flour until well blended, about 1 minute. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes.

Stir down. Turn into 2 greased 1-quart casseroles. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes. Bake at 375*F about 35 minutes, or until done. Remove from casseroles and cool on wire racks.

Baked Fillets of Haddock or Cod with Potatoes

December 5, 2020 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from The Art of Dutch Cooking (1961)

About the Recipe

I’ve always been a bit hesitant to try cooking white, flaky fish. I have no good reason why, other than no one ever taught me how to cook it, so I’m relying simply on the recipe. The good news is – this is a great, easy to follow recipe.

This particular try was a lesson in the quarantine classic – make it work with what’s on hand. I used small potatoes and ended up substituting plain yogurt for the sour cream. I mixed in some shallots with the single onion that I had on hand. Lo and behold – it definitely works. The top is a nice, fluffy soufflé with a little crisp from the breadcrumbs. The inside is like a flaky fish stew, savory and delicious. This one will go into regular rotation for sure.

About the Book

This is a newer book to my shelves, and I was so delighted when it came and was even better than I had thought. The illustrations are so beautiful. Take a deeper look at it here:

From the two fisherman to their fishing basket, the details are just so lovely. While the recipes are a little bit vague, the book is wonderful. I love learning about a culture through their food, and this book is perfect for that kind of journey.

About the Glassware

Officially this dish is called the Deluxe Cinderella Casserole dish, but most folks call the pattern Golden Hearts. It was released only in 1959 and in its full set comes with a lid (not pictured) and a cradle with a double candle warmer. A dream for any aspiring hostess!

This was a gift from a close friend to warm my new home and kitchen. Lucky me – when she brought it over it was filled with her signature mashed potatoes. YUM!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped
3 T butter
6 fillets of haddock or cod
1 pound potatoes
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Bread crumbs

Directions:

Fry the onions in the butter. Flatten out the fish. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes and slice them. Put in a greased ovenproof dish a layer of fish, cover with a layer of potatoes and some of the fried onions; then a layer of fish, and so forth. End with a layer of potatoes. Beat the eggs with the salt for a few minutes. Add the sour cream and pour over the fish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake in a moderate oven (350*F) for about 3/4 hour. Any kind of fish can be used for this recipe.

Potato Kugel (Meat)

August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Grandma’s Kosher Recipes (1968)

About the Recipe

The same way that every Italian family has its own red sauce, every Jewish family has its own kugel recipe. Full disclosure – this is not my family’s recipe, but it is really freaking good.

This is the kind of recipe that could be adapted for any occasion. Do you need it to go with a kosher milk meal? Just use oil instead of smaltz. Do you need it to be kosher for Passover? Substitute the flour for potato starch or a very fine matzo meal and you’re set! This versatile dish is perfect for every table.

For more recipes from my Weekend at Becky’s click here!

About the book

This book belonged to my great-aunt Martha on my mom’s side of the family. It came to Becky by way of her mom. How it got into Becky’s mom’s hands? No idea. But there we go.

Dinners with Aunt Martha and Grandma Koppelman (Abigail or Gail to those who knew her) were full of warmth and joy. Making this dish and smelling the potatoes and smaltz as it cooked brought me back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Salisbury, MD.

Two days ago was Grandma’s yartzeit (anniversary of her death). While she passed away 4 years ago, she’s still present in every family meal and gathering. To the Holt sisters in heaven – Abigail, Edith, & Martha – we remember you.

About the glassware

We made the kugel in a vintage Pyrex 232 lasagna pan. It’s one of those great dishes that was passed from person to person and ultimately mother to daughter and no one can quite remember where in the family it came from.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

5 potatoes
1 onion
salt & pepper
3 T smaltz (chicken fat) or oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup oil for pan

Directions:

Grate potatoes and 1 onion, add salt and pepper, melt chicken fat and add, beat eggs and add, then flour. Mix well. Pour oil in bottom of pan and pour kugel in. Bake 1 hour or until brown at 375*F. Serve hot.

Hot Dog Fiesta

July 19, 2020 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from America’s BAKE-OFF Cookbook 100 winning recipes from BAKE-OFF 27 (1976)

About the Recipe

The hot dog casserole, I think, is one of the great lost recipe trends of the 1960’s/70’s. Every one that I’ve tried has looked absolutely disguising on paper, but has ultimately been unbelievably delicious. This one is no different. The note on the recipe says to “hear [the kids] ask for seconds,” and I have no doubt that they will with this one!

Side note – this does one of my favorite things when it comes to biscuit toppings. The biscuit dough bakes in the casserole, and sops up the juices as it does. Then you have the crunchy top that you can than dip in the remaining sauce. It’s just so good.

Additional side note – if you’re not into beef, please take a chance and try this recipe with tofu or turkey dogs. It should work just as well.

For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!

About the book

It’s 1976 and it’s the United States Bi-Centennial! Pillsbury takes this opportunity to re-christen themselves to America’s Bake-Off. We get some lovely patriotic graphics, and the contestants were treated to a Boston clam bake! I love the little bit of extra nostalgia and cheese.

About the glassware

This 2.5 quart Butterfly Gold casserole came to me from a close friend who inherited it from their Nana. It’s so special and you can feel the love that went into every dish every time it’s used. I have the set of two – small and large – and they hold a special place in my heart.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 T butter or margarine
1 lb. pkg. wieners, cut in 1/2 inch slices
10 3/4 oz. can condensed cream of potato or celery soup
8 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables with onion sauce, thawed
1 cup milk
1/4 t marjoram leaves
10 oz. can refrigerated biscuits
1/2 to 1 cup (2-4oz.) shredded cheddar or American Pasteurized Process Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*F.

In 10-inch ovenproof fry pan, brown butter and wieners. Stir in soup, mixed vegetables, milk and marjoram; heat until hot and bubbly.

Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits; cut each into 4 pieces. Arrange over hot wiener mixture with points up.

Bake 20-25 minutes until biscuits are golden brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately. (Refrigerate any leftovers.)

TIP: Hot meat mixture may be transferred to a 2-quart casserole. Top with biscuits; bake as directed.

To reheat, cover loosely with foil; heat at 375*F for 20-25 minutes.