Chicken Liver Spaghetti Sauce- The Cordon Bleu Cook Book

I mentioned before that my husband gave me a lot of cookbooks for Christmas. I think the nicest one is a 1947 edition of the Cordon Bleu Cook Book by Dione Lucas. It has an interesting introduction in which she talks about the school and her restaurants. A majority of the recipe titles are French with the English title underneath. I have to admit that there really isn't any recipes that I would be likely to make, but it is interesting to read. I found a recipe for Chicken Liver Sauce for Spaghetti and was remembering that The Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant used to serve that many years ago. The last time we went there before our local one closed I noticed it was no longer on the menu.

Chicken Liver Sauce for Spaghetti

12 chicken livers
6 tablespoon butter
4 finely chopped cloves garlic
2 large, finely chopped onions
8 chopped mushrooms
salt and pepper
1 pinch dry mustard
5 skinned, coarsely chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon flour
12 teaspoon meat glaze
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup stock
2 tablespoons chopped, mixed fresh herbs
1 bowl grated cheese
Brown the chicken livers very quickly in a little hot butter and remove. Place in the pan the remaining butter and the garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add the onions and cook fairly quickly until they begin to brown. Add the Mushrooms and cook slowly for 5 to 6 minutes. Add salt, pepper, a little dry mustard and tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the fire and add carefully the flour, meat glaze and tomato paste. Add the stock and stir over the fire until the mixture comes to a boil. Simmer slowly for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the herbs and the finely chopped chicken livers. Simmer for 2 minutes. Serve on cooked, well-drained spaghetti. Serve separately a bowl of grated cheese.

Meat Cabbage Casserole

This recipe is from another recipe card set. Great American Recipes had at least 18 categories. It was unique in that the back of the cards had more photos and microwave methods for each dish. My set doesn't have that many cards, maybe I will find more in one of my future thrifting jaunts.

I think they should have came up with a better name for this recipe. The blurb says "You will enjoy this dish which has much the same flavor as stuffed cabbage rolls, but is much easier to prepare." Why didn't they call it Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole? I think you could save time by using a bag of coleslaw cabbage and carrot mix, instead of shredding your own.

Meat Cabbage Casserole

1 pound lean ground meat

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoon butter

1 cup finely shredded carrots

3 cups finely shredded cabbage

1 teaspoon salt

Dash black pepper

1 jar (16 oz.) herb-style spaghetti sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

In medium skillet, saute onion in butter until soft, but not brown.

Add ground meat. Cook, breading up the meat until meat loses its pink color. In a 2-quart buttered casserole or baking dish, layer the carrots and half the cabbage. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add meat mixture, press down slightly. Add remaining cabbage. To spaghetti sauce, add Worcestershire sauce and chives. Pour sauce over top of casserole. Cover. Bake at 350 degrees about 1 hour or until cabbage is soft and meat is cooked through.

Add cheese on top Bake, uncovered, for another 5 to 8 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Jubilee Meatloaf- Recipes from Checkerboard Square

This recipe is from a little booklet by Ralston Purina called Recipes from Checkerboard Square. It is undated but must be from the late 50's or very early 60's because it has the Party Mix recipe that came out in 1955 but is before zip codes came into use. It has recipes using Chex cereals, Ry-Krisp crackers and Instant or Regular Ralston cereal. I guess that is a cream of wheat sort of thing. I don't think I have ever heard of it before. There is a recipe for crumb crust pie shell using crushed Rice Chex instead of graham crackers which might be nice and crunchy.

This meatloaf uses Wheat Chex instead of oatmeal or bread crumbs. Is is baked at a very low temperature of 300 degrees. I wonder if that is to try and prevent shrinkage.

Jubilee Meatloaf
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup condensed cream of tomato soup
1/4 cup water
1 cup Wheat Chew
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1/4 pound pork sausage
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely cut onion
2 tablespoons water
Turn oven to slow 300 degrees. Combine eggs, tomato soup, and water. Add Wheat Chex. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes. Do not stir. Add meat, salt, and onion. Mix well. Pack into loaf pan. Pour 2 tablespoons water over top of loaf. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve plain or with a tomato sauce made by heating remainder of can of soup with 2 tablespoon drippings from loaf. Yield: 8 3/4-inch slices.

Braised Beef with Cabbage- McCalls Recipe Card Set

I have quite a few retro recipe card sets. Some are complete with their boxes and others are partial. There are several sites on the Internet and Flickr that make fun of the photos on some of the sets. I will agree there are some weird ones. This down home type recipe is from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection, 1973. and still seems do-able. It is from the Budget Stretchers section of the set.

Braised Beef with Cabbage

2 tablespoons salad oil
1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 apple, pared, cored, and thinly sliced
1 can (1-lb. size) tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 medium potatoes, pared and quartered lengthwise
1 head green cabbage (1 1/2 lb.), washed and cut in 8 wedges

1. Heat oil in large skillet. Add beef, and brown on all sides. Remove.
2. Add onion to skillet, and cook slowly until golden brown. Add browned beef. Stir in 1 cup water. Add apple and tomatoes, then sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper.
3. Bring to boiling; reduce heat, and simmer, covered 2 hours.
4. Add potatoes and cabbage to meat mixture; simmer, covered, 20 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender. Makes 4 servings.

Cherries Jubilee- Cordial Cookery Recipes

Cordial Cookery Recipes featuring Hiram Walker Cordials is another book from my Christmas gift bonanza. It is a small undated booklet but has the look of the 70's to me. There is a lot of information in it. The inside cover has a handy chart, Cordial companions for fruit. There are sections for fruits, vegetables, meats, desserts and drinks.

My experience with cordials is pretty much limited to Creme de Menthe and Triple Sec. The centerfold photo of the large variety of cordials available is rather amazing.

Here is a fruit recipe using Creme de Cacao:

Pears De Cacao

Drain one can pears (large can)

reserve 1.2 cup liquid

Combine with 1/2 cup Hiram Walker Creme de Cacao. Pour over pears and chill 3 to 4 hours. Top pear halves with whipped cream, add a little Creme de Cacoa, sprinkle with instant coffee.

This vegetable recipe uses a less common cordial:

Acorn Squash with Anisette

1 acorn squash

2 teaspoons butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons Hiram Walker Anisette

For 2 persons, cut acorn squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds. In each cavity place 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon Anisette. Salt and pepper lightly. In bottom of shallow baking dish, place about 1/2 inch of water, sent the squash halves in, bake in moderate 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes to and hour, or until squash is tender.

Of course a book about cordials would not be complete without a recipe for Cherries Jubilee.

Cherries Jubilee

1 large can pitted Bing Cherries

5 oz. Hiram Walker's Brandy

3 oz. Hiram Walker Triple Sec

3 oz. Hiram Walker Cherry Cordial

Vanilla Ice Cream

Drain juice from can of cherries. Put cherries in a bowl, add 3 oz. each of Triple Sec, Cherry Cordial and Brandy. Allow the cherries to marinate in this mixture for a couple of hours at room temperature.

Just before serving, warm the cherries in their marinade.

Serve out individual portions of vanilla ice cream in deep dishes. Put 2 oz. of Brandy in a ladle, warm it, set it alight, and with the blazing brandy ignite the cherries and their marinade. Mix while blazing, and ladle the cherries and their marinade over the ice cream.

Broiled Eggplant Sandwich- Westinghouse Refrigerator

My husband got me a lot of vintage cook booklets and appliance booklets for Christmas. I am trying not to look at them all right away and spread them out over a few days. The appliance ones seem very humorous today. The Dad on this one got caught snacking on a turkey drumstick. The book is Your Westinghouse Refrigerator It's care and Use, 1947. There are over 100 recipes in this booklet. This is a rather unusual sandwich recipe from it.

Broiled Eggplant Open Face Sandwiches

1 large eggplant
8 slices cream cheese
3/4 cup cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
8 medium thick slices tomato
8 slices bacon
2 eggs
4 tablespoons lard
Peel eggplant and slice in 1/2 inch slices. Let stand in salt water 2 hours. Dry. Mix the salt with the cracker crumbs. Beat eggs. Dip eggplant in egg, then in cracker crumbs. When fat is hot, fry the eggplant on both sides, until golden brown and until tender. This requires about 12 minutes. Place eggplant on broiler rack and on each piece of eggplant place a slice of tomato, then a slice of cheese. Cut the bacon strips in half and place crisscross over the cheese. Broil until the bacon is brown and crisp. The eggplant may be fried in advance of needing it and kept in refrigerator until ready to use. This makes a delicious luncheon meal or late evening snack.
Serve with Cheese Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup grated cheese
Dash of pepper
Melt butter, blend in the flour, add the milk and cook on low heat until medium thick. Add seasoning and cheese and stir until cheese is melted. This may be made in advance and kept in refrigerator, warming when ready to serve. Serves 8

Vintage Christmas Complimentary Booklet

My husband found some more Holiday booklets in his book boxes and gave them to me. One is a 1956 booklet titled A Merry Christmas at your house from Schulz Sanitary Service in Washington state . It was a gift for their customers with a nice thank you note on the inside cover.
This is the poem on the centerfold:

Now Christmas is come,

Let us beat up the drum,

And call all our neighbors together,

And when they appear,

Let us make them such cheer,

As will keep out the wind and the weather.

This candy recipe sounds good:

Maple Nut Brittle

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnut meats
Boil sugar and water until it forms a firm ball in cold water. Add butter and boil to 300 degrees. Add salt and vanilla. Pour boiling syrup over nuts placed in buttered pan. Cool and break into pieces.

Black walnut recipes where more common back then than they are now.

Black Walnut Strips

7/8 cup butter

5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon water

1 cup chopped black walnuts

Powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour. Work in vanilla and water and nuts. Shape in fingers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and roll in powdered sugar.