Cook the Cookbook Project- week 3

 

This week the menu was for one of my all time favorite dinners, fried chicken. And it was specifically oven fried chicken which is how my mom always made hers and how I normally make mine. Along with the chicken were some traditional mashed potatoes and gravy. To round out the meal there were “French-style” green beans, some cranberry-orange relish and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

A couple of observations I have about the menus and I assume the way Americans ate 60+ years ago. First off the portions are huge! I used slightly less of both the chicken and the green beans (weight wise) and the amount of potatoes called for and I was stuffed half way through the plate. I ended up covering the plate and re-heating it for lunch the next day. Secondly there is a much heavier emphasis on starch and protein in these menus than I think i see in more modern cookbooks.

So let’s talk about the items in today’s menu one by one.

The oven fried chicken, I love oven fried chicken and it is my go to for how I make mine. I did follow the recipe in the book so this batch was a little less seasoned than how I normally do mine. The book only called for adding salt, pepper and paprika to the flour. I normally add more herbs and spices than that and I normally add a bit of cornstarch to my flour to make the coating even more crispy. This really did remind me of the chicken my mom made though and it was wonderful. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to dredge the chicken in a dish rather than shaking them in a bag with the flour.

Of course there were mashed potatoes with pan gravy along side the chicken. That was exactly what my mom would have served most of the year with it also. As much as I love mashed potatoes and gravy I don’t make it for myself very often and it was such a wonderful treat.

The book called for cutting the green beans “French-style” as in 4 thin strips from each green bean. That was a very tedious job so I ended up cutting mine a bit differently. The beans at my store were not in great shape this week (we lost our wonderful produce manager to another store and the department is not the same) so my beans were a bit limp and very curvy. I ended up cutting them all in half crosswise and then just once lengthwise. I don’t think I have ever cut my beans in this style although I have gotten them this way both frozen and canned. I think I’ll stick with not doing this in the future.

The cranberry-orange relish was a raw dish and I was not sure how it would turn out. I used some frozen cranberries that I had on hand and I think that is what saved the dish. I have made raw cranberry relishes in the past and not cared for them. I think because the berries had been frozen and then thawed they were softer and juicier which made for a very nice side dish.

For dessert the menu called for making strawberry shortcake. For the biscuit portion it just had me make a half batch of the shortcakes on the back of the Bisquick box.

We are well past the season for strawberries and the ones I got were not very good. I really wished I had skipped them and went to the frozen aisle. Again the fact we lost our wonderful produce guy is partly to blame along with the season.

So there we have it another menu under my belt and a bunch more to go. I am loving this journey and having a great time both with the cooking and eating of the foods but also with the memories they bring up.

I peeked ahead and next week the menu is for pork chops so I am really excited about that one also.

Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

 

So what exactly is a Shepherd’s Pie and how is it different from a Cottage Pie? I wasn’t sure of that answer so I did some research, here is what I found. Basically a Shepherd’s Pie has two main components a layer of minced meat topped with mashed potatoes and baked. Most of the time the meat has a gravy and some vegetables with it. Often times those vegetables seem to be carrots and/or peas. It is also very common to have some shredded cheese on top of the potatoes. As for the difference between a Cottage pie and a Shepherd’s Pie it comes down to the meat used in the filling. To really be a Shepherd’s Pie the filling should be lamb/mutton. So technically speaking this is a Cottage Pie but for most people the terms are interchangeable and no matter what the filling is based on if it is has the meat (or a substitute), gravy, veggies and is topped with mashed potatoes and baked it is a Shepherd’s Pie.

That was probably more than anyone needed to know about the subject but if you are still with me thank you. Now onto the recipe for today.

I love a good Shepherd’ s Pie especially with the cooler weather we are getting now. And although I have some recipes I love that take both beef and lamb I think I like this meat-less version better than any of the others. There is something about the combination that makes it a very pleasing dish. It is very filling but not to the point you feel stuffed. You still feel pretty good about yourself after eating it even if you overindulge a bit.

This version is vegetarian if you wish and could also be make to be vegan if desired with a just a few simple substitution. You could also go with an almost vegetarian version. I’ll talk about that in a moment.

As for dishes to bake in I love cooking mine is my two 1 ½ cup casserole dishes. That way each serving is in it’s own casserole dish making plating so much easier. Also if both aren’t going to be eaten right away it is easy to store and reheat later. This could also be baked off in a 3 cup casserole dish or you could leave it in the skillet you make the filling in and just pop the mashed potatoes on top and bake it that way providing your skillet is oven safe.

