Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Granpie's Corn Cassarole

The original name for this dish was "Squaw Corn."

It's time to retire that name...

It calls for canned corn, but I think this time of year, fresh sweet corn at Farmer's Market would work very nicely!

3 eggs
1/4 c. milk
2 T flour
salt, pepper
1/2 t. celery seed
1 can whole corn (or a couple of cups fresh off the cob)

Mix all ingredients together and bake in a greased pan at 350 for 1 hour.

German Potato Salad

This is truly on of my very favorites.

My mom makes the best.

Besides, how can it go wrong, it's got bacon! Whenever she would make it, I would steal a piece or two. I can still remember her swatting my hand away and saying "Get outta there!"

Come to think of it, I may have to use some of the pretty purple potatoes I got at Farmer's Market and see how it turns out...


Dice 6 cooked potatoes

Fry 6 slices of diced bacon
Remove the bacon from the frying pan and in the remaining fat, fry 3/4 c. chopped onion
Add 2 T flour and 2 T sugar, salt, pepper and celery seed (1/2t)

Stir well and cook until smooth, then add 1/2 c. water and 1/2 c. vinegar and bring to a boil

Boil for one minute and carefully stir in potatoes and bacon.

Serve warm or cold.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Sukyaki

This in no way resembles Japanese sukiyaki.

It is a 1960's Midwestern attempt to be exotic.

It's also pretty tasty.

1 lb round steak strips
2 1/2 c. beef broth (the recipe says 4 bullion cubes - yikes the salt!)
2 c. bamboo shoots (I think Mom just used a big can of the LaChoy Chop Suey vegetables)
2 large onion (sliced)
1 green pepper (sliced)
mushrooms (doesn't say how many, so go wild!)
1/4 c. soy-sauce
2T sugar
salt (though I really don't think it needs any more...)
pepper
bay leaf

Brown steak strips then add remaining ingredients. It doesn't say this, but I'm assuming you simmer it until the beef is tender. It also doesn't say to thicken it, but you might want to with a little cornstarch in water.

Serve over rice.

You probably want to use low-sodium broth or soy-sauce, or leave the salt out. Jeez, how did we survive the 60's?


Rhubarb Upsidedown Cake

I remember my mother making this when I was a kid. My parents still have rhubarb on the farm. I suppose you could make this with just about any fruit.

2 1/2 c. rhubarb (I assume diced)
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. white sugar
4 t baking powder
1/4 c. butter
1 egg
3/4 c. milk

Butter a cake pan and place rhubarb in the bottom. Add brown sugar. In a bowl, mix dry ingredients then cut in butter until "like Bisquick." Add milk and egg and stir 10 seconds. Pour over rhubarb and bake at 350 until center is done.




Sarah Jones' Italian Beef

Sarah Jones is the mother of one of my best friends. She is a very sweet southern lady and a killer cook. I know this recipe isn't from Chicago, but it is the best Italian beef I've ever had.

4 or 5 lbs beef roast
1 T dried oregano, parsley, basil, pepper, garlic powder, soy sauce, onion powder
1 beef bullion cube
3 drops Tabasco sauce
4 c. water
1 green pepper, sliced


Put everything except the green pepper in a dutch oven and bake at 400 for 2 1/2 hours. Add pepper and cook for one more hour. Slice and serve over hard rolls.

I also have it with hot gardinera and sometimes cheese with lots of broth for dipping.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Spice Cake

This one is a mystery. I have no idea where it came from and I don't recognize the hand writing. The yellowed index card says "over 100 years old," so it's probably pretty old.*

*Mystery solved - this was given to my Aunt Sue in California from a lady in her church in the 1970's. So it is quite old.

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter

Mix well (i.e. cream)

Add 3 eggs one at a time, then add 1/2 c. buttermilk

Sift together:
2 c. sifted cake flour
1 t soda (baking soda)
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice

Mix in with the liquid (fold in and beat until light) and bake at 350 in 9" (greased) pans until done, about 25-30 minutes.

Sauce:
1 c. sugar
2 eggs beaten
1/2 c. sour cream

Mix well. Add 2 T of butter and cook 5 minutes until slightly thick, then cool. Fill the layers of the cake, then spoon the remaining sauce over cake and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Bavarian Chicken

This is the recipe that started the hunt. 

My Aunt Gail messaged me a couple of weeks ago, looking for this. I didn't remember it, so I asked my mother. She remembered eating it, but couldn't remember how to make it. This past week, she was looking through some of her stuff and found her recipe boxes. The first recipe in the box - Bavarian Chicken! Grandpie works in mysterious ways...



Chicken
1/2 c ketchup
1 c stock 
2 T vinegar 
3 T sugar 
1/2 t poultry seasoning 
salt, pepper
2 T corn starch
celery and onions

Serve with rice.

That's it for instructions. 

I am assuming you would chop and saute the celery and onions in a little butter or oil first, then add the rest of the ingredients, mix and pour over chicken pieces then bake (45 minutes at 375).*
  Come to think of it, I do remember eating this....

*According to my Aunt Gail, Grandpie would put the chicken in a dutch oven with the ingredients and simmer until the chicken fell off the bone. This way it could be kept warm in the case of someone was late to dinner.