Emergency Steaks: From a Time of High Beef Prices

 

 

With beef prices seriously rising, I recently retried a recipe I used to make for my family when I was an early teenager. “Emergency Steak” was developed during World War II by the Betty Crocker team at the General Mills Corporation as a way of stretching the rationed, limited food available during wartime. The Betty Crocker Cookbook was published a few years after the war, and was my first personally owned cookbook. It contained the wartime recipe, which must have been where I learned it. It became one of “my” dishes served often to the family.

 

It turns out I had combined elements of two historic ground-meat dishes, Emergency Steaks and Salisbury Steaks. My recipe, which I still call “Emergency Steaks,” reflects that hybrid style. I made the steaks round rather than in the single T-bone steak shape of the original recipe. I wrote up the fuller story for an article in Boom Magazine, where I have a regular food column (see Boomathens.com, and scroll down to the “Readers Write” section to find my food articles.

 

Here is my recipe for Emergency Steaks as I’ve reconstructed and updated it from recall. As during my childhood, the “steaks” go well with mashed potatoes (seasoned grits work, too) and a green vegetable. Salad completes a nice, fairly nostalgic, supper meal. Nowadays, I’d have a glass of red wine with it.

 

1 cup Wheaties cereal

1/4 cup yogurt plus 1/4 cup milk

Half of a pack (4 1/2 teaspoons) Lipton’s Instant Onion Soup mix

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound ground beef chuck (85% lean)

 

Place Wheaties in mixing bowl. Lightly crush them (for example with the bottom of the measuring cup). Add remaining ingredients and mix well with your fingers.

 

Apply bakers’ spray or oil to a flat pan with edges. Shape meat mixture into 4 round patties (or one t-bone steak shape for historic interest). Make the meat evenly 3/4-inch thick.

 

Heat broiler.

 

Swedish Apple Pie

 

 

Here’s a great apple dessert that’s shamelessly easy to make. “Swedish Apple Pie” has it all, including a misleading name. It is Swedish (called smulpaj, meaning “crumb pie”) and contains apples. But it’s more of a crustless torte than a traditional “pie.” I adapted this recipe from that of my non-Swedish sister-in-law Carol. Simple, inexpensive, and with everything basically thrown into the baking dish, it’s unbeatable. When served, it should be topped with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. The most elegant is heavy cream whipped with a little powdered sugar then a little rum or Bourbon folded in at the end.

5 cooking apples (like Gala or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, in 1/2-inch slices
1 tablespoon sugar for apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, unsalted preferred
1/4 cup oil (not olive)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar for batter
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an attractive 10-inch shallow casserole.


Place sliced apples in a bowl. Mix the tablespoon of sugar with cinnamon and lemon zest. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Sprinkle on the lemon juice. Toss to mix and spread out the apple slices in the baking dish. Then use the bowl to beat the egg.

In a different bowl, glass or ceramic, melt butter in microwave, about 1 minute. Add oil, flour, sugar, egg, salt, and nuts. Stir until combined. Spoon batter over apples and spread evenly.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. When serving, top, if desired, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

 

Ragú Bianco, Italian “White” Meat Sauce for Pasta

 

I used to think Italian meat sauce for pasta was just what gets called “Bolognese,” more correctly “Ragú alla Bolognese,” after the northern Italian city of Bologna. It’s hearty and red and can be quite satisfying. (A recipe for that dish has long been in this blog.) But when I was in northern Italy several years ago, Cortona, in Tuscany, more specifically, I learned of another hearty meat sauce made with cream or milk rather than tomatoes. It is also called “ragú” (the Italian spelling of the French word for stew, ragoût), but is Ragú Bianco, or white ragú.

Ragú Bianco traditionally contains light-colored ground meat, particularly veal or pork. Here, good veal is hard to find and has ethical complexities plus expense. Pork is my favorite. But ground turkey or chicken can be used instead. The sauce often has a little cured pork cooked into it, like pancetta, bacon or even sausage.

 

A spice that is common, though used sparingly, in both the better-known red Bolognese meat sauce (Ragú Rosso) and white ragú is fennel. It gives a subtle, warm, faintly licorice-like essence. Both red and white ragú typically have wine cooked into them.

 

In Italy, the pasta for this ragú is generally an egg-containing flat pasta like taliatelle or fettucine or, wider yet, pappardelle. But, here, an easy-to-get short pasta that the sauce will cling to, like rigatoni or penne rigate, can also work.

 

With pasta in general I like the hearty sheep’s milk cheese, Pecorino Romano, no doubt due to my culinary exposure to Southern Italians when I was growing up. However, for northern Italian dishes, like ragú, the lighter and more elegant cow’s milk cheese Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) is preferred.

 

The recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta, to serve six or more. But leftovers make a great snack.