So lets talk about the ingredients and the steps involved in making this.

We need to start by cooking the potatoes for the mashed potatoes since they will take a while. You can use whatever type of potato you like to use for mashed potatoes. I have some large russets on hand since that is what I am using for the Cook the Cookbook project so I used a couple of those. That gave me slightly more potatoes than I needed but just one wouldn’t have been enough. Simply peel the potatoes and cut them up. The size you cut the potatoes and veggies will determine how long they cook.

Now onto the prepping the rest of the ingredients. Clean and cut the mushrooms in quarters and set aside.

Peel and dice the carrots and the onion and set aside.

While those potatoes are cooking we are going to create the filling. Start by cooking the cut up mushrooms in some olive oil in a large skillet. You want to get them browned in this first step.

Then we’ll add the carrots and onion and cook them until tender.

The sauce is created in the pan with all the veggies. Butter will add the needed fat to create the roux as well as add flavor. Once melted we will add the flour and seasonings to finish that roux.

To help round out the flavor we are now adding some tomato paste. We only need a small amount (1 ½ ounces) You could use the tomato paste from a tube or for a more economical solution do what I do. I buy the tomato paste in a can at the store and divide it up into 1 ½ ounce portions in small covered containers. I then bag the containers up and freeze them. It just take a short time for the tomato paste to thaw out and it is a lot cheaper than those tubes and still no waste. The tomato paste will be added to the roux in the pan to help develop the flavor.

Once the tomato paste is incorporated add the broth and stir to combine. For broth my favorite is a mushroom broth, but it can be a bit hard to find but is easy to make and freeze. You could also use a vegetable broth or even a beef broth if you are not concerned about being totally vegetarian.

Bring the pan to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens. At this point taste the sauce and season as desired. Depending on the salt level of the broth you are using may or may not need any more salt and/or pepper. If your potatoes are not cooked put the pan off heat with a lid on to keep it warm.

Once your potatoes are cooked drain them well. And make mashed potatoes by adding the 2 Tablespoons of butter to the hot potatoes and start mashing. Add half the shredded cheese (¼ cup) and start adding the milk a little at a time. Mash adding the milk as needed to get the texture you desire. Taste and adjust add salt and/or pepper as needed.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the filling in the casserole dishes almost to the edges of the dishes. Use a fork to flatten the potatoes some and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. I do highly recommend putting whatever casserole dish you bake these in on a sheet pan in case they bubble over a bit.

Then all that is left is to bake the casserole dishes of yumminess to get everything hot and to help the flavors to come together even more.

Since the casserole dishes are hot when they come out of the oven I usually fold a paper towel into 4 layers just a tiny bit larger than the size of the base of the casserole dish and put it on my plates before I add the hot dish. I’m not sure it’s absolutely necessary but I feel better about doing that than putting that hot casserole dish directly on my plate.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

For the mashed potatoes

1 pound potatoes

¼ cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

For the filling

8 ounces whole mushrooms

olive oil

2 medium carrots

1 onion

1 Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 Tablespoon flour

1 ½ ounces tomato paste

¾ cup stock (mushroom or vegetable are best, beef would also work)

Prep the potatoes by peeling and dicing them. Then put them into a small saucepan of salted water to cover. Bring to a boil turn reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until they can easily be mashed. This could take from 10 to 20 minutes depending on how large/small you dice them.

Now onto the prepping the rest of the ingredients. Clean and cut the mushrooms in quarters and set aside. Peel and dice the carrots and the onion and set aside.

 

In a large skillet heat some olive oil over medium heat and add the mushrooms and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

 

 

 

 

 

Cook them stirring occasionally until they are browned. This will take about 10 minutes.

 

 

Add the carrots and onion and a bit 

more olive oil if the pan is dry. Sprinkle just a bit more salt and cook. Stirring occasionally until the carrots are tender about 5 to 10 minutes (again the size you cut the pieces will determine the cook time)

 

Add 1 Tablespoon of the butter and allow to melt.

 

Now add the flour, thyme and garlic powder, stir to combine and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

 

 

Once the tomato paste is incorporated add the broth and stir to combine.

Bring the pan to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens about 5 minutes. At this point taste the sauce and season as desired. Depending on the salt level of the broth you are using may or may not need any more salt and/or pepper. If your potatoes are not cooked put the pan off heat with a lid on to keep it warm.

Once your potatoes are cooked drain them well.

