Welcome to my Vintage Menu Madness post for this week. I love Vintage cookbooks and Vintage recipes and each week I endeavor to cook a full menu using vintage recipes that I have pulled from my books. Usually I will pull all of them from one book, but this week I shopped around a bit and took something taste from a few books.
This week I used three separate books.
I took the star of my menu from Martha Logan's Meat Cookbook. Published in 1952 this is the pocket book edition and is a book that I grew up with. I don't know what happened to mom's copy of it, but I was able to buy a copy second hand, and I can guess that I paid considerably more for it than it sold for in 1952!
I have always had a great fondness for this book. I used to pore over it's pages when I was a child and as an adult, every time I came home to visit my mom, I would hand write copies of some of the recipes to take home with me. I have never cooked a dud from this book.
Martha Logan was the Director of Home Economics at Swift & Company and was considered to be America's leading expert on meal planning and meat cookery.
For my side dishes I gleaned recipes from the Better Homes & Gardens Vegetable Book. I also purchased this book second hand. It is one volume in a whole series of cooking books they put out. I started collecting them when I was in high school. Unfortunately I did have to leave them over in the U.K., but I have been trying to re-collect them since I returned to Canada.
I loved the BH & G cookbooks. I learned to cook from them way back then. My family never complained.
Finally I took my dessert from The Modern Family Cookbook, by Meta Given. The original was published in 1942. I am not sure which year my copy was printed. Meta Given was born in the late 1800's and grew up on a farm.
She started creating recipes as a girl and taught Home Economics for 20 years while she was going through High School, Normal School and College. She worked for the American Milk association and had a very well read column in the Chicago Tribune from 1930 to 1932, having written over 365 articles to her credit.
I attempted to recreate a nutritious wholesome menu this week, drawing several recipes from these books, and using what I already had in the house. Waste not want not! I think I managed to come up with a very tasty assortment of recipes!
This week's menu consisted of:
TOP HAT PORK CHOPS(Martha Logan)FROZEN MIXED VEGETABLESPOTATOES MARGARETGLAZED SQUASH RINGS(all from the vegetable book)LEMON CREAM PUDDING(The Modern Family Cookbook)
TOP HAT PORK CHOPS
Top Hat Pork Chops is something I have been making for my family for years. It uses several of my favorite ingredients in a most delicious way. Canned Cream Corn, and bone-in Pork Chops. This was always a favorite with my children.
Who doesn't enjoy Pork Chops with stuffing! It is a real family pleaser, and this stuffing is unique in that it uses a tasty mix of bread crumbs, creamed corn, celery and seasonings. This mixture is popped onto the chops and then they are baked in the oven to succulent perfection.
I love creamed corn and could eat it right out of the can with a spoon. I know that it can sometimes be difficult to find in other countries. But I was able to find it in the U.K. I cannot truly remember which store I bought it from, but I think it might have been ASDA. If you cannot find it, simply make up your own favorite stuffing mixture and bake your chops with that.
Note, I cooked only two chops, but kept the stuffing amount the same as for the full recipe, dividing it between the two chops. This is a really delicious stuffing and so if you are doing a full recipe, you may want to do the same and double the ingredients for the stuffing.
Yield: 4Author: Marie Rayner
Baked Top Hat Pork Chops
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 10 MTender, juicy pork chops baked to perfection with a delicious corn stuffing on top.Ingredients
- 4 thick bone in pork chops, seasoned with salt and black pepper
- 1 cup (1/2 can) cream style corn
- 1/2 cup (60g) soft white bread crumbs, coarse
- 1 TBS chopped fresh celery
- 1 TBS chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- butter to dot
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a baking dish large enough to hold your chops all in one single layer.
- Season your chops and place them into the baking dish.
- Measure the bread crumbs into a bowl and combine them with the cream corn, salt, celery and parsley. Divide this mixture between the chops, placing a mound on top of each one. Dot the top of each stuffing mound with some butter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for one hour, until the chops test done when pricked with a fork (juices run clear) and the stuffing is nice and golden brown.
Notes
VARIATION - A well seasoned bread or rice stuffing may be used in place of the corn stuffing.
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GLAZED SQUASH RINGS
I had purchased several Winter Squashes at the Farm Market and so wanted to use one of them to enjoy with my pork chops. Squash is one of those vegetables that goes very well with pork or poultry. I actually think it goes very well with anything and would be perfectly happy to eat a plate of Winter Squash and nothing else.
This recipe uses winter squash cut into attractive half moons. They are baked and glazed in the oven along side of the chops. They also make very pretty garnishes for meat platters.
Simple enough to make, these were really delicious.
Yield: 6Author: Marie Rayner
Glazed Squash Rings
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 50 MinTotal time: 1 HourThese attractive rings double as both a vegetable or a meat platter garnish.Ingredients
- 2 acorn squash
- salt and black pepper
- 2/3 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Line a shallow baking dish with some baking parchment. Set aside.