1 medium-small carrot, finely diced
1 medium stick celery, finely diced
2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely diced
1 strip of bacon or 2 thin slices of pancetta, finely diced
4 tablespoons olive oil (5 if not using bacon or pancetta)

1 pound ground pork, turkey or chicken

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or cayenne
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon whole fennel seeds or ground fennel

1/8 teaspoon dry thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth, unsalted preferred
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup sour cream or heavy cream

1/4 cup milk

1 pound pasta (such as rigatoni or penne rigate)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

In a heavy pan, gently fry the diced vegetables and bacon or pancetta in the olive oil, stirring occasionally, until carrot is tender but not browning. 

 

Raise heat and stir in ground meat, breaking it up as it heats. Add herbs and spices, but not the salt When the raw meat color has fully changed, add wine and simmer several minutes. Then add chicken broth and salt and simmer 10 minutes, covered. Add sour cream or cream plus the milk. Simmer 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Taste and add salt if needed (this will depend on whether the bacon and/or the chicken broth were salty). Keep (or reheat) the sauce hot when cooking the pasta.

When sauce is done, cook pasta in a large amount of boiling lightly salted water, stirring frequently at the beginning, so pasta does not stick together. When just tender to the bite, drain pasta well in a colander, but do not rinse.

 

In large serving bowl, toss most of the heated sauce with the freshly cooked, drained pasta. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle generously with grated cheese.

 

 

Texas Enchiladas -- Pat’s Easy Specialty

 

I learned this Texas-Anglo enchilada dish during my Atlanta days from a friend who had grown up in Dallas. Pat, a professional woman and avid soccer player, professed to dislike cooking. She certainly disliked being fussy or spending unnecessary time in the kitchen. But her “go-to” guest dish, a Mexican-influenced, family favorite from her childhood, made Pat seem quite the chef.

 

Enchiladas, traditional in Mexico and the American Southwest, and a mainstay at Mexican-American restaurants, are basically tortillas wrapped around a filling and baked covered with a chile-containing sauce and cheese. Mexican enchiladas are typically made with corn tortillas. Pat’s use flour ones. And enchiladas would generally be baked covered with cheese plus a red or green chile sauce. Pat’s are covered with a dairy and cream soup mixture. In Mexico, white enchiladas, though infrequent, are made, though with corn tortillas. They are sometimes called  “Suizas” (meaning “Swiss-style”), indicating milk and cheese rather than red or green salsa.

 

Pat’s time-saving ingredients include prepared foods: canned soup, canned green chilies, packaged shredded cheese. And if it were available back then, she probably would have used a rotisserie chicken. The mildly spicy chicken enchiladas below are based on Pat’s recipe, but I modified it somewhat.

 

Beer would be the drink for a dish like this in either Texas or Mexico, a lager type of beer, not a hoppy IPA. But a Chardonnay will work too.

 

The recipe serves a crowd, at least six people, generously. Leftovers are nice. A colorful vegetable, some avocado, and maybe a simple lettuce and tomato salad would be attractive accompaniments.

 

1 rotisserie chicken

1-1/2 teaspoons salt for chicken

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 (4-ounce) cans jalapeño peppers, diced or sliced

8 (8-9-inch – fajita size) flour tortillas

1 (10-1/2-ounce) can Campbell’s condensed cream of chicken soup (if unsalted, add extra 1/2 teaspoon salt)

1 soup-can’s volumn of water

1 soup-can’s volumn of milk

1/2 teaspoon salt for the sauce

12 ounces shredded Mexican-style cheese or mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Sour cream for serving

 

Cut meat off chicken. (Reserve skin and bones for broth for other uses.) Pull meat apart into long pieces. Sprinkle chicken evenly with the salt and pepper. Toss to mix.

 

Drain jalapeños. If slices, chop them coarsley.

 

Lightly oil a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish or pan. Set oven for 375 degrees.

 

Lay tortillas out on flat surface. Place chicken down the middle of each. Sprinkle evenly with canned chilies. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Roll up tortillas and arrange in a single layer in the pan, seam side down.

 

In bowl, whisk together condensed soup, water and milk, plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spoon mixture evenly over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. (If desired, the casserole can be refrigerated at this point and baked closer to dinner time.)

 

Bake until thoroughly heated, bubbling and beginning to turn golden on top, 35-45  minutes.

 

Serve, accompanied with sour cream.

 

 

Chicken Alfredo Pasta

 

One of my grandkids’ favorite meals is “Chicken Alfredo,” a pasta dish that has evolved far from its origins. As a style, “alfredo” is an elastic, and much-abused, term in Italian-American cooking. And I am as happily guilty as anyone, making Pasta Alfredo with highlights as varied as lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes, peas, asparagus or even smoked salmon.