Add the 2 Tablespoons of butter and start mashing. Add half the shredded cheese (¼ cup) and start adding the milk a little at a time. Mash adding the milk as needed to get the texture you desire. Taste and adjust add salt and/or pepper as needed.

 

Divide the filling evenly between two individual casserole dishes (about 1 ½ cups each)

Spread the mashed potatoes over the filling in the casserole dishes almost to the
edges of the dishes. Use a fork to flatten the potatoes some and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. I do highly recommend putting whatever casserole dish you bake these in on a sheet pan in case they bubble over a bit.

Bake at 350° F for about 20 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese.

Serve and enjoy.

Makes 2 generous servings.

Cook the Cookbook Project- Week 2

 

So lets look at the dishes in this week’s menu and what my thoughts are about each one.
 

 

Week 2’s menu calls for me to make a beef roast for dinner and I was fully expecting to have to skip this one and put it on the list to come back to at a later date. I have been watching the price of beef roasts for a couple of weeks and they had been super expensive. I was not willing to spend that much of my weekly grocery budget on a single piece of meat. However, I was very lucky in that my grocery store put beef roasts on sale the very day I had planned to make this menu. So someone must have been looking out for me on this project.

I was so happy to find the roast on sale. And it was a fantastic sale so for that I am very happy. The book just had me add some salt and pepper to the roast and that’s fine. I normally do just that a lot of times. I did find the estimate of the time required to cook the roast to be way off. I ended up eating much later than I had planned to get the roast to an edible rare cook. It was a good roast though and I do love a roast of any kind. I don’t normally splurge on a beef roast for myself though so this was a nice treat. It did not however give me enough drippings to do anything with so that was a bit of a disappointment.

The browned potatoes are something my mom used to do alongside a roast fairly frequently and I always loved them. I don’t remember actually doing them myself so again a real treat. They would have been a hundred times better however if the roast had given me some drippings for them to get coated with. Instead I did a couple of brushings with olive oil.

The tomato salad was really simple, just peeled sliced tomatoes marinated for a few hours in the same French Dressing that was on last week’s menu. The same would work with any oil and vinegar type dressing and it is really a side that should be eaten more often.

 

 

 

The menu called for hot brown-and -serve rolls but my small grocery store didn’t have any so I just did the same as last week and baked of a couple of the frozen bread rolls I have on hand.

 

For dessert the menu called for brownies and ice cream with a raspberry-current sauce. The sauce was super simple you cook some defrosted frozen raspberries with a bit of current jelly then thicken it with a cornstarch slurry. Only problem was I didn’t have any current jelly and neither did my grocery store. I decided to go with the apricot jam I had on hand and it turned out amazing. I am going to have to make this often in the future.

 

 

 

The cookbook did have a recipe for the brownies but also mentioned using a brownie mix to save time. Since I had half a box of brownie mix on hand I decided to use that today.

 

So what are my thoughts about the menu this week. I really enjoyed it. Just like last week it does remind me of the meals I grew up with. We almost always had potatoes as a side and my mom almost always put some form of bread on the table every meal. Those are not things I do as often.

The seasoning overall on the recipes are much more basic and simple compared to the way I normally season my food and it a way it is really nice. It just seems comforting in a way.

 

 

Again I want to thank you all for coming along on this journey with me. I am having so much fun and it is overwhelming how many people have reached out in support of me in this.

Slow Cooker Chili

 

Since the weather is definitely getting colder here I am personally focusing more on comfort foods like soups, chili, stews, casseroles a lot of the time. One of the first to come to mind was chili so I thought I would share this recipe with all of you. This takes a lot of inspiration from the chili I made all the time when my kids were growing up. The main difference is this feeds two people not an army. I did some tweaking to the recipe to make it work in the smaller amount easily.

When we get to the ingredients you might be surprised by one of them, just take a breath and try it. You see I add just a tiny bit of baking cocoa to my basic chili. Not enough that anyone will taste even a hint of chocolate but just enough to get a rich deep flavor that will bring you back for another serving.

Now I have dozens of recipes for chili, some with meat some without. Some with beans some without. This one has both ground beef and beans so it makes a hearty meal.

A few things you should know about this particular chili, first it is middle of the road chili as far as spice level, not really hot but not too mild at the same time. You can always add some hot sauce when you to each portion to taste. Also it is a soupy chili since I always serve it over rice. That is my favorite way to serve chili and it makes for a filling meal that really sticks to your ribs. If you want a thicker chili cut down or leave out the beef broth from the recipe.

