re⋅cess⋅i⋅pes (noun): cost-saving recipes for cooking in a recession economy, most likely prepared by a recessionista.
Who knew? I'm a recessionista.
Although my love of eating well on a shoestring was inherited with my love of all things 1940s, a time of Victory Gardens, Food Substitutions and Food Rationing.
My dad tells me that sugar was the most coveted of items rationed and the last to be taken off the ration list in 1947, two full years after World War II ended. However, his family was very fortunate. His aunt owned a small restaurant, and she was allowed more sugar than what the average family received for a household. If my dad's family ran out of sugar and were deperate, my grandmother could visit the restaurant with a small jar in tow and take home an extra helping or two.
Have any wartime recipes from your grandmother's recipe box to share? I'd love to know what they are. Mine made SOS or Slop on a Shingle. Yes, it sounds gross, but I thought it was delicious!
SOS
4½ oz. jar dried beef, chopped
2 cups milk
2 tbs. butter
¼ cup flour
Salt and pepper
6 slices bread
Melt butter in pan, add dried beef. Cook 2-3 minutes to brown. Add flour and mix with dried beef. Add milk (reserve ¼ cup for later), salt & pepper. Bring to boil. Add remaining milk to thin to your desired likeness.
Serve over toast.
Of course if you have 100 men to feed in the army the recipe looks a little different:
1942 The Army Cook
Yield: 100 men
Portion: not given
INGREDIENTS WEIGHTS MEASURES
|
Chipped or sliced dried beef ---- 7 lb |
Fat, butter preferred ---- 2 lb Milk, evaporated ---- 4 cans Beef stock ---- 4 gal Bread --- about 12 lb --- 130 slices |
Method:
Melt the fat in the pan and add the flour. Cook a few minutes to brown the flour. Add the milk and beef stock, stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Add the dried beef and cook 5 minutes. Add the parsley and pepper. Serve hot on toast.
(photo from Google images)
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