Wartime Wednesday and a Few Thoughts for the Red-Headed Clown of Fast Food

Well...

Once again, we are going to be skipping this week's Cookbook Casting Call because I'm working so much and didn't have time over the weekend to even think about making a menu. Besides, I had that lovely Bread Baking Babe anniversary bread to bake too!

So, we're going to delay our review of Mark Bitmann's How To Cook Everything



until Saturday and introduce the next cookbook that we are going to check out for Cookbook Casting Call.

Because of all this working, I haven't been able to do a recipe from my copy of The Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book (VBotAWCB)to do Wartime Wednesdays with my good friend Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness. I've got an offering for Wartime Wednesdays this week but before we get to that I have a few food things I just have to get off my chest.

I was at the venerable Apollo Theatre today to check out a few things going on with the sound system. Let me tell you walking out on stages like the one at the Apollo, the MET, or Radio City and standing center stage peering into the dark house with the stage lights in your eyes is pretty thrilling, even if I'm there only to check out the technical side of things. But I digress....

When it came time for lunch I headed out the front door and turned left towards Park Ave. Unfortunately, I discovered there aren't many choices for a quick meal around the Apollo outside of the usual fast food restaurants, which I really and truly try my darnedest not to eat. Unfortunately, I had a very limited amount of time to get something to eat and couldn't explore the better known soul food restaurants a few blocks away.

Which is how I ended up in the McDonald's a few doors down, where I hoped at least I could get a salad. We've now arrived at the point where I get to stand on my soapbox...

While I was standing in line, I looked at the menu trying to locate the salads. I couldn't find them. I could find the triple Quarter Pounder with Cheese at a whopping 1400 calories (NYC makes chain restaurants put calories on the menu in plain sight) and the double Filet O' Fish with a whale of calories numbering 960 calories. I could have two apple pies for a dollar or two cheeseburgers for two. But nowhere did I see any fresh salads on the menu.

Deciding that the cheeseburger offered the fewest calories of the menu, with the exception of the hamburger (which I just don't like at McDonald's), I ordered, paid and stood to the side to wait since the lines were long behind me. That is when I saw, tucked way back in the corner on a wall not even FACING the lines where people stand to order a very tiny menu sign showing the salads. The writing on the menu was so small, I couldn't make out what the offerings were or their prices.

Basically, it was a reduced sized menu hung in a place where no one would see it and therefore not even consider eating a more healthy meal. I started to find myself get angry because that exact same menu, with the exact same pictures of lovely salads, grilled chicken wraps and fruit and yogurt combos is prominently displayed front and center at the McDonald's in Westport, CT and Darien, CT as well as the McDonald's on the "right side of the tracks" in Norwalk, CT. Kind of makes you think doesn't it?

I mean, you can't tell me that no one who enters the 125th St McDonald's near the Apollo (or over near the less affluent side of Norwalk for that matter) doesn't want to eat healthy or can't afford a salad. I mean, come on... They were setting up the McCafe in the Harlem location for heaven's sake to shill their McLattes and McCapacinos with whipped cream and sprinkles on top!

And you can't tell me that if that healthy choice menu wasn't displayed more prominently with their better calorie offerings like 320 for the Southwest Salad with Chicken (without dressing) and an yogurt parfait at 160 for dessert, that people might not stop and think before ordering that Big Mac Value Meal that clocks in at 1170 calories?

But no, instead the folks who eat at this McDonald's are steered toward foods that contain more than half their daily required calories for the entire day as well as high sodium levels. It's shameful...

OK,I'm getting off my soapbox now.

One of the menu items from last week was the Smoky Slow Cooker Chili from this month's Cooking Light cover. It was very good but of course made a ton so I have quite a bit of it still hanging out in the fridge. I knew that this week, had I done Cookbook Casting Call, I would have used the left over chili for filling in either enchiladas or in a taco casserole. So, imagine my delight when I found in the "Wartime" section of The VBotAWCB a recipe for Tamale Pie.



I've made Tamale Pie before; after all it is the staple of any good college student's kitchen. But, I've typically made it with either corn chips on top or with a box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix. The VBotAWCB recipe calls for you to cook corn mush (corn meal, salt and water) and use that as a bottom crust and a top crust.

I'm happy to say, that I really enjoyed this meal. I love corn bread with my chili so this was like chili love sandwiched between two nice crusts of cornbread.



I'll definitely be making this again because this recipe is a great way to use up leftover chili.

Tamale Pie
From the Wartime section of VBotAWCB

Note: I'm going to give you the real recipe from the cook book, but you can short cut this recipe by using left over chili like I did.

1 cup corn meal
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 medium onion
1 green or chili pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups cooked tomatoes
2 cups ground cooked meat
1 tsp salt
dash cayenne or chili powder

Cook corn meal, water, and salt in double boiler for 45 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally.

Chop onion, pepper and fry in hot oil. Add tomatoes, meat, salt, and cayenne or chili and cook until thickened.

Line a greased baking dish with half the mush. Pour the meat mixture over and cover with remaining mush. Bake in a hot oven (375 degrees) for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned and mush is baked through.

Wartime Wednesday: Change of Heart and Ham

If you are following along in your Cookbook Casting Call menu for this week, you probably see that today's menu calls for a Wartime Wednesday entree of Surprise Ham Croquettes. But as I got home very late from these excruciating meetings in NYC with a client, the idea of spending an hour in the kitchen AND deep fat frying something on top of it all has led to a change in the menu.

We're still doing Wartime Wednesday, and like the croquettes, this menu change will take advantage of using some of the country ham my freezer is full of and the items in my pantry to keep this meal in line with the winter version of the Pantry Plan.

It seems, as I flipped through the VBotAWCB (Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book), that there are a lot of recipes for various types of main dish loaves using any manner of meat and in a case or two no meats. I suspect this is because main dish loaves make the most of kitchen left overs and being wartime, complete with rationing, that these dishes almost guaranteed no scrap of food would go unused. So, it should be no surprise that there is a recipe for something called Spiced Ham Loaf.



This recipe is simple beyond belief and contains only seven ingredients: bread crumbs, milk, ground ham, ground pork, brown sugar, cloves, and eggs. Since I didn't have any ground pork unthawed, I skipped using this ingredient. The dish went together in about 10 minutes and was in/out of the oven in less than one hour. Like with the salmon loaf from a few weeks ago, I didn't need a huge loaf, so I reduced the recipe to fit in a mini loaf pan. I paired the hamloaf with some leftover au gratin potatoes from Monday's menu.



I have to admit, I wasn't blown away by the ham loaf. In fact, I kind of hated it. It was a bit overpowering on the clove side of things; which reminded me of why I hate seeing cloves stuck in a piece of ham. I had forgotten about that because no one in my family is a huge fan of cloves and ham. The au gratin potatoes were the best part of this meal.

Well, sorta....the butterscotch pudding rocked my world!



There really is no comparison to real pudding made by standing over a stove and stirring milk, corn starch, eggs and brown sugar and the pudding you get out of the box, even the cooked pudding from a box.

First, there is the incredible pudding skin, that gelatinous film that forms on top of pudding and is probably George Costanza's best food packaging idea. Second, despite the idea that pudding is hard to make, it is really easy and doesn't take much longer than the box type. Finally, there is the creamy taste. Once you make pudding from scratch, I can promise, you will never go back to canned and box pudding again.

Tonight, I'm giving you both recipes because I don't want my dislike of cloves and ham to not give you the chance to try this economical dish and because I also want each and every one of you to have the opportunity to eat the best pudding you will ever have!

Did I mention pudding skins?

Spiced Ham Loaf
From the VBotAWCB

Serves 2

3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup ground ham
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/8 tsp cloves
1 egg

Soften crumbs in milk. Combine ham, sugar, softened bread crumbs, and egg. Mix well and pack into prepared mini loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Butterscotch Pudding
from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1986 edition

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 cup whole milk (while 2% and even 1% will work for this, trust me, use whole milk. It's dessert for Heaven's sake!)
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

In medium bowl, slightly beat egg yolks and set aside.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in 2 quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens (about 8 minutes) and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Gradually stir into egg yolks, about 1/2 the hot mixture. Stir tempered egg yolk mixture into saucepan with remaining hot mixture. Boil for about 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into dessert dishes or large serving bowl and refrigerate.

Note: If you want pudding skins, allow pudding to cool for about 10 minutes on counter uncovered. A skin will form that you can peel from the top. You can get a second batch of skins if you leave it on the counter but this second batch of pudding skins isn't as good as the first batch.

Wartime Wednesdays Versus Cookbook Casting Call

I'm a day behind in my Cookbook Casting Call: Week One Menu and considering tonight's meal, maybe that is OK.

Last night I got home from work so late that all I wanted to do was go to bed but I hadn't eaten anything all day either so I quickly re-heated some of the split pea soup from Sunday night. What they say about soup getting better as the days go by is so true, especially with soups like split pea that are flavored by ham. I almost want to pull out the frozen package because I think I could live on this soup the rest of the winter. If tonight's dish from Kitchen Sense is any indication of how the rest of the week is going to go, I might have to.

Since I'm a day behind, I made the seafood pasta



and considering the time it took to make the dish and the mess it made in my kitchen, I'm pretty sure I won't be repeating this dish anytime soon. The recipe says it should take only about 30 minutes from start to finish but it took me more like 5o minutes. The sauce is pretty tasty being flavored with pancetta, capers, white wine, lemon juice, garlic and onions. The recipe calls for anchovies but I didn't have any and with the Pantry Plan also in full swing, I had to leave them out. I don't think excluding them detracted from the finished dish.

Also, the directions have you putting the seafood in a bit early, in my opinion, because by the time I got through the rest of the directions after that part: add a ladleful of the pasta cooking water to the pan and the drain the pasta and transfer to pan and toss with sauce to simmer until sauce thickens and clings to pasta, the seafood was overdone.

I used some bay scallops and shrimp I had in the freezer for my seafood portion. I think if I ever make this dish again, I will definitely not put the seafood in until I add the cooked pasta. All in all, I did like the flavor of the sauce but the fuss, muss and overdone seafood just didn't make this dish a home run like the split pea soup.

What did hit is out the park for me tonight was the dessert I prepared for this week's Wartime Wednesday, Spiced Pudding! When I was putting the menu for this week together I knew that midweek I would have a hunk of the Couronne I made on Sunday left over. So, I turned to the dessert section of The Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book and looked for a bread pudding that would suit my fancy.

This bread pudding is your basic bread pudding of bread crumbs, raisins, sugar, milk, and eggs but adds four spices: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. That combination of spices is perfect for cold weather and makes this pudding warming not only to the tummy but to the rest of the senses. While it was cooking, my whole house smelled fantastic.

I made two adjustments to the recipe. I didn't have any raisins on hand, only currants that I'm saving to make tea cakes later this month. So, I used 1 cup of orange flavored dried cranberries. I also had to toss a dash of vanilla into the egg mixture because what is bread pudding without the flavor of vanilla I ask you?

It was all I could do when this came out of the oven not to make the Spice Pudding my dinner. The recipe says you can serve this with any sauce and I'm guessing a good rum sauce would be fantastic with this but I'm a simple girl when it comes to my bread puddings. I pour a little cream over the still warm pudding and call it good.

This pudding takes about 45 minutes in the oven and if you put it together before starting dinner, it will be ready to come out and be served just as the last of the plates come back to the kitchen making it the perfect winter dessert for even the busiest of folks.

Note: This is so good I'm submitting for this week's Yeastspotting over at Wild Yeast!



Spice Pudding
From the Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book

1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries or cherries would work too)
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 1/2 cup fresh bread-crumbs (I used closer to 2 cups but I like my bread pudding a bit chunky)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp melted butter
1/8 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place bread crumbs and raisins in a large mixing bowl. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg and whisk in milk and vanilla if using. Stir in spices and mix well until spices are completely combined with milk mixture. Stir in melted butter and pour over bread crumbs and raisins. Allow bread crumbs to soak in mixture for about 5 minutes to completely soften crumbs.

Pour bread mixture into prepared 2 quart casserole and place casserole into pan of water.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until a tester comes out clean and a slight crust is formed on top of pudding.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot or cold with any desired sauce or creme fraiche, whip cream, or a splash of cream or milk.

Winter Pantry Plan and Wartime Wednesdays: Salmon Loaf

Do you remember the Pantry Plan from the summer?



You know, the plan where I didn't buy groceries with the exception of perishables like milk, half and half, etc. and lived off the contents of my pantry, my garden and the farmer's market for the entire summer. At the end of the summer, I had spent less than $80.00 the whole summer on groceries!

Well, starting today, we're going to be on the winter version of the Pantry Plan but with a few twists that I will reveal over the next few days. Let's just say that this version of the pantry plan will help not only trim down the grocery bill that has frankly gotten out of control again, but will also help in the health department too.

I'm also going to help the budget in these difficult economic times by referring to a few cookbooks in my collection that specialize in economical cooking, starting with the return of my version of Wartime Wednesdays.

Wartime Wednesdays is a repeating theme on my good friend Stephanie's food blog, Dispensing Happiness, where she cooks a recipe from the 1944 Victory Binding of the American Woman Cookbook. We both have that cookbook and a few months ago I stole her idea as part of the Pantry Plan and have cooked several recipes from the cookbook to great success.

I love the idea of using my old cookbooks to help me make the most of my pantry. Like many people I know I have a huge collection of old cookbooks that frankly it is a shame to not put to good use. After all, recipes from thirty years ago can be just as tasty as the recipes in my copy of Gourmet magazine from thirty days ago.

Tonight, I made the most of my pantry by making the Salmon Loaf found on page 202, right under a delightful recipe called Salmon Wiggle, using a small can of skinless boneless salmon.



I admit, I added a few things not found in the recipe to take advantage of some left over onion, green pepper, shredded parmesan cheese from the New Years Eve goodies I made and two egg whites left over from some baking I can't tell you about right now.

The recipe was easy to make and along with a small salad of spinach and two pieces of garlic bread made from the last of a baguette I baked over the weekend, made a quick, light and delicious dinner.



Best of all there is enough left over to take to lunch tomorrow!

Salmon Loaf
adapted from the 1944 Victory Binding of The American Woman's Cookbook

Serves 2

1 small can skinless and boneless salmon
1 egg, beaten (I used two egg whites)
1/4 cup soft bread crumbs
3 Tbsp finely chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
dash salt and pepper
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (for topping salmon loaf after removed from oven.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain and flake can of salmon in medium bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and press into prepared mini loaf pan.

Bake for 35 minutes. Flip loaf out of pan onto medium sized plate and top with Parmesan cheese.