This recipe is sized to fit my 2 quart slow cooker. I do love to make chili in the slow cooker for several reasons on being it is a food that really benefits from the low slow cooking method, it just comes together so nicely. Also not having to do much to serve dinner at the end of a busy day is so nice.

 

Now since this needs at least 7 hours of cooking time at the low setting you will need to start in the morning. We start by cooking the ground beef and onion in a small skillet until the meat is cooked through and the onion is softened. Drain off any excess fat from the pan.

 

 

 

Then add the garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook just until they all become fragrant. By cooking the spices particularly the cumin you release more of the flavor and I find it infuses with the rest of the dish much better.

 

 

 

 

 

Then move the meat mixture into the slow cooker followed by the rest of the chili ingredients. Give it a stir, cover and cook it all day long.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day put some rice in the bottom of your bowl

 

 

 

 

 

followed by about half of the chili.

 

 

Then top as desired,

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

Slow Cooker Chili

Chili ingredients:

½ pound ground beef

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

2 tsp chili powder

½ tsp cumin powder

1 ½ cups beef broth (you can cut this down or leave it out for a thicker chili)

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chili (like Rotel) with the liquid

½ tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

red pepper flakes, to taste (I put in just a bit less that ¼ tsp)

Ingredients to serve the chili

2 cups of cooked rice

shredded cheese

chopped avocado

sour cream

chopped cilantro

In the morning cook the ground beef and chopped onion over medium heat until the meat is cooked through and the onion is tender. Drain off any excess fat from the pan.

 

 Add the garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook just long enough that they become fragrant.

Pour the meat mixture into the bottom of a 2 quart slow cooker. Add the remaining chili ingredients and give the mixture a stir. Set on low and cook for at least 7 hours. 8 or 9 hours is even better.

When ready to serve place the rice in the bottom of bowls, top with the chili and top as desired.

Serves 2

The Cook the Cookbook Project- Week 1

 

Since this is the first menu from the first chapter let’s talk about chapter 1 first. The title of the first chapter is “American Favorites” and they say that thousands of people were polled about what their favorite dish was. The top 12 were used to create the 9 menus in this chapter.

For the first menu the items from the list are the broiled steak and the apple pie.

To fill out the menu we have a salad, “French Potatoes” (French fries) dinner rolls, and apple pie with cheese.

My first thought when I read the menu was that I remember years ago I used to always cook steaks (and other meats) under the broiler but I haven’t done that in decades. It might be interesting to visit that technique again. And I stand by that idea, except the broiler in my oven has to the worst broiler on the planet. While the steak cooked alright in the given time it didn’t develop a nice sear at all. The outside of it was really disappointing and I’m pretty sure their idea of rare was not as rare as it came out in the given time but it was cooked the way I like it on the inside. The seasoning was only some salt and pepper so very simple but overall does a steak need a lot more than that?

For the most part I am trying to make the recipes as close to what they would have been done by a homemaker back when the book was new. That lead to my first quandary, what kind of potato to use. The recipe doesn’t specify so I thought back and I am pretty sure when my mom bought potatoes in the grocery store she would buy russets. So that was what I went with. For the most part we grew most of the potatoes we ate so she didn’t buy very often. The potatoes were excellent in the end and I am going to be playing with the method from this menu in the future. They were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Just like fries from a sit-down restaurant.

Next thing that I thought way too long about was what vinegar to use in the salad dressing? I think there would probably have only been two choices back in the day but I might be wrong about that. I only remember my mom having white distilled vinegar and cider vinegar on hand when I was a kid. I really can’t stand either of them and I know I said I wasn’t going to let my tastes get in the way of making these recipes as written. But to be fair the type of vinegar was not specified so I decided to use some white wine vinegar this time. I should probably do some research and find out what the options were back in the day. The recipe did call for MSG so I grabbed a container of it, I don’t normally have it on hand but I have been wanting to experiment with it a bit. I know it has gotten a lot of bad press in years past but a lot of the chefs I watch online use it so I decided to give it a try. I have to say I love the dressing from the recipe and it made a wonderful salad to go with the rest of the meal.

I did opt to use some bagged salad for the salad, mostly because the heads of lettuce were not looking very good when I went to the store this week. The bagged salad was much fresher looking for sure.

They actually specified Crusty rolls but I decided to make the executive decision to just make some rolls using some frozen roll dough I had on hand. (today was already a heavy baking day along with a bunch of other things I needed to get done) Since the implication in the book was that the rolls would have been purchased I felt it was a fair change.