- Wash your squash really well and then trim off the top and the bottom, discarding. Cut the squash into 1 inch slices, discarding the seeds and fibrous bits.
- Cut the rings in half and place them in a single layer in your baking dish. Season with some salt and black pepper.
- Cover tightly and bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven until tender.
- Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Remove the squash from the oven and spread this mixture over top.
- Return the squash to the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the squash is glazed, basting occasionally.
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FROZEN MIXED VEGETABLES
This is something that my mother would have probably served with this meal. Frozen mixed vegetables, with peas, carrots, corn, beans and lima beans. I used an organic blend that I buy at the Super Store. It doesn't have lima beans, instead it has small edamame. I love edamame.
I an remember as a child hating lima beans, but for some reason I always ate them first from out of the frozen vegetable mix. I have to say I have not seen a lima bean in years. I have been looking for even dried lima beans and they are impossible to find. What happened to them all???
POTATOES MARGARET
I do not know who Margaret is, but her potatoes are lovely! Tender with a creamy oniony sauce. I would say that they are very similar to a scalloped potato. Simple to make and incredibly tasty.
These went very well with the pork and would probably go well with any protein.
This recipe uses sour cream and minced onion. You will need cooked potatoes to make this. True confession here. I used a can of cooked new potatoes. They worked beautifully, which is nice to know.
If you are using leftover cooked potatoes you will need 5 or 6 medium potatoes to make the full recipe.
Yield: 6 servingsAuthor: Marie Rayner
Potatoes Margaret
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 MinTender potatoes sliced and baked in a rich sour cream and onion sauce.Ingredients
For the potatoes:- 1 cup (243g) of dairy sour cream
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
- 2 TBS minced onions
- 5 cups (5 to 6 medium) sliced cooked potatoes
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 TBS fine dry bread crumbs
- 1 TBS butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 10 X 6 X 1/2 inch baking dish.
- Whisk together the sour cream, onion and milk, combining everything evenly together until smooth.
- Layer half of the potatoes in the baking dish, seasoning them with some salt and black pepper. Pour half of the sour cream mixture, spreading it evenly over top. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and sour cream mixture.
- Whisk together the bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over top of the potatoes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until well heated through and the crumbs are golden brown.
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LEMON CREAM PUDDING
Who does not love a lemon pudding? Not I! I adore anything flavored with lemon. Lemon makes for a favorite dessert. It is a great palate cleanser and this dessert made for a lovely light option which was quite enjoyable after a heavy meal.
I would make this pudding the night before or at least several hours prior to serving so that it is completely set up and chilled.
It does contain raw egg whites, so make sure you use the pasteurized egg whites that you can buy these days in the chiller cabinet at the grocery store.
This is a food safety thing. Elder people, pregnant women, and children should not be fed raw egg whites. Raw eggs can contain salmonella or E-coli which can cause food poisoning. That is why you should use a pasteurized egg product which will have been processed to kill these bacteria.
Funny thing is my mother used to make us eggnog using raw eggs all the time when we were growing gup and nobody batted an eye at that practice. We never got sick. I guess we were just lucky! Yield: 5Author: Marie Rayner
Lemon Cream Pudding
Cook time: 30 MinTotal time: 30 MinRich, light and creamy with a lovely lemon flavor. I served with a dollop of whipped cream on top for a pretty finish!Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (30g) corn starch (corn flour)
- 1 cup (240ml) cold water
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk
- 3 large free range eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- few drops of yellow food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the sugar, salt and cornstarch together thoroughly in the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the cold water and milk, stirring constantly to combine. Cook over direct heat (medium) until the mixture takes on a transparent look.
- Cover and place over boiling water. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until stiff. Set aside.
- Beat the yolks together with the lemon juice and zest. Whisk in a small amount of the hot cooked mixture to temper the eggs and prevent them from scrambling. Whisk this mixture back into the cooked mixture, adding the yellow coloring if desired.
- Cook over the boiling water, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- When lukewarm fold in the beaten egg whites. Chill and serve in sherbet glasses.
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And there you have it. This was my Vintage Menu for this week. I thought it to be very well balanced, containing something from each of the four food groups. For the most part it all cooked in the oven at the same time and at the same temperature.
You could make the pudding the night before and have it well chilled and ready to serve.
To cook the mixed vegetables I just covered them with boiling water in a saucepan and brought the water back to the boil, and then drained They were cooked perfectly. I added a little nob of butter and some seasoning which is what my mother would have done.
I hope that you are enjoying these Vintage Menus and recipes as much as I am! I would really love to hear your feedback on them. Perhaps there is a vintage recipe that you remember having as a child and you are longing for? I would like to hear all about it!
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