 

The original dish, a combination of fresh egg pasta, butter and cheese, dates to 1914, when ALFREDO di Lelio served what he called “Fettuccine ALFREDO” at his restaurant in Rome, “ALFREDO alla Scrofa.” Obviously he liked his name.

 

Cream, not part of the original, is now typical in the dish. Many chefs cook heavy cream down to make the sauce even richer. I use part half-and-half for a lighter version.

 

The recipe serves six. With both chicken and cream, the classic pairing wine would be a chardonnay.

2 cups 1/4-inch-cubed roasted chicken (can use freshly herb-roasted chicken breast)
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine

1 cup (1/2 pint) half-and-half cream

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg                                                                                    

3/4 pound fettucini, or a short pasta like penne rigate
6 tablespoons grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving                                                                                                                                                                                          

Boil four quarts of water in large pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Keep hot. Prepare meat and other ingredients before cooking pasta. Have a large serving bowl ready for mixing the past and sauce as well as serving it.

 

In medium-sized pan over gentle heat, fry garlic in butter until softened but not browned. Add wine, half-and-half, cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to simmer (not a boil), and simmer 4 minutes. Add chicken and heat just until it’s are hot. Remove from stove. Taste and add salt, if needed.

 

Meanwhile raise heat under pasta water. When it boils rapidly, add pasta and stir well for half a minute so it does not stick together. Boil, stirring occasionally, until pasta is just tender when you bite a piece. Drain in colander but do not shake out water. Transfer to large serving bowl.

 

Add sauce and cheese and toss everything together with two spoons. Taste, and add salt if necessary.

 

Chickpea Salad for Maria – Insalata di Ceci Maria

 

 

With my daughter Maria and her family coming over this evening for a Mediterranean dinner, I had to come up with one more dish to complement the others I had. Those other dishes included marinated roasted chicken kebabs, of Turkish origin, Ratatouille, the Provençal medley of summer vegetables, and rice. Still having fresh herbs in my garden, I opened a can of chickpeas and highlighted them, salad style, with olive oil, wine vinegar, fresh parsley and basil, black olives, tomato, garlic and sea salt.

Bowl by Maria Dondero, Southern Star Studio

 

All of those ingredients are common in Italy, where Maria often teaches ceramics both through the University of Georgia art program in Cortona, in Tuscany, and as part of a women’s cooperative clay studio in the same city. Chickpeas as a major food item go back to at least Etruscan times in central Italy, well before the Romans took over. Chickpea salads are made in various parts of the Mediterranean, including Italy. So this convenient, easy to make, dish seemed to fit geographically and historically, as well as culinarily, into what I needed to balance tonight’s meal. I’ll serve it from a ceramic bowl Maria made.

 

The recipe serves four to six as a side dish.

 

1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed twice

1 small tomato, cored and cut in narrow wedges

12 pitted black olives (such as Kalamata), halved crosswise

1 medium large clove garlic, finely minced

3 sprigs fresh parsley, leaves coarsely chopped

8 medium-large leaves fresh basil, coarsely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dry oregano)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons wine vinegar, white or red

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

 

In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpeas with the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Allow the mixture to sit for at least half an hour, mixing it occasionally. Taste and add salt and/or a little more vinegar to your taste.

 

Serve in a shallow bowl.

 

Deviled Ham Spread

 

 

I fondly remember Underwood Deviled Ham from my childhood, from the small round can with the iconic perky little red devil on the label. It’s still available, but the Underwood Company, founded as an innovative food canning company by William Underwood in Boston in 1822, was bought by a series of other big food companies beginning in 1982. Underwood’s Deviled Ham was created in 1868 as a mixture of ground ham, mustard powder, and various other spices. The culinary term “deviled” typically connotes seasoned with mustard, hot and black pepper.

I’ve made my own deviled ham spread occasionally as a buffet appetizer, but most recently at a family gathering where my daughter Anna and I prepared a number of spreadable salads – chicken, tuna, egg, as well as deviled ham – for a luncheon served with artisanal breads and crackers. It reminded me of how easy this version of deviled ham is to make from ingredients available at the supermarket.

 

Here’s my recipe. It will serve six to eight or more people as part of a buffet meal, or can be made into sandwiches with or without lettuce. The recipe is easily multiplied to serve more people at a gathering. The spread should be made ahead, maybe the day before serving, and allowed to mellow and blend its flavors.

 

1/2 pound smoked ham  thinly sliced at the deli counter

4 teaspoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard (not yellow hot dog style)

3 teaspoons mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

 

Finely mince the sliced ham, either on a cutting board with a chef’s knife or in a food processor (keep it a little coarse, not turned into a paste).

 

Combine the minced ham with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Cover and store the mixture in the refrigerator for a few hours, or preferably overnight. Mix well before serving in a shallow bowl.

 

Serve with interesting bread or low-salt crackers.