The first item that needed to be made for the menu was the apple pie. So that got started early in the morning. I do like to chill the pie crust dough before I roll it out. I did grab a package of lard at the store for the crust recipe. That was the fat of choice in the recipe and I remember both my mom and grandma used to use it for pie crust. I have used it in the past also but haven’t for probably 30 or more years. The crust did go together beautifully. I have been struggling with some of my pie crusts lately and this slight change might be the answer. This is one of the best pie crusts I have made in a long time. It is perfectly flaky and tastes wonderful.

 

The menu specified adding cheese to the pie which is something I have never done in my whole life. I have to say I just don’t “get it” I mean it was okay, it tasted fine, but it just wasn’t something I will probably do again. At least I can say I tried it though.

The Cook the Cookbook Project- Project Introduction

 

I have a kind of long term project that I am going to start in the month of November and since I want to document it I am going to be blogging about it as I go.

Today I thought I would steal a few minutes of your time and tell you not only about the project but also the history behind me wanting to do this.

So first you are probably asking what I am up to, so in a nutshell I have picked a cookbook and I want to cook my way through the book from beginning to end. I know this has been done before, heck there is even a movie about someone doing this. But it has been on my list of things I want to do for many years. So a bit of background first.

I remember I first brought up the idea when my daughter was just a baby. (she turned 30 in May of this year so it’s been a while) I actually shared the idea with someone in my life who by the nature of our relationship should have been supportive of my dreams. Instead this person told me that cooking through a cook book was the dumbest thing they had ever heard of and that I had to be stupid to even think of doing it. So instead of following my dream I did what I normally did at the time and just let it go. It really wasn’t worth fighting about and there would have been many fights it I had continued with the idea.

So why did I want to do this, I think it is because first of all I love books and reading. But most of all I love cookbooks. Some of my earliest memories surrounding books are of me curled up somewhere with one of my mom’s cookbooks flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. This was way before I started to go to school and learned to read. But I loved those cookbooks so much. Then I learned to read and a whole new world in those books opened up. I started reading them. Yes, you read that right and I still do it, I will sit down with a cook book and read it from cover to cover just like you might read a novel.

My love of cookbooks grew and I started collecting them, mostly older cookbooks. I have weeded my collection down a lot but I still have a many old cookbooks that I have found over the years. I also love new cook books too by the way.

A few months ago I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and saw that they had the movie Julie and Julia available. I watched it and loved it. That sparked the desire to go back and follow that old dream of cooking through a cookbook. But which one? I was originally going to start the project in January of 2024.. I figured that would give me time to find the perfect cook book and time to prepare to do this. Then one day a week or so ago I had to fix one of my favorite books in my collection. You see I had left it on the table and during the night my cat had knocked the book on the floor. This was just enough to make the front cover finally let go of the rest of the book. It was already just barely holding on but now I had a front cover and book as 2 definitely separate pieces. So grabbed the book and some tape and started the repair job. As I was fixing the book I was also enjoying the art work in it. I realized I haven’t cooked much out of it although I since I love the artwork I look at it often. Then I started to wonder how old this book is, I had a pretty good idea but decided to check to be sure. To my surprise, I found the book holds a copy-write date of the same year I was born. Since my birthday is this month I decided this is the perfect book for this project. And that starting in November just made the most sense, kind of a birthday present to me. I finally am doing something I have wanted to do for so long and I am very excited about it.

So a bit about this book, it is not set up like a lot of normal cookbooks where there are chapters that have different types of foods in each chapter. Instead it is set up with chapters that are themed (American Favorites, Quick & Easy, etc) and each chapter has menus that reflect that theme. Each menu is a full dinner menu fitting the rough theme of the chapter. Hopefully that makes sense. If you follow the blog posts as I post them it will make a lot more sense if you are currently confused.

I know there are a couple of recipes that I might not be able to find key ingredients for. I am going to do my absolute best to either find the needed ingredients (within reason) or find substitutions for ones I can’t find. I really want to experience everything in book if possible.

There are a few foods that I don’t normally make because they are foods I don’t really like. Those I have decided I am going to make anyway and eat. I think part of this journey to eat things I might not normally eat and there are really very few foods I don’t like.

I am planning to make 1 menu a week or so for however long it takes to get to the end. I figure it will take about a year and a half to two years to get through it all at that pace.

So I hope you all enjoy the journey with me. If this is as much fun as I think it will be I might even do it again

with a different cookbook in the future.