Random Easy, Economical Recipes From Great Depression (13 items)

• 

  (#3) Moussaka (A Greek Recipe)

  From The Whole-Family Cook Book (1931) by The Parents' Magazine:

  • 1/2 pound of macaroni
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 pound of Hamburg steak or leftover meat
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 cup tomato sauce or 1 small can tomato puree
  • 1 1/2 cups white sauce

  Cook the macaroni in plenty of boiling salted water. Drain well and put a layer in the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish, then a layer of the ground meat [that] has been mixed [with] chopped onion and the tomato sauce, seasoned with salt, and browned in a little good fat in a frying pan; then a layer of macaroni; and so on until full. Pour over the white sauce, sprinkle liberally with bread crumbs, and bake about [45 minutes].
• 

  (#13) Illinois Baked Soybeans

  From Let's Use Soybeans (1931) by the Department of Home Economics, University of Illinois:

  • 3 cups cooked soybeans
  • 3/8 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup chili sauce
  • 1/4 pound diced salt pork

  Combine thoroughly, in a baking dish, all the ingredients except the salt pork. Cook the salt pork in a frying pan until delicately browned. Add the melted fat [from the salt pork] to the beans and place the squares of pork on top. Bake at 350 F for 105 minutes to 2 hours.
• 

  (#1) Stone Jar Molasses Cookies

  From General Foods Cook Book (1932) by General Foods Corporation Consumer Service Department:

  • 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
  • 2 teaspoons Calumet Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup butter or other shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon soda

  Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, ginger, and salt, and sift again. Heat molasses, remove from fire; add shortening and soda. Add flour gradually, mixing well. Chill. Roll very thin on slightly floured board. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Bake on greased baking sheet in moderate oven (350 F) [for] 10 minutes. Remove from pan carefully. Cool. Store in stone jar. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
• 

  (#7) Bitki (Russian Meatballs)

  From Sunset All-Western Cook Book (1933) by Genevieve A. Callahan:

  • 1/4 loaf of white bread
  • Milk
  • 1/2 pound of chopped beef or veal
  • Salt and pepper
  • Nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoonfuls of butter
  • 2 onions
  • 3/4 cup of sour cream

  Discard the crust from the bread and set it to soak in as much milk as it will absorb. When it has stood 15 minutes, press out the superfluous milk from the bread using the hands; mix it with the chopped meat, [then] add salt and pepper and an almost imperceptible dash of nutmeg. Form into round cakes and fry in the butter along with finely sliced onions. When the onions and meatballs are well browned, add the sour cream. Let bubble up once or twice, and serve with the sauce poured over the meat balls. If the cream is not sour enough, add the juice of half a lemon.
• 

  (#5) Dutch Baked Chicken

  From Pennsylvania Dutch Cookery, Their History, Art, Accomplishmets, Also a Broad Collection of Their Food Recipes (1935) by J. George Frederick:

  • 3 young, fresh chickens
  • Salt
  • 1/8 pound of flour
  • 1-2 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
  • 3 pounds of lard for frying
  • 1 lemon for garnishing

  Preparation: The chickens are [slain], dressed, washed, dried, and prepared at once. Cut the chickens in half, salt them, dip them first into flour, then in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs. The lard is heated in an iron pot or kettle and the pieces of chicken placed into it carefully, one at a time, so as not to cool the fat too much, and [so] the crumbs [will] not fall off. Bake them to a nice brown color. After the crust is hard, let them cook more slowly until well done. Then put on paper to drain, strew fine salt over the pieces, and put on a platter, after which they may be garnished with lemon slices.
• 

  (#9) Washington Surprise Fritters

  From Culinary Arts Western Cookery (1936) by Kay Morrow and Hazel Hemminger:

  • 2 eggs, well beaten
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 cup canned or boiled fresh salmon
  • 1 cup canned corn, well drained

  To the beaten eggs add the milk and butter. Sift the dry ingredients, add to the egg mixture, and mix well. Stir in the salmon (broken in pieces) and the corn. Drop by spoonfuls into hot fat and fry until golden brown. Drain on unglazed paper. Serve with White Sauce... to which add 2 teaspoons of minced onion, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and 1 chopped hard-cooked egg. Cook about 2 minutes.

  White Sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper

  Melt the butter, add flour, and blend until well-mixed. Slowly add the milk and